interests

do you think it is possible to have an interest in too many different species of fish?
do you think its best to stick to something that you know or to keep fish just for the sake of keeping something different.
i have had a spare tank set up for cichlids for a while now but i cant make up my mind what sort of fish to have.
im now thinking of just sticking with my killies and bettas, but with all the cichlids out there i'm feeling that im missing out on something.
jamie

ricko10 wrote:

do you think it is possible to have an interest in too many different species of fish?

No, just never enough tanks

Hi Jamie ,

What type of killies have you got? I'm dead keen to start on different species of killie again.

I dont think you can be interested in too many kinds of fish but as holger says just never enough tanks.

If you didnt have varied interests you would just keep to one tank of what you know and never expand your interest or your knowledge.

I am also at the stage of thinking of changing one tank over to cichlids and I am enjoying researching it. good luck with your tank if you do decide to go cichlid. I will be curious to see how you get on.

Nessa

Zoom wrote:

Hi Jamie ,

What type of killies have you got? I'm dead keen to start on different species of killie again.

I currenty have the following killies.
N Rachov Beira 98,
F. Gardneri Lafia Gold,
N. Eggersi Red,
A. Louessense RPC 78/33,
A. Striatum,
F. Gardneri N'sukka Gold,
F. \" \" Albinos,
F. \" \" Makurdi,
and the latest ones are the Ps. Annulatus Guinea.
Havent got any for a while as i've been investing my time on new tank set ups and bettas.
i will soon have room for possibly another 8 species so i will have to start looking.

I think i will leave the tank empty for a few more weeks and see how i feel. i completely aggree that expanding fish also expands knowledge, and that is something that would be good. I just dont want to rush into anything(saying that i've been looking into it for 4 months now)maybe im just making excuses and i should just bite the bullet and do it.
WATCH THIS SPACE.....

I was looking to get some A. Striatum, I had some before nice peaceful little fella's that is possible to keep in a group without too much fuss with others, have you tried breeding them yet would be dead keen on some fry if you get any. Been keeping my eye out for eggs but haven't seen them available for ages last time i got them off some guy in germany.

you can try looking on
www.aquabid.com
www.killifishauction.co.uk
www.killifishsales.co.uk

just been sorting tanks out to prepare for breeding so hopefully
i will have fry soom.

sorry if I am butting in here. Killi selection seems to be somewhat limited in Irealnd. Maybe too much of a specialist area.
I will hopefully get the fish house up and running next year and I am planning on getting a few killis in. My four year old likes them (@Richard, he wants his fish back )Just wondering how that whole eggs in the post thing works. From what I can make out, you get the eggs in peat and put that into water and wait for the fry to hatch. I also read that killi eggs can be stored for some time before you can hatch them. Is this very species specific or are there some rough guidelines.

Any suggestions as to what species to get just to gain some experience with killis.
I had a bit of a look around and here are some species I would like. Any comments on availibilty and ease of keeping would be greatly appreciated

Simpsonichtys magnificus (what a cracker) www.fische-killifische.de/Galerie/Suedam...chtys_magnificus.JPG
Plesolebias sp. Xingu
Maratecoara lacortei

As for the African species
Aphyosemion coeleste
Aphyosemion decorsei
Aphyosemion ogoense pyrophore
Nothobranchius eggersi “red”


Thanks
Holger<br><br>Post edited by: apistodiscus, at: 2007/09/14 22:02

Hi Holger.
Different species and different breeders will send the eggs in either damp peat or water.
The peat or water is usually put into shallow water and gently circulated with air. not too much or you will get swim bladder probs.
I usually check my eggs before wetting them to make sure they are ready.depending on how ready they are you can have fry from 10 minutes. Annuals will need drying out and re wetting after a couple of weeks due to the type of incubation that they have.
Many annual types have incubation periods of up to 12 months but it depends on the fish.I have never tried to keep eggs longer than when they are ready but i would think they would foul.The eggs get fungused very easily.
The fish you have said are cracking fish alright.
Simpsonichtys magnificus are an sa annual and peat spawner.Probably not the best for a starter but with someone with as much general knowledge as you shouldnt be too bad.the only thing is the incubation time ranges between 2 and 6 months depending on the fish.
Plesolebias sp. Xingu is a very shy fish that would hide all the time.
Maratecoara lacortei have poor egg production. All annuals are male aggressive and would be a species tank only. They also have very un balanced sex ratio where you could have 50 males and 1 female or the other way around in one batch.also they will only eat live food.Also only expect about 1 year of life from them, and the fry can die very easily.
Aphyosemion are much easier to care for. they will readily take flake(although a mix is better from frozen) and you could keep them in a community. but if mixing species the females must be kept seperate as they are hard to tell the differnce.Breeding is easy just with spawning mops and eggs take about 2 weeks to hatch.
In my opinion the best easiest species are Fundulopanchax. There are many sub species of this group. In my opinion Fundulopanchax gardneri have the best colours.
I would stay away from Northobs as in my experiances they are just a pain and too sensitive to changes.

