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Badis Ruber
 Male Female
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| OverView |
| Sometimes I just
have to get a wierd fish and see what happens. Badis Ruber certainly
qualifies as a different sort of fish. The only time I have ever
seen them available I bought 2 pairs. Turned out to be one pair and
2 males. Just lost 1/2 my chance to get a spawning. I find these
fish to be easy to care for, fun to watch, and surprisingly easy
to breed. Raising the fry is another matter. These are not 'swimmers',
moving around or dashing from one end of the tank to the other. Nope,
these fish are 'posers'. They strike a pose and hold it. The pose
may be looking down, looking up, does not matter. They move a little
and watch. When something tasty goes by, snap and munch. |
| Housing and Breeding |
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I set these fish up in pretty much my standard Apisto type tank
arrangement, only smaller. I have been trying to free up a 5 gallon
tank for a
pair, but never seem to make it. They end up being housed in a 2
1/2 gallon tank. A sponge or corner filter, some plants, and a couple
of very small clay pots finish out the set up.The plants are important,
males can be hard on the females. Temperature is mid 70's F. I feed
them baby brine shrimp and daphnia. Not a lot,
they
are slow picky eaters.
My water is extremely soft and slightly acid. TDS is under 20 from
the tap and I keep the TDS under 100 in the tanks. The first few
spawnings were on the underside top of a clay pot, the latest one
is on the inside bottom of the pot. One time they spawned in the
space between the two pots, which were touching each other. Basically,
they spawn in a cave.
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| Foods |
| Adult fish are fed
primarily live baby brine shrimp. They get some chopped blackworms
and daphnia, which they love to ambush as it jerks by them. What do
the really young fry eat? I am still working on that. Green water
and a little salmon starter dust is what I am trying now. They are
soooo small. Just little slivers. I mean small, small, small. I think
microworms might eat them. After about a week I am swirling in some
mocroworms, but they may still not be big enough to eat them. I think
a rotifer culture would be the ticket, but I do not have one. Once
the fry can handle a baby brine shrimp or newly hatched daphnia they
are on there way. Growth after that stage is pretty quick. They are
ready to start breeding at around 6 months. |
| Fry from my first spawning |
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| 2 Month old fry |
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| My latest spawn |
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