Wrestling Half Beak

[guppymonkey]

I know I am still fairly new to keeping some of the rarer species of livebearers but I am confused. Everywhere I look I read that wrestling halfbeaks (Dermogenys pusillus) is difficult to keep. They say that these halfbeaks are sensitive to water changes, should be kept in brackish water, eat live food and won't eat off the bottom. I keep mine in pure fresh water (thats what they were shipped in so I assume thats what they have been kept in. I have mine eating a variety of pellet food and frozen and freeze dried food and they eat off the bottom all the time! I have had no problems with the health of my halfbeaks outside of the occasional clash with the males in the tank (which is to be expected). They are breeding and I have been getting about half a dozen fry just about every month now for the last few months. I change about 10 to 25 percent of the water every 2 to 3 days with water that I have aged for a few days. Am I just getting lucky?

 

[diburning]

I know I am still fairly new to keeping some of the rarer species of livebearers but I am confused. Everywhere I look I read that wrestling halfbeaks (Dermogenys pusillus) is difficult to keep. They say that these halfbeaks are sensitive to water changes, should be kept in brackish water, eat live food and won't eat off the bottom. I keep mine in pure fresh water (thats what they were shipped in so I assume thats what they have been kept in. I have mine eating a variety of pellet food and frozen and freeze dried food and they eat off the bottom all the time! I have had no problems with the health of my halfbeaks outside of the occasional clash with the males in the tank (which is to be expected). They are breeding and I have been getting about half a dozen fry just about every month now for the last few months. I change about 10 to 25 percent of the water every 2 to 3 days with water that I have aged for a few days. Am I just getting lucky?

nope. they are really really hardy. The sites are just plain wrong because they mix it up with the celebes halfbeak.

 

[flamingonhot]

Personally, halfbeaks in general are easy to keep as long as you have good water quality and no fish that can stress them out constantly.

 

[diburning]

Personally, halfbeaks in general are easy to keep as long as you have good water quality and no fish that can stress them out constantly.

hmm.. well, my wrestling halfbeak is doing fine with all my endlers chasing it lol.

 

[nmonks]

Hurrah! Some converts to halfbeak-keeping. Yes, all the books and the web sites are wrong. Except my halfbeak page, of course.

No, wrestlers don't need salt. Total myth. The author of the Aqualog book puts this down to juveniles of marine/estuarine halfbeaks having been mistaken by earlier generations as the wrestling halfbeak. That said, they do fine in slightly brackish if you want to put them there.

I hope we start seeing some of other species getting traded more often. There are some stunners, but I only ever seem to end up with odd specimens, like what I think is a male Nomorhamphus ravnaki, coming in with mixed batches of so-called Celebes halfbeaks. No care seems to be taken by exporters to get just a single species in a batch, and they don't seem to hybridise, either. No doubt this explains why some people find them difficult to breed, while others find they breed like guppies.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[diburning]

Hurrah! Some converts to halfbeak-keeping. Yes, all the books and the web sites are wrong. Except my halfbeak page, of course.

No, wrestlers don't need salt. Total myth. The author of the Aqualog book puts this down to juveniles of marine/estuarine halfbeaks having been mistaken by earlier generations as the wrestling halfbeak. That said, they do fine in slightly brackish if you want to put them there.

I hope we start seeing some of other species getting traded more often. There are some stunners, but I only ever seem to end up with odd specimens, like what I think is a male Nomorhamphus ravnaki, coming in with mixed batches of so-called Celebes halfbeaks. No care seems to be taken by exporters to get just a single species in a batch, and they don't seem to hybridise, either. No doubt this explains why some people find them difficult to breed, while others find they breed like guppies.

Cheers,

Neale

there is another species of halfbeak which stays small like the wrestling ones calle the red/redfin halfbeak. those are actually the ones of the nomorhamphus family and aren't the same as the wreslers (demogenys pusilla) Those actually benefit from a little salt.

 

[nmonks]

The only Nomorhamphus that occurs in slightly brackish water is N. ebrardtii, and I have observed that while it can survive in soft/acid water, mortality is high. It almost certainly needs at least hard/alkaline water. If it is sold as a separate species, it's the "red fin halfbeak", but I've only ever found my specimens of this mixed in with regular Celebes halfbeaks.

As far as I can figure out, Hemirhamphodon spp. don't want salt, they want soft/acid water. The definitely brackish water "freshwater" halfbeaks are those in the genus Zenarchopterus; these are lovely fish, but rarely traded, and I've not yet seen them at all.

Cheers,

Neale

there is another species of halfbeak which stays small like the wrestling ones calle the red/redfin halfbeak. those are actually the ones of the nomorhamphus family and aren't the same as the wreslers (demogenys pusilla) Those actually benefit from a little salt.

 

[diburning]

thanks for clearing that up. I sell the wrestling halfbeaks on the internet and I have never had one die in my tank, or through shipping.

Check out my site. Its not fully stocked yet but it might have some things that may interest you.

www.meepstore.co.nr