Protomealus Kirkii

[Nick]

Has anyone ever had any of these? If so would you mind posting some pics? I just picked some up at the auction and am hoping to maybe get a breeding group going. Really would be my first official attempt at breeding anything. I have had several accidental spawns of various fish but nothing on purpose. If anyone has any helpful info for Protomealus in general, I am all ears. Thanks.

[GVsailor]

I have a group of these myself.  They are a slow grower, and they haven't colored up yet.  I keep them in a 55 gallon tank with sand.  I haven't been able to find a ton of information online yet. 

[Nick]

I havn't been able to find much either. These guys are about 2" long, 9 of them in all. I should really just look up the guys # on the bags they came in lol.

[Frenchie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G2IxX3hOPs
Always try, Google
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTQByka_Mms

[Nick]

Thank you very much. I have actually already seen those as well as a few others but most of the info out there is generic toward protomealus, which is fine but i still wouldnt mind some first hand knowledge if there is any quirks that people could share. Most variations are usually different in some way or another right?

[Ron]

I'm 99% sure this is the male your fry are from - the 1% being if someone other than myself brought kirkii fry to the auction:


They are a beautiful fish and under-appreciated/unknown to some extent IMO. I was surprised to see the comment that they were slow growing. Mine grew at a "normal" rate - same as any other Protomelas I've kept. I'd say the dominant male would start to color up around 3"-3.5" and be looking great by 4.5". If kept in a tank with other fish that are more dominant this may not happen until a larger size. I kept ~3 males/4-6 females in a 50L (48"x12.5" foot print) until they were ~4"-5" long. I sold my breeders a while back - the fry at auction were the last I kept before selling the adults. I've still got 6-8 myself - put them in with some other smaller haps in a grow out tank for the time being.

[GVsailor]

It may be that mine were growing slower since I had them in a 29 grow out for awhile before moving them to a 55.  They are nearly 3 inches now. I am hoping to see color soon.  Thanks for the info!

[Nick]

Thanks for the reply and the pic Ron. I just looked at the bags and yes they were from you. I've kept a show tank for 8 years or so and have been waiting for something I found attractive and fairly uncommon to breed. When i saw these come through the auction I looked on my phone and found a pic and figured heck why not. I haven't seen any in person before so at least in my area they aren't pretty uncommon. I think they are pretty awesome looking. They are some active little guys. They all adapted to the tank immediately and have been ferocious when eating. Heck i put a bit of food about 30min. after putting them it and they were fighting over it. lol. They fit right it with the rest of my fish. They are currently in a 40g 3ft tank.

[Ron]

It's great to hear that your new fish are doing well and you're enjoying them! 

[Frenchie]

It may be that mine were growing slower since I had them in a 29 grow out for awhile before moving them to a 55.  They are nearly 3 inches now. I am hoping to see color soon.  Thanks for the info!

Try some good color food.