Big C, Can You Help Me Out?

[plantropimunity]

Hi there.
I have read a few of your replies to people interested in killifish, and also seen your name mentioned in other posts as an expert on these fish, so i believe that you are the perfect person to ask this question of.
my intended stock list is as follows:
1. one pair of german blue rams
2. 5 zebra danios
3. 5 black neon tetras
4. one pair of killifish(aphyosemion australe, described as golden lyretail panchax killifish by drs. foster and smith.
5. (maybe) 5 rummynose tetras
do you think that this stocklist will get along together?
the tank is a 30 us gallon--
planned as a planted tank with rockwork and fake driftwood also.
any suggestions regarding the killifish, or other parts of the setup are appreciated. thanks.

 

[plantropimunity]

anyone else who has an answer or comment to make should feel welcome to do so. i named this thread what i did simply because BigC seems to be the resident killie expert. i mean no disrespect to others who may have comparable experience. thanks

 

[BigC]

Hi Plant...
Sorry I haven't got back to you sooner.
Aphyosemion australe should get along just fine with you existing inhabitants, my only concern is that if the Black neons are on the small side. I have kept Aph. australe with Cardinal tetras in the past with no problems whatsoever. The killifish will probably deport somewhere near the mid to bottom of the tank as the Zebra danios will command the mid to surface layers and are quite fast and skittish swimmers.
The only other thing is that if you were interested in breeding Aph. australe in the future then the water parameters and quality would have to be drastically changed. (given that you are keeping then in fairly standard (if that's the correct word) water for a community setup and has a pH close to 7.0) I always like to use some surface plants with Killifish and you can do no better than Salvinia (duckweed becomes a bit of a pain). It affords the fish shelter and reduces stress whereby stopping them from jumping. You will obviously need to thin the Salvinia out from time to time as I see you have a planted tank, so the other plants can recieve the correct amount of light.
A dark substrate is also good idea (but probably not practical due to the tank being already operational) A lot of forum members have gone over to the sand idea for their substrate, and speaking from experience this washes out the colours of the fish and you will not see them to the full potential. (especially killis)
A tight fitting cover glass would be a precautionary idea, as killifish like to jump, although Aph. australe are not as bad as some of the Fundulopanchax and Rivulus species.
Don't forget your regular weekly waterchanges and a varied diet including some livefoods will also bring you greater sucess.
So, "Yes" I would go ahead with your idea but check the size of the neons. Other than that I can see no major problems.
I hope this was of some help to you
Regards
BigC

 

[plantropimunity]

Thanks for the reply.
the existing fish are a trio of danios and a pair of the black neons and they are in a ten gallon right now.
i learned firsthand how prone the killies are to jumping, as i dont have a cover on this tank, and lost a pair of those fish when they went "carpet surfing". i was extremely disappointed to say the least, and refuse to put any more of these guys in that tank. i recently set up my 30 gallon for the purpose of a planted tank, and it is cycling right now, so i dont have any fish in there just yet. the neons are pretty close to full grown, and i didnt notice any problems in interaction between them and the killies i had previously, but i was still concerned about the possibility that the killies were chased out. glad to hear that the community could work.
the substrate that i went with is a natural colored stone of medium size, and i placed a layer of sera plant substrate underneath that. i believe this will be dark enough to showcase the colors of any fish.
i did try to set my goals for water parameters based on what would fall within acceptable ranges for all fish planned for, not so much for breeding any particular fish. if that happens, it will be viewed as a bonus, as long as my fish thrive, i am happy. thanks for your help.