ÐÏà¡±á>þÿ <>þÿÿÿ;ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿì¥Á7 ø¿)&bjbjUU 27|7|)"ÿÿÿÿÿÿlúúúúúúúœï ¶¼(äääääään p p p p p p $¥ Å¦” úäääää” €úúää© €€€ä úäúän €än €î€n úún ä° Ërõ(Á‚î n n ¿ 0ï n køˆkn €úúúúÙThe Blue fin killie (Luciana goodie) as an aquarium species Robert Rice HYPERLINK "mailto:robertrice@juno.com" robertrice@juno.com One of the more overlooked gems of the North American Native Fishes is the blue fin killie. This little guy is an excellent candidate for a single species tank or an outdoor pond. Unfortunately he is generally unavailable commercially. To acquire him you need to hook up (pun intended) with some collectors or get lucky in a pet store. As a great starting place I recommend a visit to HYPERLINK "http://www.nativefish.org" www.nativefish.org to learn about or contact collectors and breeders of any North American Native fish. They have the largest website on native fishes out there are very aquarist friendly. Plus they do a bit of conservation, which makes them worthy of your support. Now back to the topic at hand, the blue fin Killie. He is a small 1-2 inch killie with a shy nature. The Blue fin killie lives in almost any body of water with just a little flow. They need to have some fresh water, but not much to thrive. When given a good location the will thrive in spades. In some locations they along with Heterandria Formosa they are the most common species found. I find the best collecting locations to be small heavily vegetated, ditches and creeks with year around flow. Their fins are a bright blue with occasional red. Some specimens being high red depending on location collected. The Blue fin is a stunning, yet myopic jewel of the home aquarium. So if you are looking for a species for a big community tank look elsewhere. But if you have a small 5-gallon tank that needs a splash of color I have your man. Basically they are one of those under loved, unknown temperate fishes you’ve been hearing me write about for years now. Blue fins are an incredibly beautiful and durable fish. In their case, they were just passed over in the hobby. Most of the temperate fishes were passed in favor of cheaper more available tropical species. Because of being passed over, very little work has been done on their basic care needs. Thus when any do show up in the hobby (usually as a tag along with some plants) no one has any idea how to take care of them and they do not thrive. A kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. No one cares about them because they can’t keep them. No one keeps them because they don’t care about them. It’s time for a change. Some of our Killie keeping aquarist should embrace the temperate killies. They are colorful, durable and available. All one needs is a few contacts and the most minimal of collecting gear. If you ever have the chance to collect them in the native range, which is basically all of Florida and southern Alabama and Georgia with a few odd disjunct populations farther north, by all means do it. They are a snap to collect with a small dip net. My small children have collected them with me near my Gainesville Florida home with ease. So if they can do it any one can. All you do is find a promising looking creek, spring or ditch with year around flow and scoop up a net full of vegetation. Invariably if you have a suitable site as you sort through the weeds you will find blue fin killies males and females in amongst the weeds and debris in your net. You see the Blue fins like many of the tiny temperate fishes live their lives in tiny territories. The killies maintain a territory of just a few feet of creek or streambed. So they will defend a territory of just a few inches of plant bed all their adult life. Living, dying attracting a mate and spawning in an area the size of a football is their way. That’s their niche and that is why they make excellent candidates for the small home aquarium. They like tight spaces are tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and, well to be honest, they are one of the few species that works in those little tanks. Most of the tropicals cant take the temperature fluctuations and water quality issues of a 5-gallon tank. Many of the smaller North American species can. Now to basic Blue fin killie care. If you have a dead serious desire to meet the needs of these tiny stained glass angels. Well here goes, they prefer soft, slightly acidic waters and thrive in temperatures from 50-95 degrees F. They are intolerant of ammonia so a well-planted aquarium with regular water changes is in order. I recommend Java Moss or Water Sprite. Both Plants grow fast and absorb nutrients and provide spawning and hiding locals for your new