[lilnaugrim]

Ooo, first time actually posting on TFK! I'm usually on the Betta subforum! Bear with me haha.

Hey all so I had been interested in Killifish for a long time now and decided to do some further research. I have basic knowledge on care and breeding although I don't see that I'll be avidly breeding them, just in the of chance that some fry survives, then yipee I can sell it to my LFS.

So I just wanted to get some extra info and would greatly appreciate if anything stood out to you that's wrong with a set up for them.

I am interested in keeping A. Australe Orange, preferably just a mated pair. However a professor at my college keeps what I believe are the Gardneri ones but I'm not entirely sure so when I get the chance I'll also be asking him about anything I can do. He's got a great tank, looks to be about 4 gallons, glass and stuffed with java moss, driftwood and some ferns.

So here's the set up I was thinking:

• 5.5 gallon glass tank with glass lid
• 1 larger piece of Mopani (or two smaller if I can find exactly what I want)
• Boat loads of Java Moss from my Sorority tank
• A few Java Ferns, perhaps an Anubias as well
• Sand substrate (I thought about doing an NPT, still toying with the idea)
• Sponge filter
• Clamp on light from Home Depot to grow the plants.

Does that sound good or am I missing something? Could be missing that I just forgot to put down >.< I do that frequently.

I also know that A. Australe lay their eggs on the plants and are light sensitive as well as need a bit more heat than other species (I read that but not sure if it's true) and then of course that the rainfall stimulates the eggs to hatch and that fry can eat BBS when born. What are the chances that the fry will all be eaten or not hatch at all? How often will they breed, are they annual or non-annual? And does that effect when they breed? Probably a silly question but I figure I'll ask anyway ;-)

I also know that softer water is prefered as well as pH between 6.0 and 7.0 at least, steady of course. Is there anything else that you can tell me either about this fish or about my set-up?? Any and all help is much appreciated.

-lil

 

[jaysee]

The killis you mentioned are annuals, which means they may live 2 years in the aquarium. I've kept nothos and gardneris and the research I've done indicated that small tanks were fine for them. I had them in 10 gallon tanks. I didn't have anything in the tanks for them to really lay eggs on - didn't want them breeding. However, you can sell (and of course buy) killi eggs on aquabid. There are way more egg listings than fish listings. Something to think about, as far as the breeding is concerned. I know breeders use a mop type thing, which makes removing the eggs easy. However, with java moss, you could just cut away the moss and move it with the eggs, if you were inclined to be moving them.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Thanks for answering Jaysee.

I'm not sure if I want to breed them or to just have them and enjoy them, I know those only live a few years but I'm honestly quite fine with that.

I've got some other questions now though, I've done some more reading about mixing and not mixing. So they were suggesting say not keeping gardneri with australe beacuse they are both under Aphyosemion? But there are a few different types of gardneri that you can mix together? I'm confused a bit by that. I thought you couldn't keep two of the same genus together which I thought was the Aphyosemion part of the name but is it the gardneri/australe part or am I just wrong here? Or is this just for more of the breeding purposes and them breeding together?

Any clarification is welcome here as well as other tips that you may have? Also I do have a 29 tank I can set up and was wondering if a trio or say 2M 4F would be fine in that tank with some cory cats or some shoaling fish? I know some absolutely need to be in species only tanks but I'm still confused by which species need to. I'm mostly interested in A. Australe Orange and also the Notho Rachovii.

 

[Byron]

We don't seem to have much interest in killifish on the forum, so there are not yet any species in the profiles. It's been years since I had any, back in the 1980's, and those were A. australe and I think one other that I can't remember the name of. They were not together.

A. australe can manage in a community tank of very peaceful and small fish, with lots of plants, and soft water of course. Here's some reliable data:
Aphyosemion australe (Lyretail Killi) — Seriously Fish

Fundulopanchax gardneri is a bit "rough" by comparison, and larger at just over 2 inches. These two would not be good together. Here's some data:
Fundulopanchax gardneri – Steel-blue Killifish (Aphyosemion gardneri, Aphyosemion nigerianum) — Seriously Fish

Nothobranchius rachovii is another larger killie, and very short-lived I believe. A. australe can live 2-3 years; I can't remember how long mine lasted.

Byron.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Thank you Bryon!

Yes I did notice the lack of profiles but that's alright ^_^ I did look through some of the other posts by users but I still had other questions to ask of course haha.

Okay so Gardneri and Australe cannot live peacefully together but for names sake, they "can" because they are not both under Aphyosemion right? Because gardneri is Fundulopanchax not Aphyosemion. Sorry, I had just been confused about that whole thing from another post I read

Right I had also forgotten to actually look at the sizes and of course water chemistry requirements, still learning here!

So say I had a group of a 2M and 4-6F of A. Australe in a very densely planted 29 what other tankmates could I use? I was looking into Celestial Pearl Danios because I know they're peaceful, small, around the same temp and chemistry requirements (I'd probably keep the tank around 70-72 degree's in this case). Also looking to do 6 Dainty Cory's (Corydoras Habrosus) which also have similar requirements and I have these in my 33 sorority so I already know temperaments and care.

I know shrimp are generally out of the picture, or is that for the larger species of killifish? I see the Lyretail gets up to 2-2.5 inches so I assume shrimp is still out unless it's an amano or something?

