Family: Aplocheilidae
Distribution: The western Ivory Coast is the natural home for Epiplatys olbrechtsi kassiapleuensis.
PH: 6.0 – 6.5 pH
Temperature: 22 – 27°C (72 – 81 °F)
Hardness: 3 – 5 dH
Description: Shy by nature, the tank set-up for this species requires lots of dense plants in order to keep the light levels down and to provide plenty of hiding spaces. They will reach only 6cm in size and appear to be rather vulnerable to illnesses. If aquarists find that their Epiplatys olbrechtsi kassiapleuensis are prone to disease, they should add 1tsp of salt per 10L to the tank.
This species has brilliant blue colouration with red spotted sides and a yellow stripe horizontally down their bodies. Their fins are clear with radial lines and yellow and metallic blue edging. Due to the fact they are surface feeders, they have an upturned mouth.
These are not seasonal killifish.
Diet: A trial of a typical Epiplatys diet is recommended, as there is no information available on what they prefer. Try mixing high-quality flakes or pellets with live foods such as brine shrimp and insect larvae.
Breeding: This subspecies prefers darkened tanks when breeding. Breeders should only use 1+ year-old fish; otherwise spawnings will result in mostly infertile eggs.
Java Moss is the recommended material for breeding tanks as the cannibalistic parents cannot find the eggs within it.
It is recommended that deformed fish should be culled or rejected for breeding.
Comments: Despite the apparent ease of breeding in captivity, this subspecies is extremely rare in the aquarium hobby.
Article/Books:
Recommended Compatible Species: They should live happily with Tetra species (particularly the Neon Tetra and Black Tetra). They also should be good tank mates with Discus, Apistogramma‘s like Apistogramma Cacatouides and Apistogramma Borelli, Corydoras Catfish (particularly Corydoras Sterbai and Corydoras aeneus) Angelfish, Clown loach, the common Guppy and Platy and most Gourami (such as the Blue Gourami and Dwarf Gourami like the Honey Gourami) Also should live happily with most Danio (particularly the Zebra Danioand Pearl Danio) and also many other Killifish could make great tank mates.
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