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Fundulopanchax sjoestedti

  • #61
Hi Nflytrap and Dustin,

great news on the eggs. There may be more eggs in there so redry and wait 3-4 weeks and try again. This idea of putting a smaller container of peat into a larger hatching container is brilliant. I will steal it -- why didn't I think of it years ago?! You're research paid off well! Good job.

The fry can hatch out over 2-5 days so wait a bit. After day three start adding small amounts of hard water and you're on your way. Feed bbs twice a day. Keep the water clean. 20 fry will be fine in 2-4 gallons of water for 2 weeks easily. After that move them water and all to a bigger tank. Just pour the contents into the larger tank and start filling it up over time. You may want to add a tsp of salt per 2-3 gallons to help you. Dissolve it first and pour it in. Good luck.

I have P. velifera and petenensis as far as mollies. Mollies need room, many water changes -- big ones -- like 75% twice a week, good strong filters and tons of feedings. They do not need salt. Give them protein foods (worms, shrimp, etc) and veggies. Mollies are demanding because they require as clean of water and the room that discus need. Most people won't put that much trouble into livebearers. Latipinna is the hardest molly to keep healthy. Petenensis and shenops types are the easiest.

Bobby
 
  • #62
Hate to bring bad news but the kafuensis fry from this batch all dissapeared on Sat/Sun. The water developed a film which I find really unusual. Its fortunate both for in the wild when the rains come at the wrong time and in the ownership of a first time killikeeper that some of the eggs choose to wait longer.
smile.gif


I have 2 options as far as wetting goes. Either wet the 'Chunga' I was originally planning to trade out or wait 3-4 weeks and give the Kayuni ZAM 97/9 another shot.

I'm thinking that perhaps I added a bit too many BBS(not too sure what is considered the correct amount but I hatched a tiny sprinkle of eggs and was unable to harvest all of them). The fry looked well fed. Have you ever tried putting a light on one side to draw the BBS to a single area to better keep track of numbers? Someone on killitalk suggested adding salt to the hatching tank...which according to him lengthened the BBS lifespan to one day in the water.

Another possibility(seems less likely)would be perhaps eggs that came in with the BBS. My harvesting skills/method was far from perfect.

Some things to change.
1. I had a small airpump running which perhaps was not needed as I noticed it made feeding a bit more difficult.

2.Feeding: I'll definetly have to cut down on feeding for these first 3 days.

3. Or perhaps even practically eliminate feeding and let the fry live off of Java moss microfauna?

4. On the other hand...I've got a daphnia tub in high gear right now(everyone, esp. pygmy sunfish love them). I've heard you can put daphnia into fry tanks and the parthenogenically produced baby daphnia would provide food. Comments? This carries the risk of introducing hydra but the tub which is manageable size is clean to my knowledge.

5. Water changes: I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the fry to do small water changes with mostly distilled water before the 3 days.

Suggestions would be most helpful!

~Joseph
 
  • #63
Hi Joseph,

Sorry to hear this but raising fry is a learning curve.

1. Get the air out of there. You definitely do not want that at all yet.

2. it is ok to add 1 tsp per gallon of rock salt/aquarium salt to the hatching water.

3. The film will develop. Use a plain paper towel gently laid on the surface and then pulled across the top to rid the water of the film.

4. Feed green water for 2 days.

5. Feed bbs 2 times a day and just enough to make the bellies of the fry orange.

6. Add snails after day 2 or 3.

7. to help siphon bbs, take the airstone out of the hatching jar and put a flashlight or lamp next to it and the bbs will run to the light. Get a piece of rigid airline size plastic tubing used in UG filter lift tubes and attach airline to it to use as a fine siphon to siphon the shrimp out into a shrimp net or hankerchef. Restart the bbs cultures every day alternating 2 jars so you always have some.

8. hatch the fry in at least a gallon of water. Don't let them get cooler than 72-74. Shine a light on the fry daily to check for the golden sheen of velvet disease.

9. small water changes are fine. I'd use a mix of 50% RO and 50% harder water.

