Pethia didi
Pethia didi naturally inhabits small tributaries and streams of the Irrawaddy River in Southeast Asia. The fish prefer to stay in small groups in strong currents, among bamboo thickets. In such places there are almost no other plants, the bottom is a mixture of earth and sand with stones. The bottom is solidly littered with snags, sunken bamboo branches and leaves. The water is very muddy and contains a lot of organics. Despite the fact that this fish undemanding, yet you can find it in aquariums amateurs are very rare, and this is mainly due to its lackluster coloration compared to other representatives of the barbs.
Pethia didi has a flattened sideways diamond-shaped body of golden color. At the root of the tail plumage there is a dark oval-shaped spot, a second spot of similar shape is behind the gill cover. The fins are transparent. Males are more colorful and slightly smaller than females, females have a rounded abdomen. The maximum size of fish is 4 cm.
Pethia didi peaceful, gregarious fish. Keep them in a group of at least 8 specimens. For such a number is sufficient aquarium volume of 60 liters. Perhaps the content in a common aquarium with other, commensurate in size, peace-loving fish.
Water parameters: temperature 15-25 ° C, hardness dH 0-5 °, acidity pH 6,5-7,0. Requires filtration, aeration and weekly replacement of 1/4 of the aquarium water with fresh. A small water current should be created in the aquarium.
A mixture of sand and gravel can be used as substrate. At the bottom should be placed snags and dried bamboo branches. Along the perimeter of the aquarium is desirable to plant shade-loving plants.
Fish do not like bright light, so the lighting should be muted. You can place on the surface of the water a few bushes of floating plants, which will serve as a good natural light filter.
The menu of fish are a variety of live, frozen and dry food. Fish are given daphnii, artemia, bloodworms, a variety of dry grinded and flaked foods. Necessary plant additives to feed. Feed the fish should be 2 times a day.
Reproduction
Pethia didi reaches sexual maturity at about 8 months of age.
Spawning usually takes place in the same aquarium where the fish stay all the time. In the process of spawning, the females cast their eggs in the water column throughout the aquarium, and the males immediately fertilize them. The eggs fell to the bottom incubated for 20-25 hours, after which the larvae hatch, which on the second day of life begin to swim. Producers do not show parental care about the eggs and fry, so immediately after spawning, to save the stock of fry, all the eggs should be collected and moved to another aquarium with similar water parameters.
The fry are fed live dust, and after a couple of weeks begin to give artemia.
Life expectancy of Pethia didi is 3-4 years.
