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Aphyosemion splendopleure

The Aphyosemion splendopleure 'Muyuka Police Station' C89-15 have been growing well. Kind of funny that I can just sit back, add food and change water, and have little fish appear in the tank.

Before the photos the girst task was to remove some of the duckweed from the tank surface which had grown thick enough that the tank was too dark for the camera. I removed a good portion of it in the front and was surprised by the number of fish that appeared. The largest male is maybe 1.5 and the largest female a little over 1 inch. It looks to be a male heavy sex ratio unfortunately. Even with the duckweed removed it was impossible to focus on fish in the lower half of the tank...the tank has a bit of a dark jungle look to it to say the least.

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An average sized(about 1 inch) male.

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The largest female. Wonder when she'll be ready to spawn?

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Just to show how the colors have come in and to show that they aren't very comfortable around the camera.

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One of the smaller males just getting his colors and finnage.

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One of the larger males. This Anubias leaf with the current water depth is just below the surface and fish regularly squirm onto it to pick any tidbits that are on the leaf.

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A juvenile(hoping it is a female! and a male and a female in a sparring fight.

I have no idea how many fish are in here but not including the parents maybe 10? I have not poked around in the tank lately but it has turned into a solid wall of Najas, java moss, and a few other plants.
 
Hi N,


Very very nice. You will soon have too many fish like me! You have the touch.

Bobby
 
Thanks Bobby. I sure hope I get overrun with these. Planning on maybe setting up the young uns to spawn in spring.

Also, got my test kits in(ph, GH, and KH). Water straight from the tap is
ph 7.0
GH 8
KH 8

GH and KH are approximate due to the weird nature of the test kits.

Water from my Elassoma evergladei tank and a bucket of water sitting for a few days measures ph of 7.6. Wonder how much GH and KH will change?
 
Just poking my head in to say that I knew I could find a pretty picture if the topic has Aphyosemion in it! That's my favorite genus of killies. Do they still use the term 'panchax' anymore?
 
Thanks Jimscott:

Here's a photo of the proud father from a few months ago.

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Hi N,

Sooo nice. Glad the nigripinnis are doing well. They should be sexing out soon. Probably your cool water delayed them. Whitei fry and even other annual fry can water incubate (Dan Katz has a whole program about that in the AKA dvd sales.) and hatch normal fry. Whitei and constancae are two of the ones that do it the most. There is so much we do not know about these fish. You should join the AquariumHobbyHistoricalSociety on the yahoo groups. Many of the greatest names in the hobby are there as regular posters. Their archives are fantastic -- take a long look. Well worth it and you'd really appriecate it.

Bobby
 
Thanks for the tip Bobby. I'll see if I can find this group.

These spendopleure are still doing well and I think the females are likely ready to breed now(but they are still far smaller than the adult female is). It seems that some fry are still managing to survive even with all these juvies running around.

The nigripinnis look like little juveniles now but no sign of sexing out quite yet. I think the bag is about ready for a rewet(not like I need more fish but perhaps some others would like any extra pairs/males I end up with).

How are you doing yourself Bobby? How long till the big move to NY?

Interesting on the water incubation thing. Is it possible then to spawn whitei/constanciae/whatever in mops and water incubate them? Guess this is to make use of the pools if they stay wet for a long period of time.
 
Took some photos of this tanks inhabitants again.

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Young male, biggest one. Finnage coming along nicely

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And a female to accompany him.

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Little one(most likely female) looking for some tidbits(Hikari First Bites)

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Younger male.

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And the Big Daddy. Right now being his usual uncooperative self. Such a ham :wink:

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About as much as he let me do. The only reason he was out was to get his share of food.

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Anyone in for a duckweed pie? This ten gallon produces crazy amounts of this stuff.
 
Now, if anubias just grew as fast as duckweed.

Bobbby
 
  • #10
Hehe, that would be great if it did. The Anubias is growing faster than it did in the 46 gallon(I think it is because of warmth). I've been considering dividing it once it spans the whole driftwood. Can't see it in any of those photos but a few leaves stick above the waters surface. If I had a few Rivulus in here maybe they would like to bask on those leaves.

And this is for you/Dustin.
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My rack and all of its glory. That 10 gallon fixture you see there is not normally there...was trying to take photos of the Elassoma. Normally this is on the 10 gallon below it(Aphyosemion splendopleure tank).

