Hi.
Right i shall get straight to the point. I am in the process of re-doing my tropical community tank, the main focus being on a pair of Shell dweller Neolamprogus Brevis Cichlids. The substrate is Crushed Coral Sand and the tank will be kept with a rather high PH. The tank will be fairly bare in all honesty the bottom decorated with just some shells, and the top with some floating silk plants. Other livestock plans include livebearers (Guppys, Limias Halfbeaks) and a few sparkling gouramis (the gouramis are not definate though). Now lately i have become fascinated by the wonderous killifish. And so here comes the question, its an obvious one, are their any suitable killifish for this set up idea? I am not particularly bothered about fry predatation neither as i understand that could be an issue. As far as im aware the compatability is the main issue, along with the fact that the PH is high. So what do you people think?
Thanks in advance, James

Most killi's prefer species tanks to be honest, the flag fish should be ok and so should panchax, their Asian fish but tolerate hard water.

Thanks for the honest reply. By Panchax does that include the Gold Lyretail Panchax? And the Blue Panchax?

By "Lyretail Panchax" do u mean Aphyosemion australe, if so then no i would not.

I mean Aplocheilus lineatus and similar fish from the genus. These are very common and very hardy (also relativly easy to spawn and rear fry).

Sorry to butt in here but. Those panchax will, when fully mature predate on the small guppies and sparkling gouramis. American Flags Jordanella floridae can also be boisterious little fish especially when breeding. Its really hard to choose a fish (killifish) to meet your needs, that will also fit in with your other plans. I would go with the shell dwellers as I think they are your main preference at the moment and get a smaller aquaria (species tank) for a nice colourful pair of african killifish.
Regards
BigC

Lamprichthys tanganicanus

don't put gouramis in there, they are soft acid water fish. Sparklings will get hammered by the brevis.
don't use halfbeaks and limias tend to be mid to bottom dwellers.
Don't bother with any other killifish, the PH is too high for them. American Flags will be fine but are a mid to bottom dweller as well.
try your guppies but they might be nipped by the brevis.

you would be better off with blue-eye rainbowfish because they will live in hard alkaline water without a problem. Perhaps Pseudomugil signifer or the Celebes rainbow (Telmatherina ladigesi).

Not interested in haveing rainbow fish in there. Also i have done plenty of research on the matter and everything says Halfbeaks and Limias are a good dither fish to be used with shell dwellers. In fact a fishkeeper i have a lot of respect for who uses this forum (Neale Monks) was the one who reccomended that idea from the start. Also i understand what your sayin regarding the gouramis, however haveing asked about i reckon it would be fine, as they are a hardy fish, and due to bein mass produced the PH and hardness shouldnt be an overly huge issue. Also from the information i have, Brevis are not a fish that go out of their way to beat on other fish, they just guard their shells, and have very little interest in anything above, unless it seems like it can eat them. Plus surely if brevis would beat sparklings they would beat the guppies, considering they are of similar size, occupy the same are etc, and the guppys are slower with big tails...
As for the killifish thanks for that info i will give them a miss, i did'nt think it would be possible, just wondered lol.
Dont want to come across ignorant or anything, but differing opinions are what makes the hobby that bit more interesting lol.

sparkling gouramis tend to spend a lot of time in the mid to lower levels of a tank and would be considered more of a threat when the cichlids were breeding.
Halfbeaks can be difficult to get to settle in. If you can get some local bred stock that is living in hard alkaline water they should be ok but if they are from Asia they might not do well.
if the tank is big enough and you can find them get some Lamprichthys tanganicanus. They're a nice fish.

Agreed that Lamprichthys tanganicanus is a nice species and ticks all the boxes, the only drawback is it's size.

Hey. sorry to bring this thread back up, but would it be possible to have Golden Wonder Panchax Killis be k with the shell dwellers if i remove the gourmais and guppy from my plans?