10. I put adult daphnia in my fry tanks after 3-5 days to produce babies and to filter the water organically.

11. Use lots of najas and java moss in hatching container.

12. Go ahead and hatch the Chunga and see and then try the Kayuni again in a month. The guy I gave my Mambova peat to had a big hatch on the second wetting and even sent some of the peat to Bulgaria.

Raising fry is getting the feel of it over time. Better to underfeed a bit as long as bellies look orange and better to hatch in more rather than less water. Don't add air for at least 2 weeks. Just start adding small amounts of fresh water after day 3. Keeping trying, you will get it. I will try to get the book I copied off to you. I have just been so busy and now my car is in the shop.

Bobby
 
  • #64
Thanks for the advice! I will keep you updated on how things go.

Should the fry have food in front of them most of the time but in small amounts?
 
  • #65
Hi Joseph,


Not necessarily, especially when you are just learning. BBS live for a while in fresh water and I have found that 2 feedings a day keep the fry fat throughout the day. With the plants they find other little bugs to eat if hungry. Killie fry do not process food as fast as livebearers or tetras or cichlids -- at least most do not. Let the orange color of the bellies once they start eating bbs tell you. Feed them before school and late afternoon and you should be fine.

Bobby
 
  • #66
Im going to have to print off that check list from bobby! Thats some great info to have handy!

Im assuming my mollies are the Latipinna, as you said "Latipinna is the hardest molly to keep healthy!"

I've inserted a pic of them below, im sure you cant tell much from the photo except they are still fry
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Do the fry require 75% water changes like the adults?

Good Luck on your next hatch Joeseph!
Thanks for all the Info Bobby!


mollys3_1_05.jpg
 
  • #67
Thanks for the excellent info as always Bobby! Hope I do better with the next batch(which I should be starting today or tomorrow).

Maylandi: What kind of container is that in the background? I have lots of yogurt tubs running around here...really useful-whether for waterchanges, moving fish, or temp housing of critters/live foods.

Your mollies should be latipinna-cute little things. Can't help you on the question but I'd think the fry would also need sizeable waterchanges because they eat alot(these also don't quite look like fry anymore).
 
  • #68
Hi
smile.gif


The container is Corn Meal for micro worm cultures. The container they are in is a 2 or 3 gal. "Critter Keeper"

"these also don't quite look like fry anymore)."
That raises a good question - At what age / size / etc --- well What determines Fry, Juvy, Adult? I assumed they were still tiny, so they were fry? Ive been giving them 75 - 80% water changes, and that sponge filter is huge for the tank, so that should help.

Im going to get a large turkey baster and start cleaning out hornwart mulm soon as well as extra sunken food. Do either of you tak the time to do this, or am i doing it the long way? I have heard of using a net and swishing it around, but im afraid of grabbing small fry or those pygmy sunfish accidently.


Hope all goes well with your next egg attempt, keep us posted!
biggrin.gif


Thanks
Dustin
 
  • #69
Update on the Chunga:

At first-it didn't seem like anybody had hatched-but I left it for 5 days as you suggested. I removed the bowl of peat and while looking for fry spotted maybe 3 or so-all belly sliders. Not a very good hatch. Dunno if it is worthwhile to try to raise up bellysliders(I've heard they can breed, but then is it enviromental or genetic?). I've got daphnia in the critter keeper and while I'm unsure if the bellysliders will feed successfully I think if anything they might be good practice.

Reading done over Killitalk and other forums seems to say the general school(s)...of thought are.

1. Fry unable to take gulp of air to fill swimbladders.(which doesn't work logically as killies don't have a mouth to swim bladder opening and therefore the O2 must be diffused in from the blood).

2. Something went wrong during incubation-too early hatching, too late, temp flunctuations?

3. Fry not getting enough 02 in the water(supposedly corrected using "02" tablets.

Would there be any harm in using a ten gallon tank for hatching the fry or would it be too difficult to get enough food to the fry?

