They are easy to breed, but need a species only tank. You must keep very clean water and use sponge filters. Weekly 50% water changes are essential. They need neutral to slightly basic water, pH 7-about 7.5. Bare bottom tanks are best. Java moss and Java Fern are the best plants to keep with them.

Males are much lighter in color than the females. Both can change the color intensity from day to day.

Females with eggs look like this:


This is a juvenile female having just molted. That yellow oval on her back near her head is her ovaries. You'll see a bright yellow saddle there when they get ready to breed.


They should be grown for enjoyment only. Any other purpose will disappoint you. They eat algae, but not well enough to keep your tank clean. They do not produce enough babies to make feed for much of anything, and they take a fair amount of care to keep them happy. You can expect about 30 babies every other month from an adult female and the babies take about 3 moths to get to sexual maturity.

They are very cool to watch though.

Once they hatch the babies are released to be on their own. Parents won't try to eat them, but just about anything else will.