# New Killifish Setup in the Works



## Lisasaquariums (Aug 16, 2013)

Hey everyone,
I have been keeping fundulopanchax gardneri killifish here and there for the last couple years in community tanks. Recently I picked up a pair of the gardneri gardneri blue variety and I've decided to start breeding them. Here's what I am thinking for the set up. Any advice from Killifish keepers would be very much appreciated.

Tank 1:
10 gallon permanent breeding set up. Adult male and females, possible fry from eggs not picked. Sand bottom. Drift wood with java moss, duckweed, frogbit, anacharis, maybe some crypts.

Tank 2:
10 gallon tank for juveniles. Same scaping as tank 1.

Tank 3:
2.5 gallon hatching/fry tank. Sand bottom with Malaysian Trumpet Snails to eat extra food, dead fry not found by me. Clumps of java moss.

Tank 4:
2.5 breeding tank. Bare bottom. Spawning mops, maybe some moss.

Live food:
Micro worms and vinegar eels.


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## Lisasaquariums (Aug 16, 2013)

Ideas/advice, please?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

My preference was for bare bottomed tanks, especially for fry. Much easier to keep clean.


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## Lisasaquariums (Aug 16, 2013)

BillD said:


> My preference was for bare bottomed tanks, especially for fry. Much easier to keep clean.


I've heard great things about bare bottom tanks too. Decisions decisions.. hummm.. I might end up doing that for the fry tank and add an apple snail for clean up.


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

For a strictly breeding set up I use bare bottom tanks. For peat spawner's I use margarine containers with a hole in the top. Most of the peat stays in the container and makes clean up easier. For plant spawners I use mops made out of acrylic or nylon yarn and a cork to keep it floating. You will not have to search the tank for the eggs, just change the mop every week or so. For hatching you are better off in my opinion using shallow plastic tubs. It is easier to feed the fry until they are bigger at which time you transfer them to a grow out tank. Instead of 10's for the spawners use 2.5 gallon tanks unless you are doing the large species of killis. many of the Aquarium Services in the GTA carry a great starter killi in the form of the Florida flag fish. Jordanella floridae. An easy and cheap first killi to try.


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## Lisasaquariums (Aug 16, 2013)

darkangel66n said:


> For a strictly breeding set up I use bare bottom tanks. For peat spawner's I use margarine containers with a hole in the top. Most of the peat stays in the container and makes clean up easier. For plant spawners I use mops made out of acrylic or nylon yarn and a cork to keep it floating. You will not have to search the tank for the eggs, just change the mop every week or so. For hatching you are better off in my opinion using shallow plastic tubs. It is easier to feed the fry until they are bigger at which time you transfer them to a grow out tank. Instead of 10's for the spawners use 2.5 gallon tanks unless you are doing the large species of killis. many of the Aquarium Services in the GTA carry a great starter killi in the form of the Florida flag fish. Jordanella floridae. An easy and cheap first killi to try.


Thanks! that's some great info. My 10 gallon for the spawning adults is going to be a permanent breeding setup (I've read some interesting articles on these) and 2.5 bare bottom will have spawning mops for when I'd like to induce breeding (usually it will be empty). I like the idea of using small containers until the fry get a bit bigger.

Any suggestions for live food? So far I have Microworms and Vinegar Eels. I was thinking of adding some almond leaves and an apple snail in the fry tank to produce more Infusoria. But I don't really know if I'm going the right way with that thought haha.


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

Microworms and vinegar eels are great. Whiteworms are great for adults and if you are not squeamish you can use a razor blade to chop them up small enough for older fry. Newly hatched brine shrimp of course is good for both. Infusoria can easily be done in one gallon jars with bruised lettuce and a source of sunlight, like a windowsill. You can then track how long they take to bloom and die and then you will know when to start jars to always have a constant supply. Just transfer from the jar to the hatch container with an eye dropper. I am new to using almond leaves myself but they do not seem to hurt anything. I have them in all my tanks now. You could contact the Killi fish group in Ontario. Lots of those folks really know what they are doing, are a great place for stock and info. It has been about 20 years since I was involved with them but a quick check shows many of the same names involved.


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## Lisasaquariums (Aug 16, 2013)

Thank again! I think I will contact the group, I want to make sure I'm doing this right. I have a pair of Fundulopanchax gardneri that I think I will try in the set up first, but I'm sure within a year I'll have to expand because I love killis so much. I've been using almond leaves for about 2 years now and they are awesome. The killifish seem to like them a lot.


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