Thoughts appreciated

~Joseph
 
  • #70
Maylandi and nflytrap,

You probably have latipinna fry. From the picture I'd say keep the water changes up as their fins were folded. Plus with mollies you need alot of food to get good grown and good fin development. Mollies just need alot of care which nis why they nhave lost popularity. Water quality is the #1 concern. I need to weed out mine as I have too many petenensis. I have these huge barely developed male veliferas that will not go all the way and develop color and fins. I guess the developed male is inhibiting them.

I think bellysliders are from hatching eggs too early or too late. People say adding O2 tablets, peat tea or just freshly boiled peat moss will result in better hatches and fry. I never do it but others swear by it.

Bellysliders can mature and breed and have healthy fry. Keep them in water with a low level and keep them clean.

A 10 gallon with 2-3 inches of water for hatching would be fine. The fry will find the bbs.

My symoensi are all cleared up and looking great -- only 1 died from the velvet. Now for eggs. The Mambova have colored up but too many males. They are so pretty -- red red red. Lots of blue on the sides and those big dorsals. I must have 100 calabarica now. I decided to keep breeding the lacortei and arnoldi too. I have a great male mezzie sword sexing out -- a real big boy.

I'll be in NYC in 2 weeks so I am hoping to see my old buddy LaCorte and maybe pick up spomething new and nice. We will see.

Bobby
 
  • #71
Not too sure whats going on in the 2 gallon critter keeper due to the fact that the fry are bellysliders. They must be finding lots of microrganisms to eat. I'll stir in a tiny amount of microworms just in case.

Also, how many adult nothos(assuming they are not something like orthonotus) would one house in a ten gallon tank comfortably?

I actually used some peat tea with this hatch as I thought that it wouldn't hurt.

Great news on all the things hapening right now! Spring is coming and I hope to perhaps try some monty fry or whatever fry I have laying around by that time in the small pond outside. Do you think Nothos would like being outdoors in tubs when in July when the water temp would constantly be above 70 or so? The Mambova you've raised are the "intermediate" form right? Dunno if perhaps anyone is having problems with extra females ever? Looks like you will be able to get the calabrica spread around
smile.gif
. My monties have been doing very well-I'll have to get you some update photos.

Hope that the NYC trip goes well. I noticed in the AKA videos section a video by Lacorte titled"My 60 years in the hobby". By the title it sounds like it would be very informative.

Would you possibly be able to keep a lookout on a few things I may be interested in?

Hope to hear back from you soon!
~Joseph
 
  • #72
Bobby -

I never really noticed but your right their fins are folded most of the time. Is that a water condition problem? Maybe I should move them to a bigger tank, right now they are in a 2.5 gal critter keeper. Does the size of tank also determine growth rates?
confused.gif
I dont want to kill them off, no chance of gettin the wild strain again any time soon... I mostly feed them micro worms and flakes - should I be feeding something different?

Joe - Wish I could help you but Im learing right along with
smile.gif


Thanks for all the Help Guys!
biggrin.gif


Dustin
 
  • #74
Dustin and Joe,

Dustin, get the mollies into a 10 at least and add live baby brine shrimp to the diet. With microworms you have to be good at water changing as they do create bacteria blooms. Mollies hate nitrAtes. Feed the guys 2-3 times a day. Feed them tiny pieces of everything they will eat but get the bbs or at least de-capped bs cysts from <brineshrimpdirect.com> They will eat the de-capped but unhatched sinking cheaper cysts. Killies really will not but mollies will. What is the temp.? 77-82F works best for mollies in tanks. Put snails in there to clean stuff up. With good food and room you will get good fish. Space does effect growth even with water changes. You get bigger fish in roomier tanks. Folded fins are a water problem! The fish will not grow well if the fins stay folded. Maybe a tsp of salt per gallon would be good right now but not for always. Salt kills bacteria which helps the water quality which is why people started using it as a cure-all back in the 1920's. It helps the symptoms but masks the real cause.

All the fish, Joe, will like a summer outside but be sure the Nothos get enough food as they are finicky and no fast water movement. You can have around 3-5 pairs of Nothos in a 10 but with male aggression you may find a male and 2-4 females to be best. Orthonotus are bullies and even kafuensis are pushy. Symoensi are pretty calm. (MMMM mine look good again being all purply orange.) The main thing with room is male aggression and water quality.