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(Yes, that is a salad box on the coffee table). Not a permanent spot but I move stuff their to look closer at em. You can see one of the BBS hatchers here...off as I'm in the process of harvesting those little buggers.

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Lower part of the rack. This is mainly for my blackworms and a few newts down here. Prolly a little too chilly for most fish except maybe the Austrolebias. You can also see a vinegar eel culture(which I have not used at all so far) and a few gallons of peat tea which I saved...again not sure if this will become useful.

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The dining table occasionally gets used too(again, nice place to move stuff if you want to look at it). The white dishpan, btw, is the new home of some of my Aust. nigripinnis. The salad box in the back was where they were originally. With this new space to stretch I'm sure they will continue growing fast. I think some are sexing out and if my method of sexing(length/width of dorsal and anal fin differences) is correct I have both sexes. While I am pretty sure my parents are strict I am grateful that they tolerate all this pretty well. If computer orvideogames was my prime indoor interest they'd be spared this I'm sure.

Posting this here as I thought it might generate some interesting discussion.
 
  • #11
I can't take good tank photos but here is one. Yes, the glass could use some cleaning ;)
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Well, I found a little trick to get these guys to show their stuff more. A mirror in the tank.

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You can see by his reflection that he is showing off for the mirror. It is amusing watching them get frustrated...they would clamp their fins and "shimmy" and turn and see that their rival thought nothing of it :lol:

Since I did a bit of trimming the dominate male has been out a bit more. He surprised me by coming to take a look at his reflection in the mirror. These photos do him no justice. This pose is him in between bouts of doing that "shimmying" display that is hard to describe...but anyone who's kept these probably knows what I mean.
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  • #12
Hi N,

Is the surface at all clear in this tank and is it clear in the nigripinnis tank? Is there any filtration/water movement? That thick layer of duckweed bothers me as the fish look a bit stressed.

Bobby
 
  • #13
The surface has a layer of duckweed on it as in the photos but the water itself is clear. No filtration/water movement as of now.

In life, the fish look alert, active, and are busy feeding/chasing each other around. To my eye they don't look like they are showing any sign of stress. What do you see in the photos?

I found the group on Yahoo you mentioned previously and will probably join to take a peek. Did your talk on killifish history get help/start in there?

~Joseph
 
  • #14
Hi N,

The gills look a bit enlarged or distended. The water looks good and maybe the plants produce enough O2 but I worry about the level of CO2 at night. I'd get alot of the duckweed out, leaving some but also keeping 1/2 of the surface clear. I think its a risky set-up. I have seen tanks crash because of duckweed. Even an airhose gently bubbling would make a big difference in protecting things.

We did discuss some of the killie history there but not alot. You will be amazed at all the things that have been discussed. One member made a cd of all his articles starting in the 50's -- 100's and charged $4 for a copy. Just lots and lots of great stuff. All the old time AKA'ers are there. This week has been a discussion of foods and unfiltered tanks. Check the archives! You will love it I promise.

Bobby
 
  • #15
Hi Bobby,

I think the gills in that photo are like that due to the mirror which he was challenging.

I will get to removing most of it today. On the duckweed causing a tank to crash, is that because the duckweed died? Also will see to directing an airline into the tank. www.dallaskillifish.com has a cool topic on a DIY film canister filter which might be worth trying.

Currently membership is pending for the group.

Thanks for the info!
~Joseph
 
  • #16
Hi N,

No, it just blocks so much of the surface transference of O2 and CO2 that the tank's life support crashes. It can be ok but I would hate for you to loose all your hard work. I almost lost N. symoensi once to a duckweed blanket.

I'll check out the dallas site.

Bobby
 
  • #17
I've cleared off most of the duckweed and so far the fish do not seem to mind.

Checked on the male and his gills are indeed slightly distended, as in his first photo. None of the little ones are showing this. What kind of stress causes this?

~Joseph
 
  • #18
Hi N,

Not sure but I'm betting "panting".

Bobby
 
  • #19
Could be, but he is not breathing hard. On closer inspection it appears that only one side is down like that, the other side is normal.
 
  • #20
Hi N,

I notice it starts in the fry around the second week if I do not begin bubbling air in by then. They start hanging near the surface way too much.

Bobby
 
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