I Am Dreaming... Right?

[Ludwig Venter]

To cut a short story long?? (or Vice versa)??....Since I've never seen any Killifish available here in South Africa, I've been hinting for a long time now that someone sends me some Killi eggs.....(you've all heard me nag endlessly).... Well!!... Our world renowned tv celeb Mod - BigC.... has a connection in every port....

Instead of doing the risky 11,000 km. postage option (which would have the eggs in Quarintine for 2 weeks and all other protocoll paperwork/ declarations & stuff)... He opted to simply call a friend (in Cape Town South Africa) and ask him to help out. Not only did this contact agree to do this, he is also willing to do it FOC!!!.... Thank you Big Brother... Thanks!

I communicated with this guy yesterday and (allthough he is still 1,700 km away from me) he is sending me (by overnight courier) the following:

N Guentheri eggs; Fundulopanchax Gardneri; Clauseni Akur; Aphyosemio Australe Fry; sometime next week.... Am I excited???.... Of course I'm excited.

So!.... not to make every post too long, I'm gonna post my questions one at a time in this thread....My first question:

I have standard 3ft tanks ready for them (on arrival),.... but should I rather prepare one of my outside ponds as permanent home for them?? (i.e. - will there community just expand if left alone in natural conditions)

 

[BigC]

So!.... not to make every post too long, I'm gonna post my questions one at a time in this thread....My first question:
I have standard 3ft tanks ready for them (on arrival),.... but should I rather prepare one of my outside ponds as permanent home for them?? (i.e. - will there community just expand if left alone in natural conditions)

Only too glad to be of service M8.
N. guentheri eggs should come with a recommended hatching date on the bag. (standard procedure) This will give you a guide as to when to wet the eggs. I would get yourself some margarine tubs and 1lb plastic ice-cream tubs for the cause of rearing these. Your new found friend will probably supply you with all the info you'll ever need on Nothos. as he's classed as a noted authority on this genre.
Keep the Fundulopanchax and the Aphyosemions far apart as the females are sometimes hard to differentiate and we don't encourage cross breeding.(again keep these tanks far apart as killifish jump)
I would just rear the Fp's anf the Aphyo's in smaller tanks for now you don't need to have them full up for now as they're only fry. And feeding them will be much easier. After they are up a bit then transfer them to larger aquaria. Keep up with water changes and keep the tanks clean of any left over foodstuffs.
A couple of points to be aware of.
Killifish are excellent jumpers so be aware of this trait and if your tanks are full of water make provisions to block any exit paths even the smallest electrical or airline i/noutput.
Males of most killifish species wont tolerate each others company too well (especially the Nothos) within confined quarters so make provisions for this.
When the time is right and the fish have matured, Releasing the Fp' and the Aphyo's (into separate ponds) would be a stunning sight and they will flourish providing conditions are right. provide them with either man made spawning mops whereby you can collect the eggs or some fine leaved plant material and leave them to get on with it.
Nothobranchius are a different kettle of fish (pardon the pun) as they are annuals and their eggs need a dry period in-order for the embryo to pass through the various stages of a diapause. (I encourage you to read up on annualism in killifish)
Keep in contact with Tyrone he's a good spud and will clear up any concerns you may have as he's in the same geographical time-zone.
Again I'm glad to have been of some help albeit in such a small way.
ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Do the parents of annuals die after spawning???... do they have a short lifespan?....

 

[BigC]

They have a relatively short lifespan most of which is pre occupied by spawning.

Under aquarium conditions Nothobranchius sp. will last about 12-15 months
Honestly speaking after about 10mths they are nearly past their best and start to look a bit ragged.
Nothos come from Africa, In short They live in areas that are subjected to seasonal rains. In essence the fish lay their eggs in the ponds where the live the sun dries out the pond (the adults die) but the eggs remain in the soil until the rains return then the cycle starts all over again. So we try to replicate such conditions in the home aquaria.
When the fry hatch they are very fast growers, they have to be, not much time to mature and spawn before the pools dry again.
I sent you this before I think but you need to read it.
http/tgenade.freeshell.org/killibook/keepingkillifish.pdf
I hope this explains most of what you wish to know.
Keep me informed how things are going
ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

How sad.....

 

[BigC]

Could be worse you could be a Mayfly
Mayflies live for as little as one hour!
Count yourself lucky Lud lol
ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Could be worse you could be a Mayfly
Mayflies live for as little as one hour!
Count yourself lucky Lud lol
ATB
C

Geez!!!.... but I'm not looking after Mayflies!!!!... I'm gonna be watching my Killis and getting attached to them!!!!... How sad!!

