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Sphaerichthys acrostoma, Vierke, 1979

Origin: Indonesia, Kalimantan(Borneo), Mentaya river system. Linke describes he found the fish in a river, with tanned brown, but clear water, that flowed rapidly. Ph 4.2 and 20mS and a temperature of 28 degrees.

Etymology: acrostoma, pointy mouth

Synonyms: None

First European import: Germany, 197?, by Edith Korthaus and Mr. and Ms. Foersch.

Description: See picture

Care: Spaerichthys acrostoma should be kept in larger tanks, 80 cm minimum, and is best kept in small groups. Tanned water with a low visibility and not too much light, driftwood and maybe some plants that can stand this type of environment(Javafern, Javamoss, Anubias nana, some floating plants). Sphaerichthys acrostoma pairs will establish large territoria in a tank, although no actual fighting will occur. The fish will usually inhabit the middle and upper regions of a tank, and are in general peacefull and quiet inhabitants. The waterquality should be close to perfect, frequent waterchanges

Temperature:22-28 degrees

Feeding: Live food, artemia and red mosquito larvae, but also flake, pellets..

Size: 7.5 cm Some reports indicate 10 cm, I've kept the fish now for almost a year and the largest specimen is approximately 6 cm.

pH: 4.0-7.5 Hardness 0-8

Breeding: Mouthbreeder, the male is the mouthbreeder, while the female defends the territorium against possible intruders. To get Sphaerichthys acrostoma to breed the water schould be extremely soft and acidic, pH below 5 and dGH below 2. If the fish are kept as described in the care section breeding may occur, provided the fish are fed well and the amount of organic waste is low. After a breeding period of around 15 days around 40, sometimes more, fry are released by the male.

Sexual dimorphism: Females show vertical stripes in the abdominal region, the males have a dark horizontal stripe.

Prices:Unknown.

Additional:

Picture references: Picture 1: E. Naus

References:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=25139&genusname=Sphaerichthys&speciesname=acrostomaRichter, H. J. (1979): Das Buch der Labyrinthfische. Verlag Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen, Germany.

Linke, H.(1980): Labyrinthfische - Farbe im Aquarium. Tetra Verlag, Melle, Germany.

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