Bedotia madagascaria is a representative of the Aterinae. It can be kept in the amateur freshwater aquarium, giving you the opportunity to learn about the amazing family Bedotiaceae. Bedotia was discovered in Madagascar and described by Pellegrin in 1907godu. In Europe, this fish first arrived in 1958.
- kingdom: Animals
- Type: Chordates
- Class: Radial fish
- Squad: Atheriniformes
- Family: Bedocium
- Rod: Bedocia
- View: Bedotia geayi
Inhabits freshwater bodies of the island of Madagascar. In the wild can reach 15 centimeters. Behind the glass aquarium more often has the size of about 10 centimeters. The body is elongated and flattened from the sides. Coloration is golden. Males are larger than females and have a bright red edging of the tail fin. Fish gregarious. Feeds on small insects their larvae, small fish. Does not refuse and plant food.
Bedotia madagascaria Features of keeping in the aquarium
Since the fish gregarious, it is better to keep it a small flock of 8 – 10 fish. But taking into account the size of each individual, the aquarium for such a flock is necessary liters at 150 – 200.

Water temperature for keeping adults is 24 degrees Celsius. Hardness from 10 to 20 degrees. The reaction of the medium is neutral, possibly with a slight shift to the alkaline side.
It is necessary to change 1/3 of the water once a week. Additional aeration, biofiltration is desirable.
You can use almost any material you have – river sand, small pebbles, small gravel, medium or fine expanded clay. It is desirable only that the soil was dark colors. Fish on its background will look more elegant.
Plants of any kind with suitable conditions of maintenance. The most common and unpretentious, such as Elodea canadensis, Wallisneria spiralis, peristylist, cladophora globularis, will do. Do not forget to leave enough room for swimming in the middle of the aquarium.
Bedotia madagascaria What to feed?
Feeding can be done once a day. Some hobbyists recommend feeding Bedocia in the evening hours. But such a feeding regimen may contribute to obesity, to which Bedocia is prone according to other hobbyists.

In any case, the diet should be varied and sufficient. Bedocia with appetite eat moths, trubichnik, bark, small crustaceans, insects and their larvae. No more than once a week you can give enchitrei, white bread. Feed is better to give in the aquarium in small portions, giving the next portion after fully eating the previous one. Remains of uneaten food after the meal should be removed from the aquarium. Once – twice a week you can arrange your pets a day of relief.
Bedotia madagascaria Propagation
Achieve breeding from Bedocia can be in a common aquarium. But given their tendency to eat small animals, it probably makes sense to prepare for this purpose a separate spawning ground. Although the fish eggs do not touch, but after all from the eggs will then appear fry, then this little thing will have to any way to catch or transplant adult fish.
The spawning tank should be spacious. At least fifty liters.

A move is worse than a fire
Now here’s a little tweak. Bedocia are very hard to tolerate transplantation to another aquarium. For them it is a real stress, which can sometimes even lead to their death. For this very reason, it is desirable to acquire these fish in the early fry age. Fry centimeter or one and a half centimeter in length tolerate the move to a new place better than adult fish.
It is difficult to say what this is due to. Most likely the organism of these fish get used to certain physical and chemical indicators of the environment of their habitat and their abrupt change tolerated with great difficulty. In general, this is true for all inhabitants of our aquariums. But in Bedocia it is expressed as something very bright.
Therefore, before transferring producers from the general aquarium in the spawning aquarium should be there to create the same conditions as in the tank from which the fish are taken. And only after that to carry out transplantation. The main parameters that need to be controlled – hardness, reaction of the medium and water temperature, however, as always. As an option – pour into the spawning water from the vessel in which before this contained fish. You can use that one-third of the water from the general aquarium, which you replace fresh once a week. Well, or try to still spawn in a common aquarium.

If Bedocia madagascaria is kept in a species aquarium, it is quite possible to spawn it there. To do this, you just need to put on the bottom of the spawning substrate – Javanese moss. Once or twice a week you need to take out the substrate with eggs attached to it, replacing it with a new one. Eggs are transferred to the incubator and develop there.
Spawning ground equipment
If you still decide to equip a spawning ground, then pour into it part of the water from the native water body of the Bedocia. Settle there producers. And if the resettlement went without problems, gradually bring water parameters to those that can stimulate spawning.
Water for spawning should have a temperature of 26 – 28 degrees Celsius, a hardness of about 15 degrees, and a pH of 7.5 – 8.
When the fish find the conditions suitable, after a short mating game, they will lay eggs on the spawning substrate – Javanese moss, Thai fern or just the bottom of the aquarium. Do not hurry to remove the producers from the spawning ground. At Atherinov spawning fractional, long. So your fish will lay eggs several days in a row on 20 – 70 eggs.
Fry feeding
Eggs are light yellow transparent, about one and a half millimeters in diameter. Incubation lasts 7-8 days. Already a day after the emergence of fry should give them the first food. Since the fry are large, then feed them with Artemia nauplii, small crustaceans or dry mixtures for fry.
As a last resort, you can try to feed them egg yolk, but the results in this case will, of course, be somewhat worse.
Here is such a wonderful fish – Bedocia can settle in your indoor pond. The fish, however, is relatively difficult to keep and to reproduce, but if you give it your love and attention it will definitely thank you with its magnificent appearance.