Blue Lyretail

About

Gardner's killi (Fundulopanchax gardneri gardneri), also widely called the blue lyretail, is one of the best entry points into the killifish hobby. Colorful, reasonably hardy, and willing to breed without a lot of fuss. It comes from a broad native range across southeastern Nigeria and western Cameroon, with additional populations in the Benue River drainage of central Nigeria, and wild fish vary noticeably in color from one locality to the next. Hobbyists have taken that variation even further, developing ornamental strains including gold and albino forms. Males tend to be the showier sex and can be quarrelsome with one another, so the standard advice is to keep two or three females for every male and provide plenty of cover and broken lines of sight. This isn't a fish for a general community tank, smaller or slower tankmates can end up hassled, but it works well in a species setup or alongside similarly robust fish. Breeding follows a semi-annual strategy, meaning eggs can either hatch submerged or survive a dry period, which gives you flexibility in how you incubate them. Adults will readily eat their own eggs, so pulling them daily is good practice. Fry are active almost from the moment they hatch and accept standard small live foods without difficulty.