Wild Nut Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 I've always like killifish, and after bettas, they are one of my favourite species of fish. So when I was at Coburg aquarium on Sunday, I couldn't resist picking up a trio of these guys. The male is stunning and he was quick to learn that glass tapping equals food. He spends most of his day evading my camera and showing off to his two females, and I'm hoping to have a go at spawning them. I only got a crummy shot of the biggest female as the male kept chasing her off, as you can see from his nose in the top of the picture! However, he is stunning and I actually got a couple of decent shots. I was then also naughty and picked up the pair of Lagos, Adrian from Exotic Aquatic was advertising the other day. Don't have any photos of them as they are still settling into their new home. I am thinking I am going to have a new addiction after wild bettas. My poor splendens are going to find themselves kicked to the curb at this rate :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 I love Killis - keep us posted with how spawns go Ash, I'd consider a trio (oh dear, I AM diversifying) Beautiful fish you gots there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Thanks. I was in fact just googling how to make a spawning mop. Was much simpler than I thought. Also have another pair on hold from Adrian. Saw he'd posted them up as still available so I thought I'd better get them as they looked so cute in store. Picking them up this Sunday. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Aphyosemion&species=striatum&id=339 Looks like I'd better set my barracks up by this weekend or else I'm going to find myself on "Hoarders". I mean everyone has multiple tanks in no less than 4 rooms of their house...right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Awesome Ashlea, they look stunning! Congrats. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Australe are one of my favourites. Has a nice colony of chocolate australe going a few years ago. Sadly lost the lot when I got a bit busy and neglected their tank. Planning on getting back into killies at the end of next year when I'll have new fishroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davo Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 will be good to see you back Mike ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillieOrCory Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 (edited) Nice! Quick throw in a spawning mop in there, they look mature enough to breed. Welcome to killies! Muahahahahahahaaaaa Oh by the way, if you keep the Lagos away from fin nippers his fins will get this long! Edited March 15, 2012 by KillieOrCory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 (edited) I have to find some yarn to make one. At the moment I have a clump of ambulia floating around and the male has already been in there exploring so who knows. I was actually looking at some eggs from you on Ozfishybids. I just need to clear some space in my fish room and then I can get a couple more killie tanks going. Killies are beautiful, but they also have that wild look about them that I love. Plus they always look like they're smiling My killies live alone. My Lagos male was so stunning this morning. He coloured right up and had all his fins outstretched. I kicked one of my bettas off my bedside table so my Striatum can go there. Edited March 15, 2012 by Wild Nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillieOrCory Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Hook, line and sinker! You are gone! If you end up getting some eggs from me and you haven't made any mops yet, remind me and I'll throw in some mops in the package. I always have dozens of extras as I make them in bulk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I've always wanted a few pairs of killies, but at the time I was infatuated with splendens. Now I can definitely see myself filling half my fish room with these guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Here's a photo of my lagos and australe set-ups My lagos male is a wimp. His female is much bolder and comes over when I tap on the glass. I also have a pair of nsukka and striatum from Adrian, and I just purchased some adult pairs and eggs from the awesome Serkan. Plus everything for my betta barracks system arrived today so I can boot all my male bettas into there and open up some more killifish space :cheer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillieOrCory Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Looks great! At this rate you are going to have the largest collection of killifish in Melbourne in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks. I am really finding these guys a fun break from my bettas. I also have some good news. I got two eggs each from my australe and striatum pairs, so obviously they are not averse to my homemade ghetto spawning mops. Hopefully I will start to see some more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hey Ashlea Lucky you getting adult Killis, The tanks look great by the way What did you make the mops out of ? I have some eggs coming this week and want to try and make the spawning mops myself Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I followed this video http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/killi/spawningmop.php to make my spawning mops. I use some acrylic yarn I picked up at the $2 store. I put a piece of polystyrene tied to the top to make it float. The tanks aren't anything special. I'm hoping to get some more ambulia to give them some more cover. I was surprised by how greedy killies. My nsukka just sit at the surface begging. Every time they see me they stop what they are doing and demand to be fed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 You may have already known this but I'll mention it for the benefit of the killi novice. If you separate the males and females you'll get more eggs in one go when you finally put them together. Say every two weeks or so. That way all the eggs will also hatch around the same time. And you'll have a decent number of fry to raise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks Ashlea Ill make mine tommorow @ Razzi can that be done with all Killies? Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I suppose but generally I do that mostly with the plant spawners (aphyosemion, fundulopanchax, epiplatys etc) when I'm going to incubate the eggs in water. With the peat spawners (nothobranchius, hmm can't remember the other names) you wouldn't bother because the drying of the peat will allow the newer eggs to catch up and they all hatch at the same time anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillieOrCory Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 As Michael says you can separate sexes to increase egg production in one go. Actually if you are checking the mops everyday you more or less get same number of eggs from a pair/group. But the disadvantage can be that you get a few fry hatching everyday. I usually raise fry that hatched within a 3 week period together. A 4 week old fry might/will (depending on the species and your feeding regimen) eat a newly hatched fry. So separating has its advantages due to having larger batches of fry to hatch together. Because I fiddle/play with my fish everyday, I do not separate the sexes and check my mops everyday. I usually have at least two fry raising tanks for a species on the go at the same time. One for newly hatched and small fry, the other for larger fry at 1cm+ . I am pretty certain that I do get some sibling predation happening but as it is I raise a lot of killies anyway so it works for me. Sibling predation, in a way similar to not checking the mop regularly and the parents finding the eggs and eating them. Serkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I just found some eggs in my lagos mop. My male has finally gotten over being shy (I thought he was sick as he hides at the back all day). However, he discovered the mop and him and my female have been doing some gentle courtship. At the moment I'm not collecting eggs. I have four lots of wild betta fry I'm raising currently plus some eggs coming from Serkan but if anyone manages to hatch out in there I will move them into a grow-out. Will the parents eat the eggs from the spawning mop? I am feeding the pairs small meals three times a day with a combination of NLS pellets, grindal worms, frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp, BBS and live blackworms, so they shouldn't be too hungry. I'm assuming the eggs will still hatch if stuck to my spawning mop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillieOrCory Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 (edited) Ashlea, You can raise the Lagos and striatum fry together as they are very different, it will save you space. You can also raise Gold gardneri and striatum together. As well as striatum and Udi Berge (once you have stared at your fish long enough striatum females are easy to tell apart from gardneri females) striatum and N'sukka (once you have stared at your fish long enough striatum females are easy to tell apart from gardneri females) Lagos and gardneri types might not work as gardneri types are a bit more boisterous and Lagos more delicate. Warning! Never have gardneri types (N'sukka, Udi Berge, Makurdi, Akure, P82 etc) together or adjacent tanks if you do not have very tight fitting lids. The females are impossible to tell apart! All you have to do is to keep an eye out for the fry and any that grow much bigger needs to be moved to another accommodation. I almost always find fry with the parents. So you can just leave the eggs with the parents but the most you'll ever have growing with the parents is 1 to 3 fry, the rest seem to be consumed by parents or siblings. Serkan Edited March 21, 2012 by KillieOrCory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Thanks for all that Serkan. I think I'll just leave the eggs be for now and once I get a proper grow-out system going downstairs I will start separating out any resulting fry. The leave-in method sounds like what happens with my rutilans. I usually start out with 10 or so fry, but eventually the weakest die or are picked off by their siblings and they are just left to grow-out with mum and dad (who don't actually eat their offspring). I thought I'd share a couple more pics of my killies. Lagos female Striatum male Australe male Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 hey Ashlea That Striatum male is ammazing. It looks like you are realy getting into these Killies I have spent the last two days reading articles on the Killiefish Austrlia site just to get up to speed before the eggs arive. What type of a grow out system are you planning for downstairs? Id be intrested to see plans of it. Cheers les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Striatum is NICE! I've always liked them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Nut Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Yeah, his colour is spectacular, especially with how dark their water is at the moment. Wish my nsukka had been co-operating as both the male and female are nicely marked. @ Les, my 'grow-out system' isn't going to be very flash. Probably just some 40L black tubs from Bunnings, some sponge filters and some heaters. I was toying with the idea of doing some kind of drip system to cut down on heating costs (our rumpus dips to bloody freezing in winter) with some 20L plastic tubs. However, I have to get my supposed fish room down there sorted beforehand. Anyone want to move 20 plus tanks down some rickety wooden stairs? Please note, we are not liable for any cracking of skulls on the cement floor below and you will probably be paid in channoides fry I think I need a fish room architect. I have this vision of some pipe somewhere exploding if my DIY dad does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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