Blue eyes - origin and relationship
The blue-eyes (Pseudomugilidae) from the order of the spike-fish come from Papua New Guinea and from West New Guinea, one meets also a kind on the Aru islands, and in Australia they occur also. They live in clear water or in black water, but blue-eye species are also found in brackish water areas of mangroves. The body of these pretty little fish is strongly flattened at the sides. Their wing-like pectoral fins are exceptionally high set and in some species even point out over the back, giving a very unusual and butterfly-like appearance. In former times they were placed in the family of the rainbow fishes, in the meantime the blue eyes are an own fish family.
Blue eyes in the aquarium
in the aquaristics these pretty schooling fish are known for a while, even if not very widespread - they are still something very special! Among the blue-eyes you can find so-called nano fish, i.e. fish that remain particularly small. We give more information about them in our blog "The Nanofish Lexicon". Many blue-eyes can already be kept in an aquarium from 54 liters. Please note the exact information about the needs of the fish in terms of aquarium size and water values in the respective item description.
Blue eyes like planted aquariums with single thick plant thickets and still with enough space to swim. Floating plants are also great because they shade individual areas somewhat. The group should comprise at least 10 animals and also live actively with each other, these beautiful, fascinating aquarium fish interact lively with each other and can be super observed.
Feeding of blue eyes - the choice of the right fish food
blue eyes are basically pure carnivores that need animal food. They like fine live food and small frozen food, but can also be perfectly accustomed to a high-quality dry food of good quality. NatureHolic 's really tasty fish foods are perfect for the pretty underwater butterflies - convenient, species-appropriate, and made with only the highest quality ingredients.
Blue-eye offspring
breeding blue eyes from the genus Pseudomugil is quite easy, as these aquarium fish belong to the permanent spawners and can thus be kept in a permanent stock. The males court and show off to the females in an impressive mating dance that is fascinating to watch. Blue eyes like to spawn in mosses in the early morning hours. The eggs are adhesive and stick individually in the spawning substrate - for example in moss. This moss is taken out of the aquarium and simply placed in a rearing tank. The fish larvae hatch and can be fed with finest live food like infusoria and microworms. A little later the little blue eyes also like to take Artemia nauplii. Learn more about Artemia breeding in our blog post "Artemia züchten, halten, vermehren & verfüttern - alles Wissenswertes über Artemia".
Conclusion
the beautifully colored and unusually fluttery looking blue eyes are a true enrichment for aquariums with soft to medium hard water and are not only great to watch, but can even be bred with relatively little effort. They also show their natural behaviors in the aquarium. Blue eyes are exciting to watch, and their liveliness and group interaction provide a fun spectacle for aquarists old and young. At Garnelio in the online store you can get these very unjustly in aquaristics rather rarely kept species, which will definitely captivate you and charm you.