Infrafasciatus killifish

Care at a glance

Overview

The infrafasciatus killifish is a steady surface panchax for a species tank or a quiet community, kept as a pair or a harem of one male to two or more females. It lives near the top among floating plants, so provide surface cover and a tight lid against jumping. It is mostly peaceful with fish too big to eat, though tiny tankmates are at risk, so match it with calm fish of similar or larger size rather than very small ones. Feed live and frozen foods such as mosquito larvae, daphnia, small bloodworm, and wingless fruit flies. A pair will spawn steadily into floating mops and is comfortable in a tank of about 54 liters.

In the wild

This panchax holds the surface of quiet, shaded forest streams in coastal Cameroon and nearby West Africa, soft, slow, tannin-tinted water under heavy cover. Give it a dim, planted tank with floating plants, a dark substrate, and gentle flow. Keep the water soft and acidic to neutral, about pH 5.5–7.0, and warm at 20–25 C, adding leaves to hold the low light and soft chemistry it prefers.

Good to know

Epiplatys infrafasciatus is a member of the family Nothobranchiidae reaching about 6 cm, a surface hunter closely tied to the sexfasciatus group and to the Baroi panchax of southern Cameroon. It is a non-annual plant spawner whose eggs are laid on mops or fine plants and develop in water, keeping breeding at a moderate level. Its name means banded below, for the bars that show strongest along the lower flank.

Did you know

The species name infrafasciatus means banded beneath: the dark bars are boldest low on the body and fade toward the back, as if the pattern ran out of ink before it reached the top.

Tank mates

Infrafasciatus killifish is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the top. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• 

  Tweedie's hillstream loach

  Homalopteroides tweediei

  Freshwater

  1.6 in (4 cm)14 gal (54 L)70–79°F (21–26°C)

• 

  Cross loach

  Micronemacheilus cruciatus

  Freshwater

  1.6 in (4 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Chiangmai stream goby

  Rhinogobius chiengmaiensis

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–75°F (18–24°C)
• Filament moth catfish

  Hara filamentosa

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Yellow fin rhinogobius

  Rhinogobius leavelli

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–77°F (18–25°C)
• Rosy loach

  Petruichthys sp. 'rosy'

  Freshwater

  1.2 in (3 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Singa panchax

  Epiplatys singa

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Guinean panchax

  Epiplatys guineensis

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Redspotted panchax

  Epiplatys lamottei

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Red-chinned panchax

  Epiplatys dageti

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)70–75°F (21–24°C)

• 

  Six-barred panchax

  Epiplatys sexfasciatus

  Freshwater

  3.9 in (10 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)
• Dubois' panchax

  Epiplatys duboisi

  Freshwater

  1.4 in (3.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)