A Couple Of General Questions

[ArcticLancer]

Hey guys,

So, in a recent decision to finally make my tanks into what original glory was intended, I've begun my quest. The initial steps have been taken - I have made arrangements for my previous fish to be adopted, and purchased the driftwood I was always meaning to.
Here's what I'm dealing with: It's a 33gal, which is pretty free on space. The current residents that will remain are a pair of angels (not fully grown), some raphael catfish, and a pleco. I have a 20 on the side to raise killis in prior to introduction, but the 33 will be heavily planted, and the angels bother each other more than anything else.

All that said, I have already purchased aphyosemion australe eggs (no questions - read the sticky, Big C) and plan to make them the secondary residents of this tank.
My first actual question is about compatability - the second species I've taken interest in is aphyosemion bitaeniatum. I've tried to research accordingly, but I do find it difficult to get good info around killis in general. Do either of these species have territory issues, and would it be possible to combine them? I have no purchased aphyosemion bitaeniatum eggs, and do not plan to without the proper information. I am hoping for a timely response here.
I'm guessing they would not easily be kept together, so my hopes are not high. It would be nice though.

Thanks in advance, guys.

 

[BigC]

Depends on what you are setting out to achieve here. IMHO I would just stick with the Australe for now and see how that goes. I have kept many species in the Chrom. bivittatum/Chrom. bitaeniatum group
And you may well have been viewing a picture of a splendid male with his fins flared. In real life and about 95% of the time the dorsal is down and not on show and I think you would be very dissapointed with such. A much better choice would be a top loving killi for the surface. Epiplatys dageti Monrovia.
This would also balance the tank a bit more
Regards
BigC

 

[ArcticLancer]

I just realized a few minutes ago that I never came back to thank you for the info, BigC.

I appreciated the input for what it was, and agreed that I'll just stick with the initial purchase and see how it goes. You're definitely my go-to guy for killi questions though.
Thank you, once again.

 

[ArcticLancer]

Hey again guys.

So I'm now a little over a week into my first lot of killi fry. 19 or 20 from about 25 eggs, and no losses yet, so I'm pretty content.
What I'm wondering about is feeding them. I've been doing the baby brine shrimp thing since day one, but I don't have anything bigger on hand to move them up to. How long am I going to be okay with the shrimp, and would there be any other options besides micro worms? Anything else I might want to check up on to ease the process for them?

 

[BigC]

Grindalworm would be the next step up with some flake and small frozen foodstuffs
then onto whiteworm and larger foods. Try to wean the flake in and make this a staple diet with live and frozen for treats.
See my pinned topic for cultureing livefoods.
Sadly I no longer send starter cultures out so try the link below.
http/www.worm-cultures.co.uk/en-gb/dept_2.html
Regards
BigC

 

[ArcticLancer]

Appreciate it. I'll likely need an alternate source though, just where the one you've posted is based out of the UK. I'm sure I can track something down locally, or ebay if nothing else ...
When you say 'small frozen foodstuffs', what particular kinds are you referring to? This one is just my own ignorance because I'm not entirely sure what a killi is going to eat. Are we talking blood worms and daphnia, or something entirely different?

 

[BigC]

Small bloodworm mysis, plankton pacifica and the likes. The job is not really that hard they will eat almost anything. I like using vestigal or wingless fruitfly but some folks desist from using such excellent food due to the time and effort involved not to mention the escapees. once over say 10mm then they will survive quite happily on standard flake.
BigC