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Austrolebias nigripinnis'Villa Soriano'

  • Thread starter Nflytrap
  • Start date
  • #21
Hello Bobby,

How much room do you usually give young fry? I also recall somewhere you mentioned you once bred 100's of australe and blue gularis at around this time in life. How did you go about it? I'm guessing that needed a LOT of tanks/tubs. Did you ever try any outdoor experiments? These gardneri fry seem to show alot of promise as far as outdoor life is concerned.

I "found" a new foodsource for a few killies...springtails. Figured out how to use a soupstrainer to seperate them out of the worm bin. The splendopleure go nuts over them...sorta funny to observe the springs running over the surface and then dissapearing. Just for amusement I found a little male nigripinnis who was very plump and satisfied in my blackworm container. She must have been missed when I was moving some fry out of it. Curious I took him out and swapped him for one of my females. She seems to like it in there and is plump and looks happy. She will get a go in the breeding tank soon.


~Joseph
 
  • #22
those are some beautiful killis , i have wanted killis but have no local source and besides know little about them , but the breeder i met and saw his op had alot of tubs like shoebox size, so i assume ya do not need lots of water for killi, will the do well in a community tank or is it best to have them in stagnant water ? where does one get the eggs , fry or adults for a reasonble price ?
 
  • #23
Hi N,

Yes, I had around a 100 tanks when I was mass producing gularis. As far as fry, I leave new born fry up to about a 100 in a 3-4 gallon plastic storage box for the first 2-3 weeks -- depending on the species. I keep several snails in there and plants. I am adding water over those 2 weeks to fill it up after hatching so water changes are not needed. I sometimes add an airline going very slowly after a week and definitely after 2 weeks. From there the fry go into 10-30 gallon tanks with slow moving corner filters and lots of plants and the water changes start then. I'd give a 100 fry a 30 gallon after 5-6 weeks. You can use less but I'm giving you the ideal. With less space change water more.

I think outdoor raising would work great. Just keep the predators away. Killies raised outside have intense color and grow much faster. Start the fry off inside and when they are just starting to sex out put them outside. Of course, keep some inside for back-up.
 
  • #24
Hello Bobby,

The fry are outdoors in a large dishpan(est. 2-3 gallons) and appear to be doing great. I found they will eat newly hatched mosquito larvae so that simplifies feeding them alot...just scoop up some rafts into a container, let them hatch, and then give em to the fish.

Would an outdoor "pen" be a possibility? I'm imagining that once they get to a certain size you could use PVC piping or some other connectable plastic objects to make a frame and then tie some kind of netting around it. This I would put in my large pond. Of course it would have a lid of some sort ;)(maybe screening) They'd be safe from predators, easy to feed and catch, and yet take advantage of the enviroment in the pond. If you're having trouble visualizing it think of salmon farm pens but on a smaller scale and of course much less densely stocked.
 
  • #25
[b said:
Quote[/b] (PhreekinSundewMan @ May 19 2006,4:42)]those are some beautiful killis , i have wanted killis but have no local source and besides know little about them , but the breeder i met and saw his op had alot of tubs like shoebox size, so i assume ya do not need lots of water for killi, will the do well in a community tank or is it best to have them in stagnant water ? where does one get the eggs , fry or adults for a reasonble price ?
Their are 100's of species of killifish so their isn't much of a general way to answer the question. Some kinds will work in a community but it is best to keep them by themselves. If you are interested in a lot of information the American Killifish Association is the way to go. They have a website(www.aka.org) a mailing list(Killitalk) where you can talk to other killifish hobbyists, a forum(not very active as most prefer the list) and other resources. If you are truly interested in killifish then joining the org. is definetly worthwhile. Without being in the AKA finding killifish can be tricky but you need to find people who keep them who can direct you to others or have spares themselves. I've seen 3 species that pop up in petstores on the occasion...Aplocheilus lineatus, Jordanella floridae, and Aplocheilus panchax. Lampeyes also appear on the occasion. www.aquabid.com offers many killifish but can be quite expensive
 
  • #26
Hi N,

I think a pen would work but I'm not sure it is necessary unless you think they'd be eaten otherwise. Alot of killie guys have raised killies outside in ponds in the summer but they were in killie only ponds. With good flow through netting the pen should be ok.

Don't let the covered dishpan get too warm as the killies will go down hill fast. Great idea on the egg rafts -- very Jorgen Scheel of you.

I may be off line for a while with the move on top of me but if so I will be back.
 
  • #27
Let me know how the move goes. A lot of lucky people are hanging out in Tampa FL right now...

I worry that if I simply turn the killifish loose into the pond I may never be able to catch them back...the pond I am eyeing is est 2000 or so gallons and is densely planted. I dunno if goldfish would eat them but their are almost certainly dragonfly larvae in the pond...the big ones that are a danger could be excluded using the pen idea.
 
  • #28
Bobby, you back from the move yet? Things have been going as usual here. A few of the nigripinnis have keeled over, seemed to just lose vitality and go downhill. These were the early maturing ones. A few late bloomers are left. I've got eggs to full around with though.
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On the 'Misaje' the biggest problem with these is keeping them wet! I always wondered how people could let their fish jump out but now raising some I can see how it can happen. The adults are fine but the juveniles jump alot especially when being transported. Put 3 in a yogurt tub to put them in another tank, turn around, and one male has probably jumped out. A few of the larger ones outside in the dishpan jumped out and in this weather turned into fish crispies pretty fast
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...but the rest seem content to stay until their pen is set up. I think I've got 2 dozen running around between tanks and fry pop up occasionally. Egg viability goes up and down and perhaps temperatures have something to do with it? I've given one pair to my Grandmother as a sort of Bday present(as I said earlier in my story she keeps several fish tanks and in fact still has an empty ten gallon itching for something). They get no live foods there but based on their growth these past few weeks they should do well and breed.

I've been considering and would like to dedicate more resources to one or two species and really get to know them...of which Fp. gardneri 'Misaje' is one. I think that one skill I am bad at is raising large quantities of fry. I can raise small numbers like a dozen or two dozen but anything larger usually shrinks to that point, possibly due to not always directing all my efforts towards these big batches. I'm betting you learned a lot during the times you raise australes and SJO in quantity.

Best Wishes, and hope this move is progressing smoothly.
~Joseph
 
  • #30
Very Cool!
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How are these doing???
 
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