Celebes Halfbeaks

[Squidward]

Hi All,

Well I finally got a pair of Celebes Halfbeaks.
I have been looking for them for ages. My LFS gets them now and again, but they are usually tiny. They would have been a snack for my Angels in 5 seconds.
Anyway, during the week, they got some nice sized ones of at least a few cm. Definately had to have them.

Thanks
Squidward

 

[nmonks]

Well done! Halfbeaks are my favourite fish, and I've bred more Celebes halfbeaks than almost anything else. They're really fun fish to keep. Enjoy!

Cheers, Neale

PS. There's some stuff about these fish and breeding them on my website.

 

[Squidward]

Hi Neale,

Thanks. They are in my community tank, so not so sure about breeding at this stage. Am just quite chuffed that I got them. Will read the articles you have posted elsewhere on the Forum.

 

[nmonks]

They breed fine in community tanks. They fry are quite large. I have kept them with Corydoras and Limia, and they still breed readily, enough that I can rescue a dozen or more fry per batch. They are mildly cannibalistic, so do stock with lots of floating plants, but don't confine the females to traps -- that'll stress them, and miscarriages become common when that happens.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Squidward]

Neale,

Well there are plenty of floating plants (water lettuce) so I guess that if there are babies, there would be somewhere for them to hide.

Incidently, it was a real pain in the behind to get a true pair. I told the man at the LFS that I wanted a tue pair.
He told me " I don't know how to sex them"

So every time he caught 2, I had a look, and then rejected one of them on the basis that it was the same sex as the other. Think I got it right eventually.

 

[nmonks]

Pistia is a step in the right direction, but the roots don't provide a huge amount of cover; Ceratopteris is ideal.

Sexing halfbeaks shouldn't be hard; after 3-4 months of age the anal fins of the two sexes should be obviously different.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Squidward]

Sexing halfbeaks shouldn't be hard; after 3-4 months of age the anal fins of the two sexes should be obviously different.

Cheers, Neale

I thought so too!

 

[nmonks]

Real good. I've got a few surplus males, should you need them. One thing I've noticed though when you keep a bunch of males is that one or two of them adopt really bright colours, very different to all the others. So there may be a hierarchical thing going on. Plus, in big groups, the males are less likely to damage each other than when you have just two or three. Like mbuna, I suppose.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Squidward]

Neale,

Thanks for the offer. Very kind of you. I will see how I get on with my 2 first.
Who knows, I may start some kind of breeding project with them though!