Karen B. Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 I love Clown killifish so much. I started with 5 but 2 female died, so I tried my hand at reproducing them. Out of 30+ hatching, I ended up with 13. My population is down to 8 now, so I tried breeding again but I had a higher number of loss due to Christmas (I had to leave for 2 weeks. I did bring them with me but I think they were too young to handle the traveling) so I only have 5 this time. And 2 of these refuse to grow despite eating BBS everyday. I Will be trying my hand again, as my ration m:f is 1:1 right now and I know 1:3 is what I should aim for. I find the hardest part is between hatching and the BBS stage - that’s when I lose the majority of my babies. Either I feed too much or too little vinegar eels? Or my way to harvest the eels is not optimal, I am not sure. What are your breeding setups? 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Try sera micron from the Coop. I have great success with my CPD to gro them large enough to eat BBS. Good luck I would love to see progress photos. Also fry of any type that don’t get enough food or go too long between meals at all can become stunted growth and remain small. I have two stunted growth 1/2 inch adult guppy boys that were caught in my pothos root planters that I did not see. They will never grown bigger they are nearly a year old but I love them dearly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) Love these! I'd love to get some down the road. Very striking Killis. I breed Emerald Killifish (Fundulopanchax Scheeli). Here's my breeding male... I've got him in with 2x Females in a 10 gal tank. I use a spawning mop, check it daily for 1-2 weeks, moving all eggs found over to either a 2.5 hatching tank... or into 1-gal clear jugs, set up with sponge filters... I sometimes use Rooibos Tea bags for tannins... Out of 50+ eggs gathers in 1-2 weeks, I typically get 25 or more fry survive. Other times the numbers are lower. Once grown up enough, they are added to a 33 gal. planted Killi Colony... Sometimes I sell them. At any rate, I'm too embarrassed to ask them what all they do in there... Edited January 7, 2022 by Fish Folk 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I love those killis @Karen B. @Fish Folk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 I'm ORD, and all the fish are GORGEOUS! What are the ideal temps you have found for your killi fish @Karen B. & @Fish Folk? I'm trying to avoid any more fish that need heaters, and thrive in 68° to 72° F waters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawjagrrl Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Love seeing your setups! Would love to find some of either of these killies, but seemingly harder to come by than a lot of nano fish I've looked for. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 8:40 PM, Torrey said: I'm ORD, and all the fish are GORGEOUS! What are the ideal temps you have found for your killi fish @Karen B. & @Fish Folk? I'm trying to avoid any more fish that need heaters, and thrive in 68° to 72° F waters. I keep mine near 78°-F. I’m trying them out up near 83°-F, but they’re not as happy. The breeder I got my original stock from keeps them LOW at 70°-F. My Fundulopanchax Scheeli (Emerald Killifish) are very hardy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 (edited) On 1/6/2022 at 8:51 PM, Jawjagrrl said: Love seeing your setups! Would love to find some of either of these killies, but seemingly harder to come by than a lot of nano fish I've looked for. So… The CARE forum rules disallow us from selling here on the forum. Also linking or name dropping competitive sites is not allowed. (I totally appreciate this — keeps the forum from becoming a big unwieldy flea market) Trying to respect these rules, I’m going to drop this here. I’m not saying what site this is, but if you’re familiar with buying online, you’ll immediately recognize it. These are Killis for sale online right now. Not expensive, and honestly, many are even more stunning than the ones we’re discussing here… Edited January 7, 2022 by Fish Folk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen B. Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 8:40 PM, Torrey said: I'm ORD, and all the fish are GORGEOUS! What are the ideal temps you have found for your killi fish @Karen B. & @Fish Folk? I'm trying to avoid any more fish that need heaters, and thrive in 68° to 72° F waters. I keep mine around 75-77f I think white cloud minnow would love your temp, but as for killifish, I have no idea to be honest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Here is a free online book with great introductory information about Killis: http://killi.co.za/doc/Killifish_The_eBook.pdf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 7:24 PM, Fish Folk said: Here is a free online book with great introductory information about Killis: http://killi.co.za/doc/Killifish_The_eBook.pdf Thank you!!!! On 1/6/2022 at 7:19 PM, Karen B. said: I keep mine around 75-77f I think white cloud minnow would love your temp, but as for killifish, I have no idea to be honest. Thank you for your honesty! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen B. Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 9:20 PM, Fish Folk said: Love these! I'd love to get some down the road. Very striking Killis. I breed Emerald Killifish (Fundulopanchax Scheeli). Here's my breeding male... I've got him in with x Females in a 10 gal tank. I use a spawning mop, check it daily for 1-2 weeks, moving all eggs found over to either a 2.5 hatching tank... or into 1-gal clear jugs, set up with sponge filters... I sometimes use Rooibos Tea bags for tannins... Out of 50+ eggs gathers in 1-2 weeks, I typically get 25 or more fry survive. Other times the numbers are lower. Once grown up enough, they are added to a 33 gal. planted Killi Colony... Sometimes I sell them. At any rate, I'm too embarrassed to ask them what all they do in there... your killifish are absolutely stunning! I love your setup and the 33 long colony. I only have a 15 gallons but I think they are a bit tinier then yours. I still will only put 15 ish so they have their space. Not sure if it’s only mine that are grumpy but they don’t particularly enjoy each other. Even female will chase female (no agression, just saying shoo, I am swimming here). I love their personality - so curious, always come up to the glass to watch me, when I am cleaning the tank, some will let me gently pet them. As for breeding, I am still not set on a definitive way. For hatching, I do a bit like you - water with tanin and air tube in which I put all the eggs I collect. it’s the grow out process I am still working on. I bought a 5 gallons tank, and the fluval breeding box and will try this method next. Have the fry in the breeding box for the first 10ish day while they feed on vinegar eels; since the water circulate in the box from the tank then back in the tank, I will be less likely to have spike from uneaten food or ph fluctuations from the vinegar eels harvesting. And once they are in the BBS stage, I will grow them out in the 5 gallons. My problem is always feeding - the quantity. I am always afraid they won’t find the food so I tend to overfeed. But I noticed in a more natural environment, they seem to have a better hunting instinct. When I put my small babies in the main tank with their parents, they grew so fast and colored up. So cute. 