Care
The American Flagfish - so named for the colourful markings on the flanks of the male fish which, during the breeding period, bear a remarkable resemblance to the Stars & Stripes - is known from heavily vegetated ponds, lakes, and sluggish streams. The aquarium should be mature and densely planted with hardy or fast-growing species, and the addition of floating cover to help diffuse the light will be much appreciated by these fish. As American Flagfish are omnivorous, delicate soft-leaved species are likely to be eaten. Filtration should be efficient, but water movement gentle in order to replicate the natural habitat. American Flagfish are fairly peaceful when not in spawning mode, and a spacious aquarium with plenty of hiding places should limit any problems if they do choose to spawn. Any aggression at this time is normally aimed towards conspecifics, but given sufficient room and provided they have ample visual barriers amongst the decor and plants, this should not become an issue. Tankmates should be of similar size and temperament, and be happy to live in the same cooler, slightly alkaline conditions. American Flagfish often browse on various types of algae within the aquarium, and if there is not much of this present, the diet should be supplemented with plenty of greenfoods to meet their nutritional needs and help deter the fish from nibbling on too many fragile plants. Immature American Flagfish often appear fairly drab and olive green in the confines of a shop stock tank, but given time to settle into appropriate conditions and grow, the males in particular will colour up spectacularly. A dark coloured substrate will help to make the fish feel more secure and in turn will showcase the dazzling colours of mature male fish.
Feeding
An omnivorous species which should be offered a varied diet consisting of a good quality flake food, green flake food, and frozen foods such as bloodworm, white mosquito larvae, daphnia, and vitamin-enriched brineshrimp. This species should also be offered vegetable matter such as lettuce, blanched spinach etc.
Breeding
In a heavily vegetated and spacious tank, very small numbers of fry may appear from time to time. To ensure a greater survival rate, a separate breeding aquarium (at least 24" long, but shallow) should be set up with similar conditions to the main tank, except the water temperature should be towards the top of the preferred range. Use a very gentle method of filtration such as an air-powered sponge filter, and furnish the breeding tank with a fine substrate and floating plants to provide cover and possible places to spawn. There should be a small amount of decor to allow the female to hide and rest in between spawns. Add a well-conditioned pair to the tank and observe carefully; sometimes the male can drive the female quite hard, and if she is not quite ready to spawn, he could damage her. (If the fish do not seem ready to spawn, place a clear divider in the tank so that they can see each other but not physically get to one another. It will be quite obvious when the divider can be removed as the fish will both be showing much interest in one another). American Flagfish may spawn by using a couple of different approaches, which seem to occur depending on how the tank is set up. When both fish are ready to spawn, it is not always the male that initiates the courtship ritual " it could be either sex that triggers this event with enticing, quivering dances displayed to the other fish. Eggs will be deposited/fertilised either in a depression in the substrate or near the water's surface, depending on water depth. As mentioned previously, a shallower tank is preferable as it would seem that the fry need to be able to access the surface easily during the early stages of their development. Further spawning activity is likely to take place over the next few days, with more batches of eggs being scattered each time. If spawning occurs on the substrate, the male will guard the eggs from predators, all the while fanning them with his pectoral fins in a manner similar to many cichlid species. If this occurs, the female fish should be removed for her own safety, as the male will become very aggressive towards her whilst protecting the eggs and she will be in a weakened state anyway. If the eggs are deposited in the roots of floating plants at the water's surface, the fish will exhibit no brood care and should be removed from the tank once it is clear that spawning has ceased (this will be obvious as one fish will suddenly not respond to any advances made by the other). The eggs should hatch in 7-10 days, dependent on water temperature; at this point, if the male fish has been tending the eggs, he should be removed. Many aquarists report that if the fry are unable to reach the surface of the water soon after hatching, they tend to expire in large numbers. This is thought to be related to the development of the swimbladder, and so it is very important to ensure that the tiny fry do not have to swim too far to reach the surface. They should initially be offered green water/infusoria, moving on to baby brineshrimp, then larger foodstuffs as they grow. Unfortunately, larger sized fry will not hesitate to eat their smaller siblings, so you may need to separate the fry by sizes if some are growing more quickly than others.
