Congopanchax brichardi

[SCOPE]

Hey, just want to check with experts here who got experience with this lampeye killie?
Is this specie hard to maintain or breed?
i hardly can find much information on this.

Thanks so much
Joe

[TyroneGenade]

All the species of this group want clean well oxygenated water. They are sensitive to bacterial infection. Spawning is straight forward. Hang a floating mop in the tank. It should be thick and tied tightly together so that the fish have to squeeze into it. Pick the eggs daily and incubation in clean well oxygenated water. Eggs are normally fertile (at least 90% viability). Eggs and fry are large and will take baby brine shrimp from hatching.

This advise is based on my experiences with Lacustricola katangae.

Good luck!

[SCOPE]

Thanks for your inputs. That's means breeding and keeping for this specie, as long as clean oxygenated water shall be okay. Looks good. Breeding ratio or breeding group for these any advise? thanks again

[TyroneGenade]

I think a shoal is a better option than a trio or pair. This is only a guess.

[SCOPE]

I think a shoal is a better option than a trio or pair. This is only a guess.

Thanks again! i will buy up a group of these to try up next week. Thanks a lot

[RonWill]

Joe, let me know what's happening with these. I'm feeling a bad bad itch up you know where.... (not my fault if I still drool at beautiful fishes! )

Let's play with them together and swap notes!!

[RonWill]

All the species of this group want clean well oxygenated water. They are sensitive to bacterial infection. Spawning is straight forward. Hang a floating mop in the tank....

Drats!!! Just when I thought I'm done foolin' around with Henri deBruyn filters, Joe here has to tempt me with something I've not gotten my hands on before (which is worse than wanting to breed Corydoras hastatus).

Tyrone, I'm wondering if these Congopanchax brichardi lug around their eggs in clusters until they find a suitable spot to drop 'em. Are they habitual egg-eaters?? (first thing that came to my mind when you mentioned tightly-wound mops)

Joe, I googled briefly and can't help feeling that they don't ship very well. What's the $-damage on these?

[SCOPE]

Drats!!! Just when I thought I'm done foolin' around with Henri deBruyn filters, Joe here has to tempt me with something I've not gotten my hands on before (which is worse than wanting to breed Corydoras hastatus).


Joe, I googled briefly and can't help feeling that they don't ship very well. What's the $-damage on these?

Ron,
i hope i didn't tempt you. i guess this is a very uncommon lampeye as i never heard them before. After checking on some limited pictures from the web. They look impressive to me as well.

Yes, i heard they dont travel well. But since this is a hard to comeby oddball. i would like to gave a try. As compare to other oddballs that i brought in last trip from Taiwan from my business trip - Corydoras Gracilis, Apisto Diplotaenia and Biotoecus Opercularis. I guess the damage is pretty the same. Mostly they arrived with some 20-30% dead, within next few days, another 30% died off. i usually lucky to end up 50% survive and stable in my tank.

So, i guess this killie should be pretty the same. Lucky the price is not really pricey as compare to those apistogramma or Cories that i brought in. i just hope that e.g. out of 10~12pcs, i manage to survive 4-5pcs to take a photo or 2pcs or at lest to experience its breeding.

[RonWill]

Lucky the price is not really pricey as compare to those apistogramma or Cories that i brought in. i just hope that e.g. out of 10~12pcs, i manage to survive 4-5pcs to take a photo or 2pcs or at lest to experience its breeding

Joe, I was thinking the same. How much will 10pcs set me back?

[SCOPE]

Joe, I was thinking the same. How much will 10pcs set me back?

haha! i had just sent you PM for details.

[TyroneGenade]

The tight mop was to provide a firm spawning surface. In my experience, they don't eat their eggs nor carry them about.

[mozaqua]

Drats!!! Just when I thought I'm done foolin' around with Henri deBruyn filters, Joe here has to tempt me with something I've not gotten my hands on before (which is worse than wanting to breed Corydoras hastatus).

Tyrone, I'm wondering if these Congopanchax brichardi lug around their eggs in clusters until they find a suitable spot to drop 'em. Are they habitual egg-eaters?? (first thing that came to my mind when you mentioned tightly-wound mops)

Joe, I googled briefly and can't help feeling that they don't ship very well. What's the $-damage on these?

Ron,

I made a few of the deBruyn style filters for my killi tanks. I was a skeptic, but they are really working great. One problem is adjusting the output a first.
I tested the temperature compare to a neighboring tank with a regular sponge filter, no noticeable difference. The major difference I see is plant growth! Sponge filters are terrible for plants, they do not allow any CO2 to remain since the waters surface is over agitated. With the deBruyn filter I actually can grow moss with the killies @ 30C ! No joke. This to me is the biggest benefit, since plants take up nitrate, and make the tank look much better.
I want to install them in all of my killi tanks now, but need to find a suitable plastic. I tried using the square flower planter pots, but the plastic is too brittle, and the glue will not hold.
Maybe PVC sheet, or something else will work better?