🥰🥰🥰 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 9:36 PM, Karen B. said: your killifish are absolutely stunning! I love your setup and the 33 long colony. I only have a 15 gallons but I think they are a bit tinier then yours. I still will only put 15 ish so they have their space. Not sure if it’s only mine that are grumpy but they don’t particularly enjoy each other. Even female will chase female (no agression, just saying shoo, I am swimming here). I love their personality - so curious, always come up to the glass to watch me, when I am cleaning the tank, some will let me gently pet them. As for breeding, I am still not set on a definitive way. For hatching, I do a bit like you - water with tanin and air tube in which I put all the eggs I collect. it’s the grow out process I am still working on. I bought a 5 gallons tank, and the fluval breeding box and will try this method next. Have the fry in the breeding box for the first 10ish day while they feed on vinegar eels; since the water circulate in the box from the tank then back in the tank, I will be less likely to have spike from uneaten food or ph fluctuations from the vinegar eels harvesting. And once they are in the BBS stage, I will grow them out in the 5 gallons. My problem is always feeding - the quantity. I am always afraid they won’t find the food so I tend to overfeed. But I noticed in a more natural environment, they seem to have a better hunting instinct. When I put my small babies in the main tank with their parents, they grew so fast and colored up. So cute. 🥰🥰🥰 Nice! I'd really love to devote my entire fish-room to Killis someday. They're "the orchids of the aquarium hobby" to quote a Killi breeder I know. Here is a video showing how I harvest and feed my vinegar eels. I add a pinch of Baking soda (you can see in the video) to neutralize the acid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 @Torrey If you want an absolutely stunning fish for cool temperatures, I've fallen head-over-heels in love with my Rainbow Shiners (Notropis chrosomus). They're a U.S. Native species. They need at least a 20 gal tank, and prefer a group of 12 or more. Very easy to feed -- flake foods are fine. I add some frozen and live foods to get them breeding. Here is what they look like when displaying some spawning colors... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 8:13 PM, Fish Folk said: @Torrey If you want an absolutely stunning fish for cool temperatures, I've fallen head-over-heels in love with my Rainbow Shiners (Notropis chrosomus). They're a U.S. Native species. They need at least a 20 gal tank, and prefer a group of 12 or more. Very easy to feed -- flake foods are fine. I add some frozen and live foods to get them breeding. Here is what they look like when displaying some spawning colors... Those are gorgeous! Think they could help keep endler population under control? If so, they are perfect! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 10:15 PM, Torrey said: Those are gorgeous! Think they could help keep endler population under control? If so, they are perfect! You could try. They're drift-feeders, not normally super predatory. I'd think they'll chop down on newborn fry, but once the fry are fast enough to swim away, Shiners probably will ignore them as much at the Adult Endlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Getting back to Killifish, as @Karen B. indicates, Clown Killis are really petite. The Killis I'm dying to get into are these... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen B. Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 9:18 PM, Guppysnail said: Try sera micron from the Coop. I have great success with my CPD to gro them large enough to eat BBS. Good luck I would love to see progress photos. Also fry of any type that don’t get enough food or go too long between meals at all can become stunted growth and remain small. I have two stunted growth 1/2 inch adult guppy boys that were caught in my pothos root planters that I did not see. They will never grown bigger they are nearly a year old but I love them dearly. Sadly I live in Canada, were nothing is available. So annoying. I wonder if hikari first bite and north fin fry starter are similar? 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 8:47 PM, Karen B. said: Sadly I live in Canada, were nothing is available. So annoying. I wonder if hikari first bite and north fin fry starter are similar? 🤔 Where are you in Canada? One of my fosters is in BC, and drives down once each quarter for supplies from the Co-op, visits with family, and then goes back to Canada. Once everything goes back to normal, that's a great weekend trip from BC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen B. Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 11:18 PM, Torrey said: Where are you in Canada? One of my fosters is in BC, and drives down once each quarter for supplies from the Co-op, visits with family, and then goes back to Canada. Once everything goes back to normal, that's a great weekend trip from BC. The complete opposite - Québec! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawjagrrl Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 9:00 PM, Fish Folk said: So… The CARE forum rules disallow us from selling here on the forum. Also linking or name dropping competitive sites is not allowed. (I totally appreciate this — keeps the forum from becoming a big unwieldy flea market) Trying to respect these rules, I’m going to drop this here. I’m not saying what site this is, but if you’re familiar with buying online, you’ll immediately recognize it. These are Killis for sale online right now. Not expensive, and honestly, many are even more stunning than the ones we’re discussing here… Thanks - believe me, if I could be an in-person customer at the CoOp I'd be a dedicated customer. 🙂 Living far from any LFS stores makes the hobby a bit more challenging, but not impossible. I have not tried this resource, but will consider, thank you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 I love this thread! Killifish are so beautiful. I wish to have some someday. Idk if they would go with my current community settup tho. 6 glo tetras, 5 panda cories, 2 guppies and growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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