 

[afishdude]

That's nature for you!

The female luna moth lives for 24 hours. Its sole purpose is to breed, lay eggs, and die. They don't even have mouths.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

That's nature for you!

The female luna moth lives for 24 hours. Its sole purpose is to breed, lay eggs, and die. They don't even have mouths.

I'm getting depressed here..... What's the positive side of breeding Killis...?

 

[BigC]

A bright array of colours and diverse breeding habits,
Not all killifish are annuals.
Annuals are one of natures wonderments. They have evolved and adapted to their environmental conditions in order for the species to survive. This is their pre determined lifecycle. Dont look at it as one fish living and dying in the space of 12 months but rather than an on going procession by which the species is being born breeding and passing on the next generation of eggs/young to keep from going extinct.
Taking Nothobranchius sp. they are actually quite diverse within its own genra
Each individual species egg goes through a diapause (resting semi dry period) in which the embryo has time to evolve. Each species hatching times are approximate but they can range from a few weeks to over nine months. This coincides with that country's specific natural weather patterns.
Also built in to this is a mechanism whereby not all the eggs hatch at the same time, this is just in case the country in question receives a freak storm or weather pattern. Some will hatch but not all, the ones that hatch will die as the pool dries up again but all is not lost as there is ample left to hatch when the rains come proper. Some may remain dormant for many seasons. Survival of the species is the key.
Thereby Lud on wetting your eggs not all will hatch immediately, after a couple of days all fry that are going to hatch will have done so. Time to take the peat and squeeze the water out (to the consistency of pipe tobacco) and re-store for another few weeks. Then wet the peat once again you may be surprised to find you have more fry from the second wetting than the first. It's natures way of ensuring that the species stays with alive for us all to enjoy. I like to use a magnifying glass to look at the eggs if you see a metallic iridescence band round the iris of the eye then thay are ready to hatch as the fry will be fully formed.
Nothobranchius is one of the species of killifish employed to combat Malaria. They love the Mossies. Nothobranchius sp. are very prolific they lay/produce a lot of eggs over their brief lifecycle if your collecting eggs do so every two weeks as leaving it longer may result in too much fry to cope with at any one time. Some species are more difficult than others to rear but N.guentheri is a good starting point for a novice.
I dont know what your region is like as far as seasons go but if it were me I would be inclined to implement a 50/50 approach to things. I would dig a small natural pond (plenty of mud/peat in base) and place some Notho pairs trios in that and leave to see if by more natural methods they would survive and I would also employ a more man-made spawning method (Aquarium breeding and egg collection/storage) You would then see which if any of the methods mentioned yield the greater results not only by amount of eggs and fry attained but also the robustness of the subsequent individuals
ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

OK.... so then they never arrived as we've been into some weird (cold) weather & the guy sending me the fish was not comfortable to take the chance of sending them........ Now, some 3 months later, I had the good news today that he is sending them next week.......

He is sending: 2 pairs of Guentheri; 2 pairs of Gardneri (& if there is still space in the box, a few Astrale).

Now, I am the one worrying..... Firstly,..... I googled the bunch he is sending me, & on average.... the water pH required is around 6.5 to 6.8...... I am very alkaline currently but did add some driftwood to their prepared tank)

They are aggressive & cannot be placed with other fish (6cm long).... so they will not sell as community fish)

They are jumpers & few of my tanks are covered.... (I placed an order for fitting glass tops).....

He also mentioned that they are still small, "but will grow quickly in a big tank"....

Nevertheless!!!.... I am looking forward to receiving them. (thanks for organising BigC).

 

[BigC]

Hey Big Man
Looks Good.
Try a Rainwater (clean source) mixed with some Tapwater. (lean more on the Rainwater side of things).
Although those species are not really considered community fish, they are not really all that aggressive toward others providing they are not real tiny.
Aggression towards each other is a different matter especially the males. Large tank plenty of vegetation will be the order of the day.
Keep the Fp. gardneri and the Aph. australe well apart (females)
Once you get them I'm sure there will be more questions.

ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I am preparing one of the outside ponds for one of those species..... Did not take note which one it was, but one of them, it stated that the parents will not harm the fry???..... That is the ones which I will put in the pond outside & just leave them to multiply....

 

[BigC]

I am preparing one of the outside ponds for one of those species..... Did not take note which one it was, but one of them, it stated that the parents will not harm the fry???..... That is the ones which I will put in the pond outside & just leave them to multiply....

I'd love to be in a position to do just that Ludwig.
Natural breeding.
Do you have to keep topping your ponds up very regularly.
What temps would the water get to in those ponds.
ATB
C