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Fundulopanchax sjoestedti

Sorry about the picture quality-trust me the fish in life are far more beautiful especially while courting or spawning. I've only had this pair for a week or two and they have already laid eggs. If the female was a bottomless pit i'm sure they would be going at it 24-7...propagation and food is all that is on the males lttle mind
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I really wish I could get a picture of his fighting pose as it is absolutely spectacular! He has a "ruff" under his throat which he lowers and it looks like his whole throat is dropping out. The only time I saw this was when the now flat female was saying to the male "no more". Only poblem for me is that all the eggs(I suspect around 20-30) ended up under the sand and I have only found 4. I guess I will leave the rest where they are and hope for the best.

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Bobby: I got this young pair(6 months) and some cash for one of my bags of eggs which I will be shipping after Thanksgiving break when the guy returns from his vacation. He's sending over a little extra for a heatpack.

The one Mambova male apparently was exhausted or something from the spawning attempts and keeled over a week ago. That leaves me with one female...who as if to taunt me is getting quite plump and I think I can see the eggs through her sides.

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The pair during spawning. The female has obviously lost some baggage.
 
Hi Nflytrap,

Sorry for the long delay in answering. I am sorry about the Mambova. I will send you another pair this weekend before it is too cold. Nothos just ship poorly. When these come put all 3 in a tank with no sand and cover the bottom with a 1/2 inch of well boiled in an enamel pan peat moss that is well rinsed after boiling for 45 minutes. That way you will get some eggs.

Your SJO look great. Who's strain are they? To get the eggs out of the sand, siphon the sand into a 5 gallon white bucket. Then stir it around very fast. As soon as it mostly settles to the bottom figure 8 a net through the water with a powerful thrust and you will collect more eggs. Eggs will die under the sand due to poor O2. Place the eggs in pre-boiled, well washed damp but fluffable peat and store in a plastic fishstore type bag that is good quality. Store the eggs in peat for 6-8 weeks and then hatch in 72F slightly soft acid water. Eggs spawned in soft acid water will be much more fertile. Hard water eggs usually go bad.

I'd loose the sand. Paint the outside bottoms of your tanks black and put a nice bowl of peat in there for spawning. Peat really is the best and least difficult way to go. SJO also breed better as they mature. Always chop their worms as they can get fat and get dropsey. Males can be hard on females so if you keep them separated and then spawn, I would keep the female alone afterwards until she has eggs again.

I have 4 pairs of SJO that I will cross. 2 pairs have great blue coloring and deep orange. 2 pairs are bigger and more robust with nice patterning. I want to see if I can get big blues.

My Gnatholebias FINCA fry have matured into 2 males and 3 females and look great. Now to get many babies and get them spread around.

Bobby
 
Very nice looking killies.
 
biggun: I have no idea if they are a "strain" in particular but the pair is one of 2 one guy on killitalk had(Rick Kraft). Apparently this was the one he was going to keep for himself.

Your box is still here as I was out of town for a bit. Would you need it to send the Mambova?...or would the packages be "crossing" each other.

Yup, I've come to the conclusion no sand in killie breeding tanks. Watching them grin happily and bury the eggs was bittersweet...heheh. What size "bowls" do you use for spawning? The pair briefly checked out the bowl but hey avoided it after the male was a bit over amorous and both made a sudden burst to attempt to escape. The male got out...the female spent the next minute or so pacing inside before the male finally swam over the container(the same Glad container the microworms came in with a large hole cut into it) and the female managed to find the exit. While the notho male used this thing fine I guess SJO need bigger ones.

For softer water during spawning, would I mix my water with R.O.? Would it be advisable to spawn in a smaller tank? If you and I succeed with SJO praps we could cross offspring.

Not to sure how different blue and red SJO are but I remember someone(Think it was David Ramsey)showing a picture of a completely blue blue gularis. Very interesting, but the intermediate looks better IMO. I understand why you wanted these so bad when you were around my age.

Also, how much do you usually feed the SJO. I'm pretty sure they will eat themselves silly, but for the male I try to keep him so that his belly doesn't bulge or otherwise very slightly. The female gets a little more-she's the greedy one anyway.

The eggs haven't fungused on me yet...I put two on top of wet peatto see what happens.

The pair is still together in the ten gallon. I think I will be moving the male back to the 46 gallon. Yes they did make a little hole in my fry population but most of the juvies are too big for them to eat right now.

