# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  PFK Fishnews: Galaxy rasbora under threat

## AquaticQuotient.com

More...

** This thread is an item from Practical Fishkeeping Magazine website's Fish News RSS feed, brought to you by courtesy of AQ's RSS Feed Poster Robot. **

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## vinz

Do click the link above and read more. There are pictures of the habitat too.




> Just six months since its discovery, the soon-to-be-described Galaxy rasbora, is facing the threat of being wiped out by the aquarium trade, a distributor has warned. 
> 
> The brightly coloured cyprinid from Myanmar, which was first introduced into the hobby in September 2006, has been collected so heavily that catches of the species are down to just a few dozen fish per day. 
> 
> AquariCORP's Kamphol Udomritthiruj, who introduced the species to the hobby, announced on Petfrd.com that a recent trip to the species' habitat had revealed that the new species was already under threat.
> 
> ...

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## Quixotic

Been meaning to post this but couldn't get to.

Such a shame. It will be good to stop buying them for now until whatever is left can hopefully recover. So whoever that owns them, please treat them with loving tender care, and try to breed them if you can.

Does this mean that the Rosy loach - _Yunnanilus_ sp. - which is found in sympatric is in danger too? Sigh, I have them with me as well.

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## kaganesti

hmmm
anyone in Singapore successful in breeding them care to share their success story?

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## Ah_ZhaN

http://www.aquamoss.net/Articles/Mic...-sp-Galaxy.htm
I think quite a few locals had successfully bred them.

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## ranmasatome

I didn't buy them.. because i wanted to see what would happen..

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## Ibn

Someone in our group has managed to breed them successfully twice so far.

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## bryan

Some of the LFS are selling them really really cheap(As cheap as commmon farm bred fish). So I wonder if these are captive bred.

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## Jungle-mania

Just thinking out loud here, but would a charity run where we can get people to donate back their galaxies to their original environment to re-establish their population, would that help? We could contact AquariCORP's Kamphol Udomritthiruj and ask for his help. I figured since we as aquarists also have responsibility to the environment and I really doubt nobody knows their fishes as well as us, simply becuase for our love of it.

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## kaganesti

provided that their habitat is left alone.
No point if fish are put back on one side and at the other end someone is catching/poaching themfor their own interest.

anyway IMO, though breeding them may save them from being wiped out. However it's really sad to see their own natural enviornment gone. :Sad:  And the ability to breed them as commercial fish definitely does not justify the negligence and lack of concern for their natural habitat.

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## Quixotic

> Some of the LFS are selling them really really cheap(As cheap as commmon farm bred fish). So I wonder if these are captive bred.


I highly doubt so judging from the feedbacks in the various forums. In fact, not very much is known about these fishes, including reproduction. There were even speculations that these fishes came from acidic waters, but proven to be incorrect as the latest information revealed that they are found in alkaline waters.

The problem is not the reintroduction but loss of habitat. If there isn't a habitat, we wouldn't be able to reintroduce them at all.

The ability to breed them commercially is not to justify the negligence and lack of concern for their natural habitat. It is to offer an alternative to the hobbyist who wants this fish and therefore, ensures that their numbers in the wild is viable with less demand of wild fishes.

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## bryan

Their natural environment has already been discovered and being exploited. Eventually it will be destroyed along with the native species, in the sake of progress. So the ideal path(sadly) in my view now would be commercial breeding if we were to preserve the species. 

By the way,I saw the saturday's paper ad by the big fish shop in Jln Kayu. They were selling 50pcs per bag of galaxies. At the rate they go, I'm not suprised to see an empty stream.

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## Jungle-mania

Surely something can be done? Does this mean it is the end of them, that they are going to functionally extinct because some guy found them cute enough to be in the trade less than 1/2 a year ago? If this method of thinking is to presist, imagine the other parts of the world for all the flora and fauna.

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## taygu

Very surprised and sad to see this. A lot of effort on conservation of land animlas but aquatic???? Or am I just ignorant?

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## Quixotic

taygu, sorry, don't exactly understand what you mean. Do you mean to say that there is more being done for conservation of others but less on aquatic faunas?

The habitat is threatened because of our demands for the fishes. So the least we can do about this, pending further assessment (and hence subsequent conservation efforts), is to stop buying the fishes until they are bred commercially.

Do the right thing on our part, however small. Sometimes, you'd be surprised how much a little difference makes.

Hopefully, this will stop the activities in around the habitat enough, for them to recover. However, I think that they will eventualy have to be farm bred to satisfy our demands, otherwise there will be no end to the overfishing of them.

