Blue Gularis (Fundulopanchax sjoestedti)

**SQUEAK** · 3rd Mar 2006, 14:28

Hi all,

I recently found the Blue Gularis killifish at a nearby shop (pretty nice place too...), but I haven't been able to find much information on them. I found one article, that recommends the following:

68-77 F
5 inches long
5 gallons for a pair, bare minimum

Would a 5 gallon tank really be adequate for even a single gularis? That seems rather small to me (lets assume for the moment that's the only fish). I'm concerned that would be too small for the fish to live in. Also, it lists the fish as aggressive, what could be a suitable tank-mate for this sort of a fish, especially as an algae-eater. My 20 gallon tank has a pair of otocinculusus in it, but something like that may become the next meal.

And finally, do gularis need to be kept in pairs (or more) to thrive? I don't really want fry - I don't know how to care/keep them, nor do I have adequate space for them to live. And from what I read, two males are out of the question - they will just fight to the death.

Thank you,
SQUEAK

**RonWill** · 3rd Mar 2006, 16:20

Hi,
Every 'SQUEAK' has a name and all the members here address each other with our real names. Mine's Ronnie, what's yours?

That said, welcome to the forum and I'm glad your first post is about killies.

The SJO you found (didn't say you bought it though) will do fine in a 5gal, even for a pair, but give it plenty of plants for the mate to rest. Sponge filter and ramhorn snails will be good since SJOs do have big mouths (there was another post that showed a SJO attempting to swallow an otocinclus!!). They are quite tolerant to a wide range of water parameters but others might feel differently.

**SQUEAK** · 4th Mar 2006, 03:40

Hi Ronnie,

My name is Peter. No, I have not bought a killifish (or multiple) yet, I don't know enough about them yet to start a killifish tank. Is there a desired ratio of males:females used for killifish such as these, so that the female doesn't become subject to a lot of aggression?

My 20 gallon would not be good for them I don't think, because it has yoyo loaches and a pair of bolivian rams - I think that tank is already full (I'm hoping to do a project this summer to build a big tank).

Do you have any suggestions for plants to use in a 5-gallon tank? I have amazon swords and wisteria in my 20 gallon, and I think I may be getting new wisteria shoots. I've also got access to other young amazon swords.

I don't really know a whole lot about mosses, or how to care for them really. It is time to read up on them a bit I think.

EDIT: I've never seen a sponge filter before. Are there any reputable brands to look for? I would guess either a 5 gallon or 7.5 gallon tank (US gallons), which is 19 liters and 28 liters respectively speaking.

Thank you

**Marie-Annik** · 5th Mar 2006, 02:30

Hello there,
My name is Marie-Annik and I'm frm France.
I've kept F.sjoestedti for over a year and I think a 20l tank is much too small for them. When adults there are over 12 cm long. I keep them in a 60l tank, it's good for a trio (one male + 2 females).
It's better to have 2 females as sometimes the male can be agressive when chasing a female so the stress is lessened. For the same reason, you need many plants: Java moss and anubias are quite good and don't need much light.
You don't need to have a light or heat the tank as they do very well in 22°C to 25°C. If it's warmer their life expectancy is shortened.
Good luck, they are very beautiful fish.

**timebomb** · 5th Mar 2006, 13:46

Originally Posted by nikki

My name is Marie-Annik and I'm frm France.

Welcome to the forum, Marie-Annik. Is that a girl's name?

It's not often that a new forum user comes in and in his or her first post, answers a question. Please stick around, Marie. We need more like you.

Originally Posted by SQUEAK

My name is Peter. No, I have not bought a killifish (or multiple) yet, I don't know enough about them yet to start a killifish tank.

Peter, welcome to the forum too. If the fish you saw were really Fundulopanchax sjoestedti, they shouldn't be too difficult. The Fundulopanchax genus of Killies are generally easier. You don't have to worry about raising fry. In a well-planted tank, fry can take care of themselves.

But I've serious doubts what you saw were really F. sjoestedti. Killies are not often sold in local fish shops and I've yet to see a Blue Gularis appear in one of them. Which shop was it, Peter?

By the way, filtration requirements depend more on fish-load than the volume of the tank. But generally, we use sponge filters because they are small and convenient. Here's a picture of one:

Loh K L

**Marie-Annik** · 5th Mar 2006, 22:45

Thanks for your welcome.
Yes Marie-Annik is a girl's name

.

I'm surprised to read that you don't find F.sjoestedti in Singapore, there aren't very common here but we can find some species of killifish from time to time in our local shops. I suppose you can get some eggs send to you from other countries if you are interested.

I had some fry in July and I let them with the parents I got 8 fishes but if you want to get more it's better to take the eggs out of the tank and breed them separately as the parents eat the fry. I kept them with a lot of java moss which gives a good protection for the small fishes. They can be eaten even when they are 1 cm long.

**AQUASAUR** · 6th Mar 2006, 07:28

I agree with all said about...

and that happy smilig faces of my SJO family prove that... :P

**SQUEAK** · 6th Mar 2006, 15:01

Hi everyone,

The fish shop was in California (USA! USA!

). They looked like killifish, generally speaking. They looked a lot like the fish shown in the post above... but without the color. They were basically all gray when I saw them at the tank. I can't go and look again for a while - the place is just over 300 miles away from where I am now. I will be around that area in ~15 days, so I'll probably check back at that time.

