Killifish Spawning!!!

Death Pony

Death Pony

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Feb 7, 2009
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Fredericksburg and Newport News, VA
I just looked over at my 6g tank because I saw some very rapid flashes of color, and lo and behold my killies are spawning!!! They're laying the eggs in gravel, which is weird, but they're spawning!

I've never done this before, so does anyone have any pointers? I have an open 3 gallon tank. Should I move the parents over to it when the eggs start hatching, or transfer the fry? I'm definitely not doing gravel vac in that area for a while. Hopefully I have enough Java fern for the babies to hide in.
 
I would move the parents over because catching the fry would be terribly hard. Put a pre-filter over the filter inlet because the babies might be sucked in.
The babies will most likely need to eat insuphoria(green water) when they hatch because they will be very small. Then baby brine shrimp or vinegar eels when they are big enough.
Good luck!
 
Agreed that the parents should be moved over. Your 6g is most likely a stable, mature environment that the fry would do better in over a newly set up tank.
What kind of killies?
 
The parents will absolutely eat the fry, but beyond that, given the widely varying reproductive strategies of Killies, knowing what species you're working with is necessary to determine your next move.
 
Fundulopanchax gardneri, typical killies. There's a Parasphromenus bintan in there as well, but it's incredibly shy (but very pretty). I had a feeling the killies would eat the fry, they eat everything.

The 3 gallon has been setup for over a year now, and it's loaded with greenwater. It's a good thing I didn't put any of my Utricularia in either of the tanks.

No need to worry about a pre-filter, I always have one on to slow the current of the filter, plus I like to have as much bio filtration as possible in my tanks.
 
Sorry for assuming the 3g was bare, but I would still leave the fry in the 6g. You can always dump some of the greenwater into the 6g for feeding. I just think the 6 would have a more stable bacteria colony to keep ammonia and nitrites at 0.
 
Gardneris are actually pretty good about not eating their own fry. However, 6 gallons is on the small side, and in cramped quarters, there's a good chance they'll eat at least some of the babies. If the tank is planted and has lots of decoration, at least a few babies will survive.

Your strategy for dealing with the fry should be contingent on your plans and expectations. Do you plan on giving the babies away or selling them? Do you plan on being overrun with killies? If so, then you should separate the parents from the eggs and/or fry and rear them alone, provide newly hatched brine shrimp or other similarly small foods for the babies.

Otherwise, if you're just trying to keep a small healthy population going, then don't bother separating the babies from the adults. Keep in mind that even going about it this way, you'll be up to your ears in gardneris in no time. They live quite awhile, 3 - 4 years being about normal under good conditions, and they can have lots and lots of babies in that time, and those babies will have babies, and so on.
 
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