Skew sex ratio on Fundulopanchax gardneri nigerianus fry

[wangucf]

 ,

I need some help and advice.  I bred a pair of Fundulopanchax gardneri nigerianus last August, and harvested 10 eggs.  At this moment, 8 babies survived and all of them turned out to be MALES.  I am baffled.  Can someone please tell me how to get a more evenly distributed sex ratio?

I did not track the PH, hardness etc on the 5 gallon tank they were raised in, but based on the usual parameters in my 55 gal tank, the PH is usually 7.4-7.6, a bit softwater (3 or so), temperature about 80-82, salinity is like 1/2 tea spoon salt per gallon, and they were fed mostly on microworms.

Also, since my 2 female mothers also died, I have no female left.  I'd like to purchase new one but I can never find the same name "Fundulopanchax gardneri nigerianus" (aka Gardneri Clown Killifish) on aquabid.  I have seen similar like N'suku, Jos Plateau, Lafia etc, but I am not sure if they are the same, and I heard I should not inter breed between different strains.  Any advice on where I can get Fundulopanchax gardneri nigerianus females?

Thanks.

[Morgrid]

I can't help you much on the sex ratio, I have never had a problem with this species. However I would suggest lowering the temperature into the mid 70s, 80 is too hot for gardneri, in my opinion. The Nigerianus designation is actually a subspecies designation of this fish and is not actually enough description to get you the proper mate for your fish. There are quite a few locations of Fp. gardneri nigerianus including "Akure", "Rayfield" "Jose Plateau" "Lokoja" and many others. I have never heard this species called the clown killi - this common name usually refers to a different species - Epiplatys annulatus.

[wangucf]

I can't help you much on the sex ratio, I have never had a problem with this species. However I would suggest lowering the temperature into the mid 70s, 80 is too hot for gardneri, in my opinion. The Nigerianus designation is actually a subspecies designation of this fish and is not actually enough description to get you the proper mate for your fish. There are quite a few locations of Fp. gardneri nigerianus including "Akure", "Rayfield" "Jose Plateau" "Lokoja" and many others. I have never heard this species called the clown killi - this common name usually refers to a different species - Epiplatys annulatus.

Thanks...I'll take heed of the temperature.  And excuse my ignorance in this confusing naming system of Killie, I guess I probably bought an unknow strain of the Fp. gardneri nigerianus, because that is what is says on the receipt.  Can you exactly tell the difference by looking at the fish/picture or it's not possible?

[Morgrid]

Some people can tell the locations/strains apart by looking at them or a picture, I am not one of them. However even these folks may get confused by hybrids or closely related locations so it is not 100%. Your best bet is to get a strain with the location attached. Even at that I have received a few fish that were incorrectly labled. This can happen fairly easily in big auctions and fish stores and then the fish get passed along with the wrong information. This may be what happened to your fish, the location was lost and someone who had the eye knew they were in the nigerianus subspecies but wouldn't commit to attaching a location to them.

[wangucf]

Some people can tell the locations/strains apart by looking at them or a picture, I am not one of them. However even these folks may get confused by hybrids or closely related locations so it is not 100%. Your best bet is to get a strain with the location attached. Even at that I have received a few fish that were incorrectly labled. This can happen fairly easily in big auctions and fish stores and then the fish get passed along with the wrong information. This may be what happened to your fish, the location was lost and someone who had the eye knew they were in the nigerianus subspecies but wouldn't commit to attaching a location to them.

Ok.  I guess then it's really hard to distinguish the location, even if it is labeled, there's some possibility that it can be wrong.  I suspect mine are not pure, as now all the male juveniles show different colorations, only 2 look like dad, and some are more darker than the others.

[Aiptasia]

The American Killifish Association has a lot of breeders/traders with the proper origin designations on their strains. If you're interested in acquiring more eggs or some different species, you might check them out. I'd probably acquire mine from one of the members there rather than on other sites like aquabid and ebay if you definitely had to have ones with exact origins.