Ron,
There is a well-accepted term in the hobby for what you are doing with the Blue-Eyes. It is called "dither fish."
One of my favorite dithers is the so-called "Mosquito Fish," Heterandria formosa. It is called that because of its size and the barring on their tiny sides that looks a bit like the markings on some species of mosquito. [It isn't very good at eating mosquito larvae, as it is too small.] It is also called "Least Killifish" but that is a misnomer for they are livebearers.
They are not at all like that other "Mosquito Fish" the erroneously introduced Damnbusia, who are vicious baby and egg predators, and who hardly ever eat mossie larvae.
Good dither fish don't much eat killy eggs or babies, but help create a feeding frenzy that will get the most recalcitrant species to eat dry foods.
H. formosa are really nice in that they don't eat their young and that makes them a great fish for a child's first tank. They are too tiny to have batches of babies, like guppies or mollys. Instead, momma drops one a day for about 20-30 days. As the babies grow, they are easily distinguished by size and a tank with one fertilized female will have a perfect staircase of sizes after a little while.
Our fellow forum member, B. G. Granier is sending me some from Louisiana (where they are native), for the daughter of the local CA Fish and Game biologist. She is an avid aquarist at age nine.
Some strains (like BG's) have a strong black eyespot in the dorsal, with a brilliant red-orange off-center surround. Once thought to be the world's smallest vertebrates, there are about 6 species of goby that now have beaten them for that title. They are still the smallest fresh-water fish you are likely to encounter. The pic in Baensch 1 is of a strain that lacks the pretty red splash in the dorsal. They are an interesting little fish, with or without the red. A big female will get to be a bit over 1.5" long. Males are usually about 3/4".
Like gertrudae, they may be almost too small for dithers with many grown killies as they might be eaten by anything as big as GAR. Great for getting young fish to feed, though, and for getting shy fish out front where you can see them.
I'd like to try them with Aphyo. celiae celiae to see if they can bring that very beautiful but ultra-shy fish out of hiding.
Another pretty good dither fish is that smaller, but near-guppy, the Endler's Livebearer. [It does, however, eat eggs and babies, I suspect.]
Wright
PS. I love gertrudae. They are a truly beautiful little fish.
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