Least killifish adventure

[Guppysnail]

So I asked about anyone having these since a girl in the local club was giving me a trio. When I posted the internet picture I thought and then asked…

Am I going to be that old person in the back of the room at a club meeting totally in love with a little brown fish?  Cory talked about this on a live stream. 
 

YES! YES INDEED!

I am totally in love with this little brown fish!🥰😍❤️🤗

They are supposed to be shy but I stuck my hand in the tank to adjust the filter and they didn’t even hide. The boy flared at me as the two girls were behind him in the middle of the tank. None backed down or hid. I’ll type out what I know about them tomorrow. They are being qt in the 5 gal snail nursery tank. 
Here they are settling in. 

HAPY ADVENTURES…TRY SOMETHING NEW 

[CKetchum]

Very excited for your new adventure. 

[anitstuk]

Me too!

[Solstice_Lacer]

Love those little guys. I want to get some eventually

[Guppysnail]

On 8/2/2022 at 6:22 AM, Solstice_Lacer said:

Love those little guys. I want to get some eventually

I hope they are prolific. I originally was going to convert my guppy girl/ BN pleco baby 20L into emerald dwarf rasbora and white wizard snails. I’ve wanted the rasbora for a long time. I just woke these kids up and just watching the wake up I’m enchanted. They went to the bottom in the food dish and did a sort of morning huddle. They noses one another in a sort of morning cuddle. Then together they went snooping about the mulm and plants. I’m hard core in love with these. If they produce for me the rasbora just got the boot. They so far have even more interesting interaction and behaviors than my guppies! (Don’t tell them I said that). 
 

The QT is only 5 inches off the ground. I sat so long last night in front of it I worried I could not get back up (joys of old age 🤣). 
 

Everything I read on these said they are super shy. I have seen no evidence of shyness. They constantly “rub noses” and it seems like they chat with one another over each new thing they are exploring.  After the guppy/ pleco kids are grown and adopted I’m going to ask her if I can buy more so the genetics are not so distilled. 
 

personality description so far a cross between my Pygmy corydora and my guppies. Best of both world. 🥰

Edited August 2, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Guppysnail]

Here are the care facts. These are copied and pasted directly from Seriously Fish. (Minus the inserted ads 🤣)
 

Heterandria formosa GIRARD, 1859

Least Killifish

Classification

Order: Cyprinodontiformes Family: Poeciliidae

Distribution

Type locality is ‘Charleston, South Carolina and Palatka, Florida, U.S.A.’

Habitat

It’s usually found in shallow, heavily-vegetated marginal areas of still or sluggish bodies of water. It can also be found in brackish conditions in some areas.

Maximum Standard Length

Male 0.8″ (2cm). Female 1.4″ (3.5cm).

Aquarium SizeTOP ↑

A pair of these can be kept in a tank as small as 12″ x 8″ x 8″ (30cm x 20cm x 20cm) – 12.5 litres.

Maintenance

A gently-filtered, heavily planted setup suits it best. Other decor can be added as you wish. Water flow must be kept to a minimum.

Water Conditions

Temperature: It’s a hardy species, being subject to a large range of temperatures in its natural waters. Somewhere between 68-78°F (20-26°C) is best in an aquarium.

pH: 7.0-8.0

Hardness: 5-20°H

Diet

Unfussy and omnivorous, it will accept most foods offered. It’s particularly fond of small live or frozen varieties such as brine shrimp or Daphnia, and the diet should contain a good proportion of these. It will also browse on algae, so try to ensure it receives some vegetable matter in the diet. In the absence of algae crushed spirulina flakes work well.

Behaviour and CompatibilityTOP ↑

Not a community fish in the general sense, although it’s very peaceful. Males in particular are so tiny that they will be seen as a snack by many of the commonly kept species. It will also not compete well with more vigorous tankmates. Other similarly-sized, non-predatory species such as pencil fish, dwarf Corydoras, Otocinclus and freshwater shrimp are the best choices.

While males can show a little aggression when competing for females, physical damage is very rare. It’s best to maintain it in a small colony.

Sexual Dimorphism

Males are much smaller than females and possess an enormous gonopodium.

Reproduction

Very easy. It’s nigh on impossible to prevent it breeding if both sexes are present in an aquarium. Water parameters are unimportant, provided they are within the ranges stated above. The tank should be planted heavily. It’s best kept in a small group with several of each sex present for bredding purposes.

