hunt for the blue gularis

[wickedglass]

my girlfriend loves killies, I found this one for her a few days ago!
this species has been around for a long time in the hobby, but it's the first time I've seen it avaliable locally. Aphyosemion sjoestedti ... or the "blue gularis" ... sounds like a russian nuclear sub!
gonna try and breed them ... apart from panchax we've never done killies before
sorry about the ordinary quality of the phone pix.

[sammigold]

chris, that fish is gorgeous....
can I ask where you got them... and a little about the care and compatibility of them with other fish.

I have been contemplating getting killis for a while... I nearly bought a rainbow panchax, but I had a fighter in the tank and was told they would be incompatible.

How big does the gulari grow? and how many can you keep, are they agressive like some of the other killis.

[wickedglass]

hi Sammi
they're stunning fish, but the photos don't do any justice. these guys can can exhibit intraspecies aggression, so only one male ... or 3 - 4 males in a 4ft with floating plants that provide cover, such as water-sprite, which has long feathery roots hanging down .... and as many girls as you want (but they're not flashy like the boys).
I haven't had them in with males from other Aphyosemion species but I'd say that they would also fight. the blue gularis grows to between 3 and 4 cm body length.
as concerns the panchax, we've got golden panchax in 2 of our tanks (4ft & 7ft), both tanks also containing fighters and they don't even look at each other when they swim past. the one problem we've had was when we put in a male Pseudomugil furcatus, aka blue-eye ... the male panchax didn't like it at all and tore it up before I could even think:"sheet I gotta take it out!!"

as to where I got it from that's a big grand poobah secret ... :P ... not! I'll pm you, coz I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it here as the shop's not a sponsor.

[gro]

chris

i saw some really cool ones in a shop in nunawading really bright yellow and red colours.....was a little while ago so ha may have sold them...
let mw know if you want more info


killies are interesting too,- this bloke said they only live for a year??
and also their eggs can be removed from the tank, dried out, keep for a long period of time and then hey presto - put them back into the water and they hatch??

[sammigold]

thats right, about the eggs....(I dont know about the lifespan, I think in the wild it is true for some of the killis but in captivity you could probably expect them to live a little longer...maybe like guppies lifespan 2 years. I think there is even a species that only lives for a couple of months in its natural habitat!)

here is a link on Killifish...
http://www.akvaryumhobisi.com/CKSG/index.htm