AKA Main Discussion Board - American Killifish Association Forum

Intro - Adam

Adam Stuhr — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 04:50:42 +0000

Hi there

I am a new member of the AKA, I joined yesterday and have been reading as much as I can. I choose to join this group as I am 3 hours away from the closest club, WAKO. I have small children so being gone for a day to attend a club meeting is unlikely to happen.

I am very interested in trying a few different types of killies. I have had aquariums for over 10 years and experience breeding egg scatterers. I just setup 5x 5gallon aquariums for killies, no heaters and I drilled through the polycarbonate tops to bring down an airline for the sponge filters so the aquariums are completely secure, no gaps to jump out of.

I am very curious to try epiplatys annulatus due to information that I read that I may be able to have a larger group of them, not sure if that’s true but that would be amazing to see. I am also interested in a notho due to the great colors but I haven’t done enough research to know more than that. My water is pretty hard, but I have read that there are killies that would appreciate it.

Ph 7.8
10 dKH
4.5 dGH

I would love any input, or if you could steer me in a better direction I would appreciate it. Is the forum it still a good place to post on? Is it true that the fish and egg list don’t come out until the temperatures are generally a little warmer? Getting eggs in the mail sounds greats to me as it seems easier than shipping fish.

IMG_2070.jpeg

App beta test

Dan Burns — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:06:56 +0000

I imagine most members have their aquarium water figured out.

Nevertheless, I built a simple app that analyzes water chemistry test strips automatically.

If you'd like to try it out as a beta tester, please DM me your email. I have an android version ready and will eventually get the iOS version up.

Thank you,

Dan

4_results.png

2026 AKA Convention Swap Table

Russell Feilzer — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:31:42 +0000

I've already registered for this years convention in St. Louis. I'm definitely interested in a table at the swap meet. I have lots of interesting fish to bring and sell. Does anyone know when and how these will be made available?

Flying with fish and rebagging with breather bags

Ken Murch — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:56:59 +0000

The WAKO 2025 show was a fantastic event, and I wanted to share my experience flying with fish and going through airport security.

The TSA allows passengers to carry live fish in their carry-on bags. These fish need to be inspected by a TSA agent at the security checkpoint. The agent asked me to place all the bags containing the fish into a separate tray and request a "hand check" by the TSA agent so the bags do not go through the x-ray machine.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/live-fish

At WAKO I bought more fish than could easily fit into my carry-on suitcase. Each of the bags was full of air and water was about the size of a sub sandwich and I had over 20 of them.

The solution to this problem is to rebag everything into breather bags, which are far more compact. Depending on the size of the fish, each breather bag ranged in size from a billiard ball to softball. A few tips on breather bags:

- The fastest way to pack the breather bags is by pouring in the fish and water in and tightly knotting each one. Other methods include rubber bands and heat seals, but I find these slower and more prone to leaks.

- Pack the bags tightly so the water keeps the bag rigid. Fish are less likely to get trapped in folds and corners if the bag has some rigidity from the water. Do not leave any air inside, air in the bag will cause the water to slosh around and likely deflate the bag over time.

- Label each bag with a sharpie. There's a good chance they will get mixed together during inspection by TSA and you do not want to sort through unlabeled bags of female killifish

- Breather bags need to breathe. They do not work well if you put them into another plastic bag or if they are all touching each other. Socks or clothing will do, as will paper towels. I do not recommend using paper bags that tear or disintegrate in water. Breather bags "sweat" a little water. Even if there are no leaks the inside of your suitcase will be slightly damp. For dirty laundry this is not an issue, but I used plastic bags to waterproof the old JAKA issues I had in the suitcase ($1 each at WAKO!).

My preferred way of packing breather bags is in coarse mesh filter media bags. Each bag can hold 1-4 breathers and is closed by a zipper or drawstring. These bags are see-through and the TSA agents might not need to unpack each fish during the inspection. The filter media mesh bags went into a larger mesh bags used for grocery store produce.

Board Participation.

Jim Middleton — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:13:58 +0000

I see this Board has gone back to sleep!

Oh well, I tried...

Let's See Your Avatars...

Jim Middleton — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 20:15:58 +0000

After reporting a problem, we can now show avatars to appear on our personal posts!

Kudos to Jim Langan, a volunteer WebMaster who worked overtime to solve this problem.

Mine should be shown here but needs some work to reformat to, I believe, 65x65.

I will work on mine but look forward to seen yours.

Let's liven up this site and post more often!

Jim

Killifish in Denver Colorado

Max Gandara — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 08:21:20 +0000

Hey everyone! Very happy to be a part of AKA. I am looking to meet Killifish keepers and breeders in my area. If there are any local monthly meet ups I would love to join. Currently working mostly with SJO but am interested in other Fundulopanchax and Aphyosemion. I work at two aquarium stores and hope to expand in the Killifish community and hobby. Please PM me if you have further information. 😎🙏

Shipping fish to CARES convention.

Andy Jameson — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:27:27 +0000

Is there a process for mailing fish into the AKA show this year? If that info has been published elsewhere, I apologize for not finding it.

Back Issues of JAKA

Andrej Spec — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 01:57:54 +0000

Hello all,

I am looking for a back issue of JAKA to read some articles.

Volume 42, Number 2, IE the March/April issue of 2009.

Are these issues available in a digital format? Or is there a way to get a hold of the articles? I am doing some research on the topic, so it would be invaluable.

Information pollution via "artifical intelligence"

Andy Jameson — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 17:37:22 +0000

AI is good at a few things. One of them is mashing adjacent facts into a convincing narrative. This is the first "news article" I've seen dragging killies facts together to create a very unfactual whole. Looks and sounds great though.

https://aquanswers.com/the-blue-lyretail-fish-guide-for-this-elegant-beauty/