Florida Flagfish

[Lynden]

Hello, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, but there doesnt appear to be a forum for egg-laying toothed-carp on TFF. Just the live bearers.

Anyways, at my LFS today, i was looking at these nice little Florida Flagfish. They were rather attractive and rather personable, so i am planning to buy some. However, before i do this, i wouldnt mind some extra research or personal experiences to help me out. I do have some knowledge on killis, however i lack info on Flagfishes.

Some desired answers include the ones to the following questions.

-Are these an annual killifish?
-If not, what is an average lifespan?
-How do these particular animals breed?
-What are their general behavioural patterns?
-Are there any special ways i should treat these, such as food, stocking, ect.?

Thanks in advance for info It will be gladly accepted.

-Lynden

 

[nino]

I think people with killifish topics tend to post in the oddball section if that's of any help at all. Atleast that's where I see them all

 

[dwarfgourami]

Is this the Jordanella floridae?

No personal experience, never even seen one, but my books (Dick Mills and Gina Sandford) between them come up with the following:

grows to c 7 cms long

moderately easy to keep

eats all foods; algae

lays eggs at the base of plants or in fanned-out depression in the substrate (sand said to be best);

spawning continues for several days after which female should be removed; the male continues to look after eggs and young (so presumably they are not annuals then, or he'd be dead by that stage?)

breeding potential easy, use spawning mops

males tend to be pugnacious

preferred temperature 18-24 C

can be kept in a community tank

swim on all levels

Cannot vouch for any of this, but it's in the books.

 

[yvez9]

7 cm???

mine grew to about 1 inch, male is maybe 1.25 inch
they are quite peaceful

i only keep females in a group in my 20 gallon, the male tends to harrass them so i moved him

they are great hair algea eaters if you ever have an outbreak, they take care of it!

i've never tried to breed them as i said, i removed the male. he wasn't causing any harm, but he had them hide in plants all the time, when one came out, he'd chase it back in.

they don't bother any other fish (tetras, gouramis, female betta, rams, golden wonder panchax, cories)

they're quite active and show lots of personnality IMO!

great fish

 

[dwarfgourami]

7 cm???

Well, that's what Dick Mills says, perhaps he put an enlargement spell on his? Never seen them myself so couldn't tell. Or perhaps there are different breeds?

 

[BigC]

Hi Lynden,
I have kept many killifish over the years but admittedly not Jordanella floridae. Follow the link below for a good discripitive guide to keeping these beauties.

http/homepages.tesco.net/~davyreynolds/f...la_floridae.htm

http/www.home.zonnet.nl/Ericnaus/Article...la_floridae.htm

Regards
BigC

 

[Lynden]

Hey thanks everybody

 

[blue_ram]

Hello, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, but there doesnt appear to be a forum for egg-laying toothed-carp on TFF. Just the live bearers.

Anyways, at my LFS today, i was looking at these nice little Florida Flagfish. They were rather attractive and rather personable, so i am planning to buy some. However, before i do this, i wouldnt mind some extra research or personal experiences to help me out. I do have some knowledge on killis, however i lack info on Flagfishes.

Some desired answers include the ones to the following questions.

Forget about your knowledge about Killies. American-flag Fish neither looks, nor acts like a typical Killifish found in LFS.

-Are these an annual killifish?
-If not, what is an average lifespan?

Although not an annual Killifish, they don't live too long. They lived 2-3 years for me.

-How do these particular animals breed?

I've never seen them breed. But here's a link that summerizes in detail.

-What are their general behavioural patterns?

It was quite a while ago. But I do remember one of them being quite aggressive toward my Mollies. He (she?) wind up killing one of them. Other one was pretty mellow (both looked like males). Oddly enough, neither fish bothered the Neons.

-Are there any special ways i should treat these, such as food, stocking, ect.?

They are rather hardy, and aren't particular about water quality. The same goes for the temperature.

But as for food, they are omnivores and needs vegetable in their diet. It didn't take too long before two of them strip down my Cabomba downto stems. If there aren't enough veggies in their diet, they'll strart muching on you plants. Try to feed them lightly cooked vegetables at least twice a week. They are also known to eat hair algae. Since I didn't have any hair algae at that time, I wouldn't know.

Stock them like a small cichlids, since they act like one. Keep no more than 2 per 10 gallons. They are definitely interesting little fish, so grab them while they are available. I couldn't find them anywhere locally, except for a little while at (oddly enough) Petsmart.

 

[rdd1952]

Our son has a pair in his 20 gallon and he loves them. They are very pretty fish and I think his are 2 to 3 inches long. They will eat algae but will also eat plants. He had some anacharis but they pretty much ate it down to nothing but stems. From what I have read, they do prefer to be in numbers like other schooling fish.

 

[Lynden]

Thay actually do look and act remarkably like small cichlids

Well, anyways, i purchased them and they are doing well.