WAG741L
Fish Fanatic
If you can find N similis in your local aquarist shop, if you want them, pay whatever they ask!!!!! 
It is said you value what you have to work for, and my goodness, that is true! Having raised two of the three I bought as juveniles last September, I was determined to find enough to start a colony.
I had almost given up hope, but finally Diademhill answered my last-hope plea (and my prayers!), and offered me some fry from her tanks. I managed to combine collection with a commitment in the Midlands, and brought home four babies/adolescents in mid-April.
I also managed to find some advertised in Aquarist's columns, and bought a breeding pair, who so far don't seem to have realised that you are supposed to do it more than once - and preferably in your new owner's tank.
You can imagine my surprised delight when tonight I dropped some food in with my youngsters (who so far have been kept separate from the others), and saw some little grains of micro pellets move rapidly sideways and upwards. This was pretty intriguing, normally the food sinks, so I went to get my reading glasses.
Much to my amazement, I thought I saw two tiny particles darting about, about a quarter the size of a grain of rice. So then I went to get the magnifying glass, just to make sure ...
Amazingly brave, these microscopic morsels swim confidently around one of the adults (presumably mum?), prudently disappearing into a shell when they discern movement outside the tank. They are just SO tiny, I was almost reluctant to share this news, just in case they don't make it for any reason. But the fact that these similis have spawned at all is just so gratifying, I am over the moon. I would not have thought they were mature enough to breed, and I certainly would not be confident to guess at their sex!
It is really interesting that the similis from the three different sources are easily identifiable. My first acquisitions have very blue eyes, and are beige/pink with evenly-spaced top-to-bottom cream stripes; the 'breeding pair' are of similar coloration, but the stripes are not so neat, with the odd stripe petering out into a point half-way down (or up) the body; and those from Diademhill are more of a brownish-pink, striping is very even and regular, but they also have a very pretty jewelled gold along the margin of their dorsal fins, this is much more pronounced than in any of the others. The only fish to show an obvious 'nuchal hump' is the male of the 'breeding pair' (not).
These are not gaudy or flashy fish, they will not appeal to everyone, but to me their habits and behavour are far more absorbing than those of some of the gaudier, more frenetic fish.
Chill, and watch your blood pressure go down ...!
It is said you value what you have to work for, and my goodness, that is true! Having raised two of the three I bought as juveniles last September, I was determined to find enough to start a colony.
I had almost given up hope, but finally Diademhill answered my last-hope plea (and my prayers!), and offered me some fry from her tanks. I managed to combine collection with a commitment in the Midlands, and brought home four babies/adolescents in mid-April.
I also managed to find some advertised in Aquarist's columns, and bought a breeding pair, who so far don't seem to have realised that you are supposed to do it more than once - and preferably in your new owner's tank.
You can imagine my surprised delight when tonight I dropped some food in with my youngsters (who so far have been kept separate from the others), and saw some little grains of micro pellets move rapidly sideways and upwards. This was pretty intriguing, normally the food sinks, so I went to get my reading glasses.
Much to my amazement, I thought I saw two tiny particles darting about, about a quarter the size of a grain of rice. So then I went to get the magnifying glass, just to make sure ...
Amazingly brave, these microscopic morsels swim confidently around one of the adults (presumably mum?), prudently disappearing into a shell when they discern movement outside the tank. They are just SO tiny, I was almost reluctant to share this news, just in case they don't make it for any reason. But the fact that these similis have spawned at all is just so gratifying, I am over the moon. I would not have thought they were mature enough to breed, and I certainly would not be confident to guess at their sex!
It is really interesting that the similis from the three different sources are easily identifiable. My first acquisitions have very blue eyes, and are beige/pink with evenly-spaced top-to-bottom cream stripes; the 'breeding pair' are of similar coloration, but the stripes are not so neat, with the odd stripe petering out into a point half-way down (or up) the body; and those from Diademhill are more of a brownish-pink, striping is very even and regular, but they also have a very pretty jewelled gold along the margin of their dorsal fins, this is much more pronounced than in any of the others. The only fish to show an obvious 'nuchal hump' is the male of the 'breeding pair' (not).
These are not gaudy or flashy fish, they will not appeal to everyone, but to me their habits and behavour are far more absorbing than those of some of the gaudier, more frenetic fish.
Chill, and watch your blood pressure go down ...!
/www.finsout.com/fish/similisinfo.html
