I already have danios in one tank and I don't think I want hatchets, so I was thinking about Golden Wonder Killies for the top levels of my new 29g tank. How many is appropriate? I was thinking 2 or 3. Do I need to worry about infighting between males? I've also heard they're pretty good at eating smaller fish. The smallest fish I'll have in the tank will be swordtails, kuhlis and hopefully, badis badis. They won't be able to eat these fish, will they?
Any other general information or advice on these fish would be helpful.
Those killies are predatory- they should be OK with fish too large to eat, but you'll want to keep an eye out for any issues. Also, obviously, you'll want a GOOD lid.
I'd worry just as much about the badis badis. I've read a LOT of things on the internet about them being community fish, but I think that's a reflection of them being poorly kept and therefore shy. Badis badis is also sort of a general name for a bunch of poorly identified species (there's not much concrete info on these guys). Some people report keeping species that are completely docile, whereas others have very predatory ones.
I heard about their color changing abilities a while back, and thought they would be a cool addition to my tank, so I did quite a bit of research, almost all of which indicated that it would be OK. However, when I asked my LFS, which regularly stocks them, they strongly discouraged me. They said they'd had a lot of returns because the fish had turned out more aggressive and territorial than the buyers had originally expected. They still seem like incredibly cool fish, but if I kept them I'd probably put them in a species only tank, at least until I got a hands on feel for their personalities.
I've got a good cover on the tank with no gaps except for the small holes for airline hosing and the space for the HOB filter. Like I said, I don't plan on keeping any fish considerably smaller than the killies and I certainly won't mind if they get their mouths on some guppy or swordtail fry.
I've done a bit of research into the badis badis. This is actually the name of a particular species of fish. Other badis species exist, such as Badis ruber and Badis siamensis as well as the closely related dario species. I've read that problems in the community arise from the fish's general shyness, deliberate and slow eating and the fact that wild-caught specimens tend to only eat live foods. My LFS only stocks tank-raised specimens from a specialty breeder that they inform me will take both live and frozen foods and are usually successfully trained to eat flake in the store before reaching customer hands. Like I mentioned in my thread about the badis, having done this research I will have no problem returning the fish to the store if I feel it isn't working in my aquarium for any reason (bullying other fish, being bullied, not getting enough to eat, anything at all). Badis badis is predatory, but due to its diminutive size I'm not worried about it eating any fish in the aquarium except swordtail and guppy fry, which I have no problem with at all.
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