[TyroneGenade]

What about plastic guttering? You will have to get the end-caps though.

[mozaqua]

What about plastic guttering? You will have to get the end-caps though.

Tyrone,

Haven't seen any of that stuff at the local hardware store here in Bangkok. Most people just use the PVC for rain gutters.
I have fashioned a couple filters out of 3" PVC pipe, cut long-ways. They are used in conjunction with a canister filter in my shrimp tanks. Actually, today I made one for a 75L killi tank, which I plan to use air power only. I will see how it works soon

[RonWill]

Mosiah, I'm sure you can find overhead filters driven by powerheads. These are quite popular in our region and some are designed with perforated bottoms for even water distribution. Alternatively, large electrical trunking (casing) with end caps or ends folded inwards and sealed with silicon is also do-able.

For air-powered water lift, a smaller diameter acrylic tubing is much more efficient than a larger one.

Show us pics of your PVC overhead wet-dry!!!

[mozaqua]

deBruyn style airlift wet/dry filter.

The first 3 pics are of the prototype PVC only. Dual airlift for this 75L killi tank, reserved for larger killi species ex. Fp. sjo.
The last orange colored one is already being used in 3-4 killi tanks, made from a plastic flower pot (not very good plastic for working with though, 2 have already come un-glued ). Also they are not pretty to look at what so ever. (Trying to make my fish room more presentable )

For the PVC type, I plan to put sponges on the input. Also pieces of plastic at the ends to keep the water in contact with the pumice longer (if necessary) . They aren't much to look at but the light fixture in front covers most of the view.

[TyroneGenade]

I feel like such a twit! Seeing your photos jogged my memory and I recalled that I had photos of Henri De Bruyn's setup readily available... See http://tgenade.freeshell.org/saks/archive/1_5_2001.pdf for an article by him on this subject. He has solved your "contact time" problem.

[mozaqua]

Tyrone,

Thanks for the link. Really the amount of pumice is very shallow, so the filter looks to be working well, so far. If I change the dimensions, I might have to make it more complicated. For now it is really as simple as possible.

Oh, if you look at the black PVC, it has two holes in the sides where the water squirts out. Thus spreading it around the filter medium. In pic. 1 the air is only connected to the left side.

[mozaqua]

Mosiah, I'm sure you can find overhead filters driven by powerheads. These are quite popular in our region and some are designed with perforated bottoms for even water distribution. Alternatively, large electrical trunking (casing) with end caps or ends folded inwards and sealed with silicon is also do-able.

For air-powered water lift, a smaller diameter acrylic tubing is much more efficient than a larger one.

Show us pics of your PVC overhead wet-dry!!!

Ron,

Do you have any pics of this "electrical trunking", not sure what you mean. Looking for a cheap alternative, since I need to make many small filters for my 22L Killi tanks, and 50L shrimp tanks. I have seen the overhead wet/dry filters, but the only ones I saw included the pump in the kit. I don't want the pump since I am using air only.

[stormhawk]

@SCOPE:

I tried looking up info for you, but there's zero info on this fish on a key West African killie site. I think it's known more as Poropanchax brichardi now, but taxonomy on killies keep changing constantly. In any case, they are apparently subsceptible to stress during moving.

If you're planning to ship them here from Taiwan, I believe your mortality rate might be fairly high. It is a beautiful little lampeye. According to breeding info, the eggs are large, but fry tiny. Similar breeding habits as per other lampeyes.

I remember something when I used to have P. normani fry. They'd be large but have really tiny mouths. If you're used to fry needing infusoria and smaller organisms for the first 2-3 days, then raising P. brichardi fry shouldn't be an issue.

An excerpt about this little killie I found on the web:

Aplocheilichthys (Congopanchax) brichardi are the most striking of the lamp-eyed killifish. Like all lampeyes, they need to be fed on a regular basis and do not fare well at holding stations in Africa or during shipping. By the time the tiny fish (adult size is 1 inch) arrive here, they are often emaciated and can only be saved with large amounts of live brine shrimp and other tiny live foods. The males display fantastic metallic blue bodies and deep red fins, whereas females are less strikingly colored. These tiny fish are best kept in a group of at least six in a species tank or with other tiny soft water species. It took many years for this species to be exported again in 2006, and only a small number have been brought to North America and Europe; but this should be sufficient for killifish enthusiasts to establish it in the hobby.

From here:

http://www.fishchannel.com/setups/fr.../new-fish.aspx

I guess just treat them the way you would with Clown Killies.