# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna >  Killifish: Nothobranchius rachovii

## benny

Hi guys,

I got some of these again for the fun of it. Will be adding them to my five feet planted jungle. Unfortunately the females were sold out.



Anyway, I think they are rather colorful will make a fine addition to my tank.

Cheers,

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## |squee|

Nice! Ronnie will like it  :Razz:

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## hwchoy

> Hi guys,
> 
> I got some of these again for the fun of it. Will be adding them to my five feet planted jungle. Unfortunately the females were sold out.
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway, I think they are rather colorful will make a fine addition to my tank.
> 
> Cheers,


that's a rather interesting light blue on the fins. not sure if that is common you might want to post it to killies.com see what they say.

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## benny

It's the common one from C328. Nothing special. The blue is the base color of the fins, brought out by adequate lighting. The other piece does not have such vibrant color. This seems to be the dominant one. Keeps biting the other one and showing off. Worse than bettas.

Another one...



Obviously bored in my tank.

Cheers,

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## benny

An interesting perspective....



Cheers,

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## benny

Makes me wonder...



Is he really tired or what? Or totally bored with me...

Cheers,

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## yorky

I like the second pic, reminds me of Apistos flaring.. : )

I must say, you sure can do wonders with that camera.

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## Wackytpt

> I like the second pic, reminds me of Apistos flaring.. : )
> 
> I must say, you sure can do wonders with that camera.


I second that.

Benny you are amazing!

Yorky, lend benny some of your apisto for photo shoot  :Razz:

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## benny

> I second that.
> 
> Benny you are amazing!
> 
> Yorky, lend benny some of your apisto for photo shoot


I've begged, pleaded, extorted, but to no avail. Have not even get the chance to see those ULTRA EXPENSIVE and NICE apisto in Yorky's place.

Sad....

By the way, the above killifish seems to be a bad specimen, probably due to inbreeding. Good specimens have very intense coloration.

Cheers,

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## Wackytpt

> I've begged, pleaded, extorted, but to no avail. Have not even get the chance to see those ULTRA EXPENSIVE and NICE apisto in Yorky's place.
> 
> Sad....
> 
> By the way, the above killifish seems to be a bad specimen, probably due to inbreeding. Good specimens have very intense coloration.
> 
> Cheers,


You and I know where he stay  :Razz: 

I going distract him and you go Apisto nap his fishes 
 :Cool:   :Laughing:

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## ms

I have a 4ft planted tank with
40 cardinals
6 congo tetra
6 platy
3 SAE

Can this killifish live in my tank?

MS

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## benny

Hi MS,

Should not be a problem to put this fish in your planted tank. You can also add the orange lyretail too. They are just as pretty and I have both of them in my planted tank.

Cheers,

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## stormhawk

benny, you're quite right. The killifish at the shops are lacking in colouration and yes it is probably due to inbreeding. The females you get may not be the right species though..

The best specimens are only available via home breeders as killifish are not usually seen in the shops. I have seen better rachovii in my time as a killie keeper. The LFS fish are nowhere close.  :Grin:  

Nice photographs as usual.  :Well done:

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## soulfinder78

hi can anyone teach me how to differiential male killie from female killie juz bought 2 killie will post their photo here once they got back their colour. due to transportation they change colour

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## Justikanz

And also anyone can advise on the use of killies in community tanks?Stormhawk?  :Razz:  I would love to have those in my tanks... They are very pretty...  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

Benny, a shot of my previous male _Notho. rachovii_ Beira 98, courtesy of a good friend of mine. I lost the spawning trio but have some eggs in incubation I think. In good time I should have them again.  :Smile:  

Good specimens show intense colours and highly active behaviour, with the males constantly interested in breeding. They feed alot and do best on a diet of live foods.



Kanz, some killies are meant for community tank setups, like the schooling lampeyes, genus _Poropanchax_. Clown killies, _Pseudepiplatys annulatus_, are excellent fishes for a small species tank and the males will constantly awe you with their threat displays.

Most killies generally behave like the fancy bettas with the males constantly flaring at each other. A good example would be the _Chromaphyosemion_ species, where the males are always blessed with naturally extra large finnage with a pointed end and stunning intense colours.

