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Are killifish good for beginners?
Are killifish good for beginners?

Yes. Killifish are very good fish for beginners, at least in my experience. Here are a few reasons why:
  1. That do very well in small, even tiny, tanks. a one gallon jar is fine for a pair of killifish in most cases, and they don't strictly need a filter or light, just some sand and a few sprigs of plants that tolerate low light just as java moss, Anubias or Java Fern.
  2. Killies are just as hardy as livebearers, such as platies, mollies, swordtails and guppies. In fact these fish all belong to the same family - Cyprinodontidae. Killifish are egg laying Cyprinodonts, while livebearers are live bearing tooth carps. If you can keep one, you can keep the other. The only difference really is KILLIFISH JUMP OUT OF THE TANK, and while live bearers do this sometimes, killies do it always. If nothing else. killifish will teach you what "right fitting cover for your tank" means. Even a hole smaller than an airline tubing can cause the loss of an entire tank of killies.
  3. Killifish are exceptionally easy to breed. While there are some exceptions to this earl all killies are very easy to breed. In a permanent setup with well established tank with lots of plants and hiding places, baby killies will just appear. Or they can be bred in yarn "mops" hung in the water, where the eggs are picked out and placed in water to incubate for a larger hatch. But, many aquarists use the permanent setup method and just let nature take it's course.
  4. Killies aren't fussy eaters. They'll take any live food. Dried food is right out here I'm afraid. Killifolk raise worms (Grindal where it's warm, white where it's cold) and fruit flies to feed killies. For just a couple of killies, say in a beginners gallon jar, then a small bottle with quarter of a lemon in it will supply you with all the food you need. See ()
  5. Killies are not cheap (unless you buy from some guys house you visit, sometimes killifans in their zeal to addict other unsuspecting aquarists, have been known to give a pair or two away for free. Keep in mind the number of tanks they have. Look around a killifans basement or fish shed - can you count all those little tanks? No. Don't even try, but that's what you might be in for. You won't be a beginner for long if you start keeping killies!
  6. Because they're not cheap, and because they're easy to breed and feed, you can most probably recover the cost of your aquarium by selling them to a store, or to other hobbyists by mail - killies are the easiest of all fish to mail, you can send the eggs in a Regulus letter and because they take 14 days to hatch, you have a cheap easy way to send them any where in the worls for not much money.
  7. And the best reason is the last: killifish are the most colorful of any freshwater fish, rivaling marine species in color intensity and wild geometric patterns. These African forest-basement creek fish are tiny aquatic jewels make even butterflies look rather dull and uninteresting.


On a personal note I got my fist pair of killifish when I was 15 and had only had an aquarium for about 6 months at that point in time. The female jumped out in 3 days and I had to buy another pair to get another female, I bred and sold dozens of these gardneri killifish and have kept killies, on and off for five decades as of this writing (2023).










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Richard J. Sexton