Nothobranchius kafuensis Kayuni ZAM 09-1

**stormhawk** · 27th Nov 2012, 00:44

Brought these back from a recent overseas trip:

Nothobranchius kafuensis Kayuni ZAM 09-1

In this batch there are differences between the males in terms of intensity of their bluish white scales and the redness on their bodies. This species was the first killie I ever kept so when I saw these, I just had to get them. Got 5 pairs originally but 1 female died en route to Singapore. Now I'm left with a group of 4M/3F. Good thing is, the remaining fish are pretty strong.

The 5 pairs came along with 2 pairs of Terranatos dolichopterus Isla Raton RDB 92-22, which are going to someone else. They weren't exactly cheap but at least I got what I wanted.

On a side note, my remaining Micropoecilia picta "Red" have produced fry. I got home to a nice surprise, seeing one surviving fry. I was not expecting the group to survive but thank goodness for my parents who helped feed them while I was away.

**Shi Xuan** · 27th Nov 2012, 15:16

Nothobranchius kafuensis is beautiful and another beauty is Nothobranchius symoensi, as you mentioned to me before. Saw them on Aquabid recently but didn't want to try them because I'm saving the space for Leptolebias aureoguttatus. I know it won't be easy to find this species but I still remain hopeful of seeing it in the future.

I thought you would have tried Micropoecilia branneri. Saw them at C328 some time ago and they were ridiculously cheap. Got myself 2 pairs. Tricky fish. 1 pair died within 2 days of purchase and another female was down with saprolegnia. Wasn't even expecting that to happen since I've kept Micropoecilia picta and parae before.

Oh, how's the Oryzias cf. woworae? I have a considerable number of fry which have matured and they are about 3-4 cm right now, still nowhere the size of my original adults at 6 cm.

**stormhawk** · 27th Nov 2012, 16:24

My woworae are somewhat gone. Now down to just 2 females. They spend all their time with the guppies. My picta are weird. I bought a group of 6, 3M/3F from C328. 2 of the males died when I was away in Japan. When I got back, one of the females just sex-changed to a male. Not sure if it is a functioning male now. In any case, seeing that one fry brought a smile to my face. My only hope is that the fry turns out to be a male.

M. branneri is a little sensitive I think. When I was overseas, I saw other Nothos too but not N. symoensi. Fattening up my kafuensis before I put them through their spawning paces.

**Shi Xuan** · 27th Nov 2012, 18:20

I'm not too sure about the identity of the woworae. Do you still remember your post on them? I'm still thinking if they are "true" woworae because the description sounds convincing. In any case, my original pair produced more females than males. The fry are raised in hard water so I'm not too sure if it has anything to do with the sex disproportion.

I don't know exactly why your female picta transformed into a pseudo male but I believe it could simply be a late bloomer unless the "female" dropped fry before. Hormones play a part as well, I suppose. My Micropoecilia picta "Red" produced the black variant when I kept them so you ought to keep a look out for that. In any case, they are interesting fishes. I enjoyed watching the male's courtship dance to the female as it whizzes around, simply fascinating.

So you brought those kafuensis and Terranatos back from Japan? Did you manage to see any other killies besides Nothos? I guess you must have had a great time there!

**stormhawk** · 27th Nov 2012, 20:23

Yeah the dance from the picta males were very much like the ones that male guppies do. I brought these back from Hong Kong. Did not see any LFS while I was in Japan, except for one pleco store while I was in Kyoto. In any case, I did not have much time to go around and look for LFS in Japan. Had to go sightseeing so the LFS were not on the to-find list.

In any case, seeing Tung Choi Street for myself was an eye opener.