Macropodus spechti - Black Paradisefish

[Myrtle]

Hi, has anyone here got experience with these? As I couldn't travel to the UKAPS event on Sunday, I walked the 500 yards to the Society of Aquarists auction and "accidentally" came home with a pair of these. I'd considered them before but the information online regarding their temperature range is very conflicting, so I put the idea to the side. The profile on Seriously Fish has them at 20-30 degrees, but other places say they need a drop to around 12 over winter for longevity. The guy who sold them kept them at 20, so that's where they are now, but I don't want to keep them permanently in spawning temperatures if they need a) the colder winters and b) a rest from feeling the need to breed! They'll be going into a 60l soon, but for now are separate as the tanks are too small for a pair together.

 

[ScareCrow]

I've not kept this species but looking at the annual temps in the areas where seriously fish say these are collected, I'd say 12c would be a bit too low. Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quang nam. I have no idea how accurate those weather reports are but I've been researching the habitat's of some of the harder to breed corydoras using this approach. Seriously fish and other websites, as good as they are generally just copy and paste of similar species information, for these less well known species.

 

[Myrtle]

Thank you, yes 12 does seem somewhat low according to that! I'll stick with 20 for a winter minimum in that case.