Background – Ricefish are native to East Asia and have been found in marshes, rice paddies and slow-moving water. They hold the title of being the first vertebrate to have bred in space. They reproduce by the male placing a packet of sperm inside the female. The female then fertilizes the eggs and places them throughout the environment carrying them and placing them each in its own special location.
My experience so far: The fish survived 4 days of shipping in breather bags and emerged happy, healthy and very hungry. They are eating Deli Flakes and Purina fish food (both group buys) and freeze-dried blood worms and mosquito larva. They have been placed in a 10 gallon quarantine tank with an established sponge filter, gravel bottom, several small planted amazon swords, several floating amazon swords with very long roots and leaf litter from dried boiled Magnolia leaves. 8 days after arriving (still in quarantine) the first eggs have been seen:
To give the fry the best chance, I will be moving all fish out of this tank in 7 days. All my research indicates that the Ricefish are very good at catching fry.
To be continued...
Yes, my experience with another species of ricefish makes me think removing the adults is a great idea.