So I just got my pair of killifish (fundulopanchax gardneri) a week ago and they seem to be spawning already. I saw them mate a few times yesterday and I think I see eggs in the female already. Do they develop eggs that quick after breeding? How long after mating does the female lay eggs? I can't find this info anywhere. The male isn't even fully colored up so I wasn't even sure if they would breed that quickly. I can't even believe they bred that quickly! The male is starting to color up more every day. This pair is housed in a 10 gallon tank, lots of live plants, a nice piece of driftwood and a pirate ship ornament, also carbon rili shrimp. Obviously the killis like it My carbon rilis are doing well as well. Tank has been set up for a while now (I think about a month and a half or a bit more) and there is a lot of microfauna. Planning to just let the killis lay eggs and raise them up right with the parents since I'm not to worried about predation and it's just easier lol. I'm hoping the LFS will buy some of the fry.
Well since you got them from me I guess I'd be the best source for that info. They develop the eggs prior to breeding. You can usually see them in the abdomen of females once they've sexually matured (which as you've noticed is very early on). The eggs are fertilized externally after being laid by the female. What you've seen is most likely the courtship than the breeding per se. If they are courting though they should both be mature enough to produce fry. That being said though it isn't uncommon for the courting to not lead to actual mating especially in younger pairs. They get the hang of it sooner or later. The fry will usually be ignored by their parents provided they have some plants to hide among however I would not recommend keeping multiple broods together. The oldest and largest fry can and will eat their younger siblings and/or unhatched eggs. The shrimp may be a threat to unhatched eggs as well. Oh and the eggs take about 2 weeks to hatch after being laid.
I did message you a few other messages so wasn't sure if you were coming back on here a lot or not otherwise I would have asked you this too I know you are busy. I didn't realize they were fertilized after laying, what I saw looked like mating lol. The male curved his tail under the female and would kind of swim up to her and brush on her with his body. He did this multiple times the other day. Doesn't look like any eggs were laid yet. Lucky for them there are only about 7 carbon rili shrimp in the tank with them and some snails, so hopefully the eggs will be safe when they are laid. There is tons of both erect and java moss to hide amongst plus the other plants and driftwood and decoration. Once I see fry I will contact the LFS to see if they will be interested in them when they grow a bit, if not, I'll try craigslist, and if I must I'll separate males and females after the first brood, do you ever keep a tank of males and a tank of females? I know the males can be a bit aggressive to each other, but if there was a bunch and no females and in a 10 gallon would they be ok? Then I'd have males in one 10 gallon and females in another. At least until I would be able to sell the offspring. If necessary I have 2.5 gallons and a 5.5 gallon to really do some separating Thanks for the info!
I have kept them split into male and female groups before (and in tanks much smaller than a 10 at that). As long as the males are all of a similar size there shouldn't be much of an issue with aggression. They'll spar a bit but rarely cause any actual damage aside from a nipped fin here or there. It can be difficult to locate the eggs in a planted tank. I usually just keep an eye out for the resulting fry rather than the eggs themselves. Oh and if you do separate them into separate male/female tanks be sure you have lids on them as they (especially the males) will gladly jump from tank to tank.
Ok, sounds good. Yeah the main reason I think there are no eggs laid yet is because the ones I see in the female are still there, I mean I guess if she just keeps making them like the female shrimp almost always have a saddle, then I guess I wouldn't know, but I'll be watching for fry It'd still be a bit but I watch my tanks every day. And yes, I have lids on all my tanks My 10 gallons are put one above the other on a stand so no one could really go from one to the other lol (they could try I guess, but I have lids )
