Nothobranchius Eggersi

Nothobranchius eggersi is an annual (seasonal) killifish that lives in pools in Tanzania's Rufiji basin that fill with rain and dry out in the dry season. Males occur in two distinct color forms: the blue form, with a sky-blue body, and the red form, in which red tones dominate. Females are plain gray-brown. In the aquarium it usually lives 12–18 months. The eggs are stored for about 3–5 months in peat collected once or twice a week, kept damp at 20–24°C; when dark eyes appear, the peat is placed in cool, shallow water to hatch the fry.

• A 30-liter species tank for one male and two to three females.
• A bare bottom and a container filled with boiled peat for spawning.
• 22–24°C, soft to moderately hard water; an air-driven sponge filter.
• A tight lid is essential; 30% water change weekly.

Carnivorous and gluttonous. It should be fed twice a day with live or frozen foods such as bloodworms, daphnia, mosquito larvae and brine shrimp. It mostly does not accept dry food.

Males are quarrelsome with each other and chase the females intensely. Because of its short life and special breeding routine, it should be kept in a species tank. The two color forms are maintained as separate lines.

Good companions: females of its own species.

Avoid: other Nothobranchius species (the females cannot be told apart, hybridization), community fish, large and active species.