Omigosh I have killifish babies! Care?

[siva]

I had two gardneri killifish that I found dead on or around march 3rd. A couple days prior a friend was over and told me she had seen one of them eat an entire sinking wafer for my cories. I looked and I could see it in her body...I knew that couldn't be good so I started breaking them up. But maybe it was too late because within a couple days I found them both dead. If that wasn't the cause of death, I don't know what was. I wanted more but was nervous to try at $8.99 a pop. Well I was gravel vac'ing last night and spotted the teeniest tiniest fish I had ever seen. In a tank with no liver bearers, I found this shocking. It was so tiny, and kind of tadpole shaped, but I peered into it's little face and could see a tiny wide mouthed killi grin After much hunting I've come up with 4 of them, and have them in a 1 gal tank for the time. I'm pretty excited

My concerns are, the only heater I have small enough is only heating the tank to 76..is this warm enough for them? They don't appear to be eating the Hikari first bites powder type food I'm offering them..What would be better?

 

[MABJ]

They probably are fine with the powder food. I have a few tetras I've never seen take a bite of anything but they must to be alive still! As long as they're In a warm spot away from high temp fluxes they will be fine! How'd you get them into the 1 gal?

 

[siva]

I netted them all into a cup and acclimated them to the 1 gal that I keep as a betta/ADF hospital. Fast little stinkers they are too

 

[MABJ]

Wow that is awesome!! Let us know if they survive

 

[WendiDell]

I'm not sure which to say first, Congratulations on your new additions or I'm sorry for your loss. So consider them said simultaneously.

 

[Fishies86]

Aw! How exciting! Good luck with them!

 

[siva]

Thanks guys. They are really adorable. They seem to be able to nibble at brine shrimp so I know they are eating something now. I wonder how old they are. They don't have any color yet they are just transparent. Here they are.

 

[MABJ]

Aww look at the fry! I'd say no more than a few weeks, if that.

 

[siva]

I moved the babes into a 5 gal a few days ago. Then I was adding some new plants in my 29 tonight and another baby popped up. Yay!

 

[Jason7894561230]

Nice! You are quite a breeder

 

[WendiDell]

I moved the babes into a 5 gal a few days ago. Then I was adding some new plants in my 29 tonight and another baby popped up. Yay!

Those little guys are really cute. Congratulations.
We will be having babies too. My Female Kenyi Cichlid is holding. She has a big bulging face.
I can hardly wait.

 

[siva]

lol yes breeder by chance. It's just so funny because I wanted 5 killifish for my 20 gal and never expected them to just appear in my tank! I just saved 45 bucks...if they all survive *fingers crossed*

 

[MABJ]

You can even sell them for a little store credit

 

[librarygirl]

So cute! Congrats!!

 

[siva]

Discovered another baby! They are growing so fast. A couple of them are smaller than the rest though, makes me wonder if they are still hatcing.Gotta make a permanent place for them pretty quick.

 

[Homer8]

Why have i never see killis in the store. They are so colorful(from the pics ive seen) and the eggs arent that expensive. Are they hard to keep?

 

[maxwellag]

Pictures!? Please post some!

 

[siva]

Why have i never see killis in the store. They are so colorful(from the pics ive seen) and the eggs arent that expensive. Are they hard to keep?

Golden wonders are a killi you typically see more at the lfs. Gardneri killi's are really rising in popularity though so I wasn't surprised when they popped up at my lfs. I wouldn't expect to find them at a chain lfs though. Atleast mine never have any kinds of killifish. As far as if they are hard to keep, I can't really say for sure. The first pair I had died suddenly, but again we knew one had previously ate an entire bottom feeder sinking wafer and I would be surprised if that had something to do with it. I know that they techically prefer a softer more acidic water/lower ph than I have, but as with most fish I think stability is key. I've heard from some sources to use a blackwater extract with them, but I've never used that before. So far my 6 fry are doing well. I'm just dying to know the male to female ratio though!

 

[siva]

So every day, I peer into the tank, anxiously awaiting some trace of that beautiful coloration on the males so I know what I've got in there...well finally that day has come! Yesterday morning I could clearly see that one of the smaller two fish is definitely a male..which confirmed what I already suspected, which is that the 4 much larger fry are females. As is the other smaller one. So I've got 5 females and 1 male. I was even more sure of this as I watched throughout the day and saw him mating with all them! Already!? He's but an inch long! I couldn't believe it! Thank goodness there's only one male..he seems to be about all those 5 ladies can handle! LOL They will be moved out to their 20 soon. The first 4 are already big enough..just growing out the little two a bit more. Then I'll prob get another male to add some genetic diversity, and have a go at breeding them...since it seems pretty easy to do!

 

[WendiDell]

Good luck siva. How long after mating can you expect Fry?