Newbie with Killi Questions

[genes]

Hi All

Never kept killis before, saw some from the shop in chinatown and they are so beautiful and colourful. But the killis are kept individually in glass jars like bettas. They fight like bettas???

I am thinking of getting a couple for my 2ft community tank that consists of cardinals, swordtails and gouramis but are they suitable for community tank? Do they school?

Thanks
Eugene

[genes]

Oh no...i posted in the trading forum. Sorry moderators!

Regards
Eugene

[stormhawk]

Hello Eugene,

Killifish are not bettas and they won't fight like bettas. A glass jar can be a torture chamber for such beautiful fish. What they will do is that the males will display against each other in either a mating or territorial dance. Some species do flare but they are not air breathers like the Bettas. In short, those glass jars can and will kill them in the long run.

In my knowledge only the common lampeyes will school. Most other killies do not school at all.

Some are suitable for community tanks but not all are. If you're a beginner try keeping Aphyosemion australe or AUS for short. Commonly called the Lyretail Killie. If population or colour form is not important to you then go ahead and get yourself some fish from the LFS.

Its good that you've signed off with your real name. Welcome to the forum.

[zmzfam]

Welcome to the forum Eugene.

I have move this post to the correct sub-forum.

[genes]

Thanks Zulkifli and sorry for the trouble!

Where do you guys usually buy killis because i have never seen them in real except lampeyes (didn't even know they were killis!) till i happen to chance upon them at the chinatown shop. And how much would they usually cost? Especially the Lyretail?

[stormhawk]

We don't buy them. We have to get them from overseas and that takes alot of money and effort.

That's why we treasure every little killifish that comes our way. Some people don't understand the high prices they have to pay for these fish but if they can afford to buy an arowana for a few thousand dollars then I think paying a little "fortune" for a pair of killifish isn't too bad afterall.

From time to time some of us will have surplus killifish for sale but temporarily home sales are suspended pending our current plans for the month of May...

The common australes (just males only) will usually cost you $8 per fish and these are farm-bred animals from across the Causeway. Getting females is another issue altogether and they can be of a different species. Mixups are common with LFS fishes and more often than not you'll only get males.