Species/genus: Fundulosoma thierryi Also known as Nothobranchius thierryi
Origin: Ghana, Africa
Temp: 72-86°F (22-30°C)
pH: 7 to 8 dH: Not Critical
Feeding: By far the best results will come from a diet that includes mainly live foods such as baby brine shrimp, grindal worms, daphnia and mosquito larvae. Dry and even frozen foods are taken with a lot of reluctance.
A young pair, female below
Breeding: A Soil Spawning Killifish with an incubation period of from 5 to 12 weeks. The warmer the eggs are incubated the shorter the incubation, with a reasonable minimum of 60F (20C) and a maximum of 86F (30C). Males are very aggressive spawners and either 2 females should be used for each male or plenty of hiding places should be provided for the females protection. The eggs are very large for such small fish but the fry will still need infusoria, green water or lots of Java Moss to supply appropriate sized foods for newly hatched fry. After about a week microworms can be added and baby brine shrimp can be added in another week.
Temperament: Although thierryi is a very small species it is an aggressive little spud. As with most killies the males will fight if there are 2 in a tank but they will establish a "pecking order" if 3 or more males are present. This is my preferred way of keeping them. A tank full of male thierryi will be a beautiful sight. The males will be constantly showing their full color and minor sparring sessions will be the norm.
Adult Size: 1¼ in. (3 cm) is about the maximum.
Minimum Tank Size: 1 gallon
Health Comments: I use up to 2 teaspoons of rock salt per gallon with this fish. F. thierryi is extremely susceptible to "velvet" disease. This concentration of salt will just about eliminate 90% of the health problems with most Soil Spawning Killifish.
