Where is the killifish now?

[KillieOrCory]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share with you some amusing happenings from some of my tanks.

I have quite a few divided tanks that I keep my killifish in. The tank in question is set out like this:

On the left section I have a pair of Aphyosemion striatum, in the middle a reverse trio of Rivulus urophthalmus and on the right guppy juveniles.

As you can see there is a small gap on the top between the divider and the lid of the tanks.

The game started 10 days or so ago when I got a female striatum and the trio of uropthalmus from a friend. The new fish, being not too used to the sort of accomodation I provide, play a little game for me.

Every morning I find the two male urophthalmus and the female striatum in different tanks. It is quite amusing so far to see where I am going to find them next

It is like one of those "find the coin under the cup games"

"OK! watch the male urophthalmus!"
"Is it on the left, on left!"
"Now in the centre!"
"Urophthalmus in the centre, now on the left"
"on the left, on the left, on the right!!"
"Where is the urophthalmus male?"

"Don't know him, but the striatum female is no longer in the left side!!!"

The fish end up jumping vertically good 15 cm out of the water to move from I side to the other. The lid is secure so there little chance for them to jump outside the tank!

This is hopefully a good lesson to all the beginners, that killifish are expert jumpers. If you do not have secure lids not only you'll lose your fish but also there is a chance they'll jump into the adjacent tank if given half the chance. Once you mix the related species females, all your breeding plans are gone down the toilet!!!

[timebomb]

Nice setup, Serkan and I think the newbies will benefit a lot from your post.
When I was new to Killies, I was warned that they are jumpers but I never took that advice seriously. I understood what they meant by jumpers, of course but I never knew they could jump so high and so easily through the narrowest of gaps.

I suppose with your setup, it really isn't a big deal where the fish jump to, so long as they don't end up on the floor.

Loh K L

[TyroneGenade]

Hi

With Rivulus you don't have to only worry about jumping. They can crawl through the gaps!

Seriously, I gave up with divided tanks ages ago. They are just too much effort and irritation. I like separate tanks. I can take one out and clean it. If there are disease problems then the tanks are more isolated and less plague prone. Heating is more complicated but that means that you can have one tank as 25 and the next one is at 23, and then 21 etc... So you can get a range of temps off just one heater every 2 or 3 tanks.

It is also easier fitting a cover to separate tanks!

tt4n

[KillieOrCory]

I suppose with your setup, it really isn't a big deal where the fish jump to, so long as they don't end up on the floor.

Yes, but I make sure I have totally unrelated species in all three compartments like above where I have Aphyosemion, Rivulus and guppies . Or I have the same species in each compartment; where I keep individual pairs. Also I am very careful to ensure the tanks adjacent and below have different types of killies as well. That way even during feeding and water changes if the lids are temporarily off and the fish jump chances of mixing is not possible.

I gave up with divided tanks ages ago. They are just too much effort and irritation. I like separate tanks. I can take one out and clean it. If there are disease problems then the tanks are more isolated and less plague prone. Heating is more complicated but that means that you can have one tank as 25 and the next one is at 23, and then 21 etc... So you can get a range of temps off just one heater every 2 or 3 tanks.

It is also easier fitting a cover to separate tanks!

I totally agree with everything you say, that's why after the initial playing around with various rigid mesh, plastics and glass I decided I needed something better. So I got glass cut to size (same thickness as the tanks) and siliconed them into place. In effect creating three seperate tanks in one! Each compartment is fully sealed so I can have different hardness, salinity etc. in each compartment as well. When I need to, I drain a compartment completely without worrying about the excessive pressure from adjacent full compartments due to thickness of glass used.

This is the actual tank I wrote about. For heating I put the heater in the middle compartment which heats all three; generally the middle compartment ends up being 2 degrees C warmer than right and left due to the glass thickness it needs to heat adjacent compartments.

I am currently getting a house built which should finish in a couple of months time. When I move in I am planning to set up a wall in the house like this:

I got the electrician in and he put in 16 power outlets along the length of the wall where this set-up is going to live! No more power boards for me afterwards