What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Fundulopanchax sjoestedti

  • #21
I think I'm over the hump with the microworms. One culture went moldy but the rest seem fine and I am starting as many as possible for shotgun. Plus, the baby monties like them
smile.gif
One of the new ones has worms assaulting towards the top so it looks like I have the problem solved
Let me know when this stuff goes out. I wonder what this book is about?
 
  • #22
I think I know why N. symoensi is your favorite notho...

Just one of the photos I found.
http://images.killi.net/s....798.jpg

Resembles N. kafuensis in many ways and is kinda like how I envision chunga to look like with its orange body markings.
 
  • #23
Hi Nflytrap,


Well, not only did you find a photo of symoensi but you found a photo of one hatched from eggs I sent to Tony two years ago so you are looking at mine. That is a young male. The belly area is not light like that. That's the camera. It is all orange/blue/purple. They are gorgeous. They are cloesly related to kafuensis as are sp. caprivii and the legendary and gorgeous polli. I need to set mine up for the next generation.

I lost my one female zonatus to dropsey this week. This leaves me with one batch of eggs to wait 6 months to hatch. I hope I am lucky.

Bobby
 
  • #24
Bummer on the zonatus. Heheh...small world eh? Tony apparently takes lots of killifish photos.

Have you kept N. sp. caprivi? The photo in the article makes them out to be light colored fish with ice blue tones
smile.gif


Have you received your box back? Also, have you sent out the items yet?

Btw, I've seen several threads on growing "grindalworms on poly". Kinda unsure what it is but it looks like they are keeping grindals in a sponge or something similar. Sounds interesting-and would probably make harvesting clean worms without dirt easier...LOL

The blue gularis male is just getting more and more finnage-he's gorgeous. I can't tell if he's getting larger, but he's definetly got some new extensions on his ventral fins. He's out in the open(what little open we have-gotta do some mega Najas trimming!) pretty much all the time now. Same for the female. A few lucky guests who saw him were quite impressed. They are also quite interested in the annual eggs thing. They've been spawning like crazy lately.

Yet another question about hatching baby brine shrimp. Is there any risk, particularly with the 2 liter soda bottle method, with the pump backfilling?

Thanks!
~Joseph
 
  • #25
Hi Guys~

Joseph invited me to this board from another. Wow what a wealth of information in this thread!

Im just getting back into the hobby, I had to stop last year due to work... Anyway when I stopped last year I had two pair of killes, they laid eggs, and i think had no time, so i put them all in my 129 gal planted. Well i guess something happened because I no longer have them.

Joseph you said "I cannot bring myself to use killifish spawning and CP growing medium as redworm food. " in one of the replys.

What is a CP ?

I see you two have talked abotu microworms and using bread. I had a culture for over a year, and never used bread. I used oatmeal mixed with baby cereal and pinch of yeast.. worked well until i let them go to long *landlording is very demanding
smile_h_32.gif
* and they also died off... More comming next week.

Also I seen a picture of your 46 bow w/o as much najas - the Monties are very beautiful! I never seen them in a tank like that... well actually the only place I had seen them was aquabid - and then they are to expensive for me.

I just joined the aka last week *just found out tonight, forgot i did it last week while ill* so ill let you know how that goes
smile.gif
.

Are the dvd's the aka offers a good product for the price? I plan to learn more about the northos and then try a pair or so.

Anyway - Im going to re-read some of this thread - lots of info ;) - and checkout killies.com..

Thanks again for pointing me to this forum - great to meet other hobbyist that arent just cashing in on newbies!

Happy Holidays!

Dustin
 
  • #26
Hi Nfly and Maylandi,

I had a nice hatch of kafuensis Mambova fry and I think there are alot more undeveloped eggs in the peat. I'd guess I have 30-40 fry. They eating well. I will be watching these closely with my run of unexplainable bad luck lately. I need to collect the Nanzhila peat today too.

I have never seen sp. Caprivi. It is suppose to be just a kafuensis variety. It looks like a good looking fish.

All my symoensi are looking great. They are a gorgeous fish. The males are nice and round with that deep purplish orange body color.

Glad to hear the gularis are showing their stuff. The male will continue to improve for the next 6-9 months. Wait until he is mature with all his finnage and color. I have the male I'm using for breeding. he has turned into a winner.

I lost all the red picta and they were red. They just started dying this week in the monty tank. The monties are just fine as are all the corys and angels. Weird, weird, weird. No disease signs just dead.

I got the box and will ship next week sometime.

Never used the poly for worms. My grindals are doing great but now I have extra bugs in there. Time for new cultures to be started.

Yes, water can backfill into your bbs hatchers. You'll want to get a check value or loop the air line tubing several times or place the pump above the tanks and jars -- the gravity protection
smile.gif
.

