Chromaphyosemion Splendopleure (SPL) 'Ekondo Titi'

[Emokidz]

Hi everyone, just like to share another one of my favourite fishes - the SPL 'Ekondo Titi'. Not a very demanding fish, beautiful colours and super cute female.

Got my pair a few weeks back from Green Chapter at its new Macpherson location. Relatively hardy with proper care and has been doing really well adapting to my tank conditions so far. They are currently housed in a 1 ft gex tank filled about half way with loads of moss / ferns.

Of course words can't fully describe their beauty, so here are some pictures:

The pair:


Male:



Female:



Their setup - they are in the top left 1 ft gex tank, the other tanks house my coccina complex betta




Thanks and hope you enjoyed viewing.

[kaganesti]

Very nice killifish you got there.
They feed on pellets or dry food?

[Emokidz]

Yes, I feed them dry, frozen and live foods. I think variety is really important in any fish diet.

[Shi Xuan]

Hi Bernard,

The male looks beautiful in your tank! I was at GC last Friday and their colors look washed out. One problem with this fish is that, their colors are relatively subtle and not shown vividly. Only when they don't display the stress bars and a light shone in front of their tanks would their colors become brilliant. Your male looks young though. Wait till it matures, the filament extensions in the fins would grow even longer. Spotted a few pretty males when GC was back at their old premise. Somehow, the SPL reminds me of Macaws.

Good thing that you got a chiller for their tank, though it's an overkill for such a small tank. I got a small 2nd hand chiller which is not as good but it's given to me by a friend of mine. He told me that it is only good for anything below 2 ft, so someday, I might use it for my 23L tank but at the moment, I don't think it's necessary for the fishes I'm keeping.

BTW, I'm not too sure if you are interested in any other cold water killies. I would like to try Kenjiro to see if he has any eggs to sell since the transit time from Japan to Singapore is much shorter. Meanwhile, quite upset with the Fundulopanchax walkeri "Kutunse GH 2-74" fry I got recently. Lots of bent spines as I can see. Was wondering if it's probably because of the long transit time from Europe which I hope...anything better than genetic deformities!!!

On the side note, thanks for the coccina you gave me on Saturday! The fishes are huge and I don't think there's time to waste before they past their prime. Fed them some grindals, brine shrimp nauplii and frozen bloodworms today. They only took a small nibble before disappearing off into the tank, so I'll have to get tubifex worms instead.

Best regards,
Shi Xuan

[Emokidz]

Your always welcome!

Yup I keep them in a chilled tank with a range of 25-27. The pair has coloured up a lot after settling down. The ones at GC should be from the same batch though.
So far, egg production is very low. Viable eggs are few and I haven't had any hatch yet. Will keep trying though. But I think it won't be easy.

[Shi Xuan]

If they are kept at cooler temperature, spawning shouldn't be a problem. I guess your pair might still be young. Perhaps, the only way to ramp up the egg production is to feed them tubifex worms. Otherwise, separate and condition them until the female is fat with eggs.

[Emokidz]

Yup, I tried tubifex the other day. Will try feeding it tubifex more often and see how it goes. And yup, frontal lighting is required to bright out their irid colours.
As for cold water killies, I'm still waiting for our weather to get cooler before trying for xiphidius again.

[Shi Xuan]

xiphidius looks promising but the only way, is to source for it in Europe and shipped by EMS. Cross fingers for the Rivulus cylindraceus eggs to arrive...an unpleasant coincidence which happens that today is a public holiday and that means I'll have to wait till Tuesday before I receive my mail. Hope the eggs don't get cooked before I do.

[Emokidz]

Yup. Most of the cold water killes need to be shipped all the way over. But I'll definitely want to try xiphidius again. And with my current set up, I don't see why not. Just need to get live eggs over...

[Shi Xuan]

Yeap, not exactly impossible. I'm still figuring out the space to set up the small chiller that I've got, then I can keep xiphidius as well.

