Care and breeding of Epiplatys annulatus
by Ralph Taylor
From Vol. 1, No. 6, The Newsletter of The Tri-State Aquarium Society, May 1999
Aquarticles
I would like to share my appreciation of, and interest in, the killifish with members
of the club. I know that you probably get tired of hearing about my fish but I'll keep
trying and someday some of you other folks will get interested also. Almost all of my 35
tanks are used for the care and breeding of killifish. This month I would like to
introduce the club to Epiplatys annulatus (Boulenger). Some authors are currently
using the Genus name Pseudepiplatys for this group but that is beyond the scope
of this article.
These lovely diminutive fish are native to Sierra Leone and Liberia in Africa. They
never reach more than 3.0 cm in length. The overall appearance reminds one of a clown
loach. The body is covered with alternating vertical bars of black and cream or yellow
along the long axis. The iris of the eye is a transparent brilliant blue. The shape of the
tail is called a "pintail" in that the inner most rays are longer than the
dorsal or ventral rays. If the fish is well kept and healthy there is an upper and a lower
horizontal red stripe on the tail.
Reproduction in these fish is similar to that for all killies. They lay a few eggs
every day as long as conditions are good. The eggs are adhesive and attach to vegetation
naturally or to the yarn mops that I have shown on many occasions. Most hobbyists who keep
these fish would remove the mop after a few days and attempt to harvest the eggs and
incubate them away from the adults. This can be done in 1 lb. plastic butter cartons.
I always use un-treated water straight from the tap. Some breeders use a drop or two of
Methylene blue. This is supposed to have a fungicidal effect. Since the fish do just fine
in Africa without this dye, I do not use it in my breeding attempts. I guess the chlorine
probably helps keep down bacteria and fungus. I always include a sprig of Java Moss in
with the eggs. This provides a hiding place and some microscopic critters to feed on when
the new fry hatch.
Development is completed in about 15 days when the eggs are water incubated. As the
eggs are extremely tiny so are the fry. I feed green water and APR (artificial plankton
and rotifers) for the first few days and then go to microworms for several weeks until the
fry are large enough to take baby brine. One has to be very careful to keep the fry in
shallow water as they feed at the surface much like rainbow fry. These fish reach sexual
maturity in about six months.
Now that I have explained the way I started breeding E. annulatus let me
explain how I do it now that I have good numbers and do not need to maximize production. I
currently have a well-planted 15 gallon tank that I leave alone and the numbers keep
increasing. Fry are seen regularly at the surface when they are about 1mm in length. I
assume that they feed on the microscopic life associated with the plants. It is important
to keep the tank free of snails as they will eat the small eggs .
This is a very rare killie and would bring a premium price if one could find them in a
pet shop. They are fairly easy to breed and raise so I guess the reason they are rare is
that they lay only one or two eggs per day. Like any other fish this species may not be
for you but if you put in the effort and time and have a little patience you can add
another species to your lifetime breeder's list.
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