BTw, would it be possible for you in spring to send over a group of ivory monty fry if you have extras? I could use them for "inoculating" the pond along with some of my own fish.

Btw, any updates on your limias, pictas, etc.? I know someone who just came back from a collecting trip in Southern CA(near the Salton sea) and brought back 100 or so porthole livebearers. They look quite interesting.

I'm not too sure if I'm slow or something...but just today while reading the old posts of yours to get a re briefer on hatching BBS(will be buying a can soon) I noticed that the (notho)eggs you planned to order were the ones I received(now am I slow or what?)

Thanks!

Forgot to mention this, but I found it oddthat the 2 fish came in itty bitty bags. I was later informed(cut the bags to get the fish) that they were breather bags. Rick mentioned that he has had no casualties using these and will depend on them till he does(he hasn't sent too many fish around though). I mentioned the popping issue and he mused that if they were tied too tight they might pop.
 
[b said:
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I have no idea if they are a "strain" in particular but the pair is one of 2 one guy on killitalk had(Rick Kraft). Apparently this was the one he was going to keep for himself.


Nice, he sent you very good fish.

[b said:
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Your box is still here as I was out of town for a bit. Would you need it to send the Mambova?...or would the packages be "crossing" each other.

I have another box to use so you would need to return 2 boxes. Now we could wait and let me breed these and then send you eggs as the fry you would raise will be stronger and used to your environment. I will start breeding these now and then wait and send you eggs in the spring. Plus I am hatching my eggs from blue parents the first week of Dec. so I might have more variety in that hatch and could send you pairs next spring or eggs. Let me know.

[b said:
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Yup, I've come to the conclusion no sand in killie breeding tanks. Watching them grin happily and bury the eggs was bittersweet...heheh. What size "bowls" do you use for spawning? The pair briefly checked out the bowl but hey avoided it after the male was a bit over amorous and both made a sudden burst to attempt to escape. The male got out...the female spent the next minute or so pacing inside before the male finally swam over the container(the same Glad container the microworms came in with a large hole cut into it) and the female managed to find the exit. While the notho male used this thing fine I guess SJO need bigger ones.

Good. I tried sand, green sand marl, crushed walnut shells and glass beads when I was a teenager and concluded that boiled rinsed regular old peat moss was best. SJO need a big bowl. I use a 3" tall 8" diameter plastic bowl for big Fundulopanchax with an inch of peat and a few round stones in the bottom to weight it down. I leave the top off. Peat blows out but its ok. If you are keeping the sexes separate and just put them together to breed in a tank, I would just cover the tank bottom with an 1/2" of peat, spawn the fish for a day (keeping an eye on the male for meanness to the female as males can be deadly) and then collect the peat. Don't feed them as they are breeding that day so you get very clean peat. Store the peat moist in a good quality fishstore plastic bag (freezer bags don't breathe enough). Fishstores will sell you a few or just give them to you. Fluff the peat before storage and seal air in the bag too. The peat should be moist so that when you squeeze a bit between 2 fingers a little water comes out. It should be dry enough to fluff easily and not clump like when soaking wet.

[b said:
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For softer water during spawning, would I mix my water with R.O.? Would it be advisable to spawn in a smaller tank? If you and I succeed with SJO praps we could cross offspring.

Yes, I mix 10% tap water with 90% RO or rainwater. I keep the fish in the harder tap water and then for breeding I change a 1/4 of the water once or twice a day until I get a slightly acid pH reading and a GH and KH around 3-4 each. The fish need the slow changeover. I will also do it by putting the fish in a bucket with their hard water and then add a 1/4 of that amount in soft water every hour for 4-5 hours. That works just fine too. I'd leave the female in the tank and do it in the tank for her and maybe do the male in the bucket and then add him to the tank. You can just keep them in soft water period but watch for velvet as that is when it attacks. If you keep the water changed though and watch the chemistry permanent soft water is fine. Soft acid water just insures fertile eggs and lots of them.

[b said:
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Not to sure how different blue and red SJO are but I remember someone(Think it was David Ramsey)showing a picture of a completely blue blue gularis. Very interesting, but the intermediate looks better IMO. I understand why you wanted these so bad when you were around my age.