Do sponge filters need to be built as a do-it-yourself project, or are there commercially available sponge filters? I've only seen the in-tank and hanging on the back filters (and the big canister filters, but those are a few hundred gallons an hour) in local fish shops.

I've had to put the idea on the backburners for a bit though... one of my loaches developed what I think is ich, and I have to start treatment for them tomorrow (never done this before). Also, I'm not sure I have space for a tank that would be much bigger than a 5.5 gallon (the increments I have available are 2.5, 5.5, 10, 15, 20 gallons and higher). I'm living in an apartment, and one tank already has one corner of the room!

**nonamethefish** · 7th Mar 2006, 09:43

Where in CA? I've never seen any species of killies other than Aplocheilus lineatus, panchax, J. floridae, and Lucania goodei in a store(and the last is simply a contaminant in ghost shrimp tanks).

**SQUEAK** · 8th Mar 2006, 07:05

Hi Joseph,

The place is in Modesto CA. I believe it was on Briggsmore Ave, and it was called "Tropical Haven." I'm not sure on that (it has been a while, I'm at university right now), but I think that was the place. It was a really nice place actually... I'd never seen a lot of the fish there.

**whuntley** · 8th Mar 2006, 10:49

Ted Pino, a long-time BAKA member owns it. He frequently imports interesting killifish from Germany. If you don't see them at Tropical haven, ask!

Wright

**SQUEAK** · 8th Mar 2006, 12:53

Wow, this is a big coincidence. There is someone on this board who knows not only where I'm talking about, but who owns it

spoooooky. Oh, and hi!

Also, does anyone have a suggestion for a good algae-eating tankmate for a pair of SJO's (note: I'm not restricting myself to a 5.5 gallon tank). I was at first thinking of an otocinculus, but I don't want to introduce a fish that will become a midnight snack. Any thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated. I'm not only considering SJO's, and especially if the owner is a big killifish fan, he may know where to get different varieties of killifish.

And lastly, I'm pleased to say I've started construction on a sponge filter (actually, I'm building four at once). I just need to drill some holes in the PVC pipe, and it will be finished.

**chicknb** · 10th Mar 2006, 00:47

SQUEAK, I am the one that posted the SJO eating (or at least trying) the ococinclus. Right now I have a couple of SJO in my 20 gal with a couple of otocinclus (the survivors) and they seem to get along fine. When I was in the US, I visited a fish store in Hesperian Blvd. between Hayward Airport and the 880 (more towards the 880, going from Hayward on the right side on a not so nice area). They frequently had killies like annulatus, gardneri and a couple others. If I remember correctly, the annulatus ran about 10 dlls a pair. In my opinion it would be better to follow Wright's suggestion.

Regards,

Tony

**SQUEAK** · 10th Mar 2006, 02:24

Hi Tony,

I think I'm about 2.5 hours from Hayward, and I've got friends who live there (and around there) who may know the place you are talking about, even though they don't have any interest in fish. If it's not such a great place of town though, I may not try venturing there.

Once all of my final exams are over, I'll be in the area of the fish store in Modesto, and at that time I'll be looking for a pair (or trio, etc) of killifish. Hopefully I can find a good species.

**Marie-Annik** · 10th Mar 2006, 02:39

Hi,
I think you could put a couple or so of neritina (Natalensis). They are good algae eaters and you won't have any problems with the F.sjoestedti.

**SQUEAK** · 10th Mar 2006, 03:38

Hi Marie-Annik,

From the name I take it that these are a type of snail. Have you ever kept them, and if so, had problems with them overrunning the tank? While I would like an algae eater that won't become food (otos may be food, or may not be, it sounds like), I'm kind of wary of snails because of the reputation of snails for overrunning everything in sight.

If I can get a snail (or few) that I can easily keep the population in check (loaches + snails = fed loaches), that would be great. I've heard that some snails multiply so fast that they are impossible to keep up with.

I'm hearing that Nerite snails are actually illegal to import into California, and possibly even importing them into the US...

**AQUASAUR** · 10th Mar 2006, 05:06

Originally Posted by nikki

They are good algae eaters and you won't have any problems with the F.sjoestedti.

Hey, Nikki,
I’m not sure how big enough algae eaters are the Neritina Natalensis …they are very lazy…

but I have a few in every my planted tank...

**RonWill** · 10th Mar 2006, 14:30

Originally Posted by AQUASAUR

…they are very lazy…

Hristo, these snails go about their job very slowly but lazy they are not. One of my tank's front glass was coated with spot algae and after I introduced 4 of them, the killies are finally visible!

My personal recommendation with killies and their fry are ramhorn snails. Not the most prolific, hence easy to control. The red variety looks very nice too.

BTW, in case you hadn't noticed, 'Nikki' is Marie-Annik and please edit your profile too, so everyone doesn't get confused by all the nicknames flying around. Thanks.

**SQUEAK** · 10th Mar 2006, 15:13

Thanks for the input Ronnie, I think ramshorns are my best bet so far. Nerite snails may even be illegal to import for me. I'll need to read up on caring for ramshorn snails.

Is there an approximation of how many gallons one ramshorn will clean 'adequately'? Especially for smaller tanks, which is what I'll be using. I don't want to end up starving out the ramshorns. Additionally, will loaches eat ramshorn snails? If I get overpopulated with them, my loaches probably wouldn't mind them, assuming they can get at them.