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## taygu

Hi, yup and I also understand and agreed that human is always the cause of it.

What I meant on the conservation is if you compare to the land animal, there are countries that bought land just to reserve the jungle for some endangered species and you always see it in the documentaries like animal planets, discovery channels etc.. Awareness is so much higher for land animals comaring to fresh aquatic faunas.

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## |squee|

Well so now we know. I won't be buying any of them until there are farm-bred specimens.

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## piffu

my goodness, i did not realise the impact of our purchase habits. I myself just bought a group of these beauties a few days back, and as much as i would like to increase the size of my collection, i think i would refrain from that after reading this thread. there is often a conflict between the desire to own a piece of nature and the destructions that follow these desires. I do hope awareness on species preservation can be spread to ensure a more harmonious balance between our hobbies and the natural environment, especially since its our love for nature that has made us pick up this hobby.

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## XnSdVd

*cough cough* native species need help too *cough* 

Though i agree... there's no point in saving the fish if it's habitat is destroyed. Anyone up for a Kamphol Udomritthiruj biotope?

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## Quixotic

Yes, we know native species need help too but those are another subject to discuss as the situations aren't the same.

The habitat may not totally destroyed beyond redemption, although the signs are not well. Nature has amazing abilities to recover by themselves if left alone.

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## XnSdVd

Actually from the looks of it, only the surrounding areas were trampled flat. Habitat destruction would apply to only the amphibians around the pond. Not so much the fish in it.

All they need to do i throw in some plants, leave the fish alone and make sure nothing toxic gets dumped into the pond and within about a year, we should see the rasboras back at their original numbers.

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## oblivion

seems like supply has dwindled as well
have not seem them on sale at the few lfs i visited the past mth or so.

but its true prices for it have gone way low.
when it 1st popped up they were selling for like 6-7 bucks apiece

last time i saw they were retailing for 1.5 to 2 bucks

i bought mine for only 1 buck per piece (due to bargaining n gd relations with lfs boss)

glad to say that all 16 of them are thriving n doing well
abit shy n tend to hide when i stick my face in front of the tank
but feeding well even with a diet of only sera bits and spirulina tabs
tho supposedly they prefer live food

no spawining seen so far tho

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## Shaihulud

This is abit irresponsible, the fishes were just introduced to the aquarium trade! i thought that the discoverers were trying to dole it out in small quantities so that it would remain a valued commodity. I supposed that it would be quite a hard thing to do because they breed easily so far as i know, various fish farms must be breeding them already and the original discoverers must be squeezing it for all its worth.

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## gills

I am so so surpised and sad to know that 'galaxies' have been threatened because i only saw them in the LFS a few months back and thought that they were really beautiful. but alas, now they are like going extinct?! My goodness. Was actually planning to buy some, but not anymore. 

I think what we can do now will be to find ways to breed them fast so that we can hopefully replenish them in the wild. I understand that their habitat has been destroyed so no use putting them back for poaching. However if we can breed them in large amount commercially, won't that discourage the poachers from destroying their habitat just to get to them? Then we will be able to introduce them back into the wild. Is that feasible?

I don't really know as I am really not a very good analyser.

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## Quixotic

> I think what we can do now will be to find ways to breed them fast so that we can hopefully replenish them in the wild. I understand that their habitat has been destroyed so no use putting them back for poaching. However if we can breed them in large amount commercially, won't that discourage the poachers from destroying their habitat just to get to them? Then we will be able to introduce them back into the wild. Is that feasible?


Yes, having them farm bred will help drive down the demand for wild stocks. This hopefully will discourage collectors from the collection site.

However, it's a double edge sword, as aquarists often covet wild fishes and are willing to pay higher prices for them. Things are not as simple as it seems...

The main concern right now is how to possibly allow the habitat to recover. Stop buying the fishes may help as it will buy some time for the fishes.

But it also depends on how much of the habitat is destroyed, if there is a hope for recovery.

Re-introducing them in the wild is feasible as long as the habitat is in tact. The problem is that there is only one known habitat.

If they are to be introduced in habitats other than the original one, I would say scientific studies may be necessary to look at the impacts of the changes.

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## gills

i see.thanks for enlighting me. :Angel:

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## XnSdVd

Actually... as someone who's constantly looking for "wild" fish. I must say it's more a matter of wanting genetically unique specimens than anything. If there was a farm that would cater to such tastes i'd be happy to buy from them. 

