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Killifish tank questions


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#21 Guest_butch_*

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Posted 03 August 2008 - 02:00 PM

Lucania parva pefer salt but, like most brackish water fish, can adapt to freshwater.

You might want to reconsider the addition of P.latipinna if you choose Ellosoma.


Not true that rainwater killifish are not ALWAYS brackish water fish. There's some landlocked populations that do well in pure freshwater. My rainwater killifish are wild caught but they sucessfully breed in my own freshwater tank. So rainwater killifish will have no problems to adapt your tank.

#22 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 03 August 2008 - 02:06 PM

fishlvr, I would recommend changing the substrate if you plan to keep the species pictured or others which require planting. You might also consider using small pots or shallow containers if you feel that removing gravel is to large of a project or unnecessary. Just my opinion though. I really like your substrate, however, I'm unsure how it would compliment the small fishes you're going to use.


I'm going to have to change it anyways for the amount of plant-growth I want. I'm going to put soil on the bottom most likely then gravel from my creek on top. I'm probably going to make it pretty deep too. What's wrong with the gravel?

#23 Guest_topminnow_*

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Posted 03 August 2008 - 05:36 PM

Not true that rainwater killifish are not ALWAYS brackish water fish. There's some landlocked populations that do well in pure freshwater. My rainwater killifish are wild caught but they sucessfully breed in my own freshwater tank. So rainwater killifish will have no problems to adapt your tank.


Good point. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I keep L.parva in brackish water and L.goodei in fresh. Their housed separately in a fifty-five gallon aquarium with a few other species. One side is fresh water and the other is brackish. I haven’t felt the need to keep both together.


I'm going to have to change it anyways for the amount of plant-growth I want. I'm going to put soil on the bottom most likely then gravel from my creek on top. I'm probably going to make it pretty deep too. What's wrong with the gravel?


Nothings wrong with your gravel. I said I liked it! I'm just worried your fish might get lost in it :) . Maybe buy a bag of sand and use it with some of the gravel. Black sand also looks nice mixed in. While your at the store purchasing organic humic based topsoil, you can look for leveling or pool filter sand. Both have a nice grain size. I would submerse the soil for a few weeks in five gallon buckets stirring regularly, letting silt settle, and then dumping excess wood pieces. If you can't wait a few weeks, pay closer attention to the 'ingredients' of the soil. The depth of your substrate really depends on species and the quantity of plants available to use. I would recommend at least three to four inches of soil in heavily planted areas and an inch or so in the foreground. Basically, use soil where you want your plants to grow and choose the depth accordingly. Have you thought about adding a large piece of driftwood?

#24 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 03 August 2008 - 06:19 PM

Play sand is nice, it has been "cleaned" and won't have any bits of wood in it. In the winter, I've bought "tube sand". It's packaged in a tube to put in the trunk of a rear wheel drive vehicle to help with traction when it gets slippery. I don't know if it's sold everywhere, you southerners probably don't need it. It is a little more interesting than the play sand, because it isn't as clean. I've also used "beach sand" from a landscaping place. I don't rinse or soak any of it. I just pour it in the aquarium and add water.

#25 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 05 August 2008 - 09:33 AM

Good point. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I keep L.parva in brackish water and L.goodei in fresh. Their housed separately in a fifty-five gallon aquarium with a few other species. One side is fresh water and the other is brackish. I haven’t felt the need to keep both together.
Nothings wrong with your gravel. I said I liked it! I'm just worried your fish might get lost in it :) . Maybe buy a bag of sand and use it with some of the gravel. Black sand also looks nice mixed in. While your at the store purchasing organic humic based topsoil, you can look for leveling or pool filter sand. Both have a nice grain size. I would submerse the soil for a few weeks in five gallon buckets stirring regularly, letting silt settle, and then dumping excess wood pieces. If you can't wait a few weeks, pay closer attention to the 'ingredients' of the soil. The depth of your substrate really depends on species and the quantity of plants available to use. I would recommend at least three to four inches of soil in heavily planted areas and an inch or so in the foreground. Basically, use soil where you want your plants to grow and choose the depth accordingly. Have you thought about adding a large piece of driftwood?


I've got a few weeks, so I can do that. I haven't thought about it for this tank, but I've used it before and now that you mention it I might use a piece or two for this tank.

#26 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 05 August 2008 - 08:13 PM

One more question relating to compatibility: can dwarf crays (Cambarellus shufeldtii) be kept in the same tank? I haven't had problems with them eating fish as long as they stay fed.

#27 Guest_Michelle_*

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Posted 06 August 2008 - 09:58 AM

My Marsh Killies get along well with my Bluefins, Least Killies, Creek Chubsuckers and Mollies. They are easy to keep and seem to be a good community fish. They are also very pretty. I do not add salt to my tank. I do use a moderate amount of plants. My aquarium is the same dimension as yours.

Since I'm cutting down to one tank, I figured I would keep a lot of smaller fish in a large tank instead of only a couple large fish in the same tank. I have a 55 gallon aquarium (about 48" long and 18" high) and wanted to put some killies and livebearers in it. I was wondering what killies and livebearers will do good together and which ones won't. I want to have some of the smaller killies and livebearers, such as bluefins and H. formosa. I've already got a bunch of formosa and bluefins pop up in the feeder tanks every once in a while, so I could get a pair and breed them 'til I had however many I wanted for the tank. :D I wanted to get some ommata in there as well and some others but I'm not sure of what else I can put in there that won't eat the formosa and pygmy killies. Are there any others I can put in there?