wards. Some of my best blue fin Killie tanks have been on my back porch with no filtration, bare bottom a load of plants and of course no direct sun. This mimics their native environment and is inexpensive to set up. Keep in mind though that if you have large temperature swings say 20 degrees or so a day an outside little tank will not work for you. I live in Florida and its one thing in the summer, hot. Hot both day and night. So for me it works well. Here is your most important care tip outside of habitat setup. Its simple, but its hard. It basically separates them men from the boys as they say. If your not willing to make this effort don’t get this fish. These little guys wont eat prepared food for the most part. Yes I’ve gotten some F2 and F3 generations to take flake food but their parents wont touch the stuff. They need higher quality stuff, live food preferred or frozen food as a second choice. They thrive when offered mosquito larvae and daphnia. They seem to really enjoy brine shrimp also when offered to them. The young do well on daphnia or Baby Brine shrimp. The adults will take frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, tubifex and mosquito larvae. If you can and will provide those two basic needs you should look into the blufins. They have some interesting spawning behaviors that the hobbyist should note. They are vegetation spawners. Meaning a male sets up a small territory and tries through a series of waggles, dances, grins and romances to get the female to follow him into his lair and mate. I believe she lays a single egg per dive in the weeds but don’t have proof outside of my personal observations. Interestingly enough I have found some populations that are actually bottom spawners. These oddballs prefer to have their honeymoons on the bare bottom of the tank underneath all the vegetation. Blue fins seem to spawn year around but in increased frequency in the warmer times of year. These tiny color splashes make an excellent candidate fish for your aquarium club breeder’s points. They are pretty enough to catch your eye and challenging enough to keep your interest. If your setup is proper blue fin killies are very prolific. In one of my outdoor ponds, a 150 gallon version I released 3 juvenile blue fin killies in the spring. They must have liked it there, because in the fall I collected 60 plus young adults in an hour of dip netting. I gave up at that point. I’ve since moved on and the new homeowners report that the pond still has little fish in it and no mosquitoes 3 years after setup and with no follow-up care to speak of. So you can credit that little pond triumph to our friend the under loved, under known, temperate Killie Luciana goodie. The Blue fin Killie is a friend to aquarist and pond owners alike. He is just a friend most of have not met yet. While you are pondering the Blue fin killie, consider expanding your fish interests by keeping a tank of local fishes. A local tank could very well be the catalyst that leads to a Biology career, a local fish life history or a newly discovered passion for our local fauna. I believe every Aquarist can and should every act locally, collect internationally. What I mean by that is somewhere in your collection of tanks and ponds keep a local species tank. Maybe it will have 20 fish from a local pond or just two from a local creek. Collect /keep a variety of the most colorful or interesting international species but make room for one tank of local stuff. Not a huge tank, not the best of your collection, but say a 20-gallon tank of fishes from ABC creek might be in order. By doing that you are educating yourself and doing basic life history work. All the while enjoying your hobby. So when a rezoning issue, on the banks of ABC creek comes up you can chime in by letting folks know who lives in that creek and what they need to survive. Become a voice for the voiceless local fauna. That should be the goal of every hobbyist, to become a voice for the voiceless here and abroad. You don’t have to be hero, a genius or a scientist. All you have to do is learn locally and speak up occasionally. Because if we don’t speak up, someday there may very well be nothing left to speak up about! Until Next time good luck and good fishing! <HIqrs†‡ˆ 456HI)&ýöýìöçöýâÚâ×â0JjÓU jU0JCJ jCJ U jCJ UCJ <Hˆ‰Š‹ABŠ ‹ &'¸¹OPlmÇÈ† ‡ ø%ù%ú%û%ü%ý%ýøøøøøóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóóó$a$$a$)&þý%)&ú$a$°Ð/ °à=!°"°# $ %°ÓDÐÉêyùºÎŒ‚ªK©robertrice@juno.comàÉêyùºÎŒ‚ªK©6mailto:robertrice@juno.comÑDÐÉêyùºÎŒ‚ªK©www.nativefish.orgàÉêyùºÎŒ‚ªK©6http://www.nativefish.org/ i0@ñÿ0Normal_HmH sH tH <A@òÿ¡<Default Paragraph Font.U@¢ñ. 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