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LA
1-inch male chameleon fish.  Unprepossessing, like most young fish.

Name:  Adult male chameleon fish change colors at will -- when angry, hungry, or horny, also when threatened or protecting their eggs, fry, or territory.  Female chameleon fish rate somewhere between drab and plain most of the time.  When young, both sexes of the Badis badis tribe pretty much look the same.

LA
One-inch probable male Badis badis.  We'll give you a sexing clue later.

Origin:  Chameleon fish come from India -- another pretty big place.  Namistay.  Chameleon fish are a type of nandid similar to a dwarf cichlid but not eligible to enroll in the ACA or other cichlid club.  Some people call them “blue perch.”  Others call them Indian nandids (with good reason).  Chameleon fish are neither rare nor expensive, just hard to find.  And when you do find them, the little dudes are hard to see, because they are small and plain.  You’re more likely to find Badis badis as the result of a fish club’s Breeder Award Program.

LA
One-inch male left?  Female right?  Females have a plumper belly.  Males a six-pack.

Size:  If you believe everything you read, chameleon fish grow to three inches.  Maybe so.  We just haven’t seen any Badis badis over two inches.  However, we’ve never seined any waters in India, either.  You usually see them for sale at less than one inch long.

LA
Young Chameleon fish compared to an adult male guarding fry.  He's under two inches.

Colors:  We haven’t taken one of these apart, but chameleon fish appear to have black, blue, orange, yellow, and drab iridocytes they can change the size of at will.  Since blue’s a reflective color, you’ll see their best colors if you keep your light at the front of their tank.  We’ve checked them with a flashlight at night.  Their colors darken at night.  Badis badis also seem to prefer non-bright lights.

LA
Any kind of decor improves your Chameleon fish's colors. 

Plants, Rocks, Wood:  Add plenty of live plants, plastic plants, knick knacks, paddy whacks, rocks, terraces, niches, notches, castles, caves, crevices and chunks of wood.  Chameleon fish color better and display better in tanks with lots of decor.  Oh yes, you are treating Badis badis like dwarf cichlids. Namistay.

  LA
Some chameleon fish will actually eat flakes foods.  Many will not.

Foods and Feeding:  But you are not feeding them like dwarf cichlids.  When you buy rams off the shelf, most will accept flakes and pellets from day one.  Not so your new chameleon fish.  You better at least be ready with frozen brine shrimp.  They are not enthusiastic eaters -- which may account for the male’s concave abs.  The food they like best is live California black worms.  Badis badis accept other live and frozen foods but not quite as eagerly.

  LA
If you look real close, you can see the same "pattern" in both these female Chameleon fish.

Flake Foods:  You’ll save probably less than half your colony if you feed your chameleon fish nothing but flake foods.  The picky beggars die.  The less particular survivors are tough little rascals.  Rather than depend on luck, ask your dealer what his or her Badis badis are eating.  ASK to see them eat it.

LA
Four chameleon fish under one inch.  Interesting but not striking when small.  

Good Community Fish:  Chameleon fish mix well with other smaller fishes -- like moons, dwarf gouramis, etc.  The best thing about mixing in other fishes is it encourages your Badis badis to compete for their food.  They see the other fish eagerly eating and want their share -- just like our siblings when we were growing up.

LA
Same 1-inch fish as above in a 2-inch flower pot two weeks later.  Chameleon fish change.

LA
Few more pix of the same Chameleon fish another week later.

LA
Male chameleon fish take over these small flower pots almost immediately.

LA
1-inch Badis badis.

LA
Ditto -- probable male.

A:  I'll add your info to my Badis page.  The scarlets are showing up more these days.  LA

Breeding:  Add some small caves.  Two-inch flower pots work fine.  Chameleon fish breed like dwarf cichlids.  You’ll see a little lip-locking and tail-slapping, but you probably won’t see the nuptials or the consummation.  Badis badis enjoy their privacy.  You’ll notice your male becomes more brightly colored.  Your male chameleon fish will care for the eggs and fry.

LA
Called a blue badis.  New to us.  1.5 inches.

LA
More blue badis.

LA
Badis assamensis.

LA Pix
Scarlet Badis at 0.5 inches.  They get prettier.  They also need live food.

LA
Nov 2007.  Better pic.  He's 0.5 inches long.  Seldom seen.

LA
Another half-inch guy in the same tank.

LA
One-inch red badis -- no particular color yet.

LA
Half a year later, she's still one-inch long, well-rounded, and an obvious female>

LA
0.5-inch scarlet badis, January 9, 2011.

LA.
Ditto.

Other Badis:  You can also find blue badis and red badis on rare occasions.  Both cost more and are less seldom seen.  Good luck finding any Badis.  

LA
Tribe of the little guys getting along together.  One of the larger "first four" in middle.

LA
Female on left with rounded belly.  More colorful male on right with tighter abs.

LA
Total time in tank:  26 days.  Cute guy.  Picky eater.  Same guy as very first pic.

LA
Three days later he's caring for 30 to 40 hard-to-see eggs on the bottom left.

LA
Looks like lots more now that they hatched two days later.

LA
And here's a whole new crop of young chameleon fish getting started.

Last Word:  Except for the picture of the members of the tribe and the other species of Badis, all these pictures were of the same “first four.” As we said earlier, “Badis vary a lot.”  And as we also said earlier:  “Chameleon fish are neither rare nor expensive, just hard to find.”   LA

© 2005, © 2006, © 2009  LA Productions
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