Forktail Blue Eyes

[Baccus]

 I hope to be getting some forktail blue eyes (pseudomugil furcatus) soon which I plan to put in a 50-60 L tank, heavily planted with red cherry shrimp and nerite snails ( along with a few hundred pest species of snail namely Ramshorn and MTS). Has anyone kept these before and are there any tips/ tricks I need to be aware of with them? Eg Prefer harder water or more forgiving like Pacific Blue Eyes in the water department? Prone to committing suicide? I keep open topped tanks, the tank they are going into has lid (but the light stopped working and I find it gets too hot with the lid down.

Once I get these guys I am then looking at possibly branching out into Neon Blue Eyes (pseudomugil cyanodorsalis), which is another species I would love to know if anyone has kept and bred successfully without to many dramas.

This is the tank I am planning on putting the Forktail Blue Eyes in.

 

 

[Grubs]

I know a few people that say the secret to forktails is to have harder water and a teaspoon or two of salt.  I have a pair but get very few eggs and even then most are infertile - I dont think its the water - the male just doesn't seem to love the ladies.  I'm looking for more to breed from.

Cyanodorsalis can live in freshwater but most people say they really need a slightly brackish tank for breeding.  I got some recently from Aquagreen in salty water ~20+ ppt  I transitioned them down to ~5ppt and lost a few in the process.  They are now happy but no breeding yet.  I'm hoping to transition some plants up to the same salt levels  - I have a native val and a myriophillum that came from pools in the Wimmera River in Victoria that were ~8ppt salt but I've been growing them in rainwater.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Grubs