Malta Aquarist Society

To add something else to the American Flagfish (Jordanella Floridae).... it's also a very good algae eater, especially the green & red algae.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjrlxjveySE

I have kept 2 or 3 males with 5 females and it seems to work as the fish are growing well. Yes some fighting between the males do occure as you can see.

martin

Nice killifish Martin.Can someone tell me what types of spiecies of killifish that can be kept and breed indoor in unheated tanks like the aphanius sp...?

 When available you can buy some American flagfish, they will tolerate even cold water. You can bring other Aphanius species eggs from abroad but this is not always an option since certain species are potected by law.

 Other species that can be kept and bred indoor in unheated tanks are the Austrolebias sp...

Any species that can be kept and bred indoor in room temperature apart the aphanius,flagfish and austrolebias because in summer i'm going to make same small tanks for killifish.

 Acquire some of those first B.Sammut and give it a try at breeding them and raising their fry. If its your first time with killies I would opt for two species from the above mentioned. Don't try to have several different species at the same time because you'll get mixed up.

As a beginner I would begin with non annuals such as Aphyosemoin australe and Fundulopanchax garneri which also offer more colour then Aphanius and Austrolebias species. But these need heated water.

Thanks jtheuma. I will begin with Aphanius sp.... .

Can someone tell me were can I contact Charles Zammit?

 Pm sent. Check your inbox

 I have lost the killifish I had proudly hatched. These were the Rachovii. It seems these fish do not tollerate high temperature as the water in my fish room is constantly 30 - 31 deg.

martin

Hi Martin,

Nothos are one of the most genus of killifish which can withstand heat .. making them ideal for our island. The problem is as I already explained to you in the past .. nothos are annuals, ie: short lived.  The high temperature has definetly increase their metabolism thus reducing their lifespan .. most probably your nothos died under the pension scheme, ie: of old age.

Would like if someone has a different idea or has any other info that would like to share. 

 Thanks for your reply Charlon. I will surely try again when I settle in my fishroom.

martin

Unbelievable !!! only 18 days old and already spawning.

Less than 3 weeks ago, Kenneth a friend of mine and also a member in our club told me that he imported some annual killifish eggs from Singapore and he was having trouble in hatching these eggs. He asked me if I was willing to help him as he was very disappointed that no fry had appeared from the eggs he bought.

I pointed out to him that most of the fry from the Nothobranchius species are very minute and difficult to see upon hatching, but still I accepted to help him out. He handed me 2 small packet. One was marked Notho. eggersi and the other was marked Notho. guentheri red. Their hatching date was 10/4/10.

 On Saturday,10th. this month, I added water to these eggs and a pinch of micro-worms. Within 2 hours, I could see a few very small fry swimming. After 2 days, they were eating newly hatched brineshrimp and the growth of the eggersi was extremely rapid. Now I could see that there were 6 fry from the eggersi and 12 fry from the guentheri. Part ot their water was changed every 4 or 5 days. When the eggersi were 14 days old, the males were already showing their colours, 4 males and 2 females. 4 days later, that is today, when these fish are only 18 days old, I saw them spawning. I know that annual killifish mature very quickly. They have to do so as if the water body they  are in, dries up, there will be no chance for these species to survive. Usually, most of the reports that I read says that these fish become sexually mature in 6 weeks, but for fish to become sexually productive in less than 3 weeks is something that I never heard before in the 40+ years that I have been keeping killies. 

These are very challenging fish and they need very small tanks. Heathing is very little as most of them will thrive indoors in unheated tanks. The reward, exitement and satisfaction one will have in brreding these fish, is next to nothing. One can import any species of eggs he wishes to directly from e-bay or other source like the British Killifish Association. Hope that there will be more members interested in these very colourful species.

Charlie.

Marvelous Charles, altough i am not into these type of fish, i am sure they are more than interesting, Great job.

Ivan.