Badis Info

[Zapisto]

Hi,

I know it is not a cichlids but they look like them , and they are dwarf :)
anyway if it is not a good place erase / move the thread. :)

i had some experience with them before and actually breed them (i will say by accident).

Now i want work on them really.
so if you have any experience , info, on this littlle beauty feel free to share.

thanks

[mummymonkey]

I kept the Burmese badis, Badis ruber for a while. A very interesting fish and as you say, very cichlid-like. I found after a while they would get very tame and take food direct from my fingers.
I bred them much as dwarf cichlids with the difference being the male looks after the eggs. (He gets jet black at this time). I had more fry when I removed the females after spawning and then removed the male when the free-swiming fry appeared.
I kept them in small colonies with a male and three females in an 2ft tank.

Male:
http://www.ibrox.freeserve.co.uk/images/badis_male.jpg

Female:
http://www.ibrox.freeserve.co.uk/images/badisfemale.jpg

Growing on the young:
http://www.ibrox.freeserve.co.uk/images/badisrams.jpg

[Zapisto]

what your water parameters look like.

thanks all theese info.

[mummymonkey]

My water is soft and neutral to slightly alkaline. Only 1 or 2 degrees of KH and dH and pH about 7.0 - 7.5.
I'm not too particular about temperature in my tanks, anywhere between 75F - 78F and I leave the heater alone.
I forgot to say I couldn't get these fish to eat flake. Either frozen bloodworm or white/grindal worm. They especially liked small earthworms which they would eat whole. They ignored daphnia and brine shrimp unless they where really hungry. I suspect they eat only wormy things in the wild.

[Zapisto]

ok thanks,

mine eat flake , pellet (tiny) , grindals and of course frozen food
did not try daphnia yet

will see what that will give me :)

[epl4978]

whats is a badis exactly like i know what they look like but what type of fish is it?

[Zapisto]

The Nandidae group of fishes, native to South America, the West Indies, Africa and India, comprises several species, few of which are known to the majority of aquarists. Probably the most common of the species is Badis badis, a fish indigenous to India, which attains a maximum length of 2+ inches.



It is not an easy fish to describe as it has the ability, characteristic of a chameleon, to change colour, although its usual body colouration varies from a dull red to a bluish-black, usually crossed with wavy vertical lines. It is an extremely temperamental fish, certainly not to be trusted with fishes smaller than itself, or with fish having long flowing finnage, examples being the Angel Fish (Pterophyllum scalare), the Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster leeri) and the Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendens). It is, almost exclusively, a carnivorous species - tubifex, white worm, shredded earthworm and other meaty foods being accepted with great relish.

It is quite a simple fish to breed, this being done in a manner similar to the cichlids. The male is distinguished by his slimmer appearance, and his more intense colouration. For best results both fish should be separated and conditioned for a period of 7-10 days on the foods mentioned above, the breeding tank being set up to include slightly acid to neutral water, pH 6.8. A flower pot with the bottom knocked out should be placed in one of the rear corners, in which the fish will probably spawn.

After the usual preliminary courtship, which coincides with vigorous chasing by the male, the female will eventually be drawn into the flower pot to lay her eggs upon they will be fertilised by the male. Upon termination of spawning both parents should be removed, and a few drops of a 5 per cent. aqueous solution of methylene blue added to the water in order to assist the fight against bacterial growth.

Hatching occurs within 72-8O hours, and after absorption of their yolk sacs the fry should be fed the normal foods - infusoria, brine shrimp, sifted daphnia, and finally small white worms or chopped tubifex. The ultimate result should prove to be a good number of saleable fish which, in turn, will further serve to popularise the species amongst a greater number of aquarists.

text by M. J. Parry

[Cumb Dunt]

i kept Badis badis badis (the blue one) a while ago. i never spawned them, but they were certainly an interesting fish to watch (and very pretty). they are truly very chameleon-like.

i also could not get mine to take flake. but they did love their bloodworms and brine shrimp :)

[epl4978]

wow thanks for the info thats another fish i would like to try now.

[Lisachromis]

Ok, I've got a few badis that I picked up a year ago and I still don't know which species I have. Can anyone here ID them?

http://users.kent.net/~lisab/Badisspecies.jpg

[mummymonkey]

Well they're not called chameleon fish for nothing!
I think yours is most likely Badis badis.

Fishbase link (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=11016&genusname=Badis&speciesname=badis)

Kullander & Britz (http://www2.nrm.se/ve/pisces/badipage.shtml.en)

[Lisachromis]

Possibly, but I think it's a dwarf badis of some sort. They came in as wildcaughts. And they are still only 1" or so long (if that). They are in a tank with an adult male blue ram and they are dwarfed by that guy....

[mummymonkey]

If they're that wee then have a look at Dario dario.

[tjudy]

I am getting some scarlet badis next week. Badis ruber? Anyone know a website dedicated to these fish?

[Cumb Dunt]

Scarlet badis should be Dario dario.

Lisa, I don't think your fish looks like anything from Dario. I would say that it is most likely a Badis badis badis (as opposed to Badis badis burmanicus). Are the unpaired fins bright, irridescent blue?

http://www.g-hoener.de/images/11%20Zwerbuntbarsch/Badis_badis_n_c.jpg

That looks exactly like your fish's hindquarters to me :)

(These fish have the coolest taxonomy, BTW, in ANY fish, IMHO :))

[Zapisto]

Lisa difficult to see with your pics.
but i think Cumb Dunt is rigth

[Lisachromis]

I don't recall seeing bluish highlights in the unpaired fins, but I'll check the next time I see them 'fired up'. I seem to recall them being reddish. They tend to stay hidden and a plainish grey fish for the most part. My luck is I probably have only one sex!

[Cumb Dunt]

They could all be females.

Females stay in the 1-1.5" range and are the same color as the males, albeit substantially subdued.

[retro_gk]

The Nandidae group of fishes, native to South America, the West Indies, Africa and India, comprises several species, ...

text by M. J. Parry


A minor correction...

Badids are no longer classified as Nandids, they are now in their own family, Badidae


@Lisachromis, your fish looks like a female B. badis

[Zapisto]

A minor correction...

Badids are no longer classified as Nandids, they are now in their own family, Badidae

You are So True
My Mistake :)

[Lisachromis]

Lisachromis, your fish looks like a female B. badis

Figures, all the Badis I have look like that! Just my luck.

[retro_gk]

Figures, all the Badis I have look like that! Just my luck.


Do you have any better pics? I'd be surprised if all your fish were female...

[Lisachromis]

Hopefully when I find my charger, I can get more pics, but that's the best pic I have right now. The pic that's there is representative of them all. Same size, same colours.

[Cumb Dunt]

Lisa,

My best bet would be Badis badis badis females.

The males should not be hard to find, particularly if you haunt your LFS to any degree. Often the males are the only ones shipped to the stores.

[mooman]

Zapisto, you gave instructions to artificially hatch the eggs. Is this neccessary? Do the adults show any kind of parental care if left alone?

[mummymonkey]

Zapisto, you gave instructions to artificially hatch the eggs. Is this neccessary? Do the adults show any kind of parental care if left alone?In my experience the male looks after the eggs. I removed the females as soon as the male was brooding and then removed the male as soon as fry appeared.