community killies

[TyroneGenade]

Hi all,

What killies have you kept in a community tank and what were they kept with?

What killi species have to successfully kept together in the same tank without conflict or interbreeding?

The "what killies can I put in my community tank?" and "what killies can I keep together?" questions keep circulating. Lets put together a list of
cohabitable species!!!

My list:
Species that can survive in a community for an extended period of time:
Aphyosemion australe
A. rectogoense (Just barely... damn heat!)
A. striatum
Apl. lineatus
Apl. panchax
Cal. occidentalis
Chrom. bitaeniatum
Chrom. poliaki
Diapteron seegersi
Fp. gardneri N'Sukka
Fp. marmoratus
Lacustricola katangae
L. johnstoni
N. rubripinnis
N. jubbi
P. playfairi
Simp. picturatus (What am I supposed to do with spare males???)

One species that didn't cut it: Simp. whitei

Killies that mix well
A. australe, Chrom. poliaki, D. seegersi, L. katangae (E. dageti does not get on well with australe which it bullies.)
Fp. gardneri, E. dageti (Do not mix AUS with GAR! ever!!!)
A. australe, striatum, Chrom. bitaeniatum
Fp. marmoratus, P. playfairi

I will try to think of more...

Regards

[stormhawk]

I kept the following combos in smaller tanks.

1) Rivulus agilae with Simpsonichthys fulminantis
2) Rivulus cylindraceus with Simpsonichthys flammeus

In my community tank previously:

1) Epiplatys togolensis
2) Aphyosemion australe
3) Aphyosemion striatum
4) Chromaphyosemion alpha
5) Chromaphyosemion bitaeniatum
7) Simpsonichthys auratus
Simpsonichthys constanciae

Currently only the constanciae (one last and only male) resides in the big community tank.

With the Rivulus, agilae was very nippy and somehow liked to nip at the fins of the fulminantis.

The cylindraceus was well behaved although the dominant male loved to bully his siblings and the larger female.

[retro_gk]

I kept the following combos in smaller tanks

Would a 10 gallon tank be large enough??

And are these as singles, pairs or groups?

I'm asking about killie only tanks...no other fish.

[promethean_spark]

I've got 6 fp. gardnerii n'sukka in a 55 that contains 5 adult angels, 3 big SAE, 1 6" rainbowfish and various corys, ottos... No problems whatsoever - at first they hid, but then they got used to the larger fish and are out and about most of the time.

[stormhawk]

Would a 10 gallon tank be large enough??

And are these as singles, pairs or groups?

I'm asking about killie only tanks...no other fish.

Hi Rahul,

A 10 gallon would be large enough. I kept those combinations in small 1 feet tanks, not sure how many gallons are those.

They were in small groups. Only exception was the flammeus that was a pair.

Yes killie-only tanks. The current flammeus tank has Pseudomugil gertrudae as tankmates.

[retro_gk]

A 10 gallon tank is about 2' long, so I guess your's must be about 5...

Pseudomugil gertrudae as tankmates.

Lovely fish...I had a small group, which became midnight snacks for my M.ansorgii

[keehoe]

Seems that Notho. is not a popular choice for community tank. But anyway, my Notho. Korthausae is rather friendly with my Simp. Chacoensis. Today is the third day they living together peacefully. They are all male. The size of the tank is 1.3 feet and PH ~ 7, De-Chlo tap water.

[whuntley]

A few Nothos, like korthausae are pretty suitable. I vaguely recall that my Chunga were pretty good tank mates. Spare GUE also did OK, as I recall.

Most Lampeyes are excellent for community tanks, but the smaller ones are likely to be eaten by big fish. They fit in the same place that small Rasaboras and peaceful Tetras fit. [Large ones, like tanganicus have special water needs that limits their tank mates to a few (sometimes vicious) chicklets.]

Native species I have kept in community tanks include Fundulus of various kinds, and the smaller pupfish. Large ones, like J. floridae are rough on tank mates if they try to breed. They are excellent if kept in single-sex tanks, tho.

Because most killifish are not readily replaced from commercial sources, I think most of us only place surplus fish in community tanks. The need to breed them tends to keep us from doing that very much.

There are exceptions. I was very successful at breeding pupfish from our SW desert springs in a community tank. The males guarded their "spawning mop" (actually a wad of filter floss) until I collected the eggs from it. Unlike most egg layers, they even guarded it from snails!

Crevice spawners, like Procatopus are pretty easy to breed in a community tank, too. You need to devise a spawning device that excludes snails and other fish that can eat their eggs. A cylinder of plastic canvas mesh, with PVC end caps and stuffed with filter floss works very well. Put it in a strong current so the eggs get lots of oxygen.

Wright

[ikarsai]

Hi,
I read this older thread, but maybe it is important to continue. Some of us have little tank space and i would like to see what works

In 10 gallon tanks I keep these together without problems and crossbreeding:
1, A. ahli N guenteri females
2, A. oeseri A bivittatum E dageti
3, N guenteri males E dageti
5, A gabunese marginatum E dageti

In a community setup I keep A gabunese marginatum with kribs, corys and tetras

steve