[Emokidz]

That'll be good. Problem is getting them here. Will need to contact Linda again. And really hope for luck. : /

[Shi Xuan]

Bernard, I checked my backup files just now and managed to find a fishlist provided by Jose Carlos Garcia. This is quite a promising breeder and somehow, he's good at sending eggs from my experience. It's usually the transit time and the hot climate in Singapore that's the main cause of the problem.

He has 2 populations of xiphidius though, Crique Bolanger and FSB 95/2. If you are interested, I can send you his fishlist. Transit time from Portugal takes about 1.5 - 2 weeks with normal mail but probably faster with EMS.

That said, the current weather is a bit too hot for any shipment. We will have to wait until somewhere in October before getting eggs. Might need to find more people to chip in for it to happen.

[RonWill]

Bernard, the male is coloring up very nicely but substrate color also has a huge influence. If you want more viable eggs, condition them well with assorted live foods and keep them cool. Eggs can be harvested and water incubated in large/shallow takeaway tubs. Throw in a wad of moss to get some micro-organisms going. You should see fry in about 2-3 weeks.

Guys, historically, my window for shipping in live eggs of non-annual species is from Sept to Nov, before the monsoon season and before it gets too cold to ship from originating country.

Once life settles down or when I set up more racks with chillers (whichever is sooner), I'll start thinking about getting more killies.

[Shi Xuan]

Hi,

I thought it would be better for me to put the file here, so that everyone can just download it. Oops, I made a mistake, Ron. Told you he has Aphyosemion... sorry about that. Still, I guess you might like to know what he has got to offer.

Best regards,
Shi Xuan

P.S Shucks, forgot that I deleted my earlier post, should have utilized it for this purpose...oh well.

[guppymania]

Wow now really tempted to get some from Green Chapter. Maybe go today!

[guppymania]

Just bought a pair from Green Chapter

[vic_tan0911]

hi... may i know your chillier use for how many tank pls?

[akillifan]

Those killis in the chilled tank is having a good life :-)

I think for a small 1 feet tank, a fan blowing 24/7 shld suffice. Downside is water evaporation require constant top up. Worst is if needed to go away for holiday for a week.....

From the photo, the canister filter is hookup to the chiller for only one tank. If the tank is 2 feet, can separate the tank with a divider and share the same comfy cool water :-)

[johnchor]

hello bros.

looks very tempting to me.

is this type easier to keep and breed or A.australe orange?
is the A.australe orange in GC consider pure breed?
can they be mix with fp.gardneri in a large 4ft tank?

thanks

[RonWill]

is this type easier to keep and breed or A.australe orange?

The Chrom SPL 'Ekondo Titi' population have been stably established in SG for some years now by 2 breeders. It is *almost* as 'easy' as the AUS and has similar requirements; good conditioning with a varied diet (including live foods), best egg collection when bred in pairs, a spawning mop or generous clump of moss and most importantly, lower temperatures (either via use of chiller or wait for monsoon season).

Water-incubation is about 2 weeks, in well aged water (or from your established aquarium), with lots of plants acting as natural bio-filters. Fry are pretty robust, feeding on infusoria before moving up to either microworms or daphnia. Avoid overfeeding and have some ramhorn snails as clean up crew.

is the A.australe orange in GC consider pure breed?

Pure only as Aphyosemion australe and not as a hybrid (interbred with another species). Whether 'Orange', 'Gold' or 'Chocolate', these are phenotypes and are aquarium strains since they lack proper population codes. Sold only in pairs since we'd want to hear about your breeding trials.

The only group of australe in SG that proudly owns a population code is the AUS Cap Lopez but they're reluctant to spawn at the moment. I might have better luck with them during the full-blown monsoon season.

can they be mix with fp.gardneri in a large 4ft tank?

They can be but the GAR are quite competitive feeders and generally larger than SPLs. The space allows the mix and for appreciation. Breeding them is another story.

Hope that answer all your questions.