Zdeněk Dočekal - Rainbowfish, scalars and others

I can't help myself, and since Slávek Boudný pointed out in the previous article the breeding of rare rainbowfish that Zdeněk Dočekal keeps in his hatchery, I have to ask him about it.
But mainly we will talk about angelfish and how their breeding is going. After all, most of the medals and awards are for breeding angelfish.

More about rainbowfish, actually Slávek Boudný mentioned that you have his rare Chilaterina sentaniensis. And how are you doing with breeding them?
It's a species that goes against business. It's a loss-making fish. It grows for a terribly long time and only colours up when it's big. A neon tetra grows a little and is already colourful. This one is normally a white fish, kind of greyish. Only after three quarters of a year, suddenly "clink" and within a week it colours up.

I'm curious, if someone contacted you and wanted them, would you prepare them?
Yes, prepare them, for example... Yes, because here in the Czech Republic we have a club, of rainbowfish breeders. Yes, yes. You know that, right?
Yes, I know, but I'm not in contact with anyone.
And now you are. Look, I give 25 euros and I get a book like this. (shows a rainbowfish magazine) I'm a member of this international organization.
There aren't many of you, but apparently there might be a conference here in 2027.
There aren't many of us, but in 2027 a rainbowfish breeders conference is planned. The club management wants it to be in the Czech Republic. Every year we meet in a different country, this year it was in Germany and in 2027 it will be in the Czech Republic. We have already booked a venue in Zaječí, luckily, because the dates for 2026 were already taken. It's already been here twice.

How does it work?
For those 25 euros, these magazines come. When they go to nature to catch fish, they write articles. When there is a club meeting in Austria, they write an article about it.
It's good that thanks to membership in the club you can be in contact with other breeders.
When the conference takes place, about a hundred people gather there.
On Friday you arrive and go on a trip. On Saturday it starts with a market. We all have fish packed in advance. As we all know who has what, it's by order. You just call, you don't have this and that, and if so, you bring it to him.
Then there is a free sale from 9:00 to about 11:00, and then lunch. In the afternoon there are lectures. Then there is a social evening. On Sunday morning there are more lectures and after lunch you go home.
It's basically a small market plus lectures.
For 25 euros I actually have 4 magazines plus a list. Every year this list is updated. So this is good.
So of the people you know, Slávek Boudný was there too. He organized the first meeting in Harrachov and it was so perfect that since then they are enthusiastic about the Czech Republic and want to have another meeting here.
When they came here for the first time, they asked what the voltage in the network was. Before, you weren't allowed to travel, so they thought we were like India. Then it was done again in Žďár nad Sázavou, but that hotel turned it into apartments. That was a bigger hotel where it would have fit. Here in Hajčman, where the cichlid meeting was, it wouldn't have fit.
So we went to Zaječí with Jarda and we have it booked there.
This year they invited Markéta Rejlková to the conference, who gave a lecture in English. The Germans then translated it into German.
These rainbowfish meetings are always in the second week of June.
So I'm a rainbowfish breeder, I'm in the Cichlid Club and I'm also a member of Tetra in Žďár.

Is there a club for angelfish breeders?
No. There is the Discus Club and angelfish are under the Cichlid Club.

But you don't breed discus.
That also crossed my mind, but you need bigger tanks for that. I'm more equipped for angelfish, neon tetras and so on.
I noticed you have beautiful angelfish. I saw them for example at the exhibition in Rychnov. They were handsome. Then you had altums…
I gave those away. I had them for years. It just wasn't meant to be. They spawned, but everything turned white. They were beautiful. In the end I gave them to a colleague from Ostrava.

And how did it turn out?
Well, nothing. He didn't breed them.
Back when Linke sold them to the Czechs, Honza Haidinger from South Bohemia managed to breed them. From the first spawn, Honza Haidinger kept the fish for further breeding, and from the second spawn I bought 20 pieces from him. I took ten to Rychnov for the exhibition and immediately had an interested party. But I took them home.
The next year I took them to the exhibition in Rychnov again and I said to myself, if that interested party came and wanted them, I would sell them to him. So he came and took them after the exhibition. Moreover, 4 pairs formed at the exhibition and they bred there, and it didn't work out for me here.
I then gave the rest to a breeder in Žďár and he gave me young ones again, and then I had them again. They spawned a few times for me, but everything turned white.
But you have the Amazonian angelfish 'Manacapuru' here.
Yes, these ones yes.

And those are trouble-free?
They don't spawn that often. I also have the Amazonian angelfish 'Rio Nanay' here. And then I have Red Spotted Guyana. And now I got a new fish. It's called Red Devil Albino. It's an albino, but a bit koi. The Nanays are black spotted and these are red.

And do you have any ghosts?
I have the angelfish paraiba ghost. I got them as a gift.
I try to do what sells. Hobby is minimal.

I have a friend who has a 1000-litre aquarium at home. She only keeps angelfish in it and the whole family is thrilled with them.
Now imagine that there are people who name them. When the fish dies then, it's no fun. It's like when a dog dies.

But you don't have any named ones?
I don't have them named. Better not. That's a different relationship again. Once you give a fish a name, it's a member of the family (laughs).

What do you think about the possibility of returning to the original species through selection? 
For example, if you cross guppies with Endler guppies, is it possible to breed guppies back from them?
That's an awful lot of work. It's better to keep the breeds pure, if possible.
But it's true that guppy mixes sell the most. They have no value, but they'll easily take 100-200 pieces for the shop.
Angelfish also crossbreed. If you put a striped one with a non-striped one, for example, then you get such mixes… And then to pull the species back out of that mix… That takes a long time.
Rainbowfish also crossbreed easily. You have to keep them separate. You can recognize the male, but the females are similar to each other. So when you put them to spawn, another female gets in there and you have hybrids and it's not the same anymore. But those hybrids are viable. They just don't have the colours. It's all mixed up.

You can read the first part of the interview about Zdeněk Dočekal's aquarist beginnings here.

You can find the second part of the interview about keeping aquarium fish here.