Killies

[Fishyfanatic]

This is a seperate question, kind of a break off of the other thread about Loaches. While at the lfs I asked the guy if they have Killies. He said, "No, we don't mess with them. Too much of a PITA." I've been seraching for Killies for quite a while now to add to the 55 gal tank. Is there something that I should know about these things before purchasing? Such as are they difficult to keep and die easily?

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Many varieties of killifish are very short lived (6-12 months). In the wild they hatch when the rain comes and die when their puddle dries up. These are called annuals. The good news about them is they are very easy to ship as eggs, and cheap as well (check aquabid). Then you drop the eggs in water and...Presto--baby killies. (Okay, that may be an over simplification) There are other killies that live long happy lives but killies in general just aren't common in the novice aquarium trade yet, so the prices are high and so its not practical for many lfs's bottom line.

 

[webmoose]

They are usually stored in cooler tanks.. Many are not community fish. Hatching them is pretty involved and they do best with live food cultures like brineshrimp and microworms.. Microworms are pretty easy to do but I had a lid that didn't breath properly that recently killed off my good culture...

I've done alot of aquabid egg purchases and I would recommend starting with some adults from a local fish club auction or something like that...

You might want to play with setting up food cultures before hatching killies so your not learning about 2 things at once... They like clean tanks and I personally recommend a snail or two in the tank with them to pick up any excess food...

The real PITA is that they can be addicting and you can end up with too many small tanks of these guys... I would recommend starting with "Aphyosemion" types to start with...

Moose

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Thanks guys! The info that I came across never mentioned that they die easily. It's good to know before I go out and spend $25 for each of them and have them die 12 months later. I think I'll stear clear of them. They do look pretty cool, but I am not up for short lived species at the moment. Especially not at the price tag that I find them for. But I did just read today that they prefer the cooler temps, definately not a tropical tank inhabitant. It's good to know. Now I just have to try to find another mid-top dweller for the 55 gal tank.

 

[kaz]

I had a golden wonder killi and he was a surface fish great looking fish.

 

[Guest]

I had a golden wonder kili and he lived great until i sold him back to my LFS.. because they have pretty big mouths and at the time i wanted to keep some guppies.. let's just say he ate the guppies!!!