Not as Bad(is) as I Thought
By Robin Engelking
As published in Aqua News, January/February 1999, Minnesota Aquarium Society
Aquarticles
Since I first saw a picture of Badis badis in Aquarium Fish by Ulrich
Schliewen, I knew I had to keep this beautiful little gem.
Its common name is Blue Perch and it is in the same suborder as perches and sunfish,
but it has its own family-Badidae, with just a single species-Badis badis.
Badis has three subspecies (per Baensch Atlases 1, 2 and 3). The first
subspecies, B. b. badis is found in India. The second subspecies, B. b.
siamensis is found in Thailand and Phuket Island. Both of these subspecies are mostly
blue but they differ in scale counts as well as location. The third subspecies, B. b.
burmanicus is from Burma. This fish has a red color.
All subspecies are small, reaching 2 1/2 to 3 inches. The males have a concave curve to
their ventral area and the females are convex. They show a surprising amount of color
changing in their tank. When they are frightened they fade to a beige color with a dark
spot on the caudal peduncle. When the dominant male is feeling bold he turns dark with
dark, almost black stripes running vertically down his sides. All the fish have
"sparkly" blue spots. The males are impressive when they are displaying for each
other or the females.
I was able to get the fish when one of our club members who occasionally gets fish
shipped in was ready to send in an order to his wholesaler. I had noticed the Badis
listed and decided to try to get a dozen. I had a great tank ready for them. The top 1/3
to 1/2 was full of Anacharis and Hygrophila. There are also some Cryptocorynes
and a couple of Anubias attached to driftwood. There are a number of rock caves
and a rhino cave. The tank has a coarse sand substrate. They would have to share their
tank with some Ancistrus sp. Sff. Hoplogenys that I am trying (unsuccessfully so
far) to spawn.
Well the big day arrived. When I picked the fish up we discovered that the wholesaler only
had seven fish to send. I took them home and put them in their new home. They promptly
disappeared and I didn't see them again for about two weeks. Just as I decided they must
have died they started making an appearance.
Once they acclimated to their new home they became rather bold. They swim around the
tank and pick "critters'' off plants and rocks and display at each other. They also
like to watch me watching them and aren't the least bit afraid of me. They check out my
hands if I'm working in the tank and follow the siphon around when I clean to gobble up
anything interesting that I might stir up.
I generally try to do a 20 to 30% water change every two weeks and clean the Whisper
200 twice or three times a week. (Ancistrus are messy.) The pH is about 7 and the
hardness is about 15. Otherwise I don't do anything special to the tank.
One day when I was cleaning the tank I went to pull out a dead leaf. Imagine my
surprise when it darted away from me. The Badis had babies! I haven't seen them
spawn or the male guarding the eggs. There are at least two spawns in the tank, although
not many of either. I imagine most of them have been eaten because the books I read say
they can lay up to 150 eggs per spawn. I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed that many babies.
Other than being a little hard to find in fish shops I found these attractive little
fish easy to keep. They would probably get along well in a community tank with peaceful,
slow moving fish. They are rather slow (unless you're trying to net them) and might not
get enough food with faster swimmers. I keep mine in a species tank where I can watch them
interact with each other.
I hope this article will persuade you to try Badis badis. They aren't as hard
to keep as I thought.
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