# Killies Import > Non-Killie Segment >  Non-Killie - Empire Gudgeon

## timebomb

Hi, folks,

I was at Eco-culture fish shop more than a month ago when Azmi, the owner asked me if I was interested in getting my hands on a pair of rare fish - Empire Gudgeon. He showed me a pic from his fish book and I was immediately hooked. The fish was so beautiful. 

About 3 weeks ago, the fish came and I bought a pair. Their colours, however were nothing like what I saw in the fish book. I thought at first it was probably because the fish were unsettled but when I put them into my tanks, they remained a dull grey colour for several weeks. 

This morning, I bought a pack of live Bloodworms and it being a Sunday, I had the leisure time to sit in front of the tank and slowly feed the fish. That's when I saw its true colours. Seems like the Empire Gudgeon shows its colours only when its in a fighting mood. It was fighting for the Bloodworms with my other Killies in the tank.

It took me a long time before I got a decent shot. Here it is, a picture of the fish known as _Hypseleotris compressa_:



Loh K L

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## TS168

Thanks Mr Loh,

it a nice update of information from you.

So i believe the one show is the male Empire fish?

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## Slaigar

Mr Loh,
That is a beautiful fish. It reminds me of my croaking gouramis as they look bland 75% of the time. Then once every while, their stripes on their bodies darken and they become a bit bolder.
http://www.australianrainbowfish.com....htm~mainFrame
The page displays a beautiful picture of the Empire Gudgeon. Definitely a stunning sight!

The only gudgeons that I have seen were the peacock gudgeons. I was very tempted to purchase them but I was saving my cash for plants.

You plan on breeding them soon Mr. Loh?  :Very Happy:

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## RonWill

> You plan on breeding them soon Mr. Loh?


Mark, I'm hoping that he would too and probably have wetter fingers than Rob Wager at Rainfish Mailing List.

The tiny fry will pose a real challenge to any fish breeder and yes, I was temped by these _Hypseleotris compressa_. The only drawback in my case, would be their adult size of 4 inches.

I'll attempt breeding too.... after Kwek Leong lose enough hair over 'em  :Laughing:   :Laughing:

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## timebomb

> So i believe the one show is the male Empire fish?


To tell the truth, Teck Song, I'm not sure. This is my first experience with Empire Gudgeons or any species of Gudgeon for that matter. But the one in the picture looks like a male as it's aggressive towards its partner in the tank.




> You plan on breeding them soon Mr. Loh?


Oh yes, Mark. Definitely. I wouldn't have bought a pair if I didn't plan to try. But I've to look around for information on their breeding habits first as I know little about Gudgeons. If you know anything that might be useful, please let me know.




> I'll attempt breeding too.... after Kwek Leong lose enough hair over 'em


Hey, buddy,

What with so many fish tanks to look after and a forum to run, I lost too much hair already  :Laughing:  But seriously, other than their fry being very small, do you have any information about the Gudgeons that might be useful. Frankly, I'm not worried about not being able to raise the fry. It's getting them to lay eggs that's going to be tough. The male seems to be very aggressive towards the female so I wonder if chances of success are higher if I use a trio. Eco-culture still has some in stock and I'm wondering if I should go and buy another female.

Loh K L

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## TS168

Mr Loh,

Check this:
http://www.adelaideaquariums.com.au/...mpiregudg.html

Hope this help.

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## timebomb

Thanks for the link, Teck Song. But there's little information about how to breed them. I tried looking through the Rainfish mailing list archives but there's little information there too. 

The Empire Gudgeons are such beauties it would be great if someone had built a web site/forum around them, just like the way we did with Killies.

Loh K L

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## hwchoy

> Mr Loh,
> 
> Check this:
> http://www.adelaideaquariums.com.au/...mpiregudg.html
> 
> Hope this help.


check out that "expect to pay" line  :Exclamation:   :Shocked:

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## stormhawk

KL,

Breeding of most gudgeon species require a hideaway like a rock cave or even a terracotta pot. Even PVC pipes will do in some cases. I do believe they spawn very much like their cousins, the Peacock Gudgeon, _Tateurndina ocellicauda_ and the common Bumblebee Goby, _Brachygobius doriae_.

