# Badis bengalensis



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

I just happened to go my LFS on the right day and picked up 10 Scarlet Badis (6 males and 4 females). Here are some pics...

male and female side by side









female









male and 2 females









dull male?









male closeup









I've had my puffer for a long time but he wanted to be photographed too 









Right now they're in a 20g long community tank with cardinal tetras and a puffer but that will change in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to make a planted species tank with the exception of otos and RCS so that maybe they will breed and I even ordered daphnia and fairy shrimp eggs to suppliment the frozen bloodworms i'm feeding them now. BTW please dont mind the tank, i just ripped out 60% of my HC because it was infested with algae.


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

I like your little puffer! He's cute!


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

Hmmm nice fish! Do you plan to breed them?


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

Breeding them shouldn't be a problem once I rescape with driftwood, rocks, and stem plants. Does anyone have any advice reguarding breeding these fish?


----------



## Do78521 (Dec 15, 2006)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

Whoa nice fish, I like your puffer too, I am really suprise that you kept it with cardinals, I though puffer is pretty hostile toward smaller fish?


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*



Do78521 said:


> Whoa nice fish, I like your puffer too, I am really suprise that you kept it with cardinals, I though puffer is pretty hostile toward smaller fish?


From my experiences, the potential is definitely there but 2 things are key to keeping them in check: Keep them well-fed and get them young so they learn who their friends are. I only had problems when I bought older puffers who were not familiar with their tankmates and sometimes groups of puffers who would move around like a pack of hungry wolves with an alpha male leading. He won't attack anything larger than himself, even shrimp, but shrimplets are devoured in a heartbeat.


----------



## Erirku (Oct 5, 2004)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

where did you purchase your badis from? thanks


----------



## gotcheaprice (Sep 4, 2007)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

I think he said Kalihi Pets.

And I just love that pic of the puffer, lol.


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*



Erirku said:


> where did you purchase your badis from? thanks


I got them from Kalihi Pets like gotcheaprice said and I'm pretty sure that I took all of the remaining females


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

*Re: Badis Bengalensis*

Does anyone have any personal experience with trying to breed badis bengalensis? I only read of one account of successful breeding in the home aquaria. And does anyone know what their average lifespan is?


----------



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Bump for an answer

I hope to be receiving upwards of 10 of these in a shipment from a buddy this week. Would like to get them breeding myself to help supply the area (as no store in the area has ever had them). 

I'm probably going to pull my GBR and female Beta from my 40g breeder and put them in there. Only other fish are a breeding group of 8 Albino Corydoras.


----------



## lampeye (Oct 29, 2007)

I don't have any experience breeding them, but a quick clarification: Your fish are actually not in the genus _Badis_, they are _Dario_. _Dario dario_, to be exact ( I haven't researched it, but likely they were once _B. dario_ before they were moved to a separate genus). An interesting fact is that they are sometimes sympatric with zebra danios.


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

Thanks for the info lampeye. I was pretty sure that Dario dario was the correct name but I got more hits when I googled "Badis Bengalensis"


----------



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Good news!

I just got 10 Dario dario in today from my LFS. He's a marine only place but specially ordered them for me (see it pays to be nice to your LFS). 

Out of the 10 I lost one during shipping, which was a male. Out of the 9 remaining I only got ONE female. 

They are now in my 40g breeder with tons of Java Fern for them to hide in. Only other inhabitants are a breeding group of 8 Corydoras.


----------



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Here are some pictures of mine. They are eating a diet of Vinegar Eels and Microworms for now until I get some blackworms. They go nuts over the eels especially.


----------



## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

I had some for a year or so. The guy I got them from only sold me males so no luck on any breeding. They do only like living or near living foods. 

Good Luck!


----------



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

First night I had them I tried feeding Mysis Shrimp, no luck. But I'm using the wine bottle method to harvest Vinegar Eels so that's super easy.

I had ordered mine through a buddy directly from a wholesaler, so I got whatever they fished out.


----------



## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

> Whoa nice fish, I like your puffer too, I am really suprise that you kept it with cardinals, I though puffer is pretty hostile toward smaller fish?


