I have a colony of Least Killies in a heavily planted 50L tank, and a pair of AFFs in a 240L, and I'm considering getting a 95L and transferring both fish to it for a mixed species Florida biotope. I wouldn't be trying this with the 50L, but I'm wondering if the 95L would a big enough tank for this to work.
Unfortunately I can't find much information about their compatibility. The videos on youtube show juvenile AFFs, which doesn't entirely help me as mine are adults. Am I going to lose too many Least Killie fry? Are the adult Least Killies "robust enough or fast enough" to deal with any aggression from the AFFs? Or are they small enough that they're ignored? The female is pretty laid back, but the male can be a bit of a thug at times.
Least Killies and AFFs
Started by
Guest_DaveGodfrey_*
, Nov 19 2012 11:27 AM
6 replies to this topic
#4
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 19 November 2012 - 05:47 PM
If you've got breeding populations of both and you keep the breeding tanks going as they are, I don't see why you couldn't put tank-bred fish of both species in that new 95 L and see how they do together. If it doesn't work out you've still kept your breeding populations of both safe and with a self-sustaining population.
#5
Guest_DaveGodfrey_*
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Posted 19 November 2012 - 09:25 PM
The American Flag Fish aren't breeding, (although I'm hopeful that they might in the new tank) so I'm not converned about them. Its the Least Killies I'm worried about. Unfortunately I don't really have the space for the 50L and the 95L which makes things a bit awkward, although I could put some of them in a shrimp tank I have, so I'll keep some of them safe.
#6
littlen
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Posted 20 November 2012 - 10:01 AM
Your Flagfish will most likely eat any new fry/juvenile killies if given the chance. Also, as you're aware, your Flagfish are a lot more active whereas the killies are very passive and easy going. I would think that even adults would have a hard time competing with the Flagfish (for food). If you are really determined to have them living together, I would suggest a large, thick mat of some sort of floating aquatic vegatation, like Foxtail, for them to hide in as any exposed fry will eventually get picked off. A couple of years ago I put Bluefin killies in with my Least killies and I saw the recruitment of Least killifish dramatically decrease. Bluefins are significantly smaller, or at least less robust and a little shorter in total length than AFF and they made quite the impact on the Least killifish.
I enjoy trying to keep 'predator and prey' species together in an environment if at all possible. Given, you need to provide suitable space and habitat for both. I am not saying that I constantly replenish prey species just to keep the tank stocked. There is a very low occurance of predation based on the fact that all fish are well fed, and there are plenty of hiding spaces for the prey species. (For instance, chubs kept with darters and shiners.....sunfish kept with gar and bass, etc.). So I think your request of keeping Killies and AFF together is manageable, but don't be surprised if you do not notice any abundance of fry.
Best of luck.
I enjoy trying to keep 'predator and prey' species together in an environment if at all possible. Given, you need to provide suitable space and habitat for both. I am not saying that I constantly replenish prey species just to keep the tank stocked. There is a very low occurance of predation based on the fact that all fish are well fed, and there are plenty of hiding spaces for the prey species. (For instance, chubs kept with darters and shiners.....sunfish kept with gar and bass, etc.). So I think your request of keeping Killies and AFF together is manageable, but don't be surprised if you do not notice any abundance of fry.
Best of luck.
Nick L.
#7
Guest_DaveGodfrey_*
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Posted 20 November 2012 - 11:12 AM
Thank-you for that. I thought that could well be the case. The AFFs haven't made much of a dent in the Cherry Shrimp population, but the Least Killies aren't nearly as prolific as that (if they bred like guppies I'd be actively looking for something to keep the numbers down).
I don't live in the US, so I can't just go out and net some more Least Killies to bulk up the numbers if I lose too many fry to the AFFs, To be honest, the current tank is pretty densely planted, so I don't see that many adults at one time either (I'm sure they're in there, but I don't want to go disturbing anything too much to do a head count).
I think discretion is the better part of valour in this case. If I had the space to keep the 50L as a fry tank for them then I'd probably give it a go.
I might get the 95L anyway, as its a bit more flexible in terms of stocking (not that there's anything much I'd be keeping with the Killies I think),
I don't live in the US, so I can't just go out and net some more Least Killies to bulk up the numbers if I lose too many fry to the AFFs, To be honest, the current tank is pretty densely planted, so I don't see that many adults at one time either (I'm sure they're in there, but I don't want to go disturbing anything too much to do a head count).
I think discretion is the better part of valour in this case. If I had the space to keep the 50L as a fry tank for them then I'd probably give it a go.
I might get the 95L anyway, as its a bit more flexible in terms of stocking (not that there's anything much I'd be keeping with the Killies I think),
Edited by DaveGodfrey, 20 November 2012 - 11:18 AM.
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