Lilyus aquarium fish belong to the family of labyrinth fish. In their homeland (northern India), the habitats of these fish are small, but necessarily grassy lakes. They also like small streams or rivers, where the current is quite weak.
Lyalius - veteran of ornamental fish farming
Lyaliusov can be considered veterans of ornamental fish farming, and their popularity among lovers of domestic fish only confirms this status. Bright colors, calm disposition, small sizes, unpretentiousness in leaving, and also omnivorousness - all this provides these fishes with constant interest. And not only beginners, but also "sharks" aquariums sometimes decorate their indoor ponds with laliuses.
Lilius fish: content
The content of these fish does not present any particular problems, but nevertheless, there are some subtleties.
Aquarium
An aquarium with a volume of 20-30 liters will be enough for a pair of lilies. Ideally, the males should have 2-3 females, but this can affect the colorfulness of the aquarium, since females even during the mating season look much more modest than males.
For successful breeding of laliuses, the area of the water surface of the aquarium is important. It is desirable that she was as large as possible. The fact is that the Lilyus aquarium fish spend almost their entire lives at the surface of the water. Here they receive food, fill the labyrinth organ with atmospheric air, arrange their unusual foam nests to reproduce offspring, and then look after him for a short time.
Soil for the bottom
Some special soil for the aquarium, where it is planned to contain lilyus, is not required. You can even abandon the idea of closing the bottom of the aquarium, but the light reflected from the bottom of the indoor pond can disorient the fish, introducing nervousness into their behavior. To avoid this, it is enough to cover the bottom with a thin layer of fine gravel (preferably a dark shade) or coarse sand.
Aquarium vegetation
In natural habitats, Lalius prefer floating plants with finely divided leaves. In the thickets of these plants, they like to relax. Individual parts of such plants are used in fish nesting.
But the use of only such plants makes the aquarium visually unattractive, since the lower water layer looks empty. Standard plants for domestic ponds, such as Wallisneria, Elodea, cirrus leafis and Thai fern, will not only decorate the aquarium, but also serve as protection for the female, which has become the goal of an overly annoying male.
The background
Dark tones should be preferred. Such a “substrate” makes the bright colors of the laliuses even more saturated, and the fish themselves feel calmer.
Although in natural bodies of water, laliuses live in bright sunlight, they cannot tolerate just bright light. Usually, fish hide under a mass of plants floating on the surface of the water, acting as a filter. Therefore, as decorative decorations for the aquarium, you can use various scent. Lalius aquarium fish do not need houses, so stone structures in such an aquarium will be superfluous.
Chemical composition of water
The composition of the water in the aquarium does not play an important role. Laliuses feel great both in soft and hard water. Permissible temperature regime of water is in the range from 22 to 28 degrees. But try to ensure that the water temperature does not fall below the 26 degree mark.
Lalius: compatibility with other fish
If you need to purchase those, you can be any fish that have an equally quiet disposition and similar environmental requirements. But you should still choose individuals who prefer to live in the lower and middle horizons of the aquarium.
First of all, by their presence they will give life to these empty layers. They will not be too active in invading the measured life of Laliuses, who prefer to spend almost all their time near the surface of the water. The nests built by male Laliuses will not be destroyed, and if spawning of Laliuses suddenly happens in a common aquarium, this guarantees the survival of the offspring.
Lalius fish, whose compatibility with other decorative fish is relatively good, nevertheless does not get along well with too active representatives of the fish kingdom. You should refuse to purchase such fish, which, much earlier than the slow labyrinth relatives, get to the feeder, managing to eat the most delicious pieces. Sometimes they can leave their slow competitors without food at all.
Food for lilius
Lalius aquarium fish have a good appetite, but are not prone to excessive eating. In the natural habitat, the basis of the diet is flying insects, which accidentally fell to the surface of the reservoir.
Feeding these fish is not difficult. Lyalius perfectly eat any food that suits them in size. The main condition is that the feed remains on the water surface as long as possible, without sinking to the bottom. The fish reluctantly descends behind him.
Korerta, Daphnia or Cyclops are perfectly eaten by Laliuses. The small bloodworm will also be a huge success. You can also diversify the feed for this fish by adding balanced cereals. It will not be superfluous to periodically add to the feed products of plant origin, in particular wolfia.
Lalius fish: spawning period
Liliuses reach their puberty when they are six months old. Males devote all their free time to building nests. The relationship between the male population of the aquarium is beginning to change. If before the males had quite peaceful relations, now the division of territories begins. A spacious aquarium quickly enough solves this problem, and the fish again return to their usual peaceful rhythm of life.
Spawning of laliuses
If it is not possible to isolate spawning for fish, then it is quite possible to follow these processes in the general aquarium. But in this case you will have to forget about the large offspring of Lalius. Despite the fact that the male looks after the nest very carefully, he cannot provide full protection for the eggs. The fry that left the nest also cannot be protected from attacks by other inhabitants of the aquarium.
To get offspring, the fish should be planted in a special aquarium. A sign that the couple is ready for spawning will be a specific vanity of a male trying to collect pieces of floating plants in one heap. Having noticed such an activity, one should prepare a spawning ground. In general, it does not differ from a conventional aquarium, but the water in it should always be warm (28-30 degrees), and the water filtration should be turned off.
The spawning process begins immediately after the construction of the nest. The female spawns, and the male immobilizes it in the foam, and then covers it with another layer of bubbles. As soon as the female finishes throwing eggs, she should be removed from the spawning, because it will only interfere with the male to maintain the integrity of the nest. The aquarist at this stage should simply maintain the required temperature regime. Even insignificant interference in the incubation process will lead to the fact that the male will destroy the nest along with all the eggs.
Aquarium fish Lalius, the content of which during spawning does not require special efforts, is extremely prolific. And in the event that part of the eggs die, the offspring will still be large enough.
Lilya fry
The offspring of these ornamental fish is distinguished by their excellent appetite, so feed should always be present in the spawning aquarium.
Lialius is an aquarium fish, the photo of which you have already seen above, is quite unpretentious in both care and feeding. For beginner aquarists, this is an ideal option.