Breeding Fact Sheet No. 24

Brachyrhaphis roswithae. Meyer & Etzel 1998.

Male and female in show tank at Mid Sussex Show

Tank Details:
Tank Size: - 18 x 12 x 12
Furniture: - None.
Plants: - Java Moss
Filtration: - Sponge Filter .
Food: - Mainly frozen bloodworm, live tubifex, live bloodworm, live brineshrimp, live daphnia, Live White Worm

I managed to get hold of these at the June 2004 British Killifish Association's Charity Auction in Redditch which I went to as Paul (my other half) is into keeping and breeding Killies. I wasn’t really expecting anything else other than Killies to be sold there, so when we were looking at the fish that had been put in I was surprised to see Livebearers there as well. Paul then told be that it was a joint auction with the British Livebearer Association (BLA). It was a long drive getting up at 4am but it was well worth it as we came home after spending an incredible amount of money between us. Then there was the task of putting them all into their tanks.

I decided that this pair would go into a tank of their own, it didn’t take them long to settle and by the next day they were eating voraciously. Once they were fully grown I decided to put them into a show as a pair, but they didn’t do too well as they were not accustomed to showing, but it was their first time out and got placed 3rd. When I put them out again they came 1st which I was very pleased with.

On another occasion when I tried to show them I decided not to show as a pair as the male looked a little stressed from the travelling and the overnight stay so the female went out on her own and again came 1st. This was the last show of the year that I could attend so I then decided that it was time to get some fry.

Once settled again in their tank it was just a case of feeding and water changing which I was doing about every 2 weeks or when it needed it.

It didn't take long before I got my first batch of fry but I unfortunately lost most of this brood due to going away for the weekend and not having anyone to look after them and feed them. Only 2 survived from this brood and I was very disappointed but a few weeks after that happened I noticed again a black spot in the female's stomach, and that she had put on weight which indicated that she was gravid. A few days later I had another brood which I have been able to bring on successfully.

I was feeding the fry on ZM 000 (Special powdered food made especially for fry which is high in protein) as many times during the day as I could (Obviously varied as to whether I was at work or not) and once they started to get bigger I fed them chopped up white worm. I also did 25% water changes every other day. This seemed to help them grow quicker and they all loved their food which made it easy for me to raise the fry as they always had big bellies. After about 2 to 3 months I then gradually introduced bloodworm which they accepted quite quickly. These fish will eat almost anything that you put in the tank and they do love their food. If you want an easy fish to breed I would recommend you try this species.

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