New pair of Aphyosemion striatum Moyko GJS 00/32

[bcourtright]

Hi from Arizona

I picked up a pair of young 1 inch A. Striatum "Moyko" GJS 00/32 at my Arizona Killie Club meeting. They were obtained by the club at the recent AKA convention in Florida. These are very new to me, and it seems, rare in the US but less so in Europe. This pair is my first exploration into killies, and the club members all felt it would be a good "beginner" experience.

They are currently housed in a cycled 10 gallon bare bottom tank with a large handful of Java Moss, some driftwood with an Anubia barteri and Java fern, and the entire top of the tank water covered in hornwort and water sprite. Two small snails currently clean up uneaten shrimp. Two sponge filters provide filtration. Ph is 6.8, hardness is 180 ppm, temp is 71-74 degrees F without a tank heater. No salt in the tank. Feeding frozen BBS AM, freeze dried blood worms or freeze dried tubifex in the PM.

They are very timid but getting slightly more "at home" in their new digs and can be seen occasionally swimming around the tank. They are not very aggressive eaters when my current food is introduced to the tank. I will decapsulate some cysts and start up my brine shrimp hatchery tonight to see if this helps. I tried to get a picture, but they are shy and stay under the sponge filter or the driftwood.

As this is the first Killie for me, I would like some general advice on Aphysemions. I'm trying to "get it right" for my new pets!

Introducing peat/blackwater extract into the tank. In my research, striatum are very commonly bred by just letting the eggs water hatch and moving the parents into another tank when the fry are seen swimming around. Then moving the fry into the "parent tank" when they reach 1 inch in size. In order to improve their habitat, I was considering adding peat, peat "tea" or bottled "blackwater extract" into the tank. I know that "boiling peat" is important to sterilize the peat or make "home-brew extract, but I'm unsure how this is done. Could you give advice?

I will be getting a heavily planted tank for the "parents" set up and cycled soon. Is there any benefit in providing a larger tank to killies (10 gallons or more), or do they prefer the security of a 5 gallon or smaller tank?

Is salt needed for Aphysemions adults or fry? Is peat needed for adults in order to promote breeding and/or fry for proper growth?

Thanks for your help! I love your site and forums!

[TyroneGenade]

Hello,

My only and best piece of advice is keep the tank coverred! These fish are experts at jumping out the smallest gap in the tank cover. If you are going to loose these fish the odds are it is because they (probably the male) has jumped out of the tank.

Aph. striatum normally spawn freely (at about 22-24 degC) and the fry are unproblematic to raise. Your setup seems fine by what I can read. Sometimes there is a problem with a skew sex-ratio but if you keep spawning them it tends to level out.

Best of luck.

[bcourtright]

I forgot to say the tank has an All Glass cover with a dim fluorescent tube for lighting!