Did you redry the eggs again? The Mambova peat I hatched and then gave a guy here hatched 40 more fry after a month plus he collected 40 more eggs from it and sent them to Bulgaria. He still sees eggs in the peat. It was a peat from 1 male and 3 females spawning for a month -- could be 100's. I hope you get better results soon.

Rosario LaCorte was my mentor as a kid from the time I was 12. He started in the hobby in the 40's and used to keep 200 tanks -- as just a hobby -- breeding around 60 species of fish. He is the world's expert on breeding characins and is one of the legendary killie guys. He has collected in Brazil 8 times and has 2 fish named for him. He is in his 70's now and keeps 100 tanks in his basement. He has several species of rare Madagascar Rainbows. Hopefully, I will get some treats. He owes me blue gularis eggs from his superior strain. What are you looking for -- gardneri?

Bobby
 
  • #75
Yep: I've redried both Chunga and Kayuni eggs. I think a few Kayuni eggs have eyed upand didn't hatch earlier or have recently eyed up. Hope this hatch is better and I'm more successful.

Wow-100 tanks. I was thinking of some kind of coolwater SAA eggs to try. A Chromaphyosemion species would be great too but either one or the other.

The pygmy sunfish(elassoma. not the bluespotteds) look like they may breed soon. When I woke up today the male was a pitch black with dusky fins...and blue bars on his side-breeding colors. He displayed to the female using a pretty unusual courtship display which involved zigzagging and moving back and forth with the pelvic fins making a walking motion. Female seems plump so hopefully they'll spawn soon.

Pretty cool that this guy taught you the ropes to the hobby an onward when you were around my age. Did he live close to you or stay in contact via letters or something similar?

Hope to hear back from you soon.

~Joseph
 
  • #76
Hi,

Wow, Yeah I have seen pics of LaCorte's basement, very nice
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And if I remember right, his sunroom is full of tanks too!

I will definetly get them into a ten gallon by the weekend. I've been so busy lately Im doing good to have a few mins to send msgs online (its currently 1:27 AM here... taking away from sleep haha)

I was unaware that microworms could cause bacteria blooms.. Could they cause popeye? I have a maylandi that eats alot of micros that has it currently, one of only a few that have it. I am unsure about the temp, being in a critter keeper, they are unheated. Room temp is about 70 degrees. I will remedy that with the 10 gallon. *I really need to clean the basement to use as a fishroom!*

That is cool that you can call him your mentor - not many people can do that
smile.gif


Thanks Guys!
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  • #77
Thought I'd give you an update...

Popped the 'Kayuni' Zam 97/9 into the ten gallon tank and after a few days(dunked on Fri or Sat if I remember right) I've got 4-5 normal fry and a couple bellysliders. They all appear to be doing well on BBS and are growing quickly it seems. Ten gallon tank was definetly a plus, and as you said the fry are able to find the BBS-funny they only have vision that goes around 3 inches though.

Also, thanks to maylandi, I've got a membership in the AKA! Also have got those redworms which should be arriving tomorrow.

The montezumae juvies I raised over here are starting to sex out, I get at least 1 more female(for a total of 4). Since Dustine wants some of these the little juvies running around right now will be his(when his fishroom is up and running).

The everglades pygmy sunfish now have a few fry swimming around in the critter keeper-boy are they tiny. Too small for BBS-they do try to attack them though.

Bluespotted sunfish male is showing some breeding colors-he's looking really nice and has probably doubled in size since last fall. Female shows no interest in spawning though. According to some sites/personal conversation with the original owner they breed from April-August(or for the owner start breeding in May).

Hope to hear back soon
~Joseph
 
  • #78
Hello,

Well, I made it to nyc and back in one piece. Seeing Rosario again was fun. As usual, he had some fine fish. His large pair of red shouldered severums were stunning. He had about 6 different species of Madagascar rainbows that were very different looking -- very checkerboard. Tetras were everywhere. There was a new white finned rosey tetra type. Some amazing congo tetra species. The Barbus barroides (spelling) were gorgeous -- 2 tanks full of young too. I saw the new Simpsonichthys carlettoi -- color like magnigficus but body/fins like antenori. We went to a local shop that had a few goodies too.