I could advise you on what species will do well with which species, but more often than not, most of them require live foods, which unfortunately, is a problem for some people to provide.  :Knockout:

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## Justikanz

I had always wanted to try some killies for their colours... But often put off by literature always stating that they are annual fishes... Trying the lampeyes now and I must say, their neon blue eyes amazes me everytime I see them... Gorgeous! Wanted to try the Ricefish too as their finnage is more elaborate than the lampeyes...

The Panchax are also killies, right? But they are so big...

Can't wait to get my hands on some colourful killies to add to my tank...  :Grin:

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## stormhawk

Hi Kanz,

Not all killies are annuals, but then again, some of the most beautiful killies are annual species, like _Simpsonichthys fulminantis_. All killies vary in terms of difficulty in spawning, and raising the fry. They come from various regions in the world. To put it simply, they have different requirements and different ways of reproduction.

The ricefish, or otherwise called the Medakas, are no longer regarded as killifish since their taxonomy has changed.

The local _Aplocheilus panchax_ is indeed a killifish and is one of the widest ranging species in the world, having populations from India to Thailand, and all the way south until Bali, in Indonesia. It is not that big but its appetite is rather big, plus a really large gaping mouth if you see it open. That somehow equates to possible predation on smaller fishes in the tank.

If you just want aquarium strain killies bred by the farms, C328 sells them in those small plastic packets. Note however that it is close to impossible to find females. If breeding is not of a concern to you, then just keep the males for show.  :Smile:

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## Justikanz

Breeding fish is never a concern for a lazy aquarist like me...  :Razz: 

Those that come in individual bags at C328... They can be mixed? And they are annuals?  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

Mixing some of them is okay, but not all of them. I can't tell you whether this will be compatible with that because each species behaves different. Even if you get two or three different males from different species, there's no telling what they will do to each other, or to the other tank inhabitants.

C328 sells both non-annual and annual killifish males.

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## Justikanz

:Grin:  Guess it's going to be a trial and error thingie again...  :Razz:  Will try to read up on the fishies first...  :Smile:  Those bagged killies sure look very pretty!  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

I tell you what, since you're going for the AQ excursion, let me give you a quick intro on the basics of killifish keeping during the excursion. If I'm not wrong they should be heading to Clementi after the whole thing for dinner. If that's the case then I'll help you pick out which males will co-exist peacefully with other fishes, that is, IF they are in stock. Most of the time they either get sold or die in the packets itself. Sometimes one or two are released into the tanks, but they don't get live foods and just simply waste away.

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## Justikanz

Roger!  :Smile:  And dun you darm hate those fish who rather die of hunger than try to eat something...  :Razz:

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## stormhawk

Yeah well I suppose I'm lucky my area here has a steady supply of worms to feed my killies and other fishes at home.  :Grin:

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## soulfinder78

they need live food??? mine can take frozen bloodworm. so when's the excursion i'm interested

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## stormhawk

soulfinder, there's a thread about the excursion in the member's lounge listed as a sticky.  :Smile:

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## solonavi

Recently saw these Nothobranchius rachovii in LFS again. Beside the constant flaring, is there any other way to identify the male and female?

Also, how do I know if those in the LFS are annuals or not?

Thanks in advance.
JC

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## mad scientist

> Recently saw these Nothobranchius rachovii in LFS again. Beside the constant flaring, is there any other way to identify the male and female?
> 
> Also, how do I know if those in the LFS are annuals or not?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> JC


Most female killifish look drab and plain. It's not difficult to sex them at all. The real challenge comes when you keep different species of the same genus and somehow got the females mixed up. Virtually impossible to tell them apart.

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## Jungle-mania

Saw some killies at Y618 yesterday, should be quite a few still there.

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## benny

Fixing the broken links in the thread and decided to upload an old picture for reference.





Anyone keeping these cute fellas?

Cheers,

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## andrephua

can i keep killifish with shrimps?

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## Quixotic

If shrimps can fit into the mouth of the fish, then shrimps can be potential food.

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