Happy Pets

The Egglaying Toothcarps include the so-called ‘annual’ fishes whose natural watery habitat completely dries up every year, thus killing the fishes. However, before this event occurs, the adult fishes lay their fertilized eggs in the mud of the stream bed, where they survive the rest of the dry season in a dormant state. The onset of the rainy season refills the stream bed and the eggs hatch. The fish then have to mature and spawn in their turn before the weather cycle is repeated. Aquarists have not been slow to take advantage of the fertilized eggs‘ ability to withstand semi-dehydration, and exchange fertile eggs through the post, often on a worldwide basis.

Species may live longer than the expected twelve months under aquarium conditions, where the water never dries up. Other species spawn among aquatic plants, where their environment may not be subject to extreme changes; these species also live longer than twelve months. These fishes are extremely colourful, but they require slightly different conditions from those needed by the usual tropical species. They do not need such a high water temperature and, because of their aggressiveness, are not suitable for a mixed community collection. These species may therefore be kept in smaller quarters (thus in greater numbers of differing species) and aquarists keeping these fishes generally do so to the exclusion of other species. There are specialist Killifish Associations in Britain and the United States.

Killifishes are usually kept in ‘peaty’ water which has an acid reaction; its amber coloration sets off the colours of the fishes perfectly. They prefer dimly lit aquaria (in nature they follow the shadows around the pool), and this is easily provided by heavily planting the tank; a layer of floating plants will also reduce the amount of light penetrating the water. Most species of Killifishes are cylindrical in body shape, with the mouth situated towards the top of the head. Their natural action is somewhat Pike-like: they drift just below the water surface waiting for an opportunity to seize some insect that ventures too near.

Lyretail; Lyre-tailed Panchax; Cape Lopez Lyretail Aphyosemion australe 65 mm 21 in. West Africa, Gabon : coastal marshes. The cylindrical body is red/brown covered with dark red speckles. The red dorsal fin has white extensions, while the anal fin has a red and green border, with white extensions. The caudal fin has yellow edges, with white ‘lyretail‘ extensions; the centre section is blue, with red patterning and a dark rear edge. Females are a paler brown, without extensions to their fins. Temperature: 18-22^°C (65-72^°F). Diet: insect larvae, worms (fed to the fish in floating worm feeders), and dried foods. Breeding: removable nylon mops are used as a spawning medium by the fishes. Eggs can be transferred from the mops and stored in shallow water in plastic dishes until hatching occurs in two to four weeks.

Red Lyretail Aphyosemion bivittatum 60 mm 2* in. West Africa, Cameroon : streams. The purplish body has a dark line running from the snout into the flanks. The scales are edged in violet or red, giving a glittering appearance. The ventral, pectoral and anal fins are red/orange with blue and red edgings. The dorsal fin is red/gold, with specklings. The caudal fin is a mixture of purple, green and orange, with a blue and red edge. Temperature: 18-22^°C (65-72^°F). Diet: live and dried foods. Breeding: mop spawner.

Steel-blue Aphyosemion Aphyosemion gardneri 75 mm 3 in. Nigeria, Cameroon : streams. This species has several colour variants. The body colour is blue, with red markings extending into the fins. The dorsal and caudal fins have a horizontal red line parallel to the edge of the fin. The Blue variety has a white edging to the fins outside the red line, whereas the Yellow variety has a yellow margin. Many ‘new’ species are often found to be only regional colour variations of an already existing species. Temperature: 18-22^°C (65-72^°F). Diet: live and dried foods. Breeding: a ready mop spawner.

Blue Gularis Aphyosemion sloestedti 110 mm 41,. in. Nigeria, Cameroon : marshy areas. The green-blue/ brown body has a red patch running from the snout to mid-body. Vertical red bands cross the rear half of the body. The anal fin is gold with a blue and red edging. The dorsal fin has a red base and red flecking. The large caudal fin has an orange centre section extended to the same length as the outer rays; the upper lobe is green-blue with a red marking ; the lower lobe is blue with red markings. Temperature: 18-22^°C (65-72^°F). Diet: live and dried foods. Breeding: bottom spawner in peat or non- floating mops. Eggs may be stored nearly dry for a month or so before being re-immersed for hatching to occur.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Egglaying Toothcarps: Killifishes/ Family Cyprinodontidae

• Egglaying Toothcarps: Killifishes/ Family Cyprinodontidae continue...
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• Miscellaneous Aquarium Fishes Species
• Anemone Fishes and Clown Fishes, Feeding Skill
• African Catfishes
• Livebearing Fishes
• Damselfishes and Sergeant-Majors/ Family Pomacentridae
• Sucker Catfish
• (Tropical Fish) Surgeons, Tangs and Unicorn Fishes/ Family Acanthuridae
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 1:20 am and is filed under Fish, aquarium. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.