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Brand new to killies!


afr3178

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Okay, so after admiring the beauty of Aphyosemion Bitaeniatum ijebu ode I have decided to get a pair or two of them. I have been trying to research killies, but I'm finding it hard to get the exact information I'm after. I will be keeping them in a 50 litre tank. What type of water do they like? Soft and acidic? How do they like their tank set up? I'm a bit short of plants at the moment, so will it be okay empty? I'm going to have a large sponge filter and a heater- how warm should I make the water? Can I mix them with poliaki? Like will I be able to tell females apart and the groups will get along without fighting? There'll probably be only one or two pairs of each in the 50 liters.

Thanks in advance :D

EDIT: for future reference, do all killies like the same sort of water? Thanks :D

Edited by afr3178
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I will leave the care side of things to one of the other guys with a bit more knowledge, but it is generally not recommended to mix females of different localities/species because sometimes (like in the case of these two) they can be very difficult to tell apart.

I keep my killifish on the softer side of neutral. They may not show their full colouring in a sparsely decorated tank especially if it bare bottom.

A 50L tank should be plenty for 1-2 pairs. I have my four killifish in a temporary but cycled 20 odd litre tank and they are doing great.

Edited by Wild Nut
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Congrats! First, your tank is plenty big enough for multiple pairs of the same killies. A.biateniatum Ijebu Ode and A.poliaki are in the same sub-genus Chromaphyosemion; hence as Ashlea mentioned the females are very difficult to impossible to tell apart. I'd advise against keeping them in the same tank.

If you got a pair of A.striatum on the otherhand it would be fine to keep them in the same tank with Ijebu Ode's.

Neutral to slightly soft water is best, but most non-annual killies can live in wide water parameters. You just won't get them to spawn or have no fry hatching if the water quality is too far away from ideal.

I'd make a mop or two from acrylic yarn. Not only this is a good egg depositing site but it also provide shelter to fish if they ever seek it. You'll find your fish will settle quicker, especially if the tank does not have plants for the fish to hide in. I find more hiding spots a tank has, bolder the fish get and are constantly at the front of the glass.

Some of my tanks have next to no plants but 3 or 4 mops in it, and others heavily planted.

Hope this helps a bit.

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