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Garmanella pulchra

Started by Guest_skalartor_* , Jan 01 2011 05:57 PM

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9 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_skalartor_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2011 - 05:57 PM

hi,
does anyone has experience with these little guys? I start to get interested in north american killies but i can't find any piece of information concerning this species.
thanks from germany
torben

#2 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 01 January 2011 - 07:18 PM

Goldstein's American Aquarium Fishes has a paragraph or two on them... nothing much... he lists them as Jordanella pulchra searching that name may help you some. Also if you believe/agree with the Jordanella genus name, then you might jump to the conclusion that they would be somewhat like Flagfish, for which there is a lot of husbandry information.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#3 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2011 - 10:10 PM

Also if you believe/agree with the Jordanella genus name, then you might jump to the conclusion that they would be somewhat like Flagfish, for which there is a lot of husbandry information.

It certainly does look like a flagfish. (I google image searched it.) I thought at first that I was looking at the American flagfish, Jordanella floridae.

Edit:
Here's that page Michael Wolfe mentioned: http://books.google....pulchra&f=false

Edited by EricaWieser, 01 January 2011 - 10:13 PM.

#4 Guest_skalartor_*

Guests

Posted 02 January 2011 - 04:29 AM

hi,
thanks for your answers. I have already noticed this little paragraph but i'm searching for more information. I can't find anything about aquarium care. Is this fish so rare? But i can't find it on the red list.
torben

#5 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 02 January 2011 - 10:41 AM

Well, for aquarium care you can follow the same instructions that exist for the American flagfish.
http://badmanstropic.../profile82.html

What you want is a tank with lots and lots of live plants in it. These fish come from drainage ditches. They want slow moving water and lots of cover to hide under. They are also described as waste intolerant, so keep the water clean (no ammonia or nitrite, low nitrate). A Walstad setup would probably do nicely.

Edited by EricaWieser, 02 January 2011 - 10:44 AM.

#6 Guest_countrybumpkin_*

Guests

Posted 02 January 2011 - 11:18 AM

A few years back I had kept the Garmanella pulchra that came from Mexico. I kept them in brackish water and they weren't fussy and would eat most foods be it flake, frozen or live. After 6-7 years lost them to a mechanical failure of a float valve that stuck and ran a little more cold water than they could take into the system they were in.

#7 Guest_skalartor_*

Guests

Posted 02 January 2011 - 02:01 PM

hi,
thanks for your answers. does this fish behave like elassoma-species as far as hiding and not moving is concerned? what should a tank look like?
torben

#8 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 02 January 2011 - 04:04 PM

hi,
thanks for your answers. does this fish behave like elassoma-species as far as hiding and not moving is concerned? what should a tank look like?
torben

Oh, heck no, flagfish are definitely not the same temperament as Elassoma. A lot of websites list flagfish as semi-aggressive. They are very active and visible in the aquarium, don't you worry. Here is what they look like courting, almost violent:

Notice that this video has them spawning in mixed live and plastic plants, so you don't necessarily need to have intense gardening skills to keep this fish happy. They bred with just plastic plants and a clump of java moss.

The fish are also very comfortable with live plants, and here's a video that could serve as a guide when you're designing your own aquarium:

Now, if you've ever kept mollies, you understand what mean little fish they are, constantly chasing around other fish. The fact that Jordanella floridae and mollies coexist peacefully means that flagfish are quite capable of holding their own and defending territory in the visible part of the tank. Flagfish are aggressive little buggers *nods*

#9 Guest_countrybumpkin_*

Guests

Posted 03 January 2011 - 08:45 AM

hi,
thanks for your answers. does this fish behave like elassoma-species as far as hiding and not moving is concerned? what should a tank look like?
torben

I kept them in bare tanks with spawning mops for laying eggs and to provide refuge for harassed fish.

#10 Guest_melanotheron_*

Guests

Posted 14 September 2012 - 09:42 AM

There's a book with a nice breeding account and excellent photos of G. pulchra. Breeding Aquarium Fishes (book 6), by Herbert Axelrod (1980). I was wading thru a technical article recently and read that Jordanella and Garmanella may no be that closely related. Surprised me! Convergent evolution was suspected. But then, older aquarium literature always lists Jordanellas range as yucatan & florida. So they've been confused for a long time. Maybe G. pulchra keeping shouldn't be compared with Jordanella keeping too much. Beautiful fish, too bad it's so rare.