Building the Parospromenus Genetic Resource Center
Vision Statement (PGRC)
Although the efforts of other dedicated hobbyist-conservationists have greatly expanded the captive propagation of these endangered fish throughout Europe and Asia, the United States has so far fallen behind in the conservation efforts focused on this genus.
We hope to support the conservation work in this country, and hopefully encourage as many like-minded aquarium keepers in this country to consider joining the international, hobbyist-led effort, to preserve a stable, diverse genetic resource of these fish, who's habitats are so quickly disappearing from the former lowland rainforests of southeast asia.
Mission statement (PGRC)
The Parosphromenus Genetic Resource Center is dedicated to the genetic conservation, captive propagation, and public distribution of the Parosphromenus genus within the United States, for the purposes of supporting the ex-situ conservation efforts led by the Parosphromenus Project.
Organization model (PGRC)
This facility currently works with 6 Parosphromenus species, with the intent of keeping stable breeding populations of each species, producing high-quality offspring, and distributing animals (free-of-charge) to Conservation hobbyists within the United States.
Our facility
The first system of this facility (6, 5-gallon tanks, 35 gallon system total, with intermittent recirculation) was built in the winter of 2020, and our first fish (P. linkei, and P. phoenicurus) arrived in December 2020.
The second system (14, 17-liter tanks, ~75 gallons system total, with continuous circulation) was completed in May 2020, and so far 30 fish, representing 4 new populations (P.”gunawani”, P.”sentang”, P.”batu Phat” , and P.opallios) have been added to that system.
We’re still acquiring broodstock, and thanks to a generous donation, expect to add another 3-4 populations (P. tweedi, P. nagyi, P. ornaticauda, and P. parvavulus), another rack (designed for intensive breeding) and another 100 gallons of system capacity, within the next few months.
The ultimate goal would be to have the capacity to keep, breed, and distribute all known varieties of Parosphromenus.
Realistically, we will work with the populations that are available, and will continue to prioritize maintaining stable numbers of the varieties we have, over simply collecting all the possible varieties.
The PGRC is a personal project of mine, it's currently funded entirely by my day job, and is contained in the basement of my home, where my (very supportive) wife has sacrificed 600sqft of my family’s free space for me to pursue this dream of being a part of the Parosphromenus conservation work.
I'm excited to expand this project to support the international effort to preserve these fish, and to support my fellow fishkeepers who have a desire to be part of this important work.
