Got My Killies!

[Biulu]

I was at the monthly meeting of my aquarium society last night and during the auction they had several killies up for sale. I was able to acquire a group of 5 3 months old (looks like I have 3 females and 2 males) for 3 CAD, a real bargain.

It is about 2 months earlier than I wanted to, but I couldn't let this one pass. The splendopleure has a special significance for me as it is native to region where I used to work in Cameroon.

I put them in a 5 gallon with plenty of plants, like java fern, anubias and java moss. It is a mature tank with a heater and a filter. I chose this tank as it has tea coloured water due to a piece of wood in there, which I hope will have lowered the pH and some of the hardness of the water. Although the water here is half the hardness of Mexico, it is still alkaline with lots of minerals. These fish are aquarium bred though, so I hope things will be ok.

I only have 1 question: I read somewhere that splendopleure are bottom dwellers contrary to some other killies that are top dwellers. Is this correct? And if so, should I change the decor and provide plants which have longer, floating leaves?

Thanks! Any other input on keeping this fish is also welcome!

 

[BigC]

http/www.aka.org/wak/Ref_Library/Aphyosemion/A.splendopleure.htm

 

[Biulu]

Thanks Colin, but the profile doesn't give the info I am looking for. My 2 males are constantly at the top whereas the females hide, so I guess I can leave them in this densely planted set up so the females have enough cover.

 

[BigC]

What are your water stats.......

 

[Biulu]

Colin, good you're asking! Until now I have relied upon what other here people told me about their water....

pH: 8 (my test kit only goes up by 0.5 points, so not too accurate but I am sure it is alkaline)
Gh: 16 (my friend talked about 140ppm so that sounds about right)
Kh: 5

 

[BigC]

Yeah...No worries.
I dont know how you are fixed down there and what facilities you have at your disposal but if I were breeding this Chrom. sp. then I would be looking for softer water with a very low TDS and aim for a pH of around 6.5 and temp 24-26C
I dont deal with GH any more and I rely on dKH TDS.
Try mixing in a little RO with your waterchanges if available
atb
C

 

[Biulu]

Ok thanks, temperature I have at 24 already. Currently all I want to achieve is to get them to adulthood as they are just colouring up and only 3 months old. In about another 3 months I will start thinking of breeding them.

Is it ok to have the 2 males together in the 5 gallon? I read something about agressiveness?

 

[BigC]

Chrom. splendopleure are not really known to be overly aggressive...but with the low male to male count and the presence of females this may be heightened somewhat.
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]probably best to split if poss
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Regards
C

 

[Biulu]

Thanks! I will keep an eye on them as at the moment I do not really have the possibility to split them up. They are doing well though. They were very shy the first days; I even wondered whether they were eating! But now they come out. They loved the frozen bloodworms I had for them yesterday, as well as spiruflakes.