Beginner Killifish

[Jovel]

I've been wanting to try keeping this beautiful fishes for the longest time, but the only ones I'm keeping now are Normani Lampeyes, doing pretty good in my 3 ft planted.

Now that I just made a Wabi-kusa tank, am thinking of keeping a pair of annuals in it.

Its filterless and I'll just be doing frequent water changes.

Any recommendations for a beginner?

This is the link to my tank, afraid that the rocks might cause the PH to be fairly higher.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-My-Wabi-Kusa.

[Shi Xuan]

Nothobranchius guentheri, Nothobranchius foerschi, Opthalmolebias constanciae are good beginner annuals, just to name a few common ones. Note that the last one is a South American annual, though drab but have stunning finnages. Not all annuals are easy to breed, so either you can try the above mentioned or do a research on the respective species.

As for your wabi-kusa tank, I think keeping semi/non-annuals would be a better option. You can buy a pair/trio of Fundulopanchax nigerianus "Innidere" from Green Chapter. Beautiful and hardy fishes.

[Jovel]

Nothobranchius guentheri, Nothobranchius foerschi, Opthalmolebias constanciae are good beginner annuals, just to name a few common ones. Note that the last one is a South American annual, though drab but have stunning finnages. Not all annuals are easy to breed, so either you can try the above mentioned or do a research on the respective species.

As for your wabi-kusa tank, I think keeping semi/non-annuals would be a better option. You can buy a pair/trio of Fundulopanchax nigerianus "Innidere" from Green Chapter. Beautiful and hardy fishes.

Thanks! Maybe I make a trip down tomorrow and take a look. But they don't come cheap do they

[stormhawk]

If you are keeping the pH in the alkaline range, with rock work and minimal plants, you can try to keep Aphanius species. Last species seen locally was A. mento, but has been many years since I saw these.

[Shi Xuan]

Thanks! Maybe I make a trip down tomorrow and take a look. But they don't come cheap do they

Yes, they don't come cheap, in fact, all killies are expensive IMO. Stormhawk made a good suggestion for Aphanius spec. Rare middle eastern killies that's otherwise beautiful in their own right. I have seen a few species listed on Aquabid on some occasions.

[Jovel]

I got this guy today.. can anyone ID this killie?

[Shi Xuan]

May I ask where you got this fish? It's a male Nothobranchius flammicomantis.

[Jovel]

I got it at Y618, there was several different species but all males inside one of the tanks in the corner.

there was one that looks like that, but it seems too territorial and chasing everyone else.



and this

[Jovel]

Hmmm noob question, are they hard to find??

[Emokidz]

The second type you saw were probably some aquarium strain of Aphyosemion australe, a non-annual species. The notho you got is an annual species. It doesn't live for too long though...

[Shi Xuan]

Hmmm noob question, are they hard to find??

Not hard to find but difficult to get matching females.

For some guys, they prefer fishes that come with type locality/population codes and once they got a taste of "pedigree", they will never go back to aquarium strains.
As for me, anything goes, so long it's a living killie.

[Jovel]

Hmm thanks guys! Yeah i'll just try out this fella first. Next time maybe i'll try a non annual species. Do i need to cover the tank? Heard they're pretty good jumpers.

[Shi Xuan]

Nothobranchius are not avid jumpers but it would be safer to have the tank covered, lest you find crispies the next morning.

Generally, Nothobranchius are hardy killies, most are beautiful and easy to breed. The downside is their relatively short span of beauty.

[stormhawk]

Jovel, commonly seen farm-bred killies here are as follows:

Nothobranchius eggersi - blue/red forms
Nothobranchius guentheri - the first fish in one of your posts
Nothobranchius rachovii - Beira phenotype, occasionally in Albino form
Nothobranchius flammicomantis - uncommon
Nothobranchius fuscotaeniatus - uncommon
Nothobranchius korthausae - uncommon

Fundulopanchax gardneri? - unknown strains
Fundulopanchax nigerianus - unknown strains

Aphyosemion australe - Orange (very common), Chocolate (uncommon), Gold (uncommon)
Aphyosemion striatum - no longer supplied

Austrolebias sp. - used to be present, does not seem to be the case any longer

Ophthalmolebias constanciae - no longer supplied by the farms

[Jovel]

Thanks stormhawk! Hmm, any idea can I find a matching Nothobranchius flammicomantis female? been searching around but all I see are males

[stormhawk]

Not possible since the female is similar to others from the korthausae group. I doubt anyone is keeping the coded populations locally. It is a nice fish but I lack tank space to try it.

[Jovel]

Dang, I guess I have to luck it out. He seems so lonely.

[stormhawk]

Normal case with LFS killies. I always see only males at C328 (probably supplied by same farm) and some occasional females with no species tag given. I regard those as "USO"s - Unidentified Swimming Object.

[RonWill]

Dang, I guess I have to luck it out..

Nope, you didn't "lucked out" but rather, you got what you paid for!

You might not understand the obsession but it does take lots (now that's an understatement!!) of resources, patience and ill-afford time to get a population going and keeping it just the way it is, without corruption of the code, etc.

When anal killie-keepers do sell part of their stock to recoup funds for new species, the killies are usually sold in pairs or trios and yes, it will come with a price. Yes, they will also hope that you can get them to breed and enjoy the process, so don't fault them for receiving negligible chum change for their dedication.

And until you've walked a mile in their shoes, you'll never know the sacrifices and trade-offs they've made, just so that YOU can have pretty killies in your tank!!

[stormhawk]

I might be getting N. flammicomantis eggs but no promises.