The gestation period is around 4 weeks. The species has a slightly different method of fry production to most other livebearers, involving a process known as ‘superfoetation’. This is defined as ‘formation or development of a second foetus when one is already present in the uterus’. Fry at different stages of development can therefore be present in the uterus of the fish at any given time. In addition, the egg yolks of the species are nutritionally poor, and the developing fry derive much of their nourishment via organs that function in a similar way to the placenta of mammals. As a result of this process, fry are dropped continually rather than in defined broods. You’ll see a few fry appearing every day or two if you have more than one female in the tank. They are quite large at birth and can accept powdered dry foods and Artemia nauplii straight away. The adults will not usually harm them.

NotesTOP ↑

This species is also referred to as ‘mosquito fish’, ‘dwarf livebearer’ or ‘dwarf top minnow’ in aquarium literature.

, H. formosa is the smallest known livebearing fish species, and one of the smallest overall fish speciesin the world. It’s not often seen for sale these days, although it’s quite widely available in hobbyist circles. When buying these, ensure they have been identified correctly as they’re sometimes confused with the much more aggressive mosquito fish of the genus Gambusia.

[Guppysnail]

It seems two have paired up already as the loner hunts the opposite side of the tank and the other two are inseparable.  
 

Turned on the emergent plant lights and the pair began investigating the mystery snail babies. While the loner hunted microfauna.  

I gave them some microworms because I don’t want them to curious of the snail babies. 

 

[Guppysnail]

Yup little brown fish lover. I contacted her and asked if I could purchase more. I want them in my 20L species only (plus snails of course). She is going to get back to me with a count but she has more 😍

[Guppysnail]

Morning petite and dainty live BBS feeding 

 

[Guppysnail]

So the small 5 gallon on the bottom these kids were qt in has a cool filter but the water can’t get to low. These guys jump if startled so I have frogbit covering most of the surface so when I open the lid they are deterred from jumping. Did a water change yesterday and had to move the frogbit so I laid towels all around just in case of a startled jumper. When I went to put the siphon in it startled them and one jumped where I had push the frogbit aside. Unbeknownst to me my cat was right behind me. Caught my poor little fish before it even hit the ground. Sadly it was the only boy. 😭 I’m so heartbroken.  Losing a fish to something so stupid and so my fault stinks.

I hope the girls are carrying and the lady has some more she is looking to rehome. I’m still waiting on a count of how many. There was another post of them for sale by someone else local. I had already reached out so I could get some mixed genetics for an overall stronger community. I’m waiting to hear back.  
 

I immediately removed the two girls to the shrimp/ panda fry tank. I only have 1 panda juvenile ATM.  His name is Ace and he will now be my sentinel fish for qt. I prefer using guppy babies but it is what it is. I can keep the water lower and being up higher it’s easier to work in. 
 

Ace usually tries a full tank swim for 2 - 3 minutes each evening. He is getting a bit stronger. I put the girls in and he did 2 minute swims with a few minutes rest for almost 20 minutes with these girls. They are the same size as him and I think he is deliriously happy to have friends other than shrimp. 
 

 

[Guppysnail]

So I was able to obtain another group. These the parents were wild caught last year and tank kept until 2 months ago they went in an outdoor tub/pond. He gave me 20 most are fry 1 adult male 2 adult female. 1 was very pregnant. However there were 21 in the bag. 1 that had to have been born in the bag. I had a 20 g tote for their qt ready. 

I never could have seen them they are that small. The babies are much smaller than newborn guppies. So in for a penny in for a pound. They are being QT with the other two in the shrimp and baby snail tank with the two panda juveniles. Again not ideal but sometimes we do what we have to do. 
 

Most interesting thing:

Even the fry eat hydra. I watched a tiny baby pick, pick , pick at something. Out came the old lady magnifying glass. The baby was picking at the tentacles of my green hydra. I have the tall green ones with short tentacles and the stumpy white ones in this tank (very cool to watch turn orange when fed BBS) I’m not a hydra hater 😁I watched the others systematically search and destroy hydra on the glass and plants which are rampant in this tank from raising  Duke (panda 1) and now these two back to back. 

 

HAPPY ADVENTURES…

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Edited August 6, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Patrick_G]

I’m so jealous! I’ve been wanting to try these guys in my three gallon nano tanks, but I haven’t found any locally yet. 

