Macropod (fish): compatibility with other fish in the aquarium

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The macropod fish is a long-time familiar to aquarists, both experienced and beginners. This paradise fish - another name for the macropod - along with the goldfish were the first inhabitants of European aquariums, and although the current diversity of species of aquatic inhabitants for home keeping has expanded significantly, the homeland of macropod fish is not the only place where these beauties breed and live. They have long been taught to breed in captivity.

What a macropod fish looks like

The appearance of the paradise fish is fully consistent with its name. The combination of colors and shades of this beauty is perhaps the main reason for the inexhaustible popularity of this species. The body of macropods is oval in shape, flattened on both sides, elongated. The first pelvic fin is extended like a ray. The long dorsal and ventral fins are pointed, the tail is a forked, fluffy fin. In places where macropod fish live in nature, the length reaches up to 11 cm in males, 8 cm in females. Aquarium specimens grow much smaller - about 6 -8 cm.

Coloring is bright, with alternationtransverse wide and straight stripes. Coloring: dark red stripes, turning into bright crimson, alternating with green, blue, sometimes lemon, lines. In addition to the classic color options, there are black macropods and albinos.

Now we know what a macropod fish looks like. The photo below shows how beautiful she is.

Gender difference

Macropod (fish)-male, in addition to size, is distinguished by a brighter color, a lush tail with filamentous processes. The same magnificent in the male and fins: anal and dorsal. Females may look more rounded when the caviar is maturing in their abdomen.

Life in the natural environment

The homeland of macropod fish is the Asian region. These beauties can be found in China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. Some species of macropods successfully live in the waters of the United States and Madagascar, where they were artificially introduced.

They survive in any reservoirs with stagnant water: shallow rivers, ponds, swamps, lakes, do not disdain even sewers, swim in rice fields. The special structure of internal organs allows them to survive in such difficult conditions. Nature rewarded macropods with an evolutionary organ - a labyrinth respiratory organ. Additional blood capillaries in the gills allow oxygen to be released from the atmospheric air. This feature of the macropod must be taken into account when transporting fish from the place of purchase to the aquarium: a small air space should be left between the water and the lid of the dish. Macropod is a fish thatit is distinguished by increased survivability, being in an emergency without water (the aquarium crashed, for example). Just don't abuse it.

Lifestyle

Aquarium fish (macropods) have been successfully adopted as pets for over 100 years. They were first described by the naturalist Carl Linnaeus back in 1758. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, beautiful paradise fish have gradually populated almost all available aquariums in Europe, along with the most popular goldfish. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russian aquarists met and became friends with them.

Macropods won authority not only for their beauty, but also for their unpretentiousness. Homeland fish macropod aquarium type accustomed to the Spartan lifestyle and unpretentious food.

However, with the expansion of fish species for aquarium keeping, the popularity of macropod species has fallen. What is the problem? After all, she is smart, and beautiful, and unpretentious? The fact is that macropods turned out to be terrible fighters, especially males. They fight to the death among themselves and with members of other species. To settle them in a common aquarium, you need to know some tricks.

Captivity

Aquarium fish are thermophilic creatures. The birthplace of guppy fish, macropods, catfish, gourami, as well as most other popular species, are countries with a warm climate. Despite this, special heating for the water in the macropod aquarium, unlike others, is not required. A lone macropod or a couple can live even in an ordinary three-liter jar. Do not matter also the chemicalcomposition, hardness and active reaction of water. These inhabitants of stagnant swamps do not even claim the freshness of the water (an excellent pet option for lazy owners). The optimum temperature in a fish dwelling is 20^o-24^o, although they can withstand short-term extreme heating up to 38^o or chill to 8^{o. Despite the unpretentiousness, in order to have a he althy and beautiful fish of bright colors, it is necessary to provide it with proper care.}

Aquarium equipment

Despite the fact that one or two macropods do not claim to have extensive housing, it is possible to grow larger fish in a larger aquarium. The most suitable volume of dishes is 10 liters, and for several fish - up to 40 liters, depending on the number of individuals. Sand, small pebbles, gravel or expanded clay are used as soil. It is better to lay the soil dark, with a layer of about 5 centimeters.

What else is needed in an aquarium is plants, and lots of them. Vallisneria, pinistolium and hornwort are suitable for planting in the ground; duckweed, nymphaeum and other similar algae can be settled on the surface. In addition to the fact that the macropods will feel at home, the female will be able to hide in the thickets from a too violent friend. Various aquarium decorations also serve this purpose: broken pots, houses, snags, stones, grottoes. The illumination of the place where the fish are kept should be such as is necessary for the growth of algae.

The top of the aquarium is covered with a lid with air holes. The fact is that too quick macropods can fly out of the water. In case the content is expected in generalaquarium, when filtration is required for other fish species, then you need to arrange it without a strong current.

Macropod: compatible with other fish

The macropod's aggressiveness forces one to be wary of choosing its neighbors. The predator attacks not only fish of other species, but also its fellows, and goes to calmer females and young animals. Arrange fights, like two roosters, two males can. Experienced aquarium lovers know a way to tame the violent tempers of fighters. Pisces need to be educated, but at an early age. If macropods, which are no more than two months old, are launched into the “society”, they grow together with everyone else, get used to it and do not attack not only large fish, but also small ones. If you add adults to the aquarium, you need to know some rules:

• Macropods don't get along with Veiltails.
• You can not settle with goldfish, guppies, gourami, angelfish, neon.
• A fish that has been resettled for a while and returned back is perceived as a stranger and is attacked.
• Restrain the aggressor larger and calmer fish: zebrafish, synodontis, barbs and others.
• You can't put two males together, the female needs shelter.

