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Re: killies in large tanks
"Once upon a time" I brought home that extra pair of killies from the
auction which really shouldn't have been purchased. But they were a
wonderful pair, it was late in the festivities, I felt bad for the person
who brought them and no one was bidding one them. (None of you have ever
done this <g>.)
Where to put the Panchypanchax playfairi was temporarily solved when they
were plunked in a 20 gallon tank with a school of Lake Tebera rainbows, aka
Herbies (Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi), who were only a little smaller then
they were. The playfairi more than held their own, cruising downstream of
the small power filter. They nipped at the rainbows who were dinged in the
tails once in a while, but the aggression was spread among several fish,
there was some shelter and room to get out of the way. In time the herbies
grew and a certain equilibrium ensued. However the rainbows continued to
grow and in time were longer than the playfairi and certainly of a greater
bulk. "One day" it seemed that it "occurred" to the herbies that they could
pay back the playfairi for previous favors and the playfairi had to be
removed for their own preservation.
Now playfairi are a pretty rough and ready killie, much more so than
australe. Let's be frank, while beautiful to watch gliding or rambling
along, most Aphyosemion are mediocre swimmers as fish go. This is why they
hide in streamside grasses. By contrast, the rainbows, taking some of the
niches of characins, Cyprinids and silversides (and ok, maybe some Fundulus)
in Oz and Papua New Guinea, swim (and lay eggs) like streamlined killies on
a serious caffeine buzz. There came a point when those australe, perhaps
weakened by their inability to compete with the faster tetras and rainbows
for sufficient food, were pummeled by the rainbows, perhaps as losers in the
rainbow chasing games. The australe, worn out and perhaps lacking shelter
where they could hide, found themselves decidedly and fatally at the bottom
of the pecking order.
Except maybe in the case of the various lampeyes or perhaps rice fishes,
there comes a point where most "killies" just shouldn't play rainbow games.
Tetras may also pass the time schooling and chasing. (The neons were not
likely the problem though.)
I've kept larger killies in the odd males' tank with tetras and Corys,
remembering the "if a fish can fit in another's mouth, it will" rule. The
absence of female killies also helped insure the peace. Most killies, most
of the time, (thinking of some big old Epiplatys and lineatus) are
surprisingly tolerant of other smaller fishes. Still they should be watched
and well fed.
One could make an argument that there is no such thing as a (covered) tank
too big for killies (unless you have surface dwelling fry in a deep tank and
microworms or bbs on the bottom). Larger abodes allow for more security in
terms of fluctuating water parameters, often faster growth if the killies
aren't burning up their food battling a strong current, and room for more
fry to "naturally" grow up in the tank.
One of these days (give or take a decade) I'm still going to tear down that
55 in the living room. That will be the only way to evict all of the present
residents. Most of the current jungle will be returned and something along
the line of a couple of pairs of Norm Rubesamen's or George Fryk's orange
australes will be stocked there.
All the best!
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: <LandRover47 at aol_com>
To: <killietalk at aka_org>
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 8:55 AM
Subject: killies in large tanks
> Good morning, Last night while getting brine at my LFS who sells killies
at
> times an employee asked me if killies would survive in large tanks. She
had
> gotten a couple of australe males who seemed fine for two weeks then
> "just"died. No signs of physical damage. She said they were swimming all
over
> the tank. I believe the tank is a planted 90 with neons,rainbows and other
> "calm" fish. I told her they should have been ok. Any Thoughts? pH about
> 7,hardness around 2 to 5 she said. Thanks. Jim Randall
Albany
> NY.
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