Journaling My Killifish Nothobranchius Rachovii Beira 98 Fry [Batch:

NOTE: Below is paste from my other thread in different forum, I cant believe i missed out this sub-forum on killies here, I see lots of active users interested in Killifish, So I guess you will enjoy this small journal.


So i got Killifish notho Rachobvii 98 eggs [100eggs] from thailand(Ebay guy), they had hatch date of Dec-25-09, but i was so busy, i just forgot about them... but after 1 and half month i thought at-least lets try to see what happens , I knew the hatch date was already gone and maybe the eggs had dried up but i tried my luck (instead of throwing it in dustbin, Yup I was that close to throwing them ),I opened the pack and dumped the peat in small tray with tank water, I was not that interested in wetting the peat and seeing for eyes in eggs etc.


To my surprise, Within 3 hours i saw small fry's almost eyelash like RUNNING across the tray as i came near. Next day there were LOTS of them dashing into the dark peat, I think they were around 30's extremely hard to count because they keep moving here there.

Now i have some 22-24(or 30) of them, big enough to capture in camera and moved them to small nano tank, i still have peat in there because this killies are terrified of movement and need something to hide/camouflage into .

Plenty of water, no movement of airstone or anything and bunch of javamoss, they like that to hide.

PS: my goldfish fry nano tank is right next to this. Mr. Biggie (the biggest of fry) does stare at them trying to go across the glass.. to PLAY his fav. game "how will you look in my tummy".

Killifish fry batch 2 week old

Today i noticed, Almost all killies are fully developed. they have proper tail-fins/dorsal-fins etc. they look proper killies and they are flaring up seeing other killi-mate or I think even when seeing their own reflection in tank. They posture nicely.

I have never seen killifish in a tank before So i maybe wrong.

I will post vid/pic only when they start getting some colour, Right now they are just plain white or getting light gray.

This happens to me time and time again, just when you think a batch of peat is beyond its sell by date you turn around and wet the stuff anyway, just to see. Most often than not you will get fry.
Nice post,
Keep up with the pics as they begin to colour up. They will grow quickly, they have to, being annuals. So expect to be breeding them in a matter of weeks.
ATB
C

well, Colin, I read online that notho matures at 3 months to breed etc. But clearly as you have done this million times I am taking your word and now getting nervous.

I think from what i read, this guys get aggressive during breeding, i.e males start challenging for territory etc. So i better hope i have v few males and lots of females cause i dont want to spread them in different tanks. Otherwise, how should i cope with this?

Its a nano tank (approx 4 gallon) and I dont really want to get another atleast within next 3 months (there is very hot summer here next 3 months) And i dont think the fry will survive in the summer here, I will be lucky if all killies make it this summer.

I will try to keep it cool and all but I have no experience in this ever and I am into this fishtank hobby for past 3 months, thats it, previous to that I was forced to take care of goldfish pair for 3 years in a 6 gallon bowl (yea talk about overstocking and stuff. never knew about it).

My plan is to get small drift woods and arrange in a way that it creates different section in this nano tank, thereby creating a small area for any male to claim and not crash into another flaring male constantly, I noticed this killies calm down when someone they just dash has disappeared from view (into javamoss that i have) I am also going to use artificial water darkener from tetra . I know that will make them more happy in dark water.

Any tips for me to read regarding preparing a fry tank? and how to collect the fry ? I have seen youtube vids where they place small plastic container with peat and moss in it, the male and females dive into them to breed and stuff. I might try that i guess.

wow, this is exciting, some 5-6 killies have matured enough to start colouring, they are still opaque brownish in full body, but the area near gills and cheeks is starting to get pink colour with florescent blue and white dots against red background, its like someone hand painted that area lol. too exotic. i cant wait till they get completely coloured.

And this 5-6 guys are like flaring when coming near each other. its like Dance-off... they start going flare off... flare the fins straight and put the chin up puffing and just dare each other to move... then some lill guy comes and dashes through them to break it off. lol. i wish i record this maybe weekend. i got some nasty projects to complete.

and that ADA soil is coming today too.. so this is going to be most exciting weekend of this month

how are the fry coming along they must have colour by now any chance of getting pictures up as i am new myself.
how are you getting along in the world of killifish?
regards
spike

Yep, very interesting story so far. Keep the info coming!

Thanks for the interest guys .

Well I am raising 2 fry tanks , one is Fancy Goldfish fry and second is this one Killifish. I almost threw the killie eggs away because i was completely swamped with Goldfish fry worries. So i never bothered regarding killies (kinda accepted the fate that i wont be seeing any killies).

