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This oddly shaped fish
is from Lake Miragoane, Haiti. The pictures above are of newly
adult fish, and the male will continue to deepen in body until
he will become almost
circular.
These are a very distinctive looking fish, yet they are not
consistently found in
the hobby. The video available from the
homepage has older males to
observe.
Appreciative of
live foods, they also do well
when their diet is supplemented with
spirulina flake or algea tabs. These also do very well with regular
feedings of frozen
brine shrimp or bloodworms.
They do best in
tanks of 20 gallons or
larger, with some plants.
Water quality seems to be
important for this species. My success at
keeping them has depended upon keeping the
aquarium fairly clean, with regular
water changes. I have found
that when raising a batch
of young in a
10 gallon aquarium they need to be moved to a larger tank at no
later than
about 6 weeks, or the decline
in water quality will cause them to begin to die off.
Similar to the Tiger Limia, this
species will sex out into males and females differently
than the swords, guppies or
mollies. All young look similar,
appearing to be females.
An occasional male will begin to show secondary sexual
characteristics at 3-4 months
(gonopodium, darkened dorsal fin), but often the largest
young males may not sex out
for as long as 5-6 months. Though firmly sexed young pairs
are often in stock,
obtaining them as a young 2-4 month old fry groups of 6 (and
I will send 2 extras with
each group), will guarantee 2-3 pairs at the lowest shipping
cost.
Like any livebearer, some
fry
will be eaten in the confines of an aquarium unless
the female is removed to have her young, which are then raised
separately until old
enough to fend
for themselves. They are
hardy when provided with a
clean environment
and
plants to hide
in. Dominant males develop striking black markings within a sail
type dorsal fin, and will generally be out patrolling the front
of the aquarium. They are
not
aggressive with other fish, but the males can be scrappy with
one another, though
injuries are
rare. For more information, see the
Care Guide
for this species,
Here.
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