Also I hear that they get along with Dwarf Gourami's as well, does this apply to say, a Sparkling/Croaking Gourami as well? Or are they too rambunctious? I know sometimes having schools or groups of other fish can annoy or deter the killi's the same it did for my sorority to have a school in it when I had less girls.

 

[Byron]

Okay so Gardneri and Australe cannot live peacefully together but for names sake, they "can" because they are not both under Aphyosemion right? Because gardneri is Fundulopanchax not Aphyosemion.

They are in two separate genera, one is Aphyosemion, the other Fundulopanchax. I don't know your level of knowledge, so I will briefly explain this. Different genera means that the two species are not related in the way that two species within the same genera are. Any number of physiological differences can distinguish genera, incluidng DNA. Species within the same genera will have the same physiology--teeth structure, fin rays, vertebrate structure, and near-identical DNA. So A. australe is not physically close to F. gardneri, they have any number of physiological differences plus different DNA, which means they did not evolve from the same ancestor.

Fish from different genera can often live together in the same aquarium, while other fish cannot. In the above case, the two species are not compatible due to their inherent behaviourial differences which would keep them at odds. This can occur within a genus too, so each species in a genus may or may not be compatible with others in that genus.

So say I had a group of a 2M and 4-6F of A. Australe in a very densely planted 29 what other tankmates could I use? I was looking into Celestial Pearl Danios because I know they're peaceful, small, around the same temp and chemistry requirements (I'd probably keep the tank around 70-72 degree's in this case). Also looking to do 6 Dainty Cory's (Corydoras Habrosus) which also have similar requirements and I have these in my 33 sorority so I already know temperaments and care.

The link I gave previously has some suggestions for tankmates. I would not have Celestial Pearl Danio, these are best alone [see our profile on this species] plus they are a bit active for the A. australe.

I know shrimp are generally out of the picture, or is that for the larger species of killifish? I see the Lyretail gets up to 2-2.5 inches so I assume shrimp is still out unless it's an amano or something?

Most fish we keep in aquaria view shrimp as a natural food; crustaceans are readily eaten in their habitat. So the trick here is to have fish that are not large enough to eat the shrimp, or have shrimp larger than what the fish can eat to say it another way.

Also I hear that they get along with Dwarf Gourami's as well, does this apply to say, a Sparkling/Croaking Gourami as well? Or are they too rambunctious? I know sometimes having schools or groups of other fish can annoy or deter the killi's the same it did for my sorority to have a school in it when I had less girls.

Some gourami are OK, but I would stay with the very small species. The "Dwarf" is too large, notwithstanding its common name. The more delicate gourami are what would match A. australe, like the Chocolates, Licorice, pygmy, etc. Water parameters for all these are identical, and they should be peaceful with thick plants [and thick plants is another aspect of their respective habitats].

Byron.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Thank you yet again Bryon! I love the detailed answers, just helps me further my knowledge! Thanks for clearing up the whole genera thing, I knew that names could be confusing but that makes it a lot easier now, especially in my searches.

So I do believe that if I end up setting up my 29, it will be a) densely planted and probably an NPT and b) I think I will get a trio of pgymy gourami for tank mates as well as the 6 Corydoras Habrosus. I just want to make sure that's all set before I go trying anything. I've still plenty of research to do and I'm sure I'll pop back in to ask more questions in the future. Thanks so much!

 

[Byron]

Thank you yet again Bryon! I love the detailed answers, just helps me further my knowledge! Thanks for clearing up the whole genera thing, I knew that names could be confusing but that makes it a lot easier now, especially in my searches.

So I do believe that if I end up setting up my 29, it will be a) densely planted and probably an NPT and b) I think I will get a trio of pgymy gourami for tank mates as well as the 6 Corydoras Habrosus. I just want to make sure that's all set before I go trying anything. I've still plenty of research to do and I'm sure I'll pop back in to ask more questions in the future. Thanks so much!

Sounds good. I would have more of the corys, 9-12. The "dwarf" species are better with more. For some reason, I do not have good success with these, can't figure why, as all my several species of wild-caught "normal" sized corys do fine, spawning all over the place, and living years. But if you're having success with them, excellent choice.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Sounds good. I would have more of the corys, 9-12. The "dwarf" species are better with more. For some reason, I do not have good success with these, can't figure why, as all my several species of wild-caught "normal" sized corys do fine, spawning all over the place, and living years. But if you're having success with them, excellent choice.

Thank you for the tip! Well They were doing wonderful but I found one dead yesterday, checked all the params just in case and nothing out of the ordinary, all at 0. I can only assume it's because they're not technically made for the heat that Betta's are. I wasn't aware of their requirements when I got them like most people and I try to keep my tank on the lower spectrum, it's steady at 78 although during the day it might get a degree or so hotter because it is summer. Of course my girls love it haha but we'll see how the little ones do. I'm sure they'll do just fantastic in the 29 with the Killies though given the temp and right water params. It's also generally colder at my mothers house (all other fish are at dads) so it will be easier to keep the tank cooler and I can rig up some sort of water cooling method with dripping ice or something like that, I had seen that done a while ago.

But back to the cory's, the other 5 seem to be doing well, very active and swimming with each other occasionally. They ate the wafer I had given them last night which is always a plus, they also eat the fallen NLS pellets and Omega pellets so I don't feel that their diet is to be blamed for. So I guess I'll have to wait and see because I really don't know other than the temp of the tank. He also wasn't bloated or anything, nothing looked wrong physically with him that I would have otherwise spotted.