Re: NANFA-- Fundulus similis/ my personal NA killi
R. W. Wolff (choupiqu_at_wctc.net)
Thu, 5 Dec 2002 22:35:03 -0600
I recommend pulvereus and confluentus to anyone who wants to try some
brackish species. Some that are nearly as good are grandis ( cocahoe - gulf
killi) , heteroclitus ( mummichog) and luciae ( spotfin killi) . Xenica (
diamond killi) are hit and miss. I had little luck with similis ( longnose
killi). I have not tried any others, except Floridicthys carpio ( gold
spotted killi) , they didn't like me, but I here plenty of people have
success with them. The pulvereus and confluentus compliment freshwater
topminnows in their ease of keeping, ie: chrysotus ( golden topminnow) ,
cingulatus ( banded topminnow) and rubrifrons (redfaced topminnow). The
blackstripe and kin are good too, and sciadicus ( plains topminnow) is a
bit more trying. Starheads are funny, I have had some that were easy, and
then had the same specie from another area give me trouble. Escambie (
eastern starhead topminnow) were the easiest that I have tried. I have not
tried dispar ( northern starhead topminnow) , since its endangered in
Wisconsin. Probably the easiest one, ha ha. I have found that the zebrinus
( plains killish) and diaphanus ( banded killifish) to be the most trying
of freshwater killis, and would suspect that waccamensis ( waccamaw
killifish) and seminolis ( seminole killifish) being similar would be too,
but can't back that up. Jordanella ( Flordia flagfish) is another one that
is easy to keep, so long as it has a good diet of different greens. The
lucanias ( bluefin and rainwater killis) and leptolucania ( swamp killi -
lemon killi - pygmy killi) are good too, but can be touchy since they are
bit more picky when it comes to feeding. The studfish I have kept have all
been tough costomers as well, although I had some caetenatus from western TN
that were just great.
Getting back to pulvereus and confluentus , the bayou killi and marsh killi
respectivly. I have kept them in dark gravel tanks with lots of mops.
Filtered with sponge filters and 12 to 14 hours of light. Fed them mostly
prepared foods of different varieties. The temps ranged from 72 to 78 in no
particular pattern. I would find huge , hard eggs in the mops, usually near
the knot. They were easy to pick and transfer to dishes to hatch. The babies
took BBS immediatly, and also took crushed flake foods too. So hatching and
rearing is a snap. Many eggs are laid in the gravel as well. These can be
sucked up with a gravel vacummn into a ice cream pail. Let the water settle,
then pour off the top slowly. Then hold it up to bright light and pull the
eggs with an eye dropper or similar instrument. These can then be put in the
incubation dishes with eggs picked from the mops.
All these fish do well in larger ponds, atleast 200 gallons. They need space
for some reason, or production of young is nill.
These are my own opinions and recomendations. Hope these help anyone wanting
to get into the world of North American killifish.
Ray
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