My Killis Are Here!

[Ludwig Venter]

No... the mops are for the Gardneri's. so as you can ascertain that there is spawning activity taking place.
I would place a pot of peat moss in for the Nothobranchius sp.
They are bottom spawners and their eggs need to be harvested and put through a diapause (dry period) then wetted after an allotted time for the fry to hatch
Regards
C

Geez!!... now this is getting complicated... What I perceive to be the Guentheris, are those where the males have the red in the fins & pearls on the body...(I'll try get a photo later)

The Gardneris (IMO) are the ones where I've got a photograph of the female at the top... If I'm right in my assumptions, then the Gardneris are definitely spawning (same fashion as zebra Danios) - vigourous chasing by the male & vibrating over a cluster of plants...

Are the eggs adhesive so that I'll see them when I remove the plant?. I'm in any case (now that you've mentioned) making an extra spawning mop for them as well.

 

[BigC]

Yeah put some pics up Ludwig just to make sure you've got this right.
ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Yeah put some pics up Ludwig just to make sure you've got this right.
ATB
C

This is a terrible, terrible photo, but I think it'll show enough to to ID for someone with your background... these are the ones I think are the Guentheris....

 

[BigC]

Yeah... That's 2 male Nothobranchius guntheri alright.
Providing you have the females I would split the males up and give them a little harem of females each.
Give them a bowl of peat to spawn in. This is fun to watch. Harvest the peat weekly and supply your breeders with fresh peat. Gently squeeze the peat to drain the water and lay it on a piece of kitchen roll for a few minutes. You are looking to get you peat dry to the consistency of rolling tobacco.
then bag this up and store in a dark warm place for about 8-12 weeks then wet the peat for the fry to hatch.
You'll soon have a good supply of these.
ATB
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Yeah... That's 2 male Nothobranchius guntheri alright.
Providing you have the females I would split the males up and give them a little harem of females each.
Give them a bowl of peat to spawn in. This is fun to watch. Harvest the peat weekly and supply your breeders with fresh peat. Gently squeeze the peat to drain the water and lay it on a piece of kitchen roll for a few minutes. You are looking to get you peat dry to the consistency of rolling tobacco.
then bag this up and store in a dark warm place for about 8-12 weeks then wet the peat for the fry to hatch.
You'll soon have a good supply of these.
ATB
C

For some inexpliccable reason, this morning, my one female jumped out.... the other one is dead and the tank and I'm sitting with only one male.... Dissappointing!

At least, the Gardneris seem to be happy, although I see no fry yet.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I know they are spawning every day... Yet, I see no fry!!... Maybe its just difficult to see with my top down view into the pond.. Sometimes, I do not even see the parents. I hope there is something happening out there....they must be getting out of season soon.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Well, I'm not going to get overly excited right now, but my wife just sent me a mobile message that she's seen some fry (about guppy fry size) in my Gardneri pond outside.... I've still got another 2.5 hours of work left before I can go home & confirm, (that it not perhaps mosquito larvae she is seeing).....

If it is indeed Gardneri fry...... Yippeeeee!

 

[BigC]

Here's hoping Ludwig.
Regards
Colin

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Here's hoping Ludwig.
Regards
Colin

I did not see anything... (top down view), but she assures me that she knows the difference between a fishfry and a mosquito larvae... I'll take her word for it, but will only celebrate when I see it for myself.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Ha!.... Yippeeeee!... I arrived home after dark today, and went outside with a torch since my wife reported another sighting today (about the size of a newly born Mollie)..... I swirled the water and shon the light into it, and eventually..... I saw the original female, and shortly after that.... I saw two other fish.... (almost adults) swirling past.... I know I only put a male & female in there.... so if there are any additional fish "swirling" past...... I've had a breeding!!! Will check again tommorow in the daylight, but seems like my Guentheri culture is "online"!!!!!

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I did a water change there yesterday and emptied to around 2 Inches in depth.... All I could see was the Original Male and female and then 2 "others" almost adults (looking like they could both be females) and the another 2 much smaller..... There is however a lot of sediment on the bottom, so there may be some more.

Not really successful, but at least more than I started off with....

Would it be advisable to rather try remove the fry & only leave the original parents, or are they all fine in there... I will however place more Hornwort in there, as I feel there is absolutely no hiding place for the new fry.

 

[BigC]

Leave as is Ludwig.
They sound as if they are much too big now to be party to predation.
They may get bullied but the pond is big enough to avoid any real fracas.
Even then it would only be a bout of fin flaring.
Keep us updated
Regards
C

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Leave as is Ludwig.
They sound as if they are much too big now to be party to predation.
They may get bullied but the pond is big enough to avoid any real fracas.
Even then it would only be a bout of fin flaring.
Keep us updated
Regards
C

I'm more worried that they will feast upon their little bretheren and sisteren.... did another water change this afternoon and stirred up the water.... saw at least 2 more smaller than Guppy fry.... So, if those 4 are still there, and these two (obvious) new additions.... then the colony is growing....(slowly, but growing)

 

[Ludwig Venter]

We've had a couple of days with continuous rains, and as this tank/pond is directly below the roof dripoff, it fills up with rain water, so to prevent the fish from "overflowing" into the garden, I have to constantly drain the water back to around 6" in depth.

Theoretically then, this "pond" has had more than 100% water changes in the past 3 days and it gets filled up with rain water every time.... Worrying!....

However... this afternoon we have sunny skies and the water is again down to 6", but I observed a mass spawning, where the original parents are now also spawning with the adult fry.... Encouraging!

I'm just worried that the "pure" rainwater is not conducive to a prolific environment.

 

[BigC]

New water at a possibly lower temp will trigger an increase in spawning activity.
I remember you when you had no Killifish
Soon you will be looking for fresh blood to mix the gene pool.
When this happens make sure you acquire the same species and geographical location code as this is important to preserve the pure strain,

ATB
C