Welcome aboard Maylandi -- after the cobalt zebra?

You should enjoy the AKA. What area of the country are you in? There may be a local club in your area.

The AKA dvd's can be excellent. Bob Morenski's program on Nothos is very good. All the Brian Watters Notho programs are good but are on collecting not breeding like Morenski's. Charlie Nuziata's is probably good as Charlie is an excellent hobbyist but I have not seen it.

Killies don't do well in big tanks. They like quieter, smaller areas except for a few big species. Nothos hate big power filtered tanks. They like just a tiny flow of bubbles from a corner filter.

Read the monty threads too as there is lots of info there as well as on the kafuensis thread. Nflytrap and I have talked alot.

Bobby
 
  • #27
Maylandi is actually standing for poecilia maylandi-a golden colored livebearer. He got them from someone in the ALA-did a google and they are very interesting looking fish.

I think the female gularis may have come down with some kind of popeye. Rather odd. I think it may have been due to constant attention of the male, so I decided to move her back to the ten gallon and leave the now quite bored male in the 46 gallon. What happened to the gold marble angel that contracted popeye some time ago? I'm not sure if I'm imagining it but the males three pronged tail seems to be getting longer too. I will take some shots and compare to older photos to find out.

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Hopefully this batch of Mambova will turn out nicely for you
smile.gif


This is pretty brief but gotta go!
~Joseph
 
  • #28
Hi Nflytrap,

On popeye, change half of the water every day and cut out the bloodworms for a while. You can also add 1 tsp of Epson Salt per gallon to the water. You might try Melifix too. Popeye is hard to cure. I lost the angel. You are seeing why killies are tricky and why most keepers of them are breeders. Until you get your own line going with extra fish around it is easy to loose a member of a pair. Luckily female gularis are easy to find if you need one. Alan Barber in LA has a great strain so if the need arrises I will send you to him.

Ah, maylandi mollies -- basically liberty type mollies.

The little Mambova are doing great and there are a bunch. They are eating bbs like pigs.

Bobby
 
  • #29
Sounds good on the Mambova. Yeah, killies seem to be high turnover rate, but it seems like the females are the most affected-I feel like it might have been kinda my fault for leaving them together for too long. If we discover the secret of sex ratios perhaps we could skew the spawns to get the ratio to 2 females per 1 male-which would help with the apparent female burnout. Has anyone tried culling for "tougher" fish? I will get to work on the female ASAP and hope for the best-funny that I did a 50% waterchange for her today.

Do you know anyone who keeps gardneri, striatums or a similar small killifish? I would like to keep one of the smaller Fp. or Aphy. species. I'd be interested particularly in one of the less common locations or strains(for some reason N'sukka and Misaje seem to have taken over so it would be nice to be able to see if anyone is interested in the rest or not-that would be Lafia, P82, Akure, Baissa etc. etc.). I've heard Chromaphyosemion bivittatum 'Benin City' is relatively simple, though from the looks of the genus I seriously doubt thats totally true.

Daphnia are really amusing in some frustrating ways. No need to send over a starter of those as one of the empty dishpans produced a few all of a sudden-I believe in spontaneous generation! LOL

The pictures of P. maylandi made me think they were more akin to limias than mollies-speaking of that how are the melanogaster?

The recycle bin filled with a bit of potting mix and papery bits is nearly ready-it just needs worms. LOL

Hope things go well for you
~Joseph
 
  • #30
Hello and thank you for the welcome
smile.gif


My sname is after the poecilia Maylandi - very nice species. The females are hogs at 3 inches. I got them from Ted Colletti, he writes an article in the FAMA magazine on livebearers.
smile.gif


Im in West Central Indiana. The only club I know of in Indiana is the Circle City Aquarium Society in Indianapolis. Im guessing its named after Circle Center - the center of Downtown Indy. Its an hour drive though, so I havent became a member yet. I plan on going to the ALA convention in indy in march though, and Circle City is the host, so I may be swayed then
smile.gif
.

Thank you for your input on the dvd's. Ill order Bob Morenski's program soon. I have been reading the other threads you two have created. You seem to be a very very informed hobbyist! Information first hand such as yours is priceless. Nflytrap and I are very lucky that people like you are so helpful.
smile.gif


Nflytrap - I had popeye probs with my maylandi's about a year ago. They came out of it - I had to use metaflix (sp?) and do water changes. I had a few deaths, but the majority were fine.

If one of you want to get rid of some montie fry, I would be happy to pay for them and or shipping! Those are very VERY nice species
smile.gif


I should have my fishroom ready by february!

Best Wishes ~

Dustin
 
  • #31
Cool-its hard to tell if she is doing better but she isn't markedly worse, which is I guess a good sign. I may be able to get my hands on melafix-the only medication I have around right now would be a bottle of formalin/malachite green for ich which is probably almost expired anyway.


