Lyalius: varieties, selection, care, reproduction

Aquarium fish Lalius is a fairly popular pet among experienced and novice breeders. Among its obvious advantages, a variety of colors, unpretentiousness in content, and a peaceful disposition are noted. Even a child who dreams of his own underwater kingdom will be able to master the simple rules of keeping aquarium fish of this species. Beautiful and bright fish unusually enliven almost any landscape, they are able to live in an aquatic environment with different parameters. They are good neighbors for most medium-sized peaceful inhabitants of the aquarium, can breed in captivity and delight the owner with replenishment.

A representative of the labyrinth fish family, lalius, lives in nature in the warm reservoirs of Indonesia, India, Bangladesh. These aquarium fish are also known as thread carriers or dwarf gourami, but they are most often called according to the Latin name Trichogaster lalius. In the natural environment, fish are painted in red and silver-blue tones, and among the selection species there are even more exotic variants with a body of neon, green, coral color.

Lalius - flocks of fish that prefer to live in the company of their relatives in an artificial environment. On average, it is recommended to simultaneously keep from 6-8 individuals, for which you will need a tank of 60 liters. This compact fish grows to a length of 7.5–9 cm, has a body flattened in the lateral region, and its tail is small and short. The fins also look unusual in lalius - in males they are slightly elongated back at an angle.

The elongated body of the llyus seems to be surrounded by fins, on the surface of which red spots are traced. The head is silver-blue, colored brighter in the area of ​​the mouth. The pectoral fin is replaced by an elongated mustache, which helps the fish to navigate freely even in muddy waters.

The behavior of the fish also looks quite attractive, especially for an aquarist who prefers pets with a peaceful disposition. In the natural environment, laliuses almost do not face dangers, living in the shallow still waters of rice fields, creeks with a slow course, and small lakes. Their behavior, formed by long-term habits, and in a spacious aquarium remains the same. These fish are leisurely, slow, spend most of their time in dense benthic thickets and are afraid of noise or aggressive behavior.

Lalius are distinguished by a variety of breeding (bred by lovers) species. As a pet for the aquarium, you can choose one of the following varieties of the classic dwarf gourami.

• Cobalt. Fish with a deep blue body. Cobalt lalius looks impressive, but its female is more modestly colored. Her bluish-silver torso with artificial lighting casts green and yellow.

• Red or neon. The males of this subspecies have a crimson-red main background; the color in the head and dorsal regions is turquoise. Neon lalius looks unusual and decorative, its dorsal fin is decorated with a blue scallop.

• Coral. Its color is close to red-brown. Coral lalius also does not lose its characteristic striping.

• Rainbow. Fish of this species are striped, have a bright and rich color of stripes, close to scarlet. But only a male looks like this - females have an inexpressive gray-brown body.

• Blue. This variety has a body of rich light blue color. Blue lalius looks interesting, but is less common than others.

• Emerald. It has pronounced red stripes on the background of a greenish body. Emerald lalius has a light pearl tint, very decorative.

All these species successfully maintain their captivity and feel great in an artificial environment. Ordinary or classic lilyuses are not colored as bright as aquarium ones. Their body has a color close to gray or brown. Having studied cobalt, red, neon, rainbow and other types of lily with a description, you can easily choose pets for your aquarium.

The choice of lalius in a pet store is primarily associated with the problem of acquiring a healthy fish without pathologies, parasites and diseases. The main rule here is the choice of young individuals. You should not be seduced by the beauty of a large male - most likely, this fish will live no more than 1 year. And if you take a young lalius, he will be able to please the owners for 2-5 years, depending on the conditions of detention.

When choosing a place to buy lilyus, it is better to give preference to a pet store that has the necessary certificates and clear justifications for the origin of live goods. You should not succumb to the tempting ads for the sale of pets with direct supplies from Indonesia or India. Such a fish can be infected with parasites; it is especially dangerous to plant an exotic quinoid that has not passed quarantine into a common aquarium.

It is worth paying attention to the appearance of the fish. Exfoliating scales, cloudy eyes, fins torn or whitish-coated are a reason for refusing to acquire an individual. But you should not worry about the slowness of fish or gasping for air. For laliuses, this behavior is quite characteristic.

Determining the sex of lalius is quite simple; they have a pronounced sexual dimorphism. The main difference between a male and a female is size - males are much larger, 7–9 cm in length, females grow no more than 6 cm. In addition, body color can also be attributed to differences. In males, it is bright; vertical stripes of blue and red are well defined on the body. With age, the anal and dorsal fins become elongated.

Females have a simple silver body color, with no noticeable stripes. The fins are translucent, short, rounded in shape. They are rather nondescript, look less decorative.

The rules for keeping laliuses in the aquarium are as simple as possible. They do not require complex or special care. But these exotic pets are quite sensitive to the purity of the water. They need frequent water changes, especially if the aquarium is densely populated. For a couple, a 20-liter tank (10 liters per fish) will suffice, with an increase in numbers, the volumes increase proportionally.

For laliuses, calm is important, as they are rather shy, they are stressed by noise. It is recommended to install the tank in a place away from noise, sources of bright light. Inside the tank, it is necessary to place the soil and vegetation in which these underwater inhabitants love to hide. When forming a flock of fish, it is important to keep a balance between the number of males and females.