My fish all made it on just 2 feedings. I had fed them well the week before on blackworms and cleaned all the filters and changed all the water. They sparkled when I got back. Now it is time to breed! The symoensi look great -- purple, blue and orange. The mambova are nice although I miss I had more females. They are all intermediate unlike the others that were all red.

Welcome to the AKA -- you will love it. Maylandi is a good guy. Glad to hear the monties are producing girls. My unspotted female managed to drop a few before expiring. I sure hope they put size on the spotted ones in time.

I am overrun with petenensis. How are the latipinna fry, Dustin? The fins looking better?

My little pair of A. nigripinnis made it and the male is getting black. These are great fish.

I hope the kafuensis fry are still doing well. Most peats throw a few bellysliders. Any gularis eggs?

popeye usually means dirty water and/or lack of water changes -- especially with killies and livebearers. They just need lots of fresh water. Its a pain but it is the secret. They are fish that like it clean but not sterile. You should see the mollies go now that their eheims are clean -- amazing difference. I have a male velifera that is 5 inches long and 2 inches thick. He has his gonopodium but won't develop the sailfin. My god, when he does. He will be a king.

Bobby
 
  • #79
Hi Bobby!

Glad to see you had a nice safe trip. Its really neat to know Rosario has all kinds of rare and new species. In the last three months I have realized the HUGE gap between real hobbyists and the regular 10 gal fish keepers. Its amazing.

Thanks for the endorsement ;) Joe really needed the membership, as much as he has helped me along its the least I could do.

The sailfins perked up when I put them in a 10 gal (night after you told me that, i bought a 10 gal special and moved them - thanks for the info AS ALWAYS!) They have fins up and are growing right along. IM going to move them into a 29 gal as soon as the fishroom is up and running. Ive setup a smal fishroom in the basement with a flow through system - fresh water into the aquariums and overflow to the sump. Since were on a country well, there is no reason as this time to use a central filter. Ill put a sponge in each tank as real filtration. 7 - 29 gals & 32 - 10 gals. unsure on 5.5s and 2.5s - but there is room for those as well as an estimated 20 fry boxes.

Ive been keeping up with the water changes for now, that made a huge difference ;)

Have any pics of hte Velifera? Sounds like a great looking fish!


Hope all is well
biggrin.gif


Dustin
 
  • #80
Great to hear your trip went well! Rosario has a nice selection of fish! I think I read an article on Barbus barroides in either AFM or TFH, forgot which. I'll hope that Simp. carlettoi gets distributed-it sounds like a very nice fish. Did the nigripinnis come from Rosario?

Good luck with the kafuensis and symoensi! My fry are still doing well(but only have 2). They are larger than cooked grains of rice and eat BBS like no tomorrow.They grow quite fast and it seems I can see size differences before and after school each day...hehehe. I originally had maybe 6 but lost them one by one until I upped the concentration of salt-perhaps velvet? I think its almost time to try something bigger on them. I'm hoping they will turn out to be a pair-one is a bit bigger than the other.

I haven't gotten eggs from the gularis-hate to say this but I lost the female in an accident.
smile_o_32.gif
Real sad as she was a nice looking female compared to many photos I've seen. I will definetly try to see if I can umm...re-pair this guy up.
I noticed some auctions on Aquabid featuring not only Dwarf Red but something called Dwarf blue(showed a small fish sporting normal blue and orange but the tail lacked the "streamers"). I've heard Dwarf Red is no smaller than normal blue gularis. Has anyone tried selecting for a smaller, more colorful fish but with long streamers unlike the dwarf strains? I dunno how you would go about this though. Choosing smaller fish from a batch could mean choosing the less vigorous ones.

Wow! And I thought the 3 inch latipinna I saw at the LFS were large. I'll be he'll be a stunner.

Hope all is well for you and I'll keep you updated on these kafuensis
smile.gif


~Joseph
 
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