Food

Macropod is a fish from the category of predators, therefore in nature it prefers live food, although it also feeds on plants. In natural reservoirs, the main food of this fish is small inhabitants, insects, which the macropod can swallow, jumping out of the water.

In aquariums, macropods eat everythingtypes of fish food. The most preferred for these beauties are live bloodworms, tubules. Frozen shrimp, black mosquito larvae, cyclops, daphnia must be thawed before feeding. Pieces of homemade minced meat are a delicacy for paradise fish, but such a product should be a rare delicacy. Dry food containing carotene improves the brightness of the colors of the fish, but should not be put on the basis of the diet.

Macropod is always hungry - there is everything and a lot, he does not know the measure. To avoid gluttony, they feed little by little, twice a day. In the aquarium, these orderlies prevent the excessive reproduction of worms, snails.

Captive breeding

Getting he althy offspring of macropods in captivity is easy if you know the characteristics of their spawning. Fish are ready for breeding at the age of 8-7 months. It is possible to determine a female ready for spawning by a rounded inflated belly. The room for the "nursery" is equipped like an ordinary aquarium, but here water aeration is already needed. A special labyrinth organ develops only from the second week.

A week before spawning, the couple is separated and fed abundantly. The “father” is the first to move to the spawning ground, and in a day - the female. Despite their violent temper, macropods are very caring and economic fathers. They build a nest of air bubbles on the surface of the reservoir, under the algae, drive the female into it and help her squeeze the eggs, wrapping around. Several such approaches, and all the eggs in the nest. After that, the "mother" should be taken away from the "maternity hospital", as the "father" begins to drive her away, quite aggressively, and all care for the fry from that momentassumes.

After a couple of days, the larvae appear, the nest breaks up. Too caring father should be removed from the children. The fry are fed with infusoria, mirkokorm, egg yolk. After two months, they are sorted, leaving individuals with a bright color. For those who are going to seriously breed macropods, you need to know that optimal conditions, sorting help to get bright and regular-shaped fish.

The whole process of spawning, the behavior of the fish during the construction of the nest, their care for the offspring is a very exciting and exciting process to watch.

The average lifespan of a macropod in an aquarium is 8 years. The most common species in our aquariums is considered to be a classic macropod with a diverse palette. Black, red-backed and round-tailed species are rare visitors to domestic waters.

Classic and versatile

A classic variety of fish native to China, which directly corresponds to the description in shape and size, has several color options. The most common: red and greenish-blue transverse stripes on a brown background, blue fins, light blue head and belly. No less popular is the blue macropod - a handsome man with a purple back and head and body, the color of blue. Smooth red and orange are rare colors of the classic macropod variety. Albino macropods can also be found in aquariums. These specimens have a white body, pale pink fins, red eyes, and faint yellow lateral stripes.

Rare Species

Rare macropod varieties, such as black, redback and roundtail, differ from their classic relatives.

The most peaceful of its kind is the black macropod fish (photo). Individuals of the black variety are slightly larger than the rest of the species. In nature, they live in the southern part of the Mekong. The calm macropod has a skin coloration of all shades of brown and gray, adorned with blue, mountain or red fins. But in a state of excitement, it turns black with anger in the literal sense of the word. This is his ability to change the color palette and made him popular. It belongs to the category of rare, as it is rarely sold in its pure form, and in the process of selection, the purity of color is lost

• The red-backed macropod is also called silver: both the body and the fins of its red-silver color, and getting into certain lighting, they are cast with pearl placers. The tail and fins of this dandy are edged with the former stripe.
• Very rare among collectors-aquarists, round-tailed or Chinese macropod fish. The homeland of the fish is Taiwan, Korea, eastern China. The small number of aquarium individuals is explained by the peculiarities of the content. Accustomed to winter cold in natural habitats, this fish requires cooling of the water space to 10-15o, and does not breed in a warmer environment. In addition, lives in captivity for no more than four years, often suffers from mycobacteriosis.

Interesting about macropods

Unpretentious to external conditions and omnivorous macropod, however, is listed in the Red Book as a species requiring protection. It's all about human activity. The active development of the national economy and the development of new territories leads to the destruction of favorable places for the settlement of paradise fish.

Caviar is spawned by a female, for her, the delay in spawning adversely affects he alth, as the caviar deteriorates. For the male, frequent spawnings, more than 2-3 in a row, on the contrary, lead to exhaustion, even death.

In Europe, the first paradise fish appeared in France in 1869.

Macropod is a very smart fish, it is a pleasure to watch and even play with it.

Macropods were the first of the aquarium fish to be awarded the description of the standards, and a competition was organized especially for them in Germany in 1907.

The desire to breed new types of macropod color often leads to the fact that the colors turn pale and the he alth of the fish deteriorates.

On the emblem of the Moscow Society of Aquarium Lovers, it is the macropod that is depicted. They love him for his unpretentiousness and beauty. Despite their feisty nature, macropods always make their owners happy.