Fundulopanchax gardneri .

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I needed a few things from Exotic Pets , my locally owned Ma and Pa , and , as is my wont , I ventured into the fish room to have a look around and what should accost my eyes but several Fundulopanchax gardneri . I had gardneri in 2019 but failed miserably with them due mostly to lack of experience but also to thinking I knew what I was doing when I didn’t . I hope I’m a little wiser now and have success with these fish because I picked out the best pair I saw and brought them home . They are only an aquarium strain but I like them . Project gardneri begins again .

 

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Got them into their home for the time being . This ten gallon is choked with Java Moss and the male sure stirred up the scuds I’ve had in there since spring . I never see them much but just watched a bunch go into warp drive and saw one mercilessly eaten by the male gardneri . I’ll add a bottom mop and hopefully start picking eggs soon .

 

[GaryE]

With large gravel like that, and all those plants, they may avoid the mops. A lot of eggs will go into the substrate. In my heavily waterweed choked tanks, they didn't eat their fry. The issue becomes week old and above fry eating their siblings.

 

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@GaryE These are young fish and they need a bit of growing so they’re in this aquarium temporarily . If it should be that a few fry appear in here then great but after the gold australe I had where I relied on natural breeding in plants and got only one fry I’m going to go all killifish breeder with these gardneri . They will spend their most productive days in a bare 2 1/2 with mops and me picking eggs twice a week or more . I learned my lesson . Successful killifish breeders don’t sit on their hands .

 

[GaryE]

A word of warning. In a 2.5 gallon, you will have to watch them carefully. Some males can be aggressive.

 

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A word of warning. In a 2.5 gallon, you will have to watch them carefully. Some males can be aggressive.

That is another thing I learned . Most male killifish drive the females relentlessly during spawning . Randy little sods as @Colin_T would say .

 

[GaryE]

Having bred a lot of gardneri over the years, they can be worse than some others. A. australe can be relentless, but Fundulopanchax can be big and relentless. I always liked using 5s or 10s to spawn them, but I know a lot of people who collect eggs from smaller tanks, but don't leave them together for too long. A couple of days.
They also find and eat the eggs in small tanks. They have nothing else to do. So you have to check the mops frequently during the spawning time. But they are great fish, with tons of personality. Keep the males apart unless you have a larger tank and more than three guys. I've done well with 5 or 6 males - no problem. But two, or sometimes even three = trouble.

 

[fish48]

they are very pretty killifish . I brought two pairs 10 days ago I've been feeding plenty of live foods they seem to be doing well and settled down in a new environment, i managed to take a picture of a pair

 

[Innesfan]

The problem with killies is that I want all of them. For me they are the aquarium fish equivalent of potato chips. You cannot stop at one. I have kept many in the past but only two species currently and most every day I fight the urge to get more.

To connect this thread to the recent "How to live to a Hundred" thread I posted a few days ago, I saw my first F. gardneri as a teen at Crystal Aquarium in the '60s. The species was not a common sight then. As @Mr Limpet said in that thread, that was the place in NYC to see all sorts of fish for the first time. The proprietor, Victor, carried the stock of local killie breeders, among others, and in addition to 'gardneri' I also saw my first Aphyosemion calliurum, A. ahli, A cognatum, F. arnoldi, F. filamentosus (the fish identified as 'gardneri' in Innes) and many others

 

[fish48]

I have six types the next on my list is Pachy panchax playfairii

 

[GaryE]

I've had longterm groups of Aphyosemion zygaima (since 1992), ottogartneri (2015), and aff. louessense (2018), Chromaphyosemion poliaki (since 2005), and biteniatum (2010). During my 2023 Central African adventure, I added Epiplatys huberi and Aphyosemion escherichi, along with 2 lampeyes I have since lost to uneven sex ratios or disease. The escherichi have proven very aggressive, and every baby (30 plus) has grown out to be female. I may lose them too. But the huberi, a surprisingly beautiful fish, are doing well.

I lost a lot of killies since my move, as my fishroom gets too warm in winter. I didn't expect that. So I adjust. I'm hoping to get more Epiplatys species, and some Nothobranchius.

 

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I have six types the next on my list is Pachy panchax playfairii

Another one that I had but no success with . I will definitely have a rematch with them . The pair I had just would not put on size and I had a feeling that they had not been fed properly as fry . The female died first and didn’t get over an inch long in the six months or so I had them . Then the male died at about two inches or so . These are fish that get to four inches . Not a particularly colorful Killie but very interesting in appearance . They have a kind of reptilian look to them with their blunt nose and broad head . I found that appealing .

 

[GaryE]

Have you guys kept Epiplatys dageti? They're often available, breed like guppies and are fun killies to keep. Peaceful, not too big and really adaptable. If you like Aplocheilus, you'll like these too.

 

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Epiplatys dageti is another one that interests me . This could go on and on . It’s like @Innesfan said “ you cannot stop at one “ . Ed Warner , in his book” Success With Killifish “ , mentions the orange red throat of E. dageti and that they are very prolific . Edd Kray , who did the 2005 revision of the AKA’s Beginners Guide , is very fond of them too . I like surface feeders and E. dageti looks like a dandy . It looks like it’s time to build a rack and get a few more five gallons .

 

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Welp . . . . my crummy luck strikes again . Yesterday I noticed that my female gardneri died . Perfectly fine one day and dead the next . So . . . . . I did what had to be done . I went back and bought the rest of what they had . One male and four females . Bought another five gallon too . I’ve got eleven aquariums set up now and more to come .