Nimbochromis venustus

Care 

    They require hard water. Males are aggressive toward each other.keep in temperatures of 25-27C. Place rocks and sand in their tank to mimic their natural environment. The males will live in between the rocks and be aggressively defending its territory.

Breeding

   They are easy to breed. The female will lay eggs and keep them in her mouth. Remove the female once you notice eggs in her mouth to prevent others disturbing her which may result in her swallowing the eggs. the female will take care of the eggs until the fries are large enough to take care of themselves. Remove the female when she releases the fries. This is as she might eat them. Males are more colourful then females and the have egg spots on the anal fin.

 

Datnioides microlepis - Indonesian Tiger

Set-up 
     1) Provide lots of hiding spots with driftwood or dense vegetation.This provides security and encourages a stable condition where the fish shows its stripes more clearly. If its stressed, it will appear dark in colour and the stripes will not be visible. However, this set-up requires a lot of maintenance.




    2) Keep it in a bare tank. When the fish gets used to its new environment, it will start to show its normal colours, however it will get spooked easily. This set-up is easy to maintain and it displays the fish always as compared to the fish hiding behind a piece of driftwood.

Feeding 
    It is a predatory species, therefore feed it live foods like guppies or platies. Larger ITs can take larger feeders like goldfishes or catfishes. It can be trained to take frozen bloodworms or Market prawns. Keep the feeders healthy as it may transmit diseases to the IT.

Care 
   This species grow quite large, so keep it in a larger sized tank. Temperature of the water should be around 22-28 C . Keep in mildly acidic conditions around 6pH.

Compatability
   It is a peaceful species and is best kept with other predatory species such as an arowana or feshwater stingrays. It can also be kept with bichirs. DO not keep it with fishes that can fit into its mouth as it will eat them.

Nimbochromis venustus

Indonesian Tiger (Datnioides Microlepis)

Earth Eater

Scientific name: Geophagus surinamensis
Max size: Around 10"
Origin: South America
Care: -  Neutral pH( 6.0-7.0)

-      Temperature should be around 27C.

-       They needs a very fine substrate in order to thrive in aquarium life. Geophagus species are called eartheaters because they constantly shift through their substrate, looking for food.

-      Feed sinking foods as their mouth are not adapted to eating from the surface. However, they still do take pellets and some frozen foods. They usually live in groups of 3 to 5 fishes.

Diet: Sinking pellets/wafers, frozen foods, pellets
Breeding: Once you have a pair they should breed in the tank with good       water conditions. They are mouth brooders so they will not be eating during the brooding period.
Compatibility: They are peaceful fishes and can be kept with other peaceful fishes like angelfish or fishes like arowanas.  

Red Tail Catfish

Scientific name:

                                   Phractocephalus hemiliopterus

Care:

   They are quite hardy fish. They will require larger tanks or a pond once they start to reach the adult size.  Keep them in waters of pH 6-7 and with temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius as they are tropical fish.  Keep the water clean with a good filtration system.


Feeding:
      They are a predatory species so they can be fed live foods such as mollies or goldfish .They also accept pellets or frozen foods like frozen bloodworms. Feed them a variety of foods so that they can get enough nutrients to keep them healthy.

                        
Compatibility:
        Do not keep them with anything that can fit into their mouths or with other fishes that may eat or hurt them. They will not hesitate to eat smaller companions. 

Set-Up:     

         Provide them with a small cave or a piece of bogwood for them to hide.They may uproot plants in the tank so make sure the plants are secure in the substrate or don’t put any plants in the tank.

Breeding Guppies

 Set-up

     

For the Set-up you can use a piece of netting with holes that are small enough for the fries to pass through but not the adults. This is because the adult guppies will eat their own fries. Alternatively you can use a breeder trap sold in fish shops. You can also use plants real or fake to allow for places for the fries to hide from the adults. Floating plants with long roots like water lettuce can also be used. This set-up looks much nicer than the set-up with commercial breeder traps or the netting.

Care for the Fries 

     You should remove the fries to another tank where they would be safer and feed them live foods preferably as it provides them with more nutrients to grow. They can be fed with microworms, baby brine shrimp or water fleas. They also eat powders fish foods and pellets or flake food. Keep the water clean and change the water regularly for them to grow faster.

                                                               ( My breeding set-up)

                                                                 My Grow-out tank

Breeding Bettas

BREEDING BETTAS

Conditioning the pair :
Feed the pair live foods and keep the water clean. You can do this by changing the water daily and make sure the water is dechlorinated or conditioned before use. Ketapang leaves may be used in the water.

Set-up

1) Use a medium sized tank ( 2-3 gallon)
2) Use a cut cup or piece of plastic to cover the bubble nest
3) Provide something for the female to hide in ( e.g flower pot, java fern/moss)
4) Make sure to have a bare bottomed tank so that the male can pick up and find the eggs easily.

During Breeding
Do not feed your pair when they are in the breeding tank and try not to disturb them. Leave them together for a maximum of 3 days if you see no eggs in the bubblenest. If you see eggs in the nest, remove the female and leave the male to take care of the eggs. The fries will hatch in about 2-3 days. Let the female rest and recover from the torn fins and maybe some wounds caused by the male. During his period make sure he water is clean to prevent fin rot and diseases.

Taking care of the fries
After the fries are free-swimming, remove the male and start feeding the male some foods so he can regain some weight . Feed the fries micro-worms , baby brine shrimp or water fleas. Change half or one -third of the water daily so that the fries can grow fast. Once the fries grow larger you can start feeding them what you feed your adult bettas. Start separating the males after around 3 months to prevent them from fighting with each other. You can keep them together if you have a large tank , but after separating them for some time they tend to get aggressive so don't put them together.

                                             ( The tiny black spots are the eyes of the fries that are not free swimming yet )