I have the blues from David and they are beautiful. Yes, blue gularis were one of the first killies brought out alive from Africa (1905) and they have been a favorite ever since. They are big, fun, gorgeous, easy to keep and breed. I am always amazed they are not a staple of the lfs. They are one of the perfect tropical fish. Wait until they get big! If you raise fry out in your pond next summer you will have killer looking males color and size wise.

[b said:
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Also, how much do you usually feed the SJO. I'm pretty sure they will eat themselves silly, but for the male I try to keep him so that his belly doesn't bulge or otherwise very slightly. The female gets a little more-she's the greedy one anyway.

Oh, let them bulge a little as they are young and growing. As they mature then feed less. For breeding, think about increasing the female's food to ripen her and then when resting her feed less. Always chop the worms. They usually love earthworms chopped too.

[b said:
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The eggs haven't fungused on me yet...I put two on top of wet peatto see what happens.

Great sign! Yes, the peat when placing eggs on top of it should be wetter than if you were just storing the eggs laid in peat. I used to make peat sandwiches for placing eggs on peat. I'd have a very wet layer on the bottom; a piece of old nylon ladies hose on top of that pressed into the peat so it was wet; the eggs sitting on that; then another piece of old hose over eggs; and then more wet peat on top of the second layer of hose. A sandwich. It worked great but peat itself was easier.

[b said:
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The pair is still together in the ten gallon. I think I will be moving the male back to the 46 gallon. Yes they did make a little hole in my fry population but most of the juvies are too big for them to eat right now.

Very good for conditioning and population control!

[b said:
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BTw, would it be possible for you in spring to send over a group of ivory monty fry if you have extras? I could use them for "inoculating" the pond along with some of my own fish.

I could but you may not want them as I am crossing them with my old unspotted strain. The unspotted strain gets bigger and the males have higher, rounder and even more marked up dorsals. I want to improve the spotted ones. The unspotted strain also has males with orange on the sides.


[b said:
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Btw, any updates on your limias, pictas, etc.? I know someone who just came back from a collecting trip in Southern CA(near the Salton sea) and brought back 100 or so porthole livebearers. They look quite interesting.

They are doing great. I must have 6 pairs of the Limias and a few fry -- the lcortei are eating the babies. I have 40 pictas but no red ones yet. What are porthole livebearers? The Salton Sea had sailfin mollies, platies and swords in it in the 50's as the LA fish guys released them in it.

[b said:
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I'm not too sure if I'm slow or something...but just today while reading the old posts of yours to get a re briefer on hatching BBS(will be buying a can soon) I noticed that the (notho)eggs you planned to order were the ones I received(now am I slow or what?)


LOLOL. I have a nice tank of N. symoensi sexing out. What a pretty fish. My favorite Notho.

[b said:
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Forgot to mention this, but I found it oddthat the 2 fish came in itty bitty bags. I was later informed(cut the bags to get the fish) that they were breather bags. Rick mentioned that he has had no casualties using these and will depend on them till he does(he hasn't sent too many fish around though). I mentioned the popping issue and he mused that if they were tied too tight they might pop.

I think the small bags work better than the big ones. BTW, the petenensis have dropped another 10 fry. They have small batches. The males are simply gorgeous. The black swords on the tails are fine and the blue tipped scales are great. I have a huge velifera just sexing out. He is going to be a whopper. The velifera are so robust -- almost like Goodieds or pupfish -- big butter balls.

All my arnoldi are mature and look great and a tank of the bizarre lacortei is a sight to behold --- alien looking fish.

Bobby

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1 Nxventrata

D. muscipula
 
Great info here as always!

I think I will be moving the male back to the display tank and leave the female in this one. Dunno if you've noticed this before but after the female was empty and the male still wanted to spawn she got "pissed"(for the lack of a better word) at him. They both went into bluffing mode for a minute or two but a few minutes later they were at it again. Yeah, even my Dad commented how the male looked like a SW fish. My only explanation to why they aren't common in the LFS is because they are specialized fish and would be labor intensive to produce(just guessing). Of course if my sex ratios come out male heavy I have an outlet for any extras. It would be nice to have a lot of females I could borrow a few more "studs" from people to experiment with. If I'm going to breed for anything it would be color(of course) and finnage. Do only certain strains develop the trident-tail?

