The Genus Epiplatys

The Genus Epiplatys

Epiplatys sp. probably E. sexfasciatus

Genus Epiplatys belongs to the family Ciprinodontidae ( killies ). Most of species comes from topical parts of West Africa. They live predominantly in waters of tropical rain forests. There are many of interesting species of this genus, some of them are very popular, but my intention is to introduce to you one of recently described species, which is not often reared in aquariums.

Epiplatys guineensis belongs to the E. fasciolatus group and has been known for last 15 years. French ichthyologist Mr. Raymond Romand made a description of this species in 1994 year. As its name say it is fish from Guinea, inhabited in river Konkoure. It is 6 cm long, relatively peaceful fish that lives in top water levels. Shape of the body is typical for the genus. Males have gray-blue metallic color and yellow edged tail. Females are slightly smaller and less conspicuous.

They prefer soft to medium hard water with pH value around 7. Keep them in shaded aquarium, with fishes of similar size. Aquarium must be covered, because these fish like to jump. They accept all kind of food. In nature they feed mostly on insects and they will be delighted to be offered with them.

I kept mine Epiplatys guineensis in a 50 lit. aquarium filed with tap water. For breeding I used a 10 lit. tank with bottom covered with peat layer. It is not necessary but it is good idea to treat the water with peat. I used soft water and temperature was set at 25 C. Several spawning mops were strewn on the bottom of the tank. In to this set-up I placed one male with 3 to 4 females. Males are not very aggressive on females. I fed them with live foods, especially tubifex and white worms.

After a week of spawning I moved them out. If non-anual killies breeds longer than one week, then difference in size allows to older fry to become cannibals. Eggs and fry of E. guineensis are bigger than offspring of E. dageti. Newly hatched Artemia can be accepted as first food. Fry prefer to live in a schools. They grow fast and at the age of 2-3 months they reach sexual maturity. Epiplatys guineensis is lovely fish and to my opinion it is going to become more popular in the future.

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