Breeding Fact Sheet No. 6

Inlecypris auropurpurea

This fish (another of the Cyprinid fishes purchased at Fischhaus Zepkow in May 2003) is found in Lake Inle in Myanmar as is Sawbwa resplendens. It is a very active fish and a superb jumper. Even fry of ½ inch, are capable of jumping a height of 3 to 4 inches.

BE WARNED, the bigger the fish gets, the better it jumps.

The colour of these fish when in a planted tank is superb. The flanks of the fish are a purple/pink and they positively glow in sunlit tanks.

The fish we brought back were adults and ready for breeding. Unfortunately they had to take their place in a queue, as tank space became a problem. With so many Cyprinids and Rainbows all requiring individual tanks for spawning, some had to wait. However, the wait was worth it!

I tried the method used by Guido and Ilse for spawning these fish. An 18 x 12 x 12 inch tank was fitted with a coarse mesh stretching diagonally from the top of one end of the tank to the bottom of the other end. The mesh was a flexible plastic and was cut to exactly fit the internal dimensions of the tank. The mesh was held in place at the top by a large lump of 'Blu-Tack' and at the bottom by a small plastic container with coarse gravel and a fairly large Anubias lanceolata. Our very hard, alkaline tap water was used to fill the tank. The adult fish were placed on the top of the mesh just prior to turning the lights out for the night. No heater was used in the tank but the temperature was around 25°C. A sponge filter was also added.

The fish spawned during the second night, most probably in the early hours of the morning. The eggs hatched after 36 hours and the fry, which were quite large, hung on to every available surface. It was interesting to note that the fry congregated around the sponge filter and appeared to be hanging about 1mm from the actual surface of the sponge. At no time, did they attach themselves to the sides of the tank. They hung from the sponge, from the filter itself and from the plastic mesh. In all cases, seemingly not actually touching the mesh or filter. I have not observed this sort of behaviour before in any other fry hatched. After 2 days, they became free swimming and feeding with a liquid fry food (homemade) commenced. The plastic mesh was removed to facilitate cleaning of the bottom of the tank. Growth was fairly slow and it was over two weeks before they were able to take newly hatched brine shrimp. Small amounts of water were changed on a daily basis and uneaten shrimp removed etc. After another two weeks, part of the brood, was transferred to another tank, as they were grossly overcrowded. In excess of 200 baby fish were at the time, in a very small tank. The fry growth rate is slow. They will eat chopped tubifex worms but without enthusiasm. Currently, they are being fed dried food two or three times a day and occasionally, they get any excess brine shrimp not required for other fry. At 7 weeks of age, most are about ¾ of an inch in length. They were transferred to a 60 x 18 x 18 inch tank with external power filter after 7 weeks. At this age, they show no colour at all, they are just a small silver fish with a little hint of the colours to come.

The adult fish, are very attractive and are active at all times. Provided care is taken to ensure that the tank has a close fitting lid, they are an ideal community fish.

From the adults that I have, I would expect male fish to grow to 60mm and females to 65mm S/L.

© Pete Cottle, 2003. This fact sheet may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author.