Dunno bout you ober in Texas, but here in CA it hardly ever rains. Makes me wonder why they decided to start some kind of growing operation in the desert. I don't have an RO unit over here and I'm not to sure how I would ever convince the folks to get one. If their was/is some other use for RO water maybe I could suggest that...
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Regarding the monties-I may still want them. I'd like to hear the results of this little experiment first though
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Regarding the Mambova...how long will this female last till she croaks/ends her productive life? The guy who sent over these blue gularis has a single pair of Mambova and he might be able to use this female if it will be too old by the time eggs come over.

Also, note that Chunga and Kayuni Zam 97/9 will be hatching in spring. I have no idea how big the hatches will be but suspect they will eat most of my rubbermaids(I have two which I think are 2 feet by 1 foot-will need to design some kind of lid for them). The N. orthonotus will also be hatching next year(maybe even this year) but I doubt that mixing these two up will be a problem as the N. orthonotus will probably be subadults by the time the Chunga or Kayuni are ready.

Btw, does anyone ever sned out groups of subadults or just eggs or pairs? The bag of N. orthonotus looks like it will produce quite a few and these guys apparently need more space than most other nothos.

I'll let you know how everything turns out.
 
A picture of the rack just so you can see how things are turning out here. Its particularly messy right now
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. You can see the 2 ten gallons(one houses the heterandria formosa, a few newts, and may be a possible home for any other small coolwater fish) the one on the right is where the sjoestedti and the single Mambova female are right now(it may turn into a fry raising or juvie tank someday). The "critter keeper" at the top is where the Mambova or other nothos may be when breeding(I would think that is too small for SJO). The green one is my happy little scud culture. You can see part of the big montezumae swordtails tank which is where the SJO will go when not breeding and it could possibly use some other kinds of fish. you can see 2 clear plastic salad containers...one with a few newt larvae and the other empty. Then you see to big rubbermaids where I will be hatching and rearing any Nothos. Also an empty ten gallon which I don't have permission(yet) to fill. It is very tempting to perhaps evict the Cps to the windowsill(they would like it better) and put another ten gallon there....muhaha. The rack can take the weight of course.

The most useful thing to have around is a old towel under the rack for catching any small spills and I've got a couple rags for anything that doesn't land on the towel. I should have another towel(s) if perhaps I someday spill a whole bucket of water or something. It would be nice to have maybe tile under the rack as opposed to the woodfloor its on now so I don't have to worry about spills quite as much. Dunno how one would go about doing that.
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Edit: Among other things you can see are 3 microworm cultures(one in a yogurt tub...two started in itty bitty cups for an experiment)...my miscellaneous bottles and whatnot. Nets, one of my rags ontop of one of my yogurt tubs(use these for transporting fish or acclimating since it is easier to remove fish from a yogurt tub than from a bag. Dunno if you can spot it but there is a Peanut jar that I used to store some of my water/ boiled peat. Dunno if its best to produce it as you need it but it seems to be working fine(short term at least) and I have some extra peat tea to play with.
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The sci name for porthole livebearer is poeciliopsis(sp.) gracilis. Here's one of the few photos I could find. http://www.afae.it/pages....lis.jpg

Here's another one...actual thread I as talking about

http://www.applesnail.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7352

http://home.fuse.net/fishfarmer/PoeciliopsisGracilisgroup2459.jpg

Edit: One of the eggs on the peat turned white...I couldn't find the other so I'm assuming it dissapeared, and the two in the water were clearly cloudy(hehe...talk about oxymoron) so I assumed they were infertile too. At lleast I think we've got the solution to the problem.

I was able to get pretty good hatch rates out of lineatus eggs. I even got lazy about changing the water, removing fungusing eggs, and keeping them out of the sun and still pulled fry. Not to mentioned I handled, poked at, and fiddled with these little crystal balls alot. I did poke through the mulm with my fingers to find these two. Need to either use tweezers, or maybe a cut straw as shown on killies.com


Also, do you think this pair may be a little young and the male is just firing blanks? one guy on killitalk mention that wait around 3 months before even getting a fertile egg....since this pair is around 6 months old.
 
Hi you guys. Any possibility someone here has some killifish eggs he can sell and send here (Colombia)?? I like killies a lot but they are almost impossible to find here because no one breeds killies here.
 