[Guppysnail]

On 8/6/2022 at 6:59 PM, Patrick_G said:

I’m so jealous! I’ve been wanting to try these guys in my three gallon nano tanks, but I haven’t found any locally yet. 

There are some advantages to living on the east coast… not many though 🤣. I’m in love with them already. If you find them they are very worth it. 

[Guppysnail]

Serious micro-predators. I went to feed them this morning and look at these full bellies on the fry. This is before I fed breakfast 😲 Hunt and pick at everything. I had tiny little brown bugs smaller than ostracods on the glass in one corner that could swim effectively. To small to identify with magnifying glass and my old eyes. Now they are all gone. I don’t see any ostracods and few of the thin white detritus worms left. Zero of the squiggly ones. 
They hunt the bottom slowly nosing through the mulm almost like a less wiggly slow motion cory. And no fear of my hands 🥰

They hold to the guppy family traits and are just like female guppies that don’t beg for food 🤗

 

[Patrick_G]

They’re actually a bit bigger than I pictured. It looks like they’re about the size of a Neo? 

[Guppysnail]

No those are early juvenile neos. I don’t have any adult neos in there. Biggest LK I got is 1/2-3/4 inch 

[Guppysnail]

@Patrick_G here is a juvenile neo berried for the first time so still not full size. This is a full size female ready to pop a baby out. Dark photo sun is in the background 

[Guppysnail]

These little things love hunting through mulm. They all hand still and if nothing shows up one or the other dive bombs to ruffle up the mulm and then they all go in for the kill. 

 

[Solstice_Lacer]

So cute 😍

[Patrick_G]

The males look really nice. Some selective breeding to bring out the stripes would be cool. 

[Guppysnail]

On 8/10/2022 at 10:48 PM, Patrick_G said:

The males look really nice. Some selective breeding to bring out the stripes would be cool. 

He is the only boy that looks like that. The rest already have vivid stripes. And bolder color. 

[Guppysnail]

QT ended quick since their new home only houses them shrimp and snails. Morning feeding. Netting them out of QT I already have an extra baby.  When the guppy grass fills in I think I’ll be removing the sword and Val. They love playing in the guppy grass. They are still a touch nervous from being moved but they are starting to venture into open water. 

 

[PedroPete]

I have LK, too! Aren't they fun!? 

I got a group in January, then found a good deal on Aquabid in July and got a second group. I think the first babies I noticed weren't until march-ish. I remember expecting babies earlier...but after that I feel like I am constantly finding new tiny ones.  I have most in an 8 gallon tank almost completely filled with java moss, which they love stalking through. the tank also holds a bunch of cherry shrimp. I had heard that the LK would eat the neo babies, but i haven't noticed a decrease in shrimp production.. The front of the tank is open, and they come out to say hi when I sit in front and feed. Very personable and engaging fish! I started an experiment adding one fry to an outdoor tub of medaka fry (about 5 gal) to see how it grew. Boy, it just about three weeks, it went from tiny to recognizably female and nearing adult size. I swear...so fast! I added a small male to the mix a few days ago to see if I can get her to have at least one fry in the next month and a half or so. 

I am a biology teacher, and I had a couple kids in my ecoclub set up a a gallon mason jar ("ecosphere") with two cherry shrimp during the winter, and later this spring, i added a small LK fry just for fun, and it did fine with regular (tiny) water changes. he went back in with the family before summer vacation started, though. 

Keep us posted :D This tiny US native is so underrated and so fun to keep!

[Guppysnail]

@PedroPete that is amazing. Yeah I’m totally in love with this fish. I don’t have to be worried about overpopulation like guppies because they are so tiny and don’t drop oodles of fry constantly at one time. I noticed they do grow quick. 
 

The belly on the girl just before birth was as big as she was 😲

Definitely underrated. Not shy and I have them in with shrimp also. Their non stop predator behaviors are so fun to watch. 
 

I got to watch the boys challenge each other in the little twist and shake dance for the first time a few days ago. It was so adorable I forgot to video it. 

[TeeJay]

On 8/13/2022 at 10:17 AM, Guppysnail said:

QT ended quick since their new home only houses them shrimp and snails. Morning feeding. Netting them out of QT I already have an extra baby.  When the guppy grass fills in I think I’ll be removing the sword and Val. They love playing in the guppy grass. They are still a touch nervous from being moved but they are starting to venture into open water. 

 

No fair I want some!