By this i mean a Harlequin from sarawak isn't the same as a harlequin from johor. And the harlequin at the shop is probably a mix of both localities

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## ahaetulla

> my goodness, i did not realise the impact of our purchase habits. I myself just bought a group of these beauties a few days back, and as much as i would like to increase the size of my collection, i think i would refrain from that after reading this thread. there is often a conflict between the desire to own a piece of nature and the destructions that follow these desires. I do hope awareness on species preservation can be spread to ensure a more harmonious balance between our hobbies and the natural environment, especially since its our love for nature that has made us pick up this hobby.


Agreed, it's difficult to reconcile the two! Ultimately though as consumers we can choose not to buy them and hopefully those who choose to will think carefully before doing so (will they be able to care for the fish? And perhaps even breed them?) Just my 2cents' worth here but I think this responsibility applies to all fishkeepers.

Hobbyist demands can kill off rare species, but captive breeding efforts can also save them from extinction. Hopefully it will be experienced keepers who buy, treasure and eventually breed these rare wildcaught fish, and not impulse or irresponsible buyers.

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## shadowfax23

Sigh! Yesterday, I was at this local fish shop and I saw at least 8 pieces of this fish being cramped into betta tanks. Today, I visited the same shop and there's only 2 left. Then a guy came and bought the last 2.

If only there's low demand, then the supply will be more sustainable.

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## Quixotic

I think the demand is considerably less right now. There are more aquarists around the world who reported spawnings, so I think the farms are possibly doing so as well.

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## XnSdVd

Excellent news! And seeing as how they all come from one location, people like me won't have a problem with farm bred specimens since they're exactly the same as wild caught ones  :Very Happy:

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## StanChung

My friend has had success! He showed me about ten very small ~1/2cm specimens-still pale and juvies. Said he had 50pc spawn. Clap clap!

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## inimicus

So the Galaxies sold in the shops now are still wild specimens?

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## Quixotic

Since the discovery of the fish, several new populations have been found in other locations. That has somewhat eased the immediate threat faced by the fish found in the original location. The government of Myanmar has banned exports of the fish in February 2007 but it is unclear to what degree the ban was enforced.

_See_ Wikipedia, _Celestichthys margaritatus_, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestichthys_margaritatus (as of Feb. 4, 2008, 17:38 GMT).

We still see them in the LFS from time to time, they don't seem to be tank bred, and existing tank bred stocks have not been known, so presumably they are still wild fish.

As the threat is still very real, it would be great if anyone owning them can carry on breeding them.

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## inimicus

Was thinking of buying some when i saw them in the lfs few days back....i think i won't now.

(Edit: I have split your post here http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=37121 to faciliate better response and management of thread content.)

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## lampeye

According to the large galaxy rasbora thread on Petfrd.com, they are being bred commercially in Germany, so I can't imagine they wouldn't be elsewhere.

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## ahaetulla

Yes, but cost-wise it _might_ be more profitable to continue importing wild-caught specimens rather than captive-breed. Unless Singaporean fishkeepers begin to demand fish from sustainable and/or captive-bred sources, the origin of many fish species sold in local LFS will remain unclear and unstated.

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## k3nlim

Just saw some of the fishes in C328 this week, if i am not mistaken. Are they still on the endangered list?

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## Quixotic

Actually it's their original habitat locality that is under threat of destruction, but seeing how it isn't too difficult to breed them, I wouldn't be surprised that stocks in LFS will be aquarium bred eventually (who knows, perhaps even now, as we speak).

Not sure how the original habitat locality is recovering, and as I understood it, the distribution of these fishes thankfully isn't restricted to the original habitat locality.

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## freshfish

so sad that such beautiful fishes are in danger of becoming extinct in the wild .  :Sad:

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## Xianghao

Bought about 5 galaxy rasboras a few month ago and put them in my mossy shrimp tank with alot of hiding places. Left them alone for a while, they are quite shy fish and like to hide. After a while, they have bred even though I can't seem to find the eggs. 

This is a picture of my pioneering one and only baby fish which matured enough to show its pretty patterns. I have since shifted my galaxies to another tank (because they are affecting my shrimp population) but recently I have found about 5 more tiny hatchlings in my shrimp tank. So I am just waiting for them to grow big enough to transfer to my other tank.  :Smile: 

I am just glad that at least my galaxies have reproduced to replace its own number. If you guys are interested, my 2 ft shrimp tank has alot of hiding places, ph 7, temperature 24- 26 degrees, i feed them normal tetra food. ( but i suspect they have shrimplet for snacks)

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## wrearry

so guys any idea if those sold at sg LFS are farm bred?

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