  • #10
Hi UtricSeb,

       You don't need killifish eggs; you need to go collecting. Columbia is full of wonderful species of killies. Gnatholebias zonatus was found there in the 1970's and nothing is prettier than Gnatholebias zonatus. The "sabrefin" Terranos dolichopterus is found in Columbia. Both of these as well as Gnatholebias hoignei are foudn in Venezuela. You might find Rachovia and Austrofundulus species in Columbia -- certainly in Venezuela. You will find many species of Rivulus in Columbia. People rarely collect in Columbia anymore due to the political/drug situation but you are in a killie goldmine.

Bobby
 
  • #11
Hi Nflytrap,

Sorry for the delay in answering. I've been busy. Your rack looks great. I'd look for more 10 gallon and 5 gallon tanks as you have the room. The rubbermaid dishwashing tubs are not good fry containers. Look at the Steralite containers at the Big Box stores. You want something close to 10 gallons and that you can filter and see through. If you need a pump to pump all this let me know as I have one you can have.

I hope the blue gularis are good. Mine are doing great. I have the male from Bob Meyer with the females from David Ramsey. Both strains look great so I am hoping for hybrid vigor. I hope you have mastered peat by now with yours. Gularis do breed better when mature -- 9 months -- and do need soft acid water for good fertility.

I'm breeding my kafuensis Nazhilla. I lost the whole tank of Mambova overnight. I have no idea what went wrong. They looked great -- robust. They were just dead. Same thing happened to 2 of the zonatus FINCA females which almost killed me. I have a reverse trio left and they are breeding. But back to the Mambova, my eggs from my fish are now ready to hatch and I will hatch them this week. These should produce alot of fry and all the colors. Wish me luck. I should be able to send you new fish early next Spring. When are your kafuensis eggs due? Are you ready to hatch them -- got all the bases covered? Don't risk the tiny fry with making do.

My N. symoensi are all sexed out. I must have 20 pairs. These are my favorite Nothos. I'm getting the red furzeri as eggs from Italy next Spring and maybe the new yellow location too. I might get a new rachovii location too.

I have around 50 baby Petenensis now all looking good. The velifera dropped by ate all but 2. I took the angels out so maybe their next batch will make it. I have one male velifera just sexing out that is huge -- HUGE. These mollies have bodies like bulldogs; they are chunky and massive. The petenensis are so peaceful. The males do not even spar.

The red picta do seem to be getting reddish on the body. I can't wait to see how it develops.

Glad to see you are going after the redworms.

Bobby
 
  • #12
Sorry to hear about the Mambova...you musta been really bummed about that. Its pretty odd, as my female KAF keeled over for no apparent reason on me too(simply found dead floating at the surface). Hopefully this next batch will do better for you. Even though I only kept the males for a brief period of time the colors I saw were just beautiful and sure enough they lived up to your promises of being more beautiful then any photo I've seen so far captures when displaying(same for blue gularis). I can't wait for those eggs to hatch!

The kafuensis are due in Febuary(Chunga) and March(Kayuni Zam 97/9). Sounds like a long time to a 14 year old but as you said better be making plans. Perfect for me as things will start to warm up. I'm going to send Rick one of the bags of Orthonotus since I don't foresee hatching BBS yet as the plans have not gotten off the ground. I have the moola for one pound of 70% or half a pound of higher grade from BS direct(plus shipping...kudos to Rick). I'd like to get one of those mesh bags but it seems pretty expensive. I'm assuming the dish tubs would be good for hatching the peat in. i'll look into steralite containers. By "clear" they certainly aren't comparable to aquariums or plastic critter keepers correct? I've found a packet of brine shrimp eggs which is at least 4 years old. Probably all mummies but if I can heat things up might make for a test run.

I heard that flowing water is bad for nothos. The pump you have I'm assuming isn't too powerful for the use in fry trays and whatnot? How would you "wire it all up"? I have a little fluval 1 which might serve the purpose but the outlet end is not designed to receive an airline tube.

By 5 gallon tanks are you talking about plastic ones? Haven't looked much but 10gallon seems to be the smallest size offered.

I've been having a trouble with my microworm cultures. 2 I started up got a really odd rancid smell so I threw them out. I think I've got one clean one set up so hopefully I won't lose them. I think it might have been the white bread(too old) so I tossed it and opted for oatmeal. Any ideas what it is?

