# Two gardneri Killifish questions ...



## nature (Jun 8, 2016)

Anyone know exactly which variety of gardneri Killifish these two are (apologies for the lousy pic, my phone does not seem to focus well when confronted with aquarium glass)?

Big Al's had them (maybe they still do) but the guy who sold them to me didn't even know how to sex them. I think I got the only gold male in the tank though. I got worried when I realised that both the females I got were not gold and I wondered where I would get a matching female. However the first male unfortunately solved the problem for me. After about a week I came home and found the gold guy hiding in the corner of the tank, obviously stressed but with no sign of injury. I took him out and put him into a spare tank. Within a day he was gone . There was conflicting info online on housing male gardneris together ... I wont be doing it again. Given that the three others are still doing fine weeks later I can only guess that the larger male hounded the smaller one to death.

So my questions are: exactly which variety are each of these two (assuming they are not mongrels, which I gather are frowned upon)?

And how much should I feed them? There is lots of guidance on bettas, but these guys are voracious eaters and even the two-minute rule seems to me it would leave them eating a lot of food.


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

*Gardneri*

Hi, welcome.

You have two nice looking male Fundulopanchax gardneri aquarium strain killifish.
The gardneri group is quite an extensive one which includes many many varieties from all sorts of locations, sometimes referred to as collection points. They all look very very similar to one another. Thus, it is common practice to simply refer to them as 'aquarium strain' regardless of its location. At this point, we don't speculate, as you mention it is frowned upon. Not so much because we don't care, but because we cannot be sure of the identification, and a wrong one would improperly mix genetics.

Check this site out. http://www.wak.aka.org/
Click genera index
Click fundulopanchax
Click Fp gardneri gardneri 
Scroll down to the populations (There are 11 listed!)

Feeding is an interesting question. And I'd imagine that it depends what your intent is with them. If you are simply 'keeping' them, then general flake or small pellet is fine. Many killifish keepers tend to feed lots of variety, including: Frozen brine shrimp, frozen bloodworms, daphnia, white worms, banana worms, wingless fruit flies, and baby brine shrimp


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## nature (Jun 8, 2016)

Hello ksimdjembe,

Thank you. I spent some time on the AKA site and several others before getting the killis, but this is the first time I can remember anyone mentioning an aquarium strain. That makes sense and leaves me a little bit more comfortable should they have offspring I want to share.

Edit -- I have been on the AKA site but checked the link you gave and that's a different one; very interesting!! Thanks.

I am not, at this point, trying to get them to breed, but I am providing the conditions that might allow it (the "long-term" approach from this site). They do have a spawning mop and there is Christmas Moss, which they seem to prefer to spend time in, but not really enough of it yet to provide much shelter for eggs. I am considering moving them to a tank configured more optimally for breeding. I have seen them doing what I think is mating at least twice. And the females have gotten rounder and rounder. I do think they are still young though, the male has grown at least half an inch since I've had him and I don't think is full-sized yet.

In terms of the food they are getting a variety ... frozen baby brine shrimp, freeze-dried blood worms and mysis (they don't seem to like daphnia), flake food and sometimes softened betta pellets. My question about feeding isn't about what, or even how often (both are easy to find answers for on the internet), it's really about how much. Compared to the bettas, who are no slouches, the Killifish eat VERY quickly. I fear if I followed the "feed them only enough that they can eat in two minutes" rule, and fed them twice a day, which is what is recommended if you want even a chance of breeding, they might explode. At the same time I don't want to feed them too little. The instructions for Bettas are very, very clear. But killis, not so much.


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

I generally just feed once or twice, about as much as takes to fill their belly without looking distended.


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## nature (Jun 8, 2016)

ksimdjembe said:


> I generally just feed once or twice, about as much as takes to fill their belly without looking distended.


Thanks -- that suggests I may not be feeding enough. I will see if I can notice a difference in their bellies. The females are very round and this morning I thought I could see a few eggs inside their lower bellies, is that possible?

Didn't occur to me to try and quantify what I am feeding them now: approx 5 - 8 frozen baby brine shrimp / freeze-dried blood worms / large betta pellets each fish, each feeding.


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

That sounds like a fine amount. 
Yes, you sometimes can see eggs. Depends on species.


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