I agree about the value of firsthand info-we could bind all this and make a nice book out of it
smile.gif
I can't thank you two enough for being so willing to put in the time to share this information that only time can acquire.

~Joseph
 
  • #32
Hi Guys,

No, dont really know any gardneri keepers well but a friend of mine does have some populations. He is Billy Hodgkiss in NJ. His email is <B Hodgkiss43@aol.com>. I've sent him several boxes of fish. Just mention me. He lists alot of gardneri on aquabid. I'd go for the Biassa, P-82's or even jos plateau if its a good strain. Striatums are all lovely but gardneri are easier.

My friend with the Finca zonatus lost his males. He has 4 females left and eggs. So we may have to get our fish together. Ugh. I guess my good luck with that species and hoignei is now gone -- the streak was broken.

The little Mambova's are growing fast. I bet there is 50. Looking good.

I should have more monty babies by the time it warms up Dustin. Now mine will be a cross between what they call the blue/green strain and the ivory mottled strain as I am working to get a larger mottled strain. Joe has the pure mottled ones from me. If that cross is ok as I know some people get nuts about crossing strains I can get you some for postage and returning my box this spring -- along with the just as nice nezahualcoyotl if you want some. My nezzies are a large robust strain. Ted is a good friend and we were just talking tonight. His first livebearer column in TFH in March or April will be on monties so I was giving him what I know about them.

You are in the center of ALA country. There should be several local killie clubs in your area too with shows and auctions coming up.

Melafix and water changes can work. It is good stuff. Think about talking to Alan in LA.

Bobby
 
  • #33
Does Alan have an email? If I end up losing this female I will probably contact him in spring sometime to see if I can pair up my male again(or perhaps get in a few juvies). The male is really nice and I would like to try getting some offspring from him sooner or later. When did you last keep gardneri?

Btw, is young females a problem?

Sorry to hear about the zonatus. Even in photos they are impressive with those long trailing fins which are attractively patterned as well. Hopefully with combined forces you guys can keep them going.

I will shoot over an email to Billy about the gardneri.

Thanks for your time
smile.gif


~Joseph
 
  • #34
Bobby -

So billy really is on the up and up? I know he sells on aquabid.com - and seems to have some really rare stuff. However he has no pictures, and the pictures he does have arent his. For instance he was selling some Peacock Gudgeon's and had a picture on there that I know originally came from Z-Man! I emailed him to ask if the one pictured was the one being sold, and he was honest and said it wasnt. But I had also heard from several sources that he is very religious and pushes his religion on all buyers as well as sometimes lists untrue location codes etc.

Maybe you can set this straight? He is oK? I always avoided his auctions because of what I had read and been told. I hope I didnt offend him haha I told him he should buy a digi and put up some pics. I dont buy anything on auction without seeing a pic of it. (and i do want some Peacock Gudgeons haha)

I need to email Ted again and thank him - hes really the reason I re-joined the ALA
smile.gif
I know there is a guy named Al Anderson in Indianapolis that is big into the hobby, maybe I should go visit him sometime.
smile.gif
Actually he is also one of the reasons I subscribe to FAMA, his livebearers article. Ill have to check the name of the other author. Maybe you know him too!
smile.gif


First hand information is priceless and never outdated!

Best Wishes,


Dustin

And YES I would be happy to pay for shipping and return the box for anything you are willing to send my way
smile.gif
Those are a beautiful strain. I have seen the blue green they are also beautiful.

I actually Just asked Joe the question of aquarium strains and mixing different types of the same species... It seems to be looked down upon by the Killie people. But isnt this how we got alot of the lfs's bread and butter fish?
 
  • #35
smile_k_ani_32.gif

Bobby,

I sent an Email to Ted Coletti tonight to again thank him for the Maylandi's he sent an est 2 years ago. He replied almost immediately and informed me he quit fama to goto the TFH! WOW - and then I read your post again and found that - WOW that IS what you said! I thought you just had the TFH and the FAMA confused and his first column was his frist column of the year since they send them in early! I was amazed!

Good think I am subscribed to both magazines so I wont miss any of his articles! Ted is a great guy!


Ttyl

Dustin
 
  • #36
Hi Nflytrap and Maylandi,

I will get you Allan's email.

Sad thing, my friend lost his male zonatus over the holidays so he has females and I have males. Ugh.

Only problem with young SJO females is that they'd be smaller and less fertile. But they shoot up quickly so not really an issue. He may have a couple of larger ones. Get 2-3.

Billy seems like a good guy. I have never gotten his fish but I have shipped him fish. He always sends his box and money and we have had a good email correspondence. He is in Ted Coletti's local club so ask Ted. I would trust him. I just think he doesn't take photos. I don't either but then I give fish away.