Depends on what kind of puffer. If its the tiny pea size freshwater puffer, they are harmless to each other and other fish. They love snails though


----------



## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Burks said:


> Out of the 9 remaining I only got ONE female.


Poor thing!!! All that testosterone.. LOL


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

Burks said:


> First night I had them I tried feeding Mysis Shrimp, no luck. But I'm using the wine bottle method to harvest Vinegar Eels so that's super easy.
> 
> I had ordered mine through a buddy directly from a wholesaler, so I got whatever they fished out.


Very nice Burks btw is it really that easy to grow vinegar eels? I read somewhere that all you have to do is fill a jar with vinegar and put an apple then the eels will eventually appear, is this true? I ordered some fairy shrimp and daphnia eggs from aquabid but none have hatched yet and I have a feeling that they never will...


----------



## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

When I had my dario I got all excited about the prospect of growing my own food for them, since ther soooo picky. I purchaced some decapsulated artema off of aquabid, and set up shop with the air pump salty water and the works.... needless to say the novilty wore off pretty quick for me. It was hard for me to try to feed my fish food that I couldnt really tell if it was hatched or even there!


----------



## EahInMass (Aug 29, 2006)

I feed mine live tubifex worms.


----------



## deepdiver (May 30, 2006)

I had 2 females and 5 males at one time. I had a couple that paired off, and I actually filmed them spawning. I didn't spot any babies as a result of that spawn-I'm not sure why. After that, the dominant male killed off all the others except one. I have 2 bright red males left that live in the overgrown fern/moss mess of a 10 gallon. I used to feed them walter worms and blackworms. They don't seem interested in flake or pellet food. I havn't fed the anything for over two months now, and they're not skinny! I think they eat baby shrimplets which there are no shortages of in that tank.

and oh,BTW the most current scientific name is Dario Dario. There are two super-interesting articles on this fish in Tropical Fish Hobbyist (June 06)


----------



## EahInMass (Aug 29, 2006)

The blackworms weren't too big for them Deepdiver?


----------



## Burks (May 25, 2006)

Felf808 said:


> Very nice Burks btw is it really that easy to grow vinegar eels? I read somewhere that all you have to do is fill a jar with vinegar and put an apple then the eels will eventually appear, is this true? I ordered some fairy shrimp and daphnia eggs from aquabid but none have hatched yet and I have a feeling that they never will...


Yeah they are really easy. I can't say whether or not the vinegar/apple deal will yield any. I got mine as an already active starter culture. Just added 50% vinegar (apple cider) and 50% water, couple apple chunks, starter culture, and within two weeks the jar was full of eels. To harvest them I fill a wine bottle up to where the neck begins with culture, stuff a piece of filter floss down to the vinegar, fill it to the top with aquarium water, and wait a couple hours. The eels will swim up to the water which you can suck up with a syringe and feed to the tank. No need to get fouled up vinegar in the tank!

Once you are done feeding just fill the bottle back up with water again and wait until the next feeding time! I think the eels multiply fast enough you won't have to worry about running out. I feed about 10mL a day to the tank.

I'd like to use other live foods but no one in the area carries any. Eels will work fine plus I'll be adding my shrimp from my 10g to the tank. Only the Dario dario and Corys are in there.


----------



## deepdiver (May 30, 2006)

EahInMass said:


> The blackworms weren't too big for them Deepdiver?


Not really. Of course, some are bigger than others so I fed the Darios the smaller ones, and my cories the others. They go absolutely nutty for live worms of any sort. I also had an outside tank that produced a bunch of mosquito larvae. They loved that too.


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

I just got some daphnia pulex (i think), daphnia magna, and fairy shrimp eggs from another source. The daphnia pulex hatched in tap water 24hrs after being added. I was thinking of getting a couple trash cans from walmart and starting some large yield cultures. I'll update when I get some results


----------



## Jareardy (Feb 14, 2008)

Isn't the puffer a brackish fish though? I didn't know you could have them in a community tank..


----------



## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

Dward puffers are true freshwater fish and behavior can differ between individuals. I recently purchased a girlfriend for him and she's been picking at the fins of my dario dario relentlessly so I decided to move them into my cube prematurely.


----------

