Eeeek! I might be getting some Psuedomugils luminatus!

the adults love newly hatched brineshrimp, microworms and mozzie larvae so get going :)

Do you think they'd be okay living with pygmy cories? The pygmies would also go wild for that diet either way! :D

I do need to make some new microworm cultures actually, so definitely reminded me to get on that! I'll look into the BBS again... promise!
 
Mine liked swimming in the filter outflow. They'd be fine with pygmy Cories if you aren't worried about eggs.

I know I got pictures of mine, even of the reflective electric blue sheen on the back. Don't you hate it when you don't label your photos and can't find them...
 
Adorabelle......
I first of all bought eggs from someone in Scotland around 3 years ago. They arrived with the packet squashed and no visible eggs. He sent me more that arrived OK but failed to hatch.
Then I saw them on ebay and contacted the seller direct. He is in Sunderland and I'm only 8 miles away so drove up there. I didn't see any sense in paying for carriage. I got a breeding pair.
After 3 days the male committed suicide by jumping out of the tank.
So I got another pair of them, as 1 male with 2 female should work well.
Once more, the male did a runner and died on the carpet.
When I set my nano tank up I bought another pair so now have a male and 3 female. I have added a male Santa Maria Endler as it was alone in another tank with larger fish after its mate also did a jump from the tank. They get on very well.
So far I haven't seen any sign of breeding activity but as I can't sit and watch them all day long I might just get a result in due course. I hope so as if I get any more of them committing hari kari I'll drop them from my collections.
As for the breeding, it's not easy to place a breeding mop into such a small well planted tank so I haven't. Im relying on there being sufficient plant growth to do the same thing, and for the fry to have enough places to swim through to escape detection and live to grow into other high jump athletes.
You have seen and commented on my nano tank as it was being set up and now it's in full bloom, so to speak.
The Monte Carlo in the left rear is now well spread and growing taller. The Rotala in the rear left is the same. It's going to be absolutely great when the colour comes through better. The mini hairgrass is already in need of a cut and I'll wait a couple more weeks for that just in case there are eggs in it.
Would I buy more Luminatus? Probably not. They are surface swimmers and very skittish. The slightest movement outside of the tank sends them scattering so I can see how they manage to jump out.
I think I'd be going for one of the rasboras instead, or perhaps even more of the male endlers as they too stay small and are simply dazzling in some gorgeous colours.
Anyway, good luck with yours, and if you need a phone number of the guy in Sunderland just ask.

Here's the tank just after setting it up prior to the being filled with water
IMG_20220626_183019.jpg

and here it is now
IMG_20220719_055200.jpg
 
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I used a 20 high, a 15 and some 5s for the fry. They moved around.

The main show tank was the 20. It had an HOB with enough kick to make the plants wave a bit. The substrate was Cryptocorynne wendtii, with some Vallisneria americana, and the surface was covered in guppy grass (Najas). The luminatus stayed close to the surface, and were a bit shy. I am tall, so I had to have them on a higher rack, and had to stoop to watch them. The area right under the surface was their domain. I eventually moved a chair over so I could sit and look up at the 20, perched on a four foot high rack.

They are beautiful, but you need to think about how to see them.

Like all surface fish, they jump when startled. They are nervous little things, so a good lid is crucial.

I bred them by putting acrylic mops in the tank. I'm sure the Najas got some of the eggs and if I had wanted hundreds, I would have removed it. As was, I got about 10 good eggs a week. The fry hatched, if I recall correctly in 10-14 days, and were easy to feed. To get any good egg production though, I had to feed the adults carefully. They needed live baby brine shrimp and liked Dapnia and mosquito larvae from the back yard. On flake, egg production was pretty slow. They like to feed at the surface, so sinking food isn't good, and their mouths are not huge.
 
Not with how your one is set up at the moment
What do you mean? I would probably add taller plants anyway before getting any form of top dwelling schooling or shoaling fish
 
All rainbowfish jump so they all need good fitting covers, and block up the gaps with sponge.

