Life of a Bluefin Killie N. Rachovii

I've had these photos sitting around on my hdd and I thought it would be nice to share them.

These photos show the life of a nothobranchius rachovii killifish (probably the most common substrate-spawning killie) from birth to adulthood. These fish are incredibly easy to keep, breed, and raise, and so I would recommend to anyone who has a little experience with fishkeeping.

On to photos!

Here are mama and papa before they had mated.




The eggs to be kept dark and dry for several months, after which new life will spring forth from within.



Fry so tiny, their first foods were infusorians and egg yolk. It took a long time to finally see this first fry. The rest hatched over night.



They grow quick though. Now they get to eat brine shrimp nauplii and bits of bloodworm.



Finally big enough to snack on the good tasty stuff.

The fish are barely bigger than their food but they possess quite the voracious appetite.


Finally after several weeks the fish are much more bold; their colour begins to develop and they have much more attitude and personality now.




His colours almost completely filled in, proud like his father, he is king of his tank!


And now he's all grown up and with another lady the circle will start again




I hope you enjoyed

Thank you! The first thing I fed them actually before I put in the infusoria (my culture that was supposed to be ready for the hatch soured in the summer heat) was boiled egg yolk, so I figure that got them used to non-living foods right from the start. But they still much prefer live foods. Anything not live or bloodworms they only eat reluctantly and in small amounts.

Thanks! I got the parents from a local fish store owner who specializes in killifish. (You can find the eggs online though) The parents I kept in 2.5 gallons and the pair I kept of their offspring (was a trio, one of them died unfortunately) I keep in a 5.5 gallon tank.

This species spawns by laying eggs in the substrate which then must be removed, partially dried, and stored for several months (I went about 6 months) before being resoaked and then the eggs will hatch.