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This lovely small Cichlid has to be one of easiest recognised of any freshwater tropical fish.

The colour is eye catching and it has an easy temperament that has made it so popular over the years for breeding and showing.

When I got them home to my newly built fish house, I set them up in a 24”x15”x15” tank with loads of rocks built in a fashion to form caves.

The tank was filtered at one end with a sponge filter and at the other end with an internal power filter to aid the filtration and to give the current and water movement that these fish enjoy.

The six adult fish where housed in the tank which was on the top rack in the fish house, this was to allow me to study their activities in their new environment.

After a few weeks the fish started to pair off and so I removed four fish to another tank and left the happy couple to get on with it.

The breeding pair settled very quickly and after a few days they had excavated a small hollow under a large overhanging rock.

The eggs started to hatch after 3 to 4 days and the parents naturally protected the eggs and then the brood of fry to the point that every time I went close to the tank, the male attacked me as if I was a threat to his family.

The fry are born with an egg sack that takes approx 24 hrs to absorb. They then after another 24 hrs become free swimming.

This was at first a concern that the parents may become aggressive, but in the typical Cichlid fashion they are great parents.

At first they where fed on Liquifry for the first few days then on to newly hatched Brine Shrimp.

After a week they where fed on Brine Shrimp both morning and night, added to this I carried out small water changes every day. They started to grow very fast.

The fry where split up into several tanks and fed on Brine Shrimp and White Worm and other live feeding.

When you have a number of fry it is important to give them plenty of room and air and quality feeding, coupled with water changes to produce quality fish.

When the fish where about 1.5 inches long I sold most of them to other breeders but I kept some for show fish and breeding stock.

This fish was first collected in 1987 by Manfred Meyer in the Rio De La Palma River Veracruz, Mexico.

In its native habitat it is limited to small areas of the Rio De La Palma, Rio Aqua Fria & the Rio De Basura.

The body is deep and stocky, with a pointed head. Often fully adult males develop a keel from the gonopodium to the peduncle.

Both sexes possess bodies coloured grey to bluish hue depending on health & temperament. The unpaired fins are an orange colour & the most striking feature is the intense blue of the eyes.

In 1993, I obtained four fry from the Rio De La Palma colony and although one developed swim bladder disease, the remaining 3 fish sexed out to one Male & 2 Females. I have kept this strain now for 10 years. In the last 3 years I have also obtained & kept the Rio De Basura strain.

During this time I have bred several hundred fish & although both collections are similar, I have found “Palmas” to be the more colourful if slightly smaller.

In the wild this species inhabits both slow & fast flowing waters, with varying depths. The water is generally clear & gravely, with little vegetation except at the edges. The general temperatures vary from 20c to 26c. Other species that inhabit the same waters are Xiphophorus Maculatus & Helleri, plus Pseudoxiphophorus species.

In the aquarium they are not fussy feeders, but appreciate live & frozen food & good quality flake.

Good water quality is paramount to keeping this species successfully, with regular large water changes essential.

Having studied this species I find that the males are susceptible to swim bladder problems but I have never seen the females affected in this way.

Breeding Priapella Olmecae successfully can be something of a problem, for two reasons. Firstly the females show no gravid spot, only increasing in girth as the young develop & just prior to spawning they become very square below the chin.

I have found the best way to estimate imminent birth is to calculate 8 weeks from the previous brood. Gently move the female to a large breeding trap about 2 to 3 days before the brood is due, breeding traps are best as the adult fish will avidly consume the fry, which can vary from 5 to 32 depending on the maturity of the adult. The second problem with this species is the eating of their own fry.

The fry fed on a good diet will be large enough & can be returned to the adult tank in 6 to 8 weeks.

One important note, when feeding these fish, they are mid water to top water swimmers & will rarely feed of the bottom, so the introduction of catfish can help keep the tank base clear, or regular clearing of excess food by hand is recommended.

To produce the best specimens for both breeding & showing a 36” or 48” tank is best, also transporting them in plastic bags to the show & then changing them to show tanks is best.

Betta Splendens, commonly known as “Siamese Fighter” is the most recognised of all aquarium fish.

It has a history going back over 100 years & during this time many colours and fin variations have been developed. The name fighting fish comes from the fact that when two males are put in the same tank they will fight, usually to the death. In Asia where this fish comes from the locals fight these fish professionally & the aggressive champion fighters sell for high prices.

Because of its colours this tends to be one of the first fish chosen for a community tank. This can also lead to problems.

In its natural habitat the fighter is found in sluggish sometimes stagnate waters with little or no flow. The water is usually very muddy, coloured water.

Most home Aquariums have lots of air or filtration which the fighter does not like & this tends to make this fish look for sheltered areas in the tank. Also many people feed flake food to there fish & again the fighter will happily accept this food but their long flowing fins also resemble flake food, making them targets for other tank mates.

Betta Splendens will accept most commercial flake foods & live feeding such as Glass worm, Daphnia & White worm. They have also been known to reduce your tank population of Neon Tetras & Cherry Barbs, Etc.

The breeding pair where kept apart until the female was plump with eggs & the male was attempting to build bubble nests.

A simple tip, keep the male & female in separate tanks i.e. large show jars next to each other so they can see but not touch, this will induce the spawning habit.

9” long x 6” wide x 9” high tank with only 6” of water, the tank was not filtered as I prefer to give small water changes when breeding them. I added an air line with just a trickle of air. The temperature was 80F-82F.

The pair was added to the tank with only a piece of Polystyrene for the female to lay her eggs on.

When they settled down it tends to be the female that shows off to the male unlike most species of fish when the reverse is the norm.

The male will blow bubbles under the polystyrene creating a nest to hold the eggs.

Breeding is quick, the male wraps himself around the female at the bottom of the tank as to squeeze the eggs from her, he then picks up all the eggs and spits them into the nest. After spawning, I removed the female as the male may kill her.

The male tends to the eggs and as they start to hatch he picks them up & spits them into the nest.

I removed the male as he can get fed up & eat their young. I fed the fry on Liquid fry for ten days then newly hatched Brine Shrimp until they would except crushed flake.