American Killifish Association :: Forum

Re: Fry eating fish flakes? [by Travesty]

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:43:06 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Fry eating fish flakes?
Thank you very much for all your help. Their huge bellies actually seem to slim down rather fast, now that I look again. I guess they're converting all that energy to growing. =)

I'm still making sure to keep up with water changes and they're going to be in bigger containers soon. I have a five gallon and a two and a half gallon to move my fry to. I'll put the shrimpy ones or the big ones in one tank or another depending on which I have more of, I guess.

Re: Ready to start... Where to get fish [by Dennis Heltzel]

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:54:24 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Ready to start... Where to get fish
Frankly, I wouldn't sweat the snails too much. All my tanks have ramshorn or pond snails (probably what you have in they came in on Anacharis) and they are easy to keep at reasonable levels (just squash them when you see to many).

If you want rocks for aesthetics, you're probably safest buying them at a pet store. Most killies will ignore the rocks and hide only in the plants or mops, so it's really for your benefit if you get them.

Don't buy clown loaches for snail control. They need to be kept in a group and they get huge. IMO, the only people who should buy clown loaches are those prepared to house them in a very large tank (100 gallon or larger) for the long term. Puffers can be problematic also because they like to "sample" anything around them and that results in nipped fins and missing eggs/babies. Personally, I think snails are a lot more "killie-friendly" than any of the possible ways to control them.

You should look for Java Fern and Java Moss. They are ideal plants for your setup. The Anacharis will likely die. The reason the stores like to sell it it that it grows fast in ponds (hence it's cheap for them to buy) and it dies quickly in their customer's tanks (leading to repeat sales, hopefully, or at least the sale of plastic plants).

If you want some Java Fern and Moss, PM me and I'll send you some.

Dennis

Re: Peaceful surface-dwelling killies [by Jan_Hoho]

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:51:37 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Peaceful surface-dwelling killies
Ha, excellent! I was just coming back to ask about that guy! :) (This board needs an "edit" option).

Are these relatively easy to get? I might have even seen some at my LSF, but I may be wrong.

Re: Species only tank [by kcook]

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:20:57 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Species only tank
I guess I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to do. Are you looking at more than 3 individuals of the same species? If so, you could pick just about any killie. Shoot, I'd put 20 or more of any Aphyosemion in there.

As far as easy spawners, it does depend on your water conditions. Gardneri seem pretty dependable in a variety of conditions. I have Aphy. sp. aff. primigenium GBN 88-10 that is very easy in my water, but others may find it quite difficult. Striatum work well for me .... usually. Fp. amieti, Ep. infrafasciatus, Fp. cinamomeus are also pretty bullet proof for me.

Most killies are pretty easy. You can more or less tell by the price which ones are hard. So buy some cheap ones and have fun.

Keith

Re: Getting started [by kcook]

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:13:07 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Getting started
Well.......I guess techinically if there are more than a dozen eggs or some such thing they need to be inspected by Fish and Wildlife at the border. Many people from the US order internationally without these inspections and don't have a problem. The person mailing the package is supposed to declare its contents on the label and you should just need to wait for your eggs.

It is best to get eggs from people close to home. The longer they fly the worse the hatch rate gets sometimes.

Keith

Re: F. robertsoni [by jess_hawk]

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:34:54 -0000

General killie discussion:: F. robertsoni
Thanks for the species list! I'll start looking at them and maybe look into getting a couple once I've had some success with gardneri.

Re: Epiplaty annulatus and community [by Dennis Heltzel]

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:54:23 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Epiplaty annulatus and community
It sounds like a good store. We don't have many like that around here. You should be able to get some good help then picking out the fish to avoid all males. They may sell them only as pairs if they are sexable, but if not, get a female heavy ratio, one males will happily spawn with several females (emphasis on "happily").

Personally, I hate duckweed because it is messy. I find Riccia likes my cool water tanks the best and Clown Killies like it a bit warmer. But try it and see, as Riccia is the absolute best at hiding eggs and fry. Salvinia is a good compromise, it loves warm water and grows aggressively, but is simple to remove the excess (keep the extra in a pan of water for a week or 2 and then look for fry, they are tinier than you think).

I would probably avoid other killies in that tank altogether. Clowns are at a real disadvantage in both size and temperment, and I predict you will loose the Clowns eventually if you add other killies. Oto's are nice and mild mannered, from what I've read. I don't know if they will eat the eggs from the Killies or not. If you find that you have no fry after a few weeks of good feeding, try removing the oto's.

Dennis

aplocheichtys normani [by gullablue]

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:54:25 -0000

Lampeyes:: aplocheichtys normani
looking for hints on getting these fish to spawn.

Re: Killifish despite (moderate) circulation/current? [by Jan_Hoho]

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:25:37 -0000

Beginner's Corner:: Killifish despite (moderate) circulation/current?
I just typed a lengthy post before a stupid mistake looged me out and the post was lost. So just very briefly a big thanks to you for your replies, and especially to scott for putting so much time and effort into his thoughtful and supportive post.

And three quick questions:

1. Depending on the water specs (testing has yieled inconsisten readings so far), I am considering

1 pair of nothobranchius rachovii + 2 pairs of platies + a group of cherry shrimp

or

1 pair of nothobranchius rachovii + 1 pair of rivulus agialae + a group of cherry shrimp

or

1 pair of nothobranchius rachovii + 1 pair of aphyosemion gardneri + a group of cherry shrimp

Do you think this will work? Do the killies look sufficiently different to each other so the n. rachovii male will not harrass the anyone?

2. Does anyone know easy-to-grow and robust background plants that tolerate low-moderate light? The back corners are quite shadowy in my setup, but there is still space.

3. If I look at the fish and egg list, I see a number of people selling n. rachovii eggs, but no fish. If I buy the eggs, I will end up with a ton of fish that I can't keep and most certainly won't kill. What can I do? I am not aware of killie friends/auctions in Portland, OR, but I have my heart set on that species.

Re: Procatopus Sp.'Edea' [by VIEJO]

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:00:33 -0000

Lampeyes:: Procatopus Sp.'Edea'
Lamboj's photo says '.cf' Davidi ( can't find.lol) but it certainly looks like my fish.. I'll lighten it up in Paintshop & see how it compares.. The fact that it is a Lamboj photo adds a little creditability in my mind but it is also possible that 'David' is the original collector & someone decided to create a new species..