Yep, just like the title says, I'm curious as to whether this fish (formerly called Galaxy Rasbora) is still endangered or not.
My understanding is when they first were discovered in 06/07 they were wild caught almost to extinction, but since then breeders started trying to captive breed them.
I see a few places have them listed, but out of stock. Do they have a breeding cycle where they're more readily available at certain times of the year? Or is it because they're still mostly being wild caught for the aquarium trade & so supply can't keep up with demand?
When first discovered they were supposedly located in a relatively limited area of ponds within the region.
Collecting was done by scooping the dense vegetation out and sorting through it for fish. This was of course very destructive to their habitat. This habitat destruction and high demand quickly decimated the fishes numbers.
IIRC, a ban was placed on this type of commercial harvesting, and/or collecting was curtailed/banned for a period of time.
It is my understanding that the Myanmar government was smart enough to establish smart conservation rules for how they may be collected and how many.
As word of this spread, many conscientious fish keepers demanded only captive bred fish, this somewhat reduced demand on wild exports.
Many commercial breeders & hobbyist strove to establish captive breeding.
Much to their relief and enjoyment, the fish were found to readily breed in captivity.
It was later found that populations of the fish were located in at least five other pond systems in the region and that their numbers were stable...
A big collective sigh of relief!
They are still collected/imported from the wild, they are increasingly commercially captive bred and hobbyist continue to have great success.
Yes, their numbers available for retail are still somewhat limited, but, I can always find some for sale if I look around.
They can still demand a premium price, anywhere from $4.00-$8.00 USD per fish.
I recommend buying only fish which you are relatively sure of being captive bred, you'll get a hardier fish, lessen demand on export/import and promote the hobby.
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I've a 25gal planted stocked solely with captive bred, which I waited a long time for and paid $6.50 per fish for.
They have bred, but mortality is very high, the adults devour eggs/fry with gusto.
Successful breeding is best with 2-3 females per male, with dense moss/plant cover on a sand/gravels substrate, this gives the eggs and fry cover from the adults.
Remove adults from breeding tank, or divide the tank, every 1-2weeks and you'll see fry magically appear as they grow from wriggler to free swimming fry.
Infusoria, microworms, small daphnia, BBS and crushed flake do well for fry foods.