Nothobranchius breeding set up .

[GaryE]

The females look healthy, but not laden with eggs. Can you separate them and get them something like white worms for a couple of days? I used to do that with Nothos, and found it gave me more good eggs. No expert on them here, just a dabbler, but the more eggs, the better you are.

That person's 55 must be a show.

 

[Magnos]

I have so many eggs but after 3 months I drop them in water and I have 0 fry. I kept the eggs at 73 degrees for 3 months.Any idea why they didn't hatch?

 

[GaryE]

You need to take something to magnify the eggs, and look at the eyes in there. Just timing it isn't enough.

The usual advice is to look for the golden rim around the eye in the transparent egg. When you see it, it sees you, and it's ready.

 

[Back in the fold]

They’re settling in slowly . That’s a good idea to separate the sexes and condition them . I am going to do exactly that . I’ve only seen one female in the spawning jar once . There’s one particular male that seems to think it’s his own personal man cave and drives everyone else out . On the plus side these fish are good eaters and wolf down anything I give them . I might remove the spawning jar in a few more days and replace it with another one . I’m curious to check the coir and see if I have eggs yet .

 

[GaryE]

The male will claim the jar, and females will come to him if they like the looks of the guy. If they don't, or if they aren't full of eggs, they stay out.

That's why it's good to feed them well apart from each other, so the females are ready to choose. Although with one jar, if they want to breed, it's the one male that controls the spawning media.

 

[Back in the fold]

I finally saw the spawning act itself . It’s cool to see .

 

[BigDog]

Very nice looking fish

Glad to here there spawning for you already

 

[Back in the fold]

It’s really fun watching these fish go through their spawning routine . No other fish I’ve ever had have this particular behavior . The males spar with each other and nip each other occasionally but nothing to warrant separating them . The females act as if the males aren’t even there , they just want to eat . When a female does enter the spawning jar she does her job and leaves . The male kind of caresses her and wraps his dorsal fin over her , they shiver a bit and slowly sink into the coir and then she swims off . It almost reminds me of the spawning embrace of Bettas in a way . This goes on , off and on , all day . I think that @Colin_T would rightly call these fish “ randy little sods “ .

 

[Back in the fold]

There’s a certain amount of hands on and daily fussing with these fish . You have to cover the jars at feeding time or else food gets in the jars with the potential to foul the spawning medium . Depth of the spawning medium in the jars is another consideration . The fish stir things up and make a mess . I found this out right away . Also , the coir is messy for a few days . It takes time for the finer particles to go away . I’m doing a daily water change here to fix that and it resolves itself in a short time . You can see the difference in this picture . One jar has been in there a week and the other was added today .

 

[Back in the fold]

Another picture of this little African beauty .

 

[GaryE]

The colours of killies don't hurt, but I have to admit to a love of the hands on fussing and adjusting involved with them. You can sit and watch them, but if you like doing things, they are ideal. Very few other fish groups can be as hands on.

Maybe I'm a little ADHD sometimes, but I like doing.

 

[Back in the fold]

The colours of killies don't hurt, but I have to admit to a love of the hands on fussing and adjusting involved with them. You can sit and watch them, but if you like doing things, they are ideal. Very few other fish groups can be as hands on.

Maybe I'm a little ADHD sometimes, but I like doing.

Yes , that’s what I like too . With killies you won’t get anywhere sitting on your hands watching them . You have to get your hands wet . It makes them more like a pet too with the interaction . The colors of the guentherii are stunning . The pictures don’t show the true story . Every time they turn they look different and more dazzling . It’s how Dr. Innes described Aplocheilus lineatus in his book . “ At times the lines of metallic scales seem like rows of tiny mirrors of burnished gold .” In these Nothobranchius that underlying metallic sheen makes the colors really pop if any sunlight hits them .

 

[Back in the fold]

What the hey . . . . how about another picture while I’m at it ? Also notice that new spawning jar . I made it clear up by siphoning the coir micro particles out and stirring and repeating twice .