Beginner

[spike123]

hello.
ive been studying this site for some time as a beginner and have been confused serveral time over.
i am planning on starting out in the world of killifish and have just perchased some "gardneri fundulopanchax nigerianus" eggs.
i have a tank about 10g have brought java moss peat as a substrate and a wool filter with adjustible air intake.
would like to no if there is anything else i need to perchase as the eggs will be arriving soon.

also i am considering perchasing "NOTHO EGGERSI RED RUFIGI" eggs off of ebay from worldwidepets.i am aware i would need another tank,
but how would theses suit a beginner like myself and how much do these lil guys vary from the "gardneri fundulopanchax nigerianus".

i also culture brine shrimp as food for my triops and i understand that they are also ok to feed to killi fry?i am also awaiting delivery of grindal worms do cultures of these start smelling after a while and could i feed these to fry and adults alike?

anyhelp would be greatly appriciated.
and i love the site its been alot of help to me in the past weeks.
regards spike

 

[anshuman]

Yes i got notho from same guy, he also gives some brine shrimp eggs for free. you can see how i went through my fry batch. The thing is i am in Mumbai India, its fairly close to equator, the summer is always bright and sunny here. we barely have cold winter which stays for 2 months max. the humidity is high.

So i really dont have to do anything regarding the temps, and I think I have just got lucky regarding the species i have raised so far, I.E Goldfish and just now trying my hand at notho's . So the only thing i would suggest you to take care of is PH and Temps. the PH should be soft and temps should be above 20 Deg. Celcius at min. I think idle is around 25 deg. Cel.

Apart from that , I suggest you do not throw out the peat from water once the fry start floating, keep the peat there, It gives the fry HUGE sense of protection and they feel at home with dirty pit that raises up when they clash. it gives them something to hide, the javamoss helps too.

BTW, killies are JUMPERS, if you keep the water topped up. there are huge chances the killies will clash with each other and even JUMP OUT (Specially if they dont find the water quality to their liking, so far i am doing great in this dept. because the really dont poop much as compared to goldies).

If you find water is murky or cloudy, make water changes and also monitor the water quality if you have test-kit (liquid test kits are more accurate than strips).

Humm i have run out of tips. and i am extreme novice and really lucky regarding killies, i am sure other experts here will correct me if i am wrong.

Good luck , I suggest you open a journal and keep updating it with pics, it gives you easy scale to measure/compare the fry growth and helps others too (like i am doing ).

 

[BigC]

Hi Spike,
Just opened your Email. Sorry for not replying more promptly but I'm busying planning my Australian trip.
Anyway in answer to your post I would tend to steer clear of N. eggersi as they can be a bit problematic.
As I've said to many a novice in the past Gardneri sp. will probably give you the most success when starting out, and will keep your intrest alive. All too often, novices tend to go for more exotic species which they have seen in books and internet lookups experience failure and move away from keeping killis. (don't run before you can walk)
First things first please remember this point. We dont keep fish... we keep water. Water conditions are the key factor. By that I dont just mean pH and Temps. There are many more water parameters that need to be met to breed a species successfully.
Thake your gardneri and work with them until you crack the nut. Not by just getting a few eggs per day but by obtaining 25+ viable eggs daily.
learn from your fish, their traits and mannerisms, when to spot thing going wrong before they have a chance to escalate.
Look towards Livefoods and learn how to home culture and collect these successfully also.
Here follows a little info on breeding Gardneri sp & spp.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=280786
Regards
C

 

[spike123]

thanks big c ill take all that in mind and add to it if possible i have a different tank now aswell as the one before hand i thought was slightly small expecially for "10"ish fish.ill take alook at that link now, and im not looking to breed straight away as i want to get to no there habits and mannerisms before i try breeding out.
thanks again and i hope the austrailia trip is a knock out.
regards spike