KILLIFISH question

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Big Ben

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Mar 16, 2006
Messages
255
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I was on ebay today and found killifish eggs for sale! Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with hatching this fishs eggs. Im trying to get an idea of how difficult this would be. I've asked the sellers some questions but I'd like to get your guys' advice on here cause, no offense to the sellers on ebay, but i trust you guys alot more then them, infact more then anyone or any fish store :) .

I'm wondering if the eggs could survive coming from the u.s to canada or from thailand at this timeof year. I'm doubtfull on whether or not the eggs could survive, but apparently the annual species eggs would. I beleive their the type that let their eggs dry up and then they hatch 6-8 weeks later back in water.

I'm looking into these:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/KILLIFISH-eggs-w...ryZ66795QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Killifish-Killi-...ryZ66795QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

thers actually more but i havent even decided if im gonna try it out. all of them are the Nothobranchius species but different sub species. are this difficult to hatch?
at least the u.s seller offers a refund, probly worth the extra $.

If i do get them, which im seriously considering, I'll probably be asking your guys input on how to raise them.

Thanks in advance
Ben
 
The eggs should make the transport just fine, if they are packaged properly. As far as hatching them goes, they need to stay dry in a sealed baggy with air in it. The peat needs to be damp, but not too damp. A good trick is to squeeze it dry and set it on top of a sheet of newspaper. If it leave a water mark, it is too wet, sqeeze it out again (this is if it comes to you wet), and try again.

Seal the baggy and put it in a styro cooler in a dark place where the temp is stable. Once a week or so, open up the cooler, give the bag a little shake to open the peat back up (it will settle, and you don't want that).

After about 2-3 months, when you check on the eggs, if you see little eyes inside, they are ready to hatch. At that point, rewet the eggs, and they should hatch. Removed the fry as they hatch and any eggs that do not hatch within a day or so, dry them back out and repeat the process, but only leave them dry for 1-2 weeks and try to hatch them again. If any eggs turn white, they are dead/fungused and need to be removed.

as far as raising the fry, bbs and microworms are a good starter food. Killifish when full grown will only eat live/frozen food. Mine are eating frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, and beefheart and spawn regularly (just collected more eggs last night, and my last collection was only 4 days ago)

I hope this information helps. I have not hatched annual eggs yet, I am working with non annuals right now, and their hatching method is completly different, and shorter than annuals. The information I have given you is what my breeder told me when I asked about annuals.

If you need more info, let me know, and if i don't know, I can find out for you!
 
The info above is pretty much correct. I spawned N. rachovi, a number of years ago. Ended up with about 150 offspring. The only thing above that I disagree with, is that killies won't eat flake. I have kept Nothobranchius. Aphesemion, Cynolebias, and Rivulus species, and they all ate flake. The so called annuals such as Nothobranchius, will live longer than a year in the aquarium. I had some last for 2 years, and a little bit. With cooler water they will last longer; I did not heat the tanks I kept them in, so the temp was around 70F. They are easy to keep and grow very quickly. As is clear from the pictures, killies are among the most colourful fish in the hobby.
If you buy some eggs, pay attention to the recommended hatch time as it varies from species to species. Is there a fish club in Winterpeg? Clubs are usually a good place to get killies.
 
A bit chilly to get eggs in the post just yet...I would wait until late April. You will find that there are a couple of killie breeders in Vancouver that offer a wide variety of eggs at very reasonable prices on aquabid regularly.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. Both sellers were pretty friendly, the guy from thailand has the killis im interested in but he advised to wait until it gets to around 10 degrees celcius...so jsut like you advised as well tortis, ill wait a couple months. I think theres an aquarium society here in winnipeg. Ill try to check into that, I have only seen killies in one store in winnipeg and they were few. Hopefully I can find some locally but if not ill go back to ebay when it gets warm. I was checking out aquabid and didn`t find any from vancouver but i will check back again often. Im kind of skeptic to use aquabid...but ill look into the site more and investigate. So i`d be correct in assuming that the fish can expect to live about a year? I have alot of other questions about the fish but ill look into it myself and do some research.
 
I love aquabid. I have made multiple purchases, and have had no problems. just deal through paypal only. If a seller doesn't accept paypal, go through someone else. With paypal, your purchases are still protected, just like eBay.

I was told they would only eat live/frozen...hmm, might try to feed mine flake, see if they will accept it...

go to aka.com, you can easily find out there if you have a local killie club. I have one here in Dallas, TX, I got my current three pairs from other members, and will make all my future killi purchases through my local club.

Glad I could help...
 
You can expect, even the annuals, to live longer than a year. they mature early, and start spawning at a young age so you can keep them going with replacements.
 
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