Im sure other people will be along soon to give you their advice too.
jamie

@Jamie,
thanks for the thorough reply. Just two more question for the time being. How do you tell that the eggs are ready to hatch and whattemp should the water have?

Holger

Killifish I found the most hardy and easiet to look after and raise fry was Aphyosemion Gardneri they spawn very frequent too just give them reasonably good conditions and off they go. But best off kept alone they are one of the more aggresive species i have had. Also its one of the non annual species opposed to the many nothobrancius which are annual which life is pratically a year sometimes in aquarium conditions they live longer, you see the guys from Thai land offering eggs from this genus on e bay alot. However there is some beautiful colours within this genus(annuals). In regard to eggs in the post i have never had a problem just try to order while the weather is still reasonably mild as the cold conditions can kill the eggs unless the eggs have entered into a Diapause state where they can tolerate temperatures as low as 1 degree celcius and even frost in certain cases all eggs wont be lost. When you order the eggs the supplier will usually , (well always when i got them) put the spawn date on the container of peat usually like a little garlic dip carton that you get from domino pizza etc and an estimated hatch date when the eggs should be wetted usually about 4-6 weeks after spawn date. However I have had problems with eggs i bought on e bay in this regard, one batch i had to wait for 6 months before i got fry. They reckon you should see the eye of the fish through the egg then it is ready for hatching however i have never seen this nor have i ever found all the eggs in the peat probably due to the fact my eye sight isn't great anyway , usually when you wet up the eggs you should have fry within an hour or so , i usually wait 24-48 hours to see if any more hatch while i move the ones that are free swimming to another tank , oh btw i wet the eggs in a small plastic food container with about an inch of water and remove the fry with a turkey baster ( i be lost without that turkey baster , it has so many uses) the fry are big enough to accept baby brine shrimp straight away which is the best first food to feed them like most fish they grow quicker , I have also used microworms and vinegar eels too. microworms for convinience, but gave up with the vinegar eels because i just cant find a good way of feeding them its alot of hassel but i believe are great to feed because they live longer in the water. Small frequent water changes are a good idea . However getting back to the wetting when you think you have got all the fry out just dry out the peat and store it again (by the way the eggs are light sensitive so keep them in the dark, waiting for the first wetting light actually starts their heart and gets them ready to hatch, not a good idea , dont know much about it but thats what I've been doing) for a few weeks and try again usually more will hatch its a defense mechanism that they have from nature to ensure all eggs dont hatch durning a freaky rain fall and later then the ground dries up again thus killing all the new fry. Some eggs hold back as a precaution for that reason. So always good to wet up a few times before you disgaurd the peat. As for the species you have mentioned I haven't a clue to what their requirement are but I reckon hatching is very similar , all eggs of the annual species must be removed and dried to my knowledge but of the non annual species I have had regular spawns in the tank and never removed them and still ended up with fry that survived. Its a very intresting type of fish but I agree it seems to be a very specialist area as there are so many different types and so much to learn about each type , eventually I hope to get into them in a big way when I get more tanks they are best kept in species tanks as if you mix up females which is easily done its only luck that you will be able to remove a pair to try and spawn.

Thanks jamie checked those sites they look good , I've only been trying aquabid till now.

Depending on the species some of the eggs are visible to the naked eye. The eyes with a golden ring around the iris of the fry can be seen in the eggs.Some of the eggs are very small so you will need a magnifying glass of some sort to see the eyes(eyed up)any eggs with fungi should be removed asap or they will infect the rest.(eggs will be white in colour)
this is what i do put i think different people vary.
When you get the eggs they should have a collection date and a hatch date on the bag.Check the eggs and when they are ready Get an ice cream tub or something similar(white is easiest to see the fry.Make sure the tub has some floating plants a few days prior to hatching with about 3\&quot; of tank water to provide infusoria.Put the eggs in the tub about 68' and bring them up to tank temp 72' - 76' by floating it in the tank. make sure the light isnt going to over heat the water. Put a small air line in about 2 bubbles per second. Once the fry are hatched feed bbs and microworm. Daily water changes are a must, so take some water from the tank they are floating with and increase water depth by 1/2\&quot; daily.
If you go for annuals the peat will have to be re dried and wetted again in a few weeks. Annuals can be sexed from 26 days and the males need to be separated.
hope this helps

Zoom wrote:

Thanks jamie checked those sites they look good , I've only been trying aquabid till now.

Aqua bid is ok but i find there is more chance of damaged eggs when they come from far away.
The main breeders i get them from now are in england and up north so eggs aren't in transit for too long.
Brian Wilson does a fair few on the auction website and so far i have had a 100% hatch rate from his eggs and also 100% rate on live fishfrom him.