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Striped Panchax KillifishGolden Wonder Killifish (color variety)

Family: Aplocheilidae

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Aplocheilus lineatusPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

     The Golden Wonder Killifish is a gorgeous variety of the Striped Panchax!

     The Striped Panchax has always been a relatively popular killifish but the development of the Golden Wonder variety has really brought it into the spotlight. Now it is hard to find an aquarium store that doesn't carry this species.

     Killifish have the reputation of being difficult to maintain and are not recommended for beginners, but this generalization certainly does not apply to the Striped Panchax. It is a very hardy species and is easy to keep in the home aquarium. It is peaceful for its size and easy to breed too. A planted tank is an excellent way to showcase your specimens. They are especially pleasing when contrasted against a dark substrate in a well lit aquarium.

For more Information on keeping freshwater fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:      The Striped Panchax Killifish was described by Cuvier and Valenciennes in 1846. They are found throughout Peninsular India and Sri Lanka where they inhabit streams and reservoirs in high altitudes, as well as rivers, plains, fields, swamps, and brackish water.

Status:      This fish is not listed on the IUCN red list.

Description:      The body of the Striped Panchax Killifish is slender and elongated with a slightly arched back. The dorsal fin is set far towards the back half of the body, and the scales are round. The head is flattened on top with a pointy snout and upturned mouth, they have no barbels.
     The basic coloration is a coppery bronze with sparkling yellow-gold scales along the sides and extending onto the fins. Juveniles and females will have several broad dark vertical bars accenting the back half of the body ending at the base of the caudal fin.
     One of the most popular varieties, the Golden Wonder Killifish (seen in the photo above) has really boosted this species popularity. Other common variants include some with distintive tails, one that has an all red tail and another that has a red tail with white outer lobes.

Size - Weight:      This fish will reach about 4 inches (10 cm).

Care and feeding:      The Striped Panchax Killifish are good feeders. They will eat flakes, small pellets, and freeze dried foods but should occasionally be fed some fresh or frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms to keep them looking their best.
     This is a hardy fish that is easy to keep. Their natural habitat ranges from streams to lakes to swamps and even into coastal brackish water environments. This means you can keep them in freshwater or a brackish tank. A brackish environment can be created by adding 2 - 3 teaspoons of salt for each 2 1/2 gallons of water. A minimum tank size of 20 gallons with a tight fitting lid is recommended. Provide good filtration and do regular water changes.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:      This is a species will spend most of their time near the top of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:      Temperature: 72 - 77 ° F (22 - 25 ° C)
     Hardness: 5 - 20 ° dGH
     Ph: 6.0 - 7.5

Social Behaviors:      They will usually leave other species alone unless they are small enough to be considered food. Adult Striped Panchax Killifish will quarrel amongst themselves so it is suggested that you keep only one or a group of at least four. They can also be kept with many other moderately peaceful varieties of freshwater or brackish water fish. They are an idea tankmate to keep with gobies.

Sexual Differences:      The males will be larger, more colorful and their anal fin will be more pointed than that of the females.

Breeding/Reproduction:      The spawning method of the Striped Panchax is basically the same as with other species of Aplocheilus, such as the Blue Panchax. A spawning pair can lay 50 to as many as 300 eggs daily and spawning may continue for several weeks. They lay their eggs in fine leafed plants or a clean spawning mop.
     The plants/mop should be removed daily and replaced with new ones. The egg laden plants/mop should be placed in a tank containing clean water with the same quality parameters as the parent's tank. The eggs will mature in 12 to 14 days. After the eggs hatch, the fry will have an obvious egg sac on their bellies. Once this sac has been absorbed, feed them nauplii or powdered dry foods. Some of the fry will grow faster than others so there is the possibility of cannibalism. If you want to successfully raise as many of the fry as possible, you will have to sort them by size so this doesn't happen. Pay close attention when feeding, as foods if uneaten can quickly foul the water.

Availability:      The wild color versions of the Striped Panchax Killifish are occasionally available, but the Golden Wonder Killifish variety is very common. It is relatively inexpensive because it is being mass produced in Indonesia, and will run about $2.00 - $4.00 USD each.

Author: Ken Childs
Additional Information: Clarice Brough, CFS

• Striped Panchax: $8.99

Aplocheilus Lineatus Gold Wonder Killifish Offered By: That Pet Place Price: $8.99

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I have Golden Killi and he has been quite interesting since i've got him. I named him Lucky and his name quite litterally suits him. When my boyfriend first got him for me we had him in a temporary tank with a lid until we were able to set up our ten gallon tank. We had the tank sitting on the counter and my purse was like two feet away from the tank. When I left my boyfriends house to go get the other tank I grabbed my purse and left. When I got to my house my boyfriend called me and asked me if I had a fish with me and I was like uh, no why? and he told me that there was one missing and that he had looked everywhere. I checked my purse and there he was! my fish! I hurried and got a pan with water and put him in there and started pushing water into his gills and slowly, he came back to life, first moving one of his gills, then the other, and then finally his fins. It took him a while to get right side up but he finally did and now I think he has brain damage or something because he doesn't swim around much and all he does is float at the top of my aquarium and eat (he sure loves his bloodworms). The ride from my boy friends house to mine is about 25 minutes and we're not really sure when he made the jump. Lucky, lucky fish! Reply Lindsey 2010-02-19
I have an interesting Killi that takes great offense to me cleaning the tank and if my arm is in the tank he will attack repeatedly trying to nip at me. He is not looking for food as he postures, then hits and runs! Funny guy! Reply DAWN 2010-01-27
Hi, I've got a couple. They have great colour and love to eat blood worms. Mitchell Romanowski Reply Mitchell Romanowski 2008-08-18
These fish freaking rock! i got 2 a week ago for my planted 30 gallon tank and they love it. My lemon tetras are about the same color as them so they school together. its actually pretty funny looking. Reply dom 2008-06-29
Hi! I have a Golden Killi neamed Killer for 2 years. Heres how he got his name. I have two tanks, one with 23 guppies, and another with a gold killi. I went on vacation and my sister was watching my house and the killi's tank got dirty so she put it in the guppy tank so she could clean the other tank. When I got home she was cleaning the tank so i went to check on the other tank. When i got there there was 1 guppy left and a fat killifish. Well then he chased the guppy into a corner and ate him. Now he was lying on the bottom of the tank, I could feel his pain! So I turned off the light and laid a towel over the tank so he could rest. Two days later he was back to normal and ever since he wont eat guppies. Now I feed him a minnow a day. Reply cynthia 2007-07-26
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Some of the bestest comments - here's the beef!
I have now had these killis for a few years now. They do require a tight fitting, gapless lid, as they are jumpers. I initially lost a few from jumping, even having them swim up the filter and jump from there. They also require a careful planning of the fish put into the aquarium. They will eat just about anything they can fit in that big mouth they have... Including any offspring they may produce. After about a year with my killis I was cleaning gravel when I noticed a pair of big pair of black eyes swimming around my bucket. On further inspection of the tank, many little eggs were attached the plants, and a few more fry were found. I soon had about 15 - 20 in a net nursery, and of them, the largest ate his way to solidarity. I had another that I released into the tank at about 1 inch long, but he vanished from the tank in under 5 minutes, so I would recommend waiting until they are about 2 inches long if you have other killis in the tank. Other than that, they are fairly hardy and they do love a good meal (I fed mine dried baby shrimp). Good luck and much fun with your killis! Reply Alex 2009-09-04
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