I've read somewhere that the bumblebee goby spawns in any hideaway its given, usually an empty snail shell or even a small cave. The male will guard the eggs, fanning them quite often and guarding the territory around the eggs. I do believe that it should be the same for the Empire Gudgeon. In any case, judging from the size of the gudgeon, they should lay larger eggs and therefore produce slightly larger fry. 

Give them several hiding spaces and enough areas for the male to establish his territory and for the female to hide in. Condition them as you would with killies, feed them well and hope for the best. They should surprise you with a spawn one day soon. If you see the male in his breeding colours you will know that they're either spawning or already spawned. The fry shouldn't be a problem to raise provided you can judge their size and feed accordingly.

A little bit of info on how to maintain them:
_Rhad says: Hypseleotris compressa, the Empire Gudgeon, grows to only about 10 cm. and is widespread in coastal drainages around the northern two- thirds of Australia. These are by far the most colourful of the Australian Gudgeons particularly when in breeding colour. They prefer the water to be 21C - 26C, pH 6.8 - 7.2, Total hardness to about 100 PPM. They are omnivorous, eating cladocerans, mosquito larvae, algae, and detritus. Can be adapted to flake foods._

Here's a link on how to breed and raise their cousins, the Peacock Gudgeon and the Bumblebee Gobies. 

Breeding the Peacock Gudgeon

"Bee-keeping" by Tom & Pat Bridges

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## stormhawk

KL,

Found another link but its in Japanese. There's several pics of a spawning sequence for the Empire Gudgeon at the bottom of the page. Use a translator like the one on Altavista.com and see if you understand anything the Japanese are saying.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/PhD-mukai...seleotris.html

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## RonWill

> ...other than their fry being very small, do you have any information about the Gudgeons that might be useful.


Kwek Leong, the gudgeon's spawning behaviour is similar to Jian Yang's description, very cichlid like. But the way I see it, there'll be high fry mortality.

At Fishbase, it states, "_smallest vertebrate eggs with max 0.32 mm. Hatching larvae are about 1mm long_"... and *that's* freeking small eggs and fry, like Goa Killies and Scarlet badis!!

To tame male aggression, I suspect a 'betta approach' might work, ie. isolate the female but keep her within the male's sight. Whoopie only when she's ready and willing.

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## timebomb

Hi, fellas,

I set up the breeding tank more than a week ago and yesterday, I transferred the Empire Gudgeons into their new home. Here's a picture of the male checking out his new surroundings:



Loh K L

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## timebomb

Hey, guys,

I'm so excited.

I've been keeping the Empire Gudgeons for a while now but I've always suspected what I have are either all males or all females. In fact, I've been bugging Azmi of Eco-Culture to get me a genuine pair. The ones I have don't show the colours I saw in pictures of the fish. 

Yesterday, I was at Eco again to hand over the T-shirts to Azmi. Whilst there, I decided to spoil my fish so I bought a bag of live adult brine shrimps. I came home, fed the shrimps to the fish and didn't think much about it after that.

When I came home from work today, I saw a flash of orange in the Gudgeon's tank. Wowweeee!!! There were spawning colours. One of them, the biggest one has turned a bright orange. It's body shape seems to have changed too. It's now more oval instead of torpedo-shaped. I grabbed the camera and managed a few poor shots.

Here's a picture of the pair:


Here's the male:


Loh K L

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## Nonn

Wow!, now I hope my 3 dull fish will turn like that one day.

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## timebomb

Nonn,

My Empires were pretty dull-coloured too when I first got them. I think the trick is to keep them in a dark environment.  I use a lot of Hornwort as a cover for their tank. 

I got a better picture of the female. The male was nowhere to be seen. Seems like he became pretty shy after turning orange.



Loh K L

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## RonWill

hmm... I know what I did after the wedding banquet but my guess is that the male is guarding a brood of eggs?? :wink:

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## timebomb

No luck with eggs but I got a great picture today!

The male, however, seems to have lost a bit of its spawning colours. I think it's got something to do with live food. Everytime I give him something live, he turns a bright orange the next day. 



Loh K L

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## TS168

hi all Empire Gudgeon keeper, here a short article to share with. Hope it will help.

http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/21803/...mon/Empire.htm

Best Regards
TS

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