In caring for laliuses, care must be taken to create a comfortable environment in the aquarium. The following parameters will be optimal.

• Temperature condition. It should be in the range of 22-27 degrees, a sharp change in the climate in the room or significant cooling, heating of water is not welcome. The replacement fluid must be heated to the desired values. This is due to the fact that in labyrinth fish, under the influence of these factors, irreversible changes in the body can occur.
• The rigidity of the environment. Should not exceed 5-18 units, special additives are used to soften, prolonged sedimentation or thorough boiling.
• Acidity. Optimum values ​​are pH values ​​from 6 to 8.

Laliuses are able to breathe oxygen from the air, so installing a filter in their aquarium is optional. A slight flow is allowed, but you can do without the artificial movement of masses of liquid. In addition, the container must be covered, otherwise the pets will jump out of the water. Another lid will protect the tank from heat loss.

When choosing soil for laliuses, it is necessary to give preference to dark sand, fine gravel, which can advantageously shade the bright color of the body of the fish. At the bottom for pets you need to place grottoes, caves, other shelters. In addition, it is imperative to pay attention to the planting of floating plants capable of forming dense thickets.

Food fish can be arranged without unnecessary difficulties. Lalius willingly eat live food and dry cereal. The frequency of feeding is 1-2 times a day. Everything that is not eaten in the first 2-5 minutes must be removed from the tank. You can’t give food more often: the fish are prone to obesity, it is recommended to arrange fasting days for pets on a weekly basis.

Dwarf gourami pick up food from the surface of the water. So that they can eat normally, food that is slowly soaking and settling to the bottom is required.

Lyalius is a fish with fairly rapid puberty. At home, its breeding is possible from 5 months, by this time the fish already has a body length of 4-5 cm. To breed fish, it is necessary to equip a separate spawning aquarium with a volume of 40 liters or more, filled with water to a height of not more than 15 cm from the bottom. This is necessary for the survival of fry, in the first month of life having an undeveloped labyrinth apparatus.

The medium should be acid neutral, fairly soft. Inside, a spawning aquarium is filled with plants with small leaves, a low-power filter with a closed mesh or sponge is used to clean the water with an intake. Constant water parameters, high humidity and stable temperature conditions are very important for future offspring. To ensure they help the use of glass or film, which covers the tank.

Before spawning, both the male and the female are fed intensively, increasing the usual dose of food or the frequency of feeding. It is recommended to increase the proportion of live food, add frozen food. As soon as a female acquires a rounded appearance with a swollen abdomen, she is transferred to a future spawning ground. About 1 week the female is kept separately, then the male is transplanted to her.

If the conditions created were suitable, in the tank by the morning there would be signs of a nest building. They look like foam from bubbles, located close to the surface. Unlike other labyrinth fish, laliuses additionally use plant materials to form the future incubator. During this period, the male drives away the female and green shelters will be useful to her for a relaxing holiday.

As soon as the nest creation process is completed, the female plays the dominant role again. She actively flirts with the male, touches his face and abdomen, swims under the place where the nest is. The spawning process occurs in this position, under the vesicle mass. The fish weave and produce eggs, while fertilizing it. The process is repeated until the female’s egg stocks are completely empty.

Further, the male takes care of the nest. The father protects the nest for 36 hours, picks up fallen eggs. It is better to plant a maternal individual so that it does not suffer from its aggression.

Already hatched from eggs, fry need to maintain a constant state of the environment. In the early days, they are fed with ciliates; as they grow, they include microworms or artemia. Feeding is often required so that the young are constantly fed. It is hunger that is the main cause of death of the offspring of Lalius in the first week of life. Upon reaching a body length of 1 cm, young animals can be transferred to ready-made food in cereal.

As larger individuals grow, they are planted in separate aquariums or tanks. They experience constant hunger, can attack brothers, show signs of cannibalism.

Lalius - fish that get along well with representatives of other labyrinth rocks, calm decorative views. They are careful and most often spend time away from other inhabitants of the aquatic world. Laliuses are especially active in hiding during the adaptation period, but upon its completion they communicate well with their neighbors.

As other inhabitants of the aquarium, it is not recommended to choose too active, nimble fish. They easily deprive sluggish dwarf gourami of food, he will experience hunger. Well suited for the joint maintenance of angelfish, barbs, loaches, catfish, macropods. There is good compatibility with different types of gourams - fish related to each other will not conflict.

A useful companion for these fish will be the catfish corridor. Lilies floating near the surface will not feel discomfort from a neighbor living in the bottom layers. In addition, the corridor will be able to eat up food that settles to the bottom, and will ensure the maintenance of clean water.

It is necessary to exclude the combined content of lilies with large, aggressive fish with the instinct of a predator. The main danger for them is zebrafish, saber-toothed tetras, cichlids, astronotuses.A large mouth allows them to swallow smaller prey as a whole, and an enviable appetite will lead to a quick cleaning of the aquarium from possible competitors for food.

Another example of a failed neighbor is a cockerel. A fighting fish will see in the dwarf gourami a contender for its territory and begin the struggle for a place in the aquarium. Even guppies can encroach on excessively peace-loving laliuses and threaten their safety.

For more information on the content of aquarium lalius, see the following video.