Killifish

[Loko17]

Well Just thought I'd let you know that I went to the store and they had 3 males, no females. So I got the biggest male they had, he seemed the healthiest. Jim(LFS Guy) said its the first time he's had the Aphyosemion gardneri Killis in so he doesnt know that much about them. I'm gonna call the store every wednesday(they get fish shipments that day) to see if they get any females in and as soon as they do or as soon as I can find one I'm going to get her and start learning how to take care of eggs . Just thought I'd let you know, oh and also I got there and looked at the tanks and the 2.5 gallon was 12x6x8 so I looked at the 5.5 gallon and it was only a dollar more so I got the 5.5 gallon instead, so no worries in that department. Thanks for all the help JayJay, be on the lookout in the oddballs forum for when I get the female and start to learn how to breed and stuff. Thanks again.

 

[jayjay]

That's good size tank for killi's you have dimensions? I think next time when you get a female maybe get 2? So you have a breeding trio. Oh yeah any pics?

 

[Loko17]

the deminsions are 16Lx8Wx10H. No pics yet but I'll make sure to take some soon

 

[jayjay]

I need some tanks about that size Glad you got a good tank and some nice new killi's.

 

[Loko17]

I'll try to find the info sheet thing that came on it, maybe it'll have a brand name and maybe you can find it locally or find it online.

Well I went through the trashcan but couldnt find the little sheet, next time I go in to my LFS I'll pay attention to the brand name and give you the heads up. Oh and what do you feed to your killis? I fed him Tetra brand flake food this morning and then this afternoon I went out to a bucket that I set up for misquito's to lay their eggs so I could get the larvae and I forgot about it. Well I went to it and it was FILLED with larvae of all sizes, so I got some of the biggest ones and fed probably 7 of them to him, 5 were live. And I've emptied the bucket so I wont be contributing to the growing misquito population in my area and refilled it and put some leaves in there so they will start to decay and I can get some more larvae, I'm hoping I can make this a regular thing to feed him flake in the morning and larvae in the evening. Sound good to you?

 

[jayjay]

Mine as they are still small, about 1cm, are eating microworms and baby grindal worms, also small bugs they find in my planted tank. When they are older I expect to feed them bloodworm, brineshrimp, grindal worms, prawn, any other frozen food I have at the time and maybe try pellets.

Cheers for looking out ont he brand name. The 8" width would be perfect for my new fish tank stand going in my room which will hold my 15g, 8g, 3.5g, 3.5g, 2.5g and then the final new tank. Only tank I won't have on it is my 90g

 

[Loko17]

Yea, I'll probably go to my lfs on wednesday or this weekend just to look or I may get one of the females if they have any so I'll look for the brand name then. Lol I wish I had a 90 gallon but my rooms small so all I have room for is the 10 gallon I have, 2 2.5 to 3 gallon tanks for my Crowntail bettas, a 1.5 gallon tank for my Doubletail betta, the 5.5 for my killies, and i'm probably gonna get another 2.5 to 3 gallon tank for kind of a killie fry growout tank. Would that be ok for a growout tank since they grow fast and I'd probably be getting rid of them quickly. Lol my mom told me when i got the 1.5 gallon tank for my Doubletail betta that I was absolutely to have no more tanks, then a few days later I told her about how I found the killies and asked if I could get a 2.5 gallon tank to keep a male and female pair in and make some money off their babies and she said sure. Then I came home with a 5.5 gallon tank but gave her reasoning that this one was only a dollar more than the 2.5 gallon tank so she praised me for that. I havent told her yet but I'm planning on getting another small tank as a growout tank for the killies, I'll just tell her that if I dont get the small growout tank then the parents will eat the babies meaning no profit for me. Lol I know the parents dont eat the babies but I wont tell her if you dont . Thanks again for all the help. Right now you and another guy on another forum are my only "go to guys" when it comes to killies

 

[jayjay]

The parents will eat the fry you know? Unless it's very heavily planted and then a no where near as many will make it. When looking for females they are brown not colourful.

 

[Loko17]

Yea well either way I would take them out and put them in a different tank. Yea I know the females are more brownish pinkish and not so decorated as the males. Today I kind of took your advice(probably wouldve done it anyways) and went out and bought some freeze dried misquito larvae and what I'm gonna do is feed the freeze dried in the mornings, and then go out to that bucket and get some live ones in the afternoon. This sound good to you? I also am stocking up on the plants and soon it will be so heavily planted you wont be able to see the bottum except for I'm gonna put a small section away from the filter of Java moss so maybe the killis will lay the eggs on that and then when they are all done I can take that java moss carpet out and put it in a seperate tank to tend to the eggs. Good? Ok tomorrow is when my LFS gets in its shipments of fish so I'm gonna call tomorrow to see if they've gotten any. Pray that they do . I'll keep you updated.

 

[jayjay]

Remember to vary the diet don't just feed one thing, you can buy the mixed pack of frozen foods? They would be good. Or try to culture some live foods yourself, blackworms, grindal worms, daphina are all one's that come to mind quickly. Try to get floating plants as if you miss the eggs and they hatch things like hornwort are good. On the java moss what you going to do if they don't lay on it? lol. Good luck getting a female.

 

[Loko17]

Yea, I'll try lots of different frozen food and live food variety's. I dont know what I'd do if they dont lay it on the Java moss. I've pretty much made that their only option since theres no substrate (probably will get some with the female but if its not needed might not) Yea, I think the petsmart near me has some hornwort that i could pick up. Oh and since I'll probably get snails with it, do the killis eat snails? Yea, I'll tell you if they have a female or not later when I call.

 

[jayjay]

Killi's don't eat snails, no substrate would make cleaning easier.

 

[Loko17]

OK, I guess snails might even help to clean the tank a little. And thats what I was thinking about when I decided not to get substrate. I went into my LFS today and Jim said the shipment was coming today but when he ordered the fish, the killi's werent on the list so he said to just keep calling on wednesdays to see. And I bought some Freeze dried krill there. Oh and I looked at the tanks and all it said was "All Glass Aquariums" thats the closest thing I could find to a brand name, maybe that is a brand name but whatever. I'll try to ask him next time . Oh and I got some more plants for my killi setup too so now it'll be pretty well planted, hopefully i can get the Java moss that I'm bidding for on ebay, its like $2.00 including shipping so its a really good deal. Will keep you updated.

 

[jayjay]

Ok cheers for looking anyway. Snails will eat the uneaten food which may help you. I've got my new stand setup so I can get more tanks in my room will now have my 15g, 8g, 2.5g and both of my 3.5g's and a new 3.5g. I would of sent you some java moss but your U.S

 

[Loko17]

Yea thats cool about your stand and tanks, you should go tank shopping and look for a 5.5 gallon like mine, they cant be that hard to find. It's no problem about the java moss, I think I'm gonna win this auction on ebay and get some for very little money so thats good, you should see my killi tank, its so loaded with plants theres like nowhere where there isnt a plant. Also I was looking at some pics of the killis like I've got and you know what, I think mine are different because on the ones I thought it was it has a yellow stripe on its anal fin and mine doesnt, its just like the rest of the body, it is clearish with red spots and no yellow. Could it be a fundulopanchax gardneri gardneri? Thats what it looks like more than the A. Gardneri.