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**TheOldSalt** · 03-01-2005, 08:30 AM

Since I don't know the exact species your Jersey Killies are, I can't really answer the question.

I will tell you that brackish water fish need for room than freshwater fish, because the osmotic pressure is different and salty water holds less oxygen than fresh water. Therefore, if you use salt, which would be better for them, you would have to keep fewer of them.

I suppose a good guess would be to compare them to swordtails. A swordtail needs about 8 square inches of surface area, and a killie probably twice that for each "swordtail-sized chunk" in the killie.
So, let's say you have a four-inch long killie, which is about equal to two swordtails. That fish will need a surface area of 32 square inches. Calculate the number of square inches the top of the tank has, which is length times width in inches, and divide that by 32, and that's about how many 4-inch jersey killies you should be able to keep without much trouble. If the killies are fat, make sure to count the extra girth as more swordtails.

A ten-gallon tank is 20X10, so it has 200 square inches of surface area. That's enough for a dozen swordtails, or six killies of the same size in brackish water, or maybe eight killies in fresh water ( although they'd probably be happier in the brackish water )

03-01-2005, 08:30 AM	#9
TheOldSalt Darth Ichthyos Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 4,005 User Feedback: (5)	Re: what are killifish Since I don't know the exact species your Jersey Killies are, I can't really answer the question. I will tell you that brackish water fish need for room than freshwater fish, because the osmotic pressure is different and salty water holds less oxygen than fresh water. Therefore, if you use salt, which would be better for them, you would have to keep fewer of them. I suppose a good guess would be to compare them to swordtails. A swordtail needs about 8 square inches of surface area, and a killie probably twice that for each "swordtail-sized chunk" in the killie. So, let's say you have a four-inch long killie, which is about equal to two swordtails. That fish will need a surface area of 32 square inches. Calculate the number of square inches the top of the tank has, which is length times width in inches, and divide that by 32, and that's about how many 4-inch jersey killies you should be able to keep without much trouble. If the killies are fat, make sure to count the extra girth as more swordtails. A ten-gallon tank is 20X10, so it has 200 square inches of surface area. That's enough for a dozen swordtails, or six killies of the same size in brackish water, or maybe eight killies in fresh water ( although they'd probably be happier in the brackish water )