Blue Gularis Killifish

General information

Males are blue on the back and orange on the flanks with brown stripes while females are gray and brown with black spots, stripes and red dots on the fins. These fish have a three forked tail with long streamers on the tips and are usually 5 inches. They are very popular in the hobby and as such many captivity bred varieties have appeared so nowadays there are plenty of different color morphs. To keep these fish in captivity, water temperature should range from 73ºF to 79ºF and water pH should be between 6.0 and 8.0. The tank should have a peat moss substrate,  dense vegetation and a tight fitting cover. This species can be kept in a community tank with larger species like Corydoras and large characins. Males can be aggressive with each other so only one should be kept per tank, there should be 2 to 3 females per male.

This species is carnivorous. It can be fed with live or frozen foods like daphnia or worms.

The male is larger and more colorful while females are rounder.

To breed this species in captivity, water pH in the breeding tank should be around 6.5 and temperature should be around 76ºF and there should be 2 or 3 females and one male in the tank. Eggs are deposited in the substrate and by this time there should be no lighting in the tank since eggs are very sensitive to light, the parents should then be removed to avoid having them eat the eggs and fry. The eggs take about 21 days to hatch depending on temperature, once they hatch, the fry can be fed with brine shrimp or microworms.

This species is endemic to Nigeria and Cameroon.