Al Anderson is a great guy and you should check him out -- as well as Bill Dyer and Dwayne Wake. These are old killie pros in your area.

I'll get Al's email for you.

Yes, killie guys are purists on populations and no crossing. I agree with the stance as it is based on how they define species nowadays through DNA. But I also know many great old aquarium strains of fish were created by simply crossing different locations of the same species. The problem is that some locations can be so isolated that even though they look alike, genetically they are not and fertility problems then occur in the 2nd or 3rd generation of the "hybrid" line.

The livebearer guys are becoming that way. Both populations of the monties are all over the hobby in pure -- we assume -- form so I am not bothered by crossing mine. I want to see if I get a better and still fertile fish that will then be "an aquarium strain". I am sad that most people no longer create new strains of livebearers by crosses. We are missing out. Monties and nezzies would probably re-make hi fin and lyretail swords as we know them. The old great livebearer people like Joanne Norton and Myron Gordon (both geneticists) would have crossed. Not todays fanatics.

Ted sent me the galleys of the first half of his 2 part montezumae article for the new TFH column. It will be a winner. I think it comes out in April but the column starts in March. You'll need to check. He talked to all the monty breeders and got pictures of all the populations and strains. You'll see my name

Wow the new Mambova are growing fast. One's own eggs are do best. If you can get the outside fish to reproduce then those fish you have now raised make it so much easier to keep a species going. They just seem to adjust to your ways then and flourish.

Bobby
 
  • #37
Cool! I hope I don't miss that article! Will it have information concerning origins of the strains. Besides blue/green and ivory I haven't seen any others though I'm sure some people may have 'Rascon' from The Xiphophorus Genetic stock center.

Sounds great on the Mambova! I can hardly wait for my bags to hatch.

Let me know on Als email.

Female blue gularis is fine and I'm unsure if she still has popeye or not now but continueing on the 50% waterchange every 2 days regimen-its not too hard for a ten gallon anyway. Male is beautiful, but "lonely"(or bored...depending on how you want to put it....lol).

BTw, seeing we've brought up this aquarium strain thing-whats your stance on culling fish? How "strict" are you when doing so? I'm pretty sure that you do some pretty hard selecting for larger fish on your monties and nezzies.

Here is the reply sent from Bghodkiss...it seems rather automated.

Fund. gardneri nigerianus var Makurdi red $10
A. Congicum Z82-17 $13
Aphy. Louessense $11
Aphy celiae celiae Mambanda $13
Aph. Poliaki-Boandu.cmm41$13
Fp. filamentosus 'Ikeja' $10
Lake Eumojok Fund. Garneri $10
Fp. Gar Jos Plateau $10
Fp.Gardneri-Akure $10
Fp Amieti $10
Pp Walkeri $10
All fish are priced per pair
 
  • #38
Hi,

Im signed up for the TFH, I'm sure it will go into effect by March/April.

Thanks for clearing up the killi locations crossing question. I didnt realize they could be genetically different like that. But I guess humans are, arent they.. why should fish be any different.

I might look into meeting al anderson. I just dont want to look like a stupid newbie haha.
smile.gif
You know what I mean - I guess everyone was one at one time.

Joe - Im sure thats Hodkiss's normal list he sends out ot inquirys. Check his aquabid auctions. He has alot on there. OR did you just ask for a killie list?


Thanks Guys!
biggrin.gif


Dustin
 
  • #39
Yeah, I asked him just about gardneri strains and didn't even ask for a price list yet.

Bobby: Have you by any chance ever had experience with any of the pupfishes?

No need to worry about being a "stupid newbie".
smile.gif
 
  • #40
Hi Guys,

Al Anderson's email is <killiman@iquest.net>.
Allan Barber's email is <ed_dantes@linkline.com>

With Billy you might want to ask a bit more about the gardneri populations and see what he says. Use my name if it helps.

I've collected and kept our local population of Cyprinodon variegatus but that's it. The big pupfish guy in the AKA is Dave Koran on Killitalk. He has many many species and a whole greenhouse for breeding them.

The second part of Ted's article on the monties will picture all the strains and talk about the various breeders. Part 1 is the history of the fish. He has a good photo of the original drawing of the type for the species made in 1902.

I cull heavily. I cull all deformed fry as soon as possible. I then cull anything that does not develop properly. Then when I choose the next generation of breeders I pick the 5 best pairs. The rest I sell or give away. If I was raising show fish I'd keep virgin females and set up deliberate breedings and then really watch the fry and cull even heavier. Plus raising large numbers of fry is expensive if you feed them right and you end up with so many tanks if you have any species at all.

The latest JAKA had a great piece on N. orthonotus by Morenski so I made you a copy Joe.

Bobby
 
Back
Top