With any luck I will be either buying a big rubbermaid or using my amateur woodworking skills to build a "worm bin" of sorts. The worms don't seem to be very prolific...maybe a little more than guppies but i hope I can set it up so I can always have this food around. Raising worms is a whole new
science...people on Killitalk are quite knowledgeable and put time into posts and providing links. I have found a new use for contents of the daily news, paper shredder, and the garage filled with cardboard boxes...I cannot bring myself to use killifish spawning and CP growing medium as redworm food. The blue gularis love redworms and it is much easier to get them satisfied with those as opposed to frozen bloodworms! Its been a long time since i've owned anything that greedy.

The blue gularis are doing great! The male is just getting more and more beautiful(fins growing longer) and the female is getting fat. They are in the 46 gallon bowfront and have spawned in there several times at least. Doubt any fry will survive though. I'm unsure of when i will go for a serious breeding attempt at these. I'm not to sure what you mean by low fertility but even if only a few eggs hatch that would work for me as they lay quite a few and would eventually make up for it?  

I found a nearly dead ivory montezumae male outside in the pond about 1 week ago. Attempts to slowly warm it up to salvage it failed. If I do release monties into the outdoor pond i'll obviously have to drain it around mid November and remove all the fish to trade/sell/ or keep for myself.

I couldn't bear leaving the bluespots outside where I couldn't see them so I moved them to a small container which is still outside. The pair is simply snoozing under thickets of plants as temps stay at around the 40's.

BTw, I found the way that illegal drugs affect scientists/collectors of killifish or cichlids quite interesting. That and the fact that its toxic to fish is good reason for me why not to do drugs...hehe 

Hope all is well for you and keep me updated and informed.

As a last thought...are there any good books on killifish? The info in my current book simply isn't enough for me. I've seen the "Pet owners guide"(most likely simply beginner info)and heard much talk about Scheels"Rivulins of the Old World". My Dad usually buys me books for a birthday present. While online info is great, its really nice to be able to curl up on the bed reading an issue of AFM or that article you sent me which must have been read over 2 dozen times by now.
 
  • #13
Hi Nflytrap,

The air pump I have is a Sheago and is very good. It is not a filter just a pump. It can run 10 outlets easily or say 2 brine shrimp hatchers and 6 box filters or sponge filters. Use gang values to set the flow. Nothos do not like alot of movement and fry do not need any for a couple of weeks after hatching provided the hatch isn't huge or the container too small. The rubbermaid bins would be ok to hatch but it would be hard to see the fry only from the top. A critter keeper would be better. Look at people's trash and garage sales.

A half pound can of bbs should be all you need to start. I use 1/2 gallon glass milk jars to hatch in but 2 liter pop bottles are fine. A one gallon glass pickle jar is great. Delis, restuarants, or supermarkets use the big jars and might save them for you. No need for a fancy hatcher. Water, salt, eggs air 78-82F is all you need. It is so easy as long as you do not hatch too many eggs for the container and use new salt water for each hatch and harvest by 48 hours.

Yes, old bread in microworm cultures is bad news. I'd go get a fresh loaf tomorrow and set up a new one. I've made that mistake myself and had molded worms overnight. Oatmeal will work but matures slower.

Redworms are so good, easily for gularis. Just do not satisfy their greediness as they will overeat and can get dropsey. Gularis eggs usually will not be fertile in hard water. The sperm dies or cannot enter. So when you are ready to breed again condition them to RO. A male gularis will usually deplete a female of eggs in a few hours max so you can always just set up a tank with a layer of peat on the bottom and soft acid water and then spend 3-4 hours slowly conditioning the fish to the soft water and then breed them for a few hours and then condition them back to the hard water slowly and then back in the 46. So much change is not great but it could be done. Maybe breed them once a month like this. If you separated them for a few days beforehand the fish would breed better. Of course one can always just enjoy a big pair of blue gularis as they are beauties and it will only get better.

Yes, the Mambova death was weird and sad. They always seemed weak to me even though they were robust looking. I hope the new fry (cross your fingers) will be robust and strong. The adults were certainly tough. Yes, photos cannot capture killie color.

