Persian Killifish Expereinces?

[N0body Of The Goat]

My favourite LFS has received numerous killifish species this last week, mostly as sexed pairs per display tank. Despite being far from the most colourful in a bare display tank, it was the male "Persian" that caught my eye enough to get me researching it a little...
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Aphanius&species=mento&id=1303

A few things that stood out in the above profile for me were...

• It seems to mostly originate from Turkish rivers (well both my Rio240 and Korrall60 both have brisk flow, but I need to have a "Plan B" housing at the ready, if you keep reading)
• It has a huge tolerance for water temperature (2-30C) and the profile suggests the lower the better (although natural sunlight appears to be a greatly beneficial, which will naturally raise the water temp)
• They appear to be another speices like Kribs and Mollys (? could be another common livebearer) that are happy in either freshwater or mildly brackish (upto 3 grams per litre)
• For their size, the profile gives the impression that they could be even more "feisty" (read deadly) if housed with the wrong tankmates, including larger cichlids!
  
  
  
• Housing a sexed pair rather than a hareem, needs a "forest" of water plantation to help protect the poor (rather bland coloured by comparison) female, as the males have a reputation of killings "unwilling" females (lol, the last two points would probably make most people think it is madness to have these fish
  
  )
• The LFS "info" label suggested they only live six months, yet I could have sworn I've read at least one source saying they are not "annual killifish," so who is correct?

Would love to hear from any keepers, especially in regard to whether they are a "good" second killi to keep (having already introduced a hareem of Golden Wonder Panchax to my Rio240 mid-week).

 

[ricefish]

I keep several types of Aphanius and have found that none of them are community fish.a species only tank is recommended with lots of cover,the Mento in particular are really nasty the females are constantly avoiding the males
unless you are prepared to devote time and space to them i would go for something a bit more friendly,i keep them outside in the summer and in a unheated tank in the winter as they do benefit from a cooler spell 2/3 years is average for lifespan

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Thanks for the input

How big a tank do you house your mentos in and how many females do you house with presumeably one known male?

A quick photo would be great, to see how these can look once settled in a home envirnment, away from "barebones" LFS display tanks

 

[ricefish]

there are many strains of mento available,zengen is a really nice one the males are nearly black with irredescent turquoise spots,they are in a 18x12x12 with as many mops as i can fit in very hard alkaline water temps about 70/72 at the moment