But its been super easy so far. Almost all killies are looking like adults. But only 4-5 killies (among 25-30) have got that brilliant colours, not completely coloured but i can see they are going to be Bright coloured.

I saw my first killie male fight yesterday. The two somehow came across each other... then started flaring.... and then kept coming close going slowly in circle... and then suddenly 1 of the bigger males dashed on second going on circles to the bottom.... and the second one somehow dodged him in javamoss. , was amazing.

I am giving them BBS. but today, i tried giving them those tiny red worms (not blood worms) i think they are tubifix or something. I can get them cheap here. I was giving this to my 2 month goldie fry batch but i decided to test and drop some worms in killie tank .... and this killies went beserk...they got excited seeing the worms in tank ...would sneak on the bottom of tank and just DASH on this worm and run to surface trying to eat the worm. So with BBS now they are going to get this worm too . This just makes my job more super easy.


The nano-tank is looking V V small now... what happens is, during evening , all killies try to scoop the water surface in a motion... but they keep dashing into each other and the smaller kille has to dive down to avoid clash.. almost all 25+ of them want to hang on the surface, i think this is there sleeping ritual as night starts to fall. I will have to plan them to move to 29 gallons ASAP now i guess but i even have to build a stand first, going to be hard.


I will post pics/vids soon, I want you guys to give opinion on how this batch looks for notho rachovii 98 .

that would be amazing.any tips you can give would be greatly appriciated as im also very new to this and am getting my very first batch of eggs any day now i posted a topic but have had no replies yet any chance anyone could take a look as advice is needed pretty fast i think the topic is beginner.
regards

Do not try to fret over how to keep the water clean, I have 25+ almost adult killies in nano tank (almost 4 gallons) and the water just doesnt get dirty, I am now changing 50-60% water now but in early days, I would hardly change any water for first week.

Do not overfeed. maybe you might have to stand there and will cost time but feeding them little by little (BBS) 2-3 times a day helps .

Keep Javamoss in tray, it helps to calm nervous killies and gives them hiding place and also keeps water clean ( it eats the nitrate/nitrite buildup and gives out pure water and even pearls with oxygen bubbles if there is sunlight).

I just didnt even look at this killie batch, somehow it was super easy. the constantly eating and pooping goldfish fry gave me huge headache and even just 4 of them are making the nano-tank water v dirty. but this killies . nothing, they simply stay quiet and now are displaying colours and small show for me .

thats good advice thanks.
what about filteration i have a little wool filter with adjustable air intake is that any good?
also do i need anything else air pumps??
i have java moss on its way also a grindal worm culture.
would appriciate the reply to this on the biginners topic i started as i asked a few questions i need advice on.
also i have added you as a friend on here.
many thanks
spike

how are they coming, i wanna see some pictures : )

did u say u just bought killi eggs off of ebay and put them in water??

@spike123,

Adding air-stone after 2 weeks is good, I am going to same. Yes add javamoss.
I was thinking of sponge filter, but it shakes the water a lot , so i am finding some alternative, which will keep the water calm and still.

@dudehi yes , from ebay, worldpets something, and just put them in treated water in a tray , after 2 weeks in nano tank.


Video/Pics coming up.

Okay Update guys.

This nano-tank is filled with Killies and I think i only have 5-6 males, Splendid colours, but they are fighting . I will try to update pic video later.

And since its now past 2 weeks i have added a airstone with slow speed setting and its working nicely. I also added Tetra blackwater solution. All the killies (even babies) have suddenly perked up more. the tank is looking v nice actually but the males cant stop from showing off to each other and make the war-dance of circles.

So here is the pending update on killifish.

Some of the killies, matured are very brightly coloured, they actually control their colours, I have seen them radiating bright neon blue across their body when fighting and go dark suddenly.

There is one alpha male who keeps going from one corner to other, intimidating everyone, flashing his tail fins etc. and kicking the peat in air.


But, It is simply impossible to film this killies, because they run or sit on the bottom of tank where the peat absolutely matches the pattern on killies now. so they simply stay still in the peat when i am near them. only one or two adventures out if i am near and now i have tried to capture them with my #105###ty cam

They are now more than 3 weeks old and some have completely mature, many have still semi-brown colour and need to develop, they probably are just 1 week old or near 2 weeks of age.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0JmSRVBE4s

In this vid, they were full with food and resting on bottom i guess.