Cynolebias antenori with what apistos

[Gillie]

I picked up a few cynolebias antenori at an auction yesterday and would like to know what apistos or other dwarves might be found with them. They seem interesting enough to include in a biotope.

 

[ed seeley]

I've never kept South American annual killies but I was under the impression that they mostly inhabit temporary waters where there aren't many other fish species, certainly not dwarfs.

 

[Gillie]

Thanks Ed, I've never kept South American killies either, but they were neat looking and I got them for 2 dollars apparently nobody wanted them.

 

[ed seeley]

They do look neat. I've just hatched some Nothobranchius for the first time in a tank in my class at school and they are very neat!

There are a few sites for SA annuals that may give you an idea about some suitable tank mates, but as you need to get breeding them asap they might be best in small tank on their own. Apparently a deep jar with peat in is best for this as they like to dive right into the peat.

 

[Gillie]

Apparently a deep jar with peat in is best for this as they like to dive right into the peat.

I was wondering why they were calling them dirt divers at the auction.

 

[Apistomaster]

Simpsonichthys antenori are best kept alone in a small 2-5 gal tank for a pair or trio. Males drive female constantly so it is best to use 1 male to 2 or 3 females.
They do not live long, they are senile by 9 months.
They are rarely found with other fish except other annual Killies unless their pool is sometimes connected to a permanent stream during high water.
Since they have such short life spans try to build up a collection of eggs as soon as you can. I prefer to separate the sexes and only set them up for a few days for spawning but a permanent breeding set up will also work.
I have successfully used a container full of boiled peat or a layer over the bottom of their tank. For permanent breeding set ups the peat filled container is best because the peat doesn't become contaminated with uneaten food. The peat should be collected every 2 weeks and dried over night. The peat should be very damp but not so wet you can squeeze water out it. Seal the peat containing eggs in a plastic bag and store for 3 months at 78*F. Not all the eggs hatch upon the first wetting so after removing any fry that hatch re-dry the peat and incubate it for another months. More eggs should hatch. Most of the eggs will have hatched after the 2nd wetting but it is sometimes possible to get a 3rd and even 4th hatch after further repetitions of drying and wetting. I usually have trouble finding eggs in peat but it helps if you can because the best indicator of when to wet the peat is when you can actually see fully developed fry inside the eggs.

The Simpsonichthys are my favorite group of SA annual Killies but one species I haven't been able to get yet is S, antenori. I have raised S. boitonei, S. flammeus, S. perpendicularis and been beaten by S magnificus twice. S. magnificus is one of the more difficult species of the group and has a longer egg incubation period than most. 5 months to wait for the first attempt to hatch and some eggs have been known to take a year.
Most Simpsonichthys prefer live and frozen food although some will accept freeze dried blood worms.
This species is not the most commonly available one so it is well worth while providing them their own tanks so you can raise more. Once you have raised enough of them then you can afford to keep a few with other fish they can be kept with Apistogramma spp, small Tetras but they aren't really very good community tank fish. They have a tendency to produce more males than females which is unfortunate since they are best kept in trios or more females. Sounds like some Apistogramma doesn't it?
Cynolebias is not used for these fish now. The Pearlfish from further south are now the Austrolebias and those found in Brazil are Simpsonichthys.