A lot of Pseudomugils breed in depressions in the substrate. Some will also use plants. If they aren't breeding there is either a water quality issue or lack of food.

All fish being used for breeding should be fed 3-5 times a day for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks before they are bred. Because Pseudomugils and other rainbowfish are serial spawners (breed continuously for months at a time and for as long as the conditions are good), you need to feed them well and feed them regularly during this time.
 
I didn't see some of the replies to this I realise, it was when my old laptop died. Sorry for not responding to those sooner!

I GOT MY LUMINATUS! Two males, two females, and a huge bunch of peacock moss that he thinks likely has eggs in it :D They're absolutely gorgeous and I love them already! They're settling in already, within two minutes of being let out of the bag I dropped in some finely ground Bug Bites and they were going for the food already! Hoping that there are some eggs in the moss, or that the adults spawn, I have a lot of tiny frozen foods plus Bug Bites and live microworms to help get the adults into breeding condition, hopefully. Will try to get some photos of them tomorrow, didn't want to try tonight since they only acclimated at about 6pm and I don't want to disturb them too much. Hoping they'll pose nicely for the camera tomorrow. Their bright blue eyes are really something, absolutely gorgeous little fish, even before the males are in breeding condition.
 
I didn't see some of the replies to this I realise, it was when my old laptop died. Sorry for not responding to those sooner!

I GOT MY LUMINATUS! Two males, two females, and a huge bunch of peacock moss that he thinks likely has eggs in it :D They're absolutely gorgeous and I love them already! They're settling in already, within two minutes of being let out of the bag I dropped in some finely ground Bug Bites and they were going for the food already! Hoping that there are some eggs in the moss, or that the adults spawn, I have a lot of tiny frozen foods plus Bug Bites and live microworms to help get the adults into breeding condition, hopefully. Will try to get some photos of them tomorrow, didn't want to try tonight since they only acclimated at about 6pm and I don't want to disturb them too much. Hoping they'll pose nicely for the camera tomorrow. Their bright blue eyes are really something, absolutely gorgeous little fish, even before the males are in breeding condition.
Pictures or it didn't happen! 😅
 
I'm sorry, I still don't have pics yet, but the adults are doing well and I've been checking the moss a couple of times a day - hobbyist I got them from said that sometimes you can see the bright blue eyes of the fry just before they hatch if you use a torch, and today I'm sure I see one!! So tiny, and I'm overdue for an eye test, but hard to mistake bright blue! It's a pretty big and dense amount of moss so I'm hoping that there's more than the one in there and it's just the one near the top I can see, but we'll see! Hopeful that I'll have some fry to raise soon, then fingers crossed the adults will spawn too!
 
I'm sorry, I still don't have pics yet, but the adults are doing well and I've been checking the moss a couple of times a day - hobbyist I got them from said that sometimes you can see the bright blue eyes of the fry just before they hatch if you use a torch, and today I'm sure I see one!! So tiny, and I'm overdue for an eye test, but hard to mistake bright blue! It's a pretty big and dense amount of moss so I'm hoping that there's more than the one in there and it's just the one near the top I can see, but we'll see! Hopeful that I'll have some fry to raise soon, then fingers crossed the adults will spawn too!
Suuuuuure 🤔
(Joking)
Glad their doing good and settling in!
 
In years past I had a few of the blues eyed bows as well as threadfins. The only spawning I ever saw was from some threadfins I bought and parked in a LF BN grow tank. It had a lot of plants including floaters. I parker the threads in there. I had to remove the floating plants to clean the tank and soon after getting the threads i was surprised to see tiny fry from them. Unfortunately I had no infusoria for them and nothing else proper to feed and the next week they were gone.

What I liked about both the bue eyes and the threads was how the males display. The male threads were like little butterflies flapping their dorsals up and down.
 
That would make a great entry in one of our upcoming Fish of the Month contest which will feature "any fish"...especially "oddballs"---most likely for the December FOTM contest.
 
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