#28 Guest_butch_*

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Posted 06 August 2008 - 12:20 PM

Dwarf crayfish could work out with your fishes that you mentioned as long as you provide the crawdads java moss and some rocks if they want to hide.

Michelle, I thinks your marsh killifish might not be marsh as there's some people in other forum thinks its gulf killifish which will eat bluefins and least killifish. But then marsh killifish will eat juvies of bluefins & least killies as well as male least killies.

#29 Guest_Michelle_*

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Posted 07 August 2008 - 01:24 PM

So far all that get eaten are fry or small male least Killies. No one has ever munched on a Bluefin. I think that I have Marsh Killes and probably some other type as well but neither have eaten adult fish. Of course I only put the largest least Killes in the tank. Since I don't trust any of them not to eat a much smaller fish.

Dwarf crayfish could work out with your fishes that you mentioned as long as you provide the crawdads java moss and some rocks if they want to hide.

Michelle, I thinks your marsh killifish might not be marsh as there's some people in other forum thinks its gulf killifish which will eat bluefins and least killifish. But then marsh killifish will eat juvies of bluefins & least killies as well as male least killies.



#30 Guest_butch_*

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Posted 07 August 2008 - 03:03 PM

Well im unsure that it would be good idea for suggest put marsh killifish with these smaller species as your marsh killifish are not marsh after all but probably young adult gulf/mummichogs will grow much bigger than marsh.

Steve, if you want fry or male least killifish survive then do not add ANY fundulus species, include marsh killifish.

#31 Guest_Michelle_*

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Posted 07 August 2008 - 07:07 PM

You are right it is better safe than sorry. I pulled out my least Killies and put them into a different tank. I am going to leave the Bluefin for now.

So far all that get eaten are fry or small male least Killies. No one has ever munched on a Bluefin. I think that I have Marsh Killes and probably some other type as well but neither have eaten adult fish. Of course I only put the largest least Killes in the tank. Since I don't trust any of them not to eat a much smaller fish.



#32 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 09 August 2008 - 06:55 PM

I've decided I'm going to get a pair of each fish species for this tank, and extras will go in breeding tubs outside. How does this sound for a final list:

Fish:
Heterandria formosa
Lucania goodei
Lucania parva
(possibly, if I can get them)
Leptolucania ommata
Elassoma okefenokee
Elassoma evergladei
Elassoma zonatum
Etheostoma fusiforme


Inverts:
Cambarellus shufeltii (5) (they'll probably have babies, but I don't mind the fish eating them for a snack)
More than likely some sort of snail species (if I can find one that won't eat my plants)
Corbicula fluminea

Any fry or baby crays I find will probably be removed from the tank in order to keep the tank from getting too crowded. I'm probably going to keep the filter in there, or I may get an undergravel filter so I can lower the water level and keep emergent/floating plants.

What do you guys think about it?

Edited by fishlvr, 09 August 2008 - 06:57 PM.


#33 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

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Posted 09 August 2008 - 11:59 PM

What do you guys think about it?

8 x 2 = 16 small to tiny fish, most of which like a good amount of vegetation, in a 55 ? It will/would be a tank you have to sit there and study for a while to find most of the fish. You could add to the fish load considerably. (In high school a buddy had a home-made tank probably a bit bigger than a 55, and we put 400 Heter in it. The "gold" ones. Always liked Heters.)

My impression, and I can't give you a good reason for this, it's just my impression, is that L goodei (bluefin killies) aren't quite happy unless there's at least 6 or 8 of them.

The LLO and the 3 Elassoma species are all pretty much live-food only. BBS could be problematic in a large tank with just a few small fish, the BBS may well die before they're found and eaten. What would be the food plan for those?

I love the shufeltii crawdad-lettes. I have 7 or 8 ranging from 1/2" to 1.5" in my 33L "fast-water" darter/minnow tank, and they're just a lot of fun to watch. I suspect there's an underground maze that would put Vietnamese coal miners to shame. (substrate=mixed gravels and sand, mostly with a layer of 1/2" to 3" pebbles on top. I mention this because the shufeltii I've caught have been in rock/riffle environments, although it is also true that's the only place I've looked for them.) My "whoops-now-he's-home-I-see-he's-not-a-madtom-after-all-o-bah" catfish went down a new crawfish hole a couple of nights ago, and five minutes later I saw him swimming at the other end of the tank. I don't know where he exited, but it was not close to the hole he went down. No bad-shufeltii behavior towards the darters that I have seen, and I watch this tank a LOT. (As I type this, in fact.)

HTH - d.d.

#34 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 01:01 AM

Well I just wanted to start low and see what y'all thought about it. I guess I'll stock it more heavily then. :D

I was actually going to try to convert them to flake, or at least frozen. If it doesn't work, I have tubs outside I can put them in. Most of my tanks have tons of microorganisms in them too though, such as daphnia and scuds, so it may work out to where they would still get enough to eat.

#35 Guest_fishlvr_*

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Posted 04 October 2008 - 01:56 PM

Well I've decided to keep the smaller fish out of the tank since they require live foods, so are there any good tank-mates for bluefins, rainwater killies, and swamp darters that would eat flake food?



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