Need Info About Micropanchax Macrophthalmus (lampeye Kilifish)

[Brette]

The Wolf (forum member) recently identified some fish that I bought that were mislabeled at the LFS. Thanks again for that. So it turns out I have 9 lampeye kilifish, lovely little guys. (tiny fish!)They've settled into my 12 gallon nicely and seem to be enjoying life with their cardinal tank mates. They are really cool looking when they shoal together. But they often leave the group and scout around the bottom of the tank or the males run at each other. They can be pugnacious with each other but they don't seem to want to to any real damage to the competition.

That's really all I know about them as pickings are pretty slim with regards to information on the net. I DID find several sites about kilifish in general but lampeyes, from the little I've read, are not typical. Does any have a link with some info or any personal experience with these fish?

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[The-Wolf]

Technical stuff
they do best in a pH range or 6.0 – 8.0 with a gH of 5 - 12. the ideal temp is inbetween 22 – 26°C

background
Found in Africa mostly southern Benin, southern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. usual habitat is small rivers and brooks in the swampy rainforests.
Natural diet is small worms, crustaceans and insects for aquarium keeping they will readily adapt to most comercially produced flake food but that should be supplimented with a varied diet including live/frozen foods (bloodworm, daphnia etc).

now the hard bit
keeping these fish sucessfull really depends on your water quality. from personal experiance, NO3 over 30ppm could be quite fatal.
I recomend bi-weekly water changes and ample planting to keep the NO3 down below 30ppm.
try to avoid any extreams in temp or pH as this will undoubtedly result in the loss of all but the hardiest of these fish.
AFAIK they have not been bred in home aquaria, and sexing them externaly is virtually impossible.

having said all that
enjoy thes guys, they are a stunning fish and worth everyone trying at least once.

 

[Brette]

I recomend bi-weekly water changes and ample planting to keep the NO3 down below 30ppm.

I already have 3 good size plants in the tank that are doing well but i think i'll add more for their sake. I'm commited to doing frequent water changes and monitoring ph and temp. Thanks for the tips!

 

[MHunt]

I've seen these in one of my lfs's, labelled as lampeyes, but i didn't realise they were a type of kilifish. Perfect for the smaller tank as i believe they generally don't grow much over an inch, if that. I wanted a nano tank with endlers and lampeyes in it for a while, might have to look at that again when my cory fry tank becomes free.

 

[dirtydog]

these guys are great - i have 11 or them at the mo and my LFS has just got some more in as I think they are selling loads!
got them in with danios and cardinals etc and they are fine. shoal a fair bit and can be quick. some of mine have grown to just over an inch but were teeeny when i got them

 

[Brette]

Oh very cool! Other people have them as well. They really are a lot of fun, Very active, busy little fish. They are so small at the moment but the funny thing is how absolutely unafraid of anything they seem to be. Mine come up to the glass when I approach the aquarium.

Has anyone had any deaths? If so, what caused it? I've had mine for 4 days now. I expected to lose one or two but so far haven't lost any and they all seem to be happy and healthy. Even rambunctious. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[dirtydog]

well i started my aquarium in Jan,
so far ive had 1 danio (cycled the tank with them - bad i know, next tank is fishless all the way!), 1 shrimp, 2 endlers and a plec die. all the 11 lampeyes have been fine since I bought them.

i bought 4 endlers a couple of weeks ago - 2 male and 2 female. one female "went missing" and the other one gave birth to a few fry then died i think while still giving birth... is this common?