Lays eggs among fine plants such as Riccia or moss, floating plant roots or spawning mops; relatively easy, and fry may appear on their own in a mature planted tank.
One male with 2-3 females.
10 L tank with floating plants, soft water and spawning mops.
Warm, soft water and live food.
Eggs hatch after about 9-12 days at 24-25 °C. Fry first need very small foods such as rotifers.
Baby brine shrimp and microworms.
One breeding tank for the clown killifish, drawn to scale from the breeding guide.
Water: 22–26 °C · pH 6–7 · soft water
A plan from the breeding guide and an adult size of 4 cm. Tank shape is a standard 2 : 1 : 1.2 box, at least 6 adult lengths long. Check each step in the guide above.
A 120 cm rack for breeding the clown killifish in numbers.
In total: 7 tanks, about 194 L of water. A litre of water weighs about 1 kg, so check that the floor and rack can take the weight.
Sizes are worked out from the breeding tank in the guide. Tanks fit a standard 120 cm rack when they can; bigger tanks go on their own stands.
Males are more colourful, have longer fins and grow larger than females. Both sexes carry the four broad dark bars.
Typical for egg scatterers
Feed live or frozen food twice a day. Keep males and females apart if you can.
Eggs are scattered over mops or fine plants, often at first light. Remove the parents straight after.
Most eggs hatch in 1–2 days. Keep the tank dim and remove white (fungused) eggs.
Fry use up the yolk and start swimming. Feed infusoria or liquid fry food several times a day.
Switch to newly hatched brine shrimp or microworms. Start small, daily water changes.
Add finely crushed flake. Sort fry by size so the big ones don't eat the small ones.
Most small fish reach about 2 cm in 2–3 months and can join the main tank.
A general guide for this breeding type. Days change with temperature and species.
Feed live or frozen food twice a day. Keep males and females apart if you can.
Set up a virtual breeding tank and see what would likely happen.
An educational estimate from the breeding rules, not a promise.