I wish Roger Langton's book Breeding Killifish was in print as it is based on how 10 top breeders breed their fish. It sold out fast. It is great. Incredible information. Roger Brousseau's book A Hobbyist's Guide To South American Annuals is very good for information. I had an extra copy but sent it to a frind in Australia. Search for it and hope. You would like the World Of Killifish books (vol. I - IV so far. Vol IV is Nothos and is great.) the AKA publishes. They are expensive but very detailed. Scheel's Rivulins of the Old World is great. I have read it for 35 years. It's a treasure. His newer Atlas of Killifish is not nearly as good. Enjoy Your Killifish from the Pet Library Publishers of the 1960's is a neat little book. The AKA is about to have a new Beginner's Guide which should be excellent considering everyone who wrote it. Joining the AKA and getting JAKA 6 times a year would be like buying a book and a great deal.

Steralites are pretty clear plastic not perfect like the old days but ok.

Was the dead male monty nice looking from being outside? I culled my monties down to the next generation today. There are 3 young males that look more robust than the older adults. They are my next breeders. I am still crossing the plain larger monties into the black spotted ones. I also culled down my nezzies to the next generation. The young males sexed out too early in this group which worries me. I kept some young females to add to the big males. I hope their babies will produce the usual big males.

Fish breeding is always work LOL.

Bobby
 
  • #14
Thats great! How big is it anyway? I have one pump which is supposed to run two outlets but it has failed to put out enough strength in its age to do so now. I use that to aerate the gammarus culture.

I like the idea of conditioning them gradually to RO water. I will probably be using a critter keeper for breeding to cut down on the amount of distilled or RO water i'll end up using. Do blue gularis eat their eggs? I haven't noticed it. Would it be more beneficial to the fish to leave them in the soft water longer before attempting to recondition them back to the harder water? Afterwards I would peat incubate the resulting eggs. I think that raising 30 fry each time would be fine for me...and even if I only raised 2 batches it would be 60 fish(hopefully thirty pairs...LOL) and that would be plenty to share. It would be really interesting if we could unlock the secret of sex ratios and scew it to get say 2:3 sex ratio with females dominating.

Do you use sea salt for your BBS or do you mix your own? I have some Aquarium salt laying around which claims it can be used to hatch BBS. Basically dehydrated sea water. I've heard of killikeepers using these 1 gallon(or even 1 quart) pickle jars as killi keepers.

Yep, that young male monty, even half dead, had some incredible colors one him...especially since it was a sunny day. He had more reddish tones to his stripes and the blue irridescence was stunning.

Besides F&EL,Beginners Guide, and JAKA, what else comes along with an AKA membership?

The books you mention all sound great. Definetly something to look into. Do you happen to know off the top of your head what other killies were covered in the World of Killifish Series?

Hope to hear from you soon.
smile.gif


Currently the families of killies which seem to be of most interest to me would be Nothobranchius, fundulopanchax, fundulus, chromaphyosemion, and the SA annuals collectively. Rick is currently keeping a pair of Austrolebias sp. *insert weird number code here LOL* and may provide me with eggs. To your interest he's also keeping 1 pair of Kafuensis Mambova.

How many people are keeping Chunga and Kayuni anyway? Mambova due to newness seems most common, Kayuni I've seen on Aquabid a few times, and Chunga only once.
 
  • #15
Hi Nflytrap,

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Thats great! How big is it anyway? I have one pump which is supposed to run two outlets but it has failed to put out enough strength in its age to do so now. I use that to aerate the gammarus culture.

It's only about 6 x 3 x 2 inches and is very quiet. It's a good one. I'll send it, a book and that dvd on Notho. breeding I'm letting you borrow.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
I like the idea of conditioning them gradually to RO water. I will probably be using a critter keeper for breeding to cut down on the amount of distilled or RO water i'll end up using. Do blue gularis eat their eggs? I haven't noticed it. Would it be more beneficial to the fish to leave them in the soft water longer before attempting to recondition them back to the harder water?

They'd eat their eggs if given a chance which is another reason I love peat. Yes, leaving them in the soft water longer before reconditioning them back would be better but then you'd want 2 soft water tanks so you could separate the female after the breeding as the male can get mean if the female stops being able to lay eggs.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Afterwards I would peat incubate the resulting eggs. I think that raising 30 fry each time would be fine for me...and even if I only raised 2 batches it would be 60 fish(hopefully thirty pairs...LOL) and that would be plenty to share. It would be really interesting if we could unlock the secret of sex ratios and scew it to get say 2:3 sex ratio with females dominating.

