NEWS108
6
breathing via the gills like normal fishes. It
seems that juveniles 2-3 centimeters in
lengtharebestatsurviving thewinter.
ChineseParadisefishes are strict carnivores.
Intheaquariumtheycanbefedwithoutpro-
blemon flake,deep-frozen,and live foodsof
all types.The chemical composition of the
water isofno importancetothese fishes,alt-
hough insoftwater theyaremoresuscepti-
ble toanumberofparasites thatprefersuch
water - aboveall VelvetDisease
Piscinoodi-
nium
(formerly
Oodinium
).
ChineseParadisefishesdon't requireanyad-
ditionalheatingwhenkept indoors.Theycan
bemaintainedwithoutproblemata tempe-
raturebetween14and32°C,withtheregular
maintenance temperature ideally lyingbet-
ween 20 and 25 °C, and 3-5 °C higher for
breeding. It has proven very beneficial to
overwinterthesefishes incoldconditionsfor
6-8weeks (ifneedbe intherefrigerator).The
overwintering temperature should lie bet-
ween6and12°C,with itbeingsafesttowork
within the upper part of this range when
dealingwith fishesofunknownprovenance.
The futureof theChineseParadisefish
The first step instudyingasmall fishspecies
isalwaystoestablishanaquariumstrain.That
hasbeenachieved inthecaseoftheChinese
Paradisefishandat present at least the fish
hassufficient fansthatthere isno longerany
concern that itmightdieout in thenear fu-
ture.But the specieshas ahugenatural dis-
tributionregion,and,asweknow fromexpe-
rience, local populations candiffer conside-
rably fromoneanother.Soattemptsarenow
beingmade - albeitonavery small scale,as
neitherChinanorKorea istypicallyanexpor-
ter ofwild-caught aquarium fishes - to im-
port wild-caught Chinese Paradisefishes
from time to timeand study thedifferences
between them.
Within the labyrinthfish community it is
mainly the indefatigable Thomas Seehaus
that is collatingall theavailabledataon the
wildformsofparadisefishes.Hehasalsowrit-
ten abook on them. It isworth visitinghis
websiteatwww.casa-di-lago.de !
Twoyears ago a wild-caught formwas im-
ported inwhich females don't assume the
light colorationotherwise so typical.Unfor-
tunately, for private reasons Iwasunable to
obtain thisstrain.But:nevergiveup!
Aquarium Glaser recently imported wild-
caughtstocksonceagain,and I tookapairof
these fishes homewithme. Unfortunately
the femaledevelopedavirulentbacterial in-
fection.The lower half of the caudal finand
arounda thirdof themusculatureof thepo-
steriorbody rottedawaybefore thedisease
cametoastandstill.Unfortunatelythestocks
atAquariumGlaserhadalreadybeensoldat
thispoint. I hadvirtuallynohope of the fe-
male surviving,but I didall I could tomake
lifeaspleasantaspossible forher.Twohand-
fuls of autumn leaves enriched the water
withsecondaryplantmaterial (seeNews107)
and the only food used was deep-frozen
adult
Artemia
, a particularly nutritious and
germ-freediet.
Twoweeks latersomethingalmost incredible
tookplace:thepairspawned.Apart from the
fact that the femalewas dreadfully scarred
and lookedvery incomplete,everythingtook
placebythebook.Today,as Iwritethisarticle,
some 150 youngsters from this pair are
swimming inoneofmy rearingaquariaand
arealreadysomewhatmorethanacentime-
ter long.
Soyetagain theChineseParadisefishconfir-
med thesaying:nevergiveup!
Thepairdescribed in the textmating.The female isa typical light color.
Success:bubblenestwitheggs.
