Tropical Fish Forums

[UncleWillie]

Hello everyone. I know that this have been discussed a bit, so I will try not to sound repetitive. I am moving for te summer, but I am going to take my pair of Florida flagfish with me in hopes that they will spawn. I have plenty of plants, moss and pea-sized gravel for spawning. I have just a few questions about where I can keep them and the set-ups that I could use. I am able to purchase another 10 gal or 5 gal tank. I am not sure if I need to by a hood/light or not. Okay, enough background - here we go:

I will be in Georgia this summer where outside temperatures can reach high 90's (F). I have kept them in a cool water aquarium all winter and they did fine. I have heard of people putting them outside or in a pond to get them to spawn. I am worried if I put them outside or in a sun-room, that they will become over-heated.
Another option is to set them inside, near a window, but this area or the house constantly stays cool (around 73 F). Is this too cool to trigger spawning? Well, I guess I do have a heater. I am just trying to avoid having to buy a hood/light and still have my plants hold up so that they will spawn.

My plan for the tank set-up is in the front have a strip of java moss, the middle left with pea size gravel only, and the back and sides with ludwigia and cabomba, with plenty of coonstail floating on the top.
How does this sound? Thanks aheadof time for any comments/suggestions.

[susankatomerit]

The only time when my flags spawned was when their water was around 78 to 80 F. They will do fine in cooler waters but prefer warmer. They are more active and spawn frequently.

Mine were spawning every day for a month. The fry really like green water and are so tiny that is a preferred food.

If you breed them in a small tank like that it is best to have another tank to remove the parents to and keep the water lowered in the fry tank so that they don't have so far to go to get to the top.

Noname has done an article on them that is really helpful in breeding these fish.
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47 tanks and still adding!
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[UncleWillie]

Thanks so much for the response.
I think I will end up keeping them inside, with one of my spare heaters. I am afraid I will only be home every 3-5 days (don't worry, they will be fed and cared for by my family). If they they spawn they spawn, if not, no worries. However, if they do, I want to provide the best care for the fry as possible.
- By green water, do you mean green with tiny algae and micro organisms? If this is what you mean, that shouldn't be a problem. I will be able culture this fairly easily.
I have recently found a great site that explains a lot about them (and many other US native fish) and it helped. I have never heard of anyone keeping parents with fry. Most folks separate them (which I understand but did not know if it was necessary). I know that older juvenile will prey on younger fry, but I figured with daddy caring for they eggs, he wouldn't eat the fry?

I will post these sites I have found in the Ads and Links section.

[susankatomerit]

The male might look after the eggs for a few hours, but mine tend to loose interest in them pretty fast. I think the main reason I took mine out as after the eggs hatch I lowered the water down to about 1/2 to make it easier on the fry and not really enough water for the adults.

And yes that is the green water that I was talking about.
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47 tanks and still adding!
http://fishphotoforum.com/forum/index.php

[UncleWillie]

Again, thank you so much. I I have been looking around at getting a new 10 gallon and filter to have two tanks (one for parents, on for potential fry (with green water)). I actually came across a good deal for a 12 gallon eclipse tank on craigslist. I know this will be hard for cleaning, but it was too good to pass up. I will be picking it up tomorrow.
While I was in a LFS, I saw a male flagfish that was enormous. I am starting to think that mine may not even be mature enough. Being a type of killifish, I figured they would stay arounf the size they are now. My male is about 1 and 3/4 inch while my female is a bit smaller. They may not even be mature enough to spawn. I guess we will see.

[killifish999]

I love my flagies ! Purchased a pair male female they where together in the store tank ..They seem to be quite affectionate towards eachother .Doubt they will breed in my 10 though .

Haven't even witnessed any mating attempts yet .They get along great with my single male GW killi three sword tails & two kuhli loaches .And one mystery snail .

What I should of figured is the male especially likes to eat my plants LOL..The male was smaller when I got the pair .He is now larger than the female .These are hardy and fun fish to own .

Would they survive in my out door pond I wonder ? Are they jumpers ?

[UncleWillie]

Although this thread is nearly 3 years old, I guess I could follow up, and this will answer some of your questions.

I did not follow through with the project the 2008. However, in late 2009 I started preparing for my project in the spring of 2010. By April 2010, I decided to get a few more and try breeding them outside in a tub (since I had the room, and it requires minimal effort). I pretty much followed guidelines provided by Luke McClurg's Hot Tub Killies Article (A little wirte-up about his experiences keeping and breeding some of North America's killifish). I cannot find this article as it was a NFC (the Native Fish Conservancy) article, and they do not exist anymore. I do have a pdf or or another copy somewhere on my home computer. I will post this when I get a chance.

Basically, I had a 25 gallon tub, with creek sand / gravel substrate. I filled with water and when temp was right, I added Ludwigia and Eleocharis from a local pond, and Salvinia and java moss from my tanks. After I saw plenty of live foods (mostly daphnia, and mosquito larva), I added 2 males and 3 females. One female did not tolerate the nay/night temp fluctuations and died. However, the other 4 fish stayed in the tub til August (the water surface temp was 95 F, and too much. When I emptied the tank I have about 2 dozen or so mixed-aged juviniles. They ranged from 0.5 - 1.0 inches. I probably could have had more success over those months If I would have removed fry as I saw them. But the whole point of me breeding them was to replace my aging fish, while most of my spring and summer was spent out of town. I didn't have any jumpers, but the floating Salvinia helped with that I'm sure.

[don clark]

went collecting on withlacoochee again today, was glad to get a second flagfish, only this fellow is only about a half inch , my first one is now about 2inches , it seems to have grown very fast, and colored up beautifully, my community tank has a lot of plants to hide in , I will be watching carefully, and crossing my fingers, that she does OK, my other tank has cranky female gambusias, caught one last week but it didn't survive the transfer shock.
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don clark