Yep, 6-8 weeks in moist fluffed up peat in a plastic fishstore type bag rubberbanded with air inside. Sex ratios are less of a problem than people carry on about so don't worry. I used to hatch 200 gularis fry from a trio conditioned on worms and bred for a day over peat.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Do you use sea salt for your BBS or do you mix your own? I have some Aquarium salt laying around which claims it can be used to hatch BBS. Basically dehydrated sea water. I've heard of killikeepers using these 1 gallon(or even 1 quart) pickle jars as killi keepers.

I use either Morton's cheap old rock salt or the even better pickling salt -- 1 tablespoon to a quart of water -- plus 1/4 teaspoon of Epson Salt to a half gallon. No fancy sea or marine salts. Works like a charm and cheap.

Gallon glass jars are good for spawning but not permanent homes.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Besides F&EL,Beginners Guide, and JAKA, what else comes along with an AKA membership?

That's it.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
The books you mention all sound great. Definetly something to look into. Do you happen to know off the top of your head what other killies were covered in the World of Killifish Series?

Vol IV goes up to Nothos with Vol. I having started with the Aphyosemions -- so 100s of species are covered. There are no photographs, only drawings. Vol. V will finish off the various genera and maybe go back and do the new species described since the project started in 1994. A Vol. VI is suppose to be all colored photos.

The AKA is also putting its old Killifish Index on cd and that was a great looseleaf book of information and colored photos. The JAKA's from 1962 on are also being put on cd for the members to buy. i have most of the originals and they are full, FULL of great information. Priceless stuff.


[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Currently the families of killies which seem to be of most interest to me would be Nothobranchius, fundulopanchax, fundulus, chromaphyosemion, and the SA annuals collectively. Rick is currently keeping a pair of Austrolebias sp. *insert weird number code here LOL* and may provide me with eggs. To your interest he's also keeping 1 pair of Kafuensis Mambova.

Austrolebias would be good for you as they like cool winters. They are usually hardy forgiving species. My favorites are the Notho's, SAA's, Fundulopanchaxs and Callopanchaxs.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
How many people are keeping Chunga and Kayuni anyway? Mambova due to newness seems most common, Kayuni I've seen on Aquabid a few times, and Chunga only once.

Alot of people never sell their killies except at local shows which is why you want to keep the West Coast Weekend in mind this year. It is usually in the Bay Area and is a huge killie convention, show and auction. There you will see tons of stuff. It is usually in April. Try to go. It is well worth it. The BAKA affiliate usually hosts it.


Bobby
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  • #16
Regarding the DVD I have right now I have yet to get it to work but I will go over and try it on my Aunts player soon. Hold onto yours. Also, your styro box is on its way back.

The West Coast Weekend sounds great! It would only be a few hours drive at most-but I'm unsure whether or not the folks would be willing to let me go, drive me there, etc. I'll keep updated-do you plan to go by any chance?

The SJO are spawning in the 46 again. Its really interesting how the male and female "keep in touch" with the males throat to the females back. I wonder if those monties will ever catch on to all that free caviar going around.
smile.gif
 
  • #17
Well-well the orthonotus eggs that I'm planning on sending to Rick seem to have a mind of their own and are eyeing up. Two faint black dots in the eggs. Looks like he will have a remarkably short waiting time!
 
  • #18
Hi Nflytrap,


Nope I won't be going to the West Coast Weekend but alot of good people do and the programs are always excellent. If you can make it you won't be sorry.

Let me know if the dvd works.

I've got a copy of a book for you and the pump. I will mail it out after Xmas.

Look for a gold ring around the eyes as that is when the fry are ready to pop out. Killies lay eggs that develop fast and slow to cover all possible natural conditions -- early rains, late rains, no rains, etc. Send the eggs out soon as they ship better when they are not too developed.

Merry Christmas,

Bobby
 
  • #19
Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too.
smile.gif


Would there be any room to try to slide either grindals or daphnia in the box? I'd like to give em a shot again. Don't need a big start. My daphnia culture is down again-unsure if its just temporary. Any ideas to "wake them up"?

Thanks again!
 
  • #20
Hi Nflytrap,

I can send some grindals. The daphnia may be iffy as it is freezing tonight and 25 F tomorrow and the adults may die off and lay winter resting eggs. How are your microworms? Save the muck at the bottom of your daphnia as there may be eggs there if they were outside. Daphnia cultures require alot of attention and always have 3 going at any one time.

Good questions on the AKA list. That was a great gularis picture posted.

Bobby
 
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