How To Breed Killifish?

[Sweetheart]

How do I breed killifish? Please step by step insructions.

 

[BigC]

Each particular species of Killifish has their own characteristics and requirments when it comes to their husbandry.
If you had a particular species in mind I can tailor a set of guidelines for you to follow.
Regards
BigC

 

[Esfa]

No offence, but why are you asking how to breed everything?

Are you looking for something easy to breed? Cause if you are, there's loads of cheap, hardy fish that are easy for beginners to breed.

 

[Biulu]

Guessing from your question, you do not have yet (much) experience with killies. So, I would suggest you ask Colin (BigC) for either beginners' annual or non-annual species (depending upon your interest), and take it from there.

I am also a beginner, and personally I find it very rewarding to have started with A. australe and F. gardneri eggs and try to rear these fry first before starting with breeding. This might be another option for you as eggs can be easily shipped all over the world, and live specimens are not always readily available.

 

[Sweetheart]

No offence, but why are you asking how to breed everything?

Are you looking for something easy to breed? Cause if you are, there's loads of cheap, hardy fish that are easy for beginners to breed.

It is fun when you know you have cute baby fish to take care of and stuff, and it is just a fun hobby.

 

[Colin_T]

Try Epiplaty or Aphyosemium killifish. Just stick a pr in a tank with some water and Java Moss, feed well and keep the water clean, and you will get eggs. The fish will breed each day for a period of time and you will have eggs hatching out over a number of days. Then you can rear the fry up on liquid fry foods or infusoria. After a week they can be offered newly hatched brineshrimp.
Epiplaty & Aphyosemium killifish eggs are affected by PH. In alkaline water you get more males and in acid water you get more females.

 

[BigC]

It is fun when you know you have cute baby fish to take care of and stuff, and it is just a fun hobby.

That is not killifish specific, it can relate to any species of fish you care to set up a breeding program for!

Epiplaty & Aphyosemium killifish eggs are affected by PH. In alkaline water you get more males and in acid water you get more females.

Debateable, some schools of thought relate to temperature and other varing factors.

Here is part of the argument Quoted from both AKA and BKA sources.

Are killie eggs *differentiated* as to gender at the time they are laid,
i.e. do they show a different chromosomal picture in "male and female
eggs", corresponding to the X- and Y-chromosomes in mammals?

If "yes", then incubating or raising the fry under different conditions
(pH, salinity, temperature, etc) can only enhance the survival of one
gender over the other, NOT "create" it.

If the answer is "no" -- all eggs are identical in that respect -- then
we should continue the quest WHEN do they differentiate and how is it
accomplished/influenced.

Regards
BigC

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Panchax are Killfish are'nt they?? Maybe I'm showing my ignorance, but I was honestly under the impression that these fish lay their eggs in some substrate like moss just before they die (having a short lifespan of about - 6 or 8 months) then you have to remove the eggs and dry them in the sun for almost 3 months and they hatch again within 24hrs when placed in water at the right temp....If this is not the Killifish modus operandi, what fish am I mixed up with, cause I know there is some fish that breeds like I described?? (and this is also the only reason (short lifespan) why I've decided never to keep Killifish)

 

[BigC]

Killifish fall into 3 defined brackets

Non-Annuals
Which lay adhesive or semi adhesive eggs to plant matter and the like, they do not need a semi dry period in order to develop (of which the aformentioned Panchax genre belong. Eggs hatch in days/weeks

Semi- Annuals
These type of killifish generally lay their eggs in plant matter and bottom substrate mud/gravel and do require a certain short dry period in order to develop. Eggs usually hatch in weeks/months

Annuals.
True annualism killifish such as Nothobranchius sp. do require a sometimes lengthy drying out period (Diapause) in order for their eggs to develop (seasonal mimicry)
This allows for the survival of the species in very hot countries such as Africa. Eggs can take up to 9 months to develop in certain species.

All hatching times are species related and can be divided again into Plant Spawners, Peat Spawners & Peat Divers.

Regards
BigC

 

[Colin_T]

Panchax are killifish but they lay eggs in plants on the substrate. Nothobranchius are one of the groups of killis that lay their eggs in mud. The eggs stay dormant in the mud until the next lot of rain and then they hatch out.
Most killifish will live for 1-2 years in captivity. If they are kept in cool water 24C they will live longer than the same fish kept at 28C.

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For BigC
It may not be the eggs that are affected by PH but the fry instead. All I know is whenever I bred killis and Apistogramma dwarf cichlids in alkaline water I would get a predominance of male offspring. When bred in acid water the majority of young would be female.
I know a few people who have found the same thing with these fishes. In fact it was during a visit from a fellow killi breeder that we came up with the idea. He was getting huge numbers of female Aphyosemiums and I had all males. He was miffed because he wanted males to sell to the shops and I wanted females to breed from. He ran some tests on my water and found it was alkaline. His water was soft and acid due to a layer of peat on the bottom of his tanks. We then tried breeding them in water with different PHs and worked it out.

 

[BigC]

For BigC
It may not be the eggs that are affected by PH but the fry instead. All I know is whenever I bred killis and Apistogramma dwarf cichlids in alkaline water I would get a predominance of male offspring. When bred in acid water the majority of young would be female.
I know a few people who have found the same thing with these fishes. In fact it was during a visit from a fellow killi breeder that we came up with the idea. He was getting huge numbers of female Aphyosemiums and I had all males. He was miffed because he wanted males to sell to the shops and I wanted females to breed from. He ran some tests on my water and found it was alkaline. His water was soft and acid due to a layer of peat on the bottom of his tanks. We then tried breeding them in water with different PHs and worked it out.

This is true to a certain extent Colin but its not the only decideing factor. True in that higher or lower ph has an effect on sexual outcome in some way but people within the International bodies have been running tests and whilst yes we do get a sexual swing to either male or female. The numbers attained are not conclusive enough to nail it as the be all and end all solution.
But quite rightly as you say, use the method you described to get what ever you require but as for an equalibrium in some fashion then the jury's still out on that one I'm afraid.
Regards
BigC

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Just glad that I'm not completely wrong on this one, but what Collin says here about male/female dominance related to pH and the like is very, very interresting and surely needs to be documented somewhere other than this forum.... I think it' a breakthrough observation that needs to be credited and (re) - tested for statistical relevance. i.e. percentages of each sex through a range of conditions.

 

[BigC]

Just glad that I'm not completely wrong on this one, but what Collin says here about male/female dominance related to pH and the like is very, very interresting and surely needs to be documented somewhere other than this forum.... I think it' a breakthrough observation that needs to be credited and (re) - tested for statistical relevance. i.e. percentages of each sex through a range of conditions.

This killifish ( and quite possibly other species such as Apistos as Colin states) related or with relevance to killifish for the purpose of this post...has been going on for eons. Test after test have been performed not only by high school graduates doing articles on the matter for their exams but also by highly educated boffins higher up the scale. As yet to my knowledge and armed with killifish literature from the early seventies when most of the international bodies were formed to the present day there has been no defining formula which states if you do X,Y & Z to the water in your breeding aquarium then you will get an equilibrium of the sexes or even somewhere close. And whats more be able to replicate this time and time again. I dont know what the solution is...I'm sure one day there may be a breakthrough or maybe its just like searching for the holy grail. But for now we have to make do with various notions such as pH etc. They might get you close but can it be replicated like for like.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sweetheart]

Okay thanks ya'll for all the info.