Clown Killifish

[Killi Me Softly]

My clown colony is up to 21 in a heavily planted 20g high. Is there a magic number to split the colony? Also, should I introduce new fish from another source when I do decide to split?

[Guppysnail]

I don’t know that there is a “magic number”. No matter what fish I breed I always try to introduce new genetics. I often order new from a few places to really mix it up. Starting any colony 3 sources if my preference but 2 minimum. I’m not sciencey but it seems to keep my populations strong and healthy. 

[Huck]

I have some clowns that I am hoping to breed. I got them a long time ago, have been feeding them well, but am not getting fry. Is there something specific I need to do, or do they need to be really mature to not eat their fry?

[Killi Me Softly]

@Guppysnail I started from 2 sources and have since found a third. I think I'm going to split the colony as close to half as possible and introduce the third batch of fish to both tanks. 

@Huck I keep hornwort extremely thick. I rarely see the fry at all until I need to trim. I've only had this colony for about 6 months. Started with 6 fish from 2 different sources. I'm sure some fry are getting picked off but they seem to be doing fairly well. I feed frozen bbs, daphnia and live blackworms. Every couple of days I hot them with a shot of co-op easy fry food. 

[Torrey]

On 1/23/2022 at 10:30 PM, Killi Me Softly said:

@Guppysnail I started from 2 sources and have since found a third. I think I'm going to split the colony as close to half as possible and introduce the third batch of fish to both tanks. 

@Huck I keep hornwort extremely thick. I rarely see the fry at all until I need to trim. I've only had this colony for about 6 months. Started with 6 fish from 2 different sources. I'm sure some fry are getting picked off but they seem to be doing fairly well. I feed frozen bbs, daphnia and live blackworms. Every couple of days I hot them with a shot of co-op easy fry food. 

Looks like you have a pretty good method. @Guppysnail I know you keep pretty meticulous records to make sure one generation to the next doesn't have any line breeding.

I tend to do more colony breeding, and as @Killi Me Softly does, keep plants super thick. Milfoil and hornwort, as well as pearlweed and guppy grass are great for improving the survival of fry @Huck.

Despite the dark tannins, the plants grow crazy fast, because the fish population supports the plants.

@Killi Me Softly, are you a Roberta Flack fan, or a Fugees fan? I appreciate the twist🐟🕺

Forgot to add:

My colony breeding programs, I like to cull every 3rd generation and add fresh genetics. I know from fieldwork as a teen how small, isolated genetics can lead to extinction events... frequently due to genetic anomalies. 

[Killi Me Softly]

@TorreyThats a funny story. My teen daughter at the time said hey dad check out this cool song by this band the Fugees. I said yeah.....thats a great Roberta Flack tune. Lol. Thanks for the cull insight.