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3 Responses to Raising Killifish eggs?

1. All of these matters depend on what species of killifish eggs you are dealing with (there are hundreds of species of killies).

   For many of the “annual killifish,” you have to do something to “break dormancy” (such as storing the eggs out of water, then putting them back in water) to get the eggs to hatch.

   So, research a particular species, not just “killifish.”

   

   Gary C
   April 5, 2014 at 3:14 am
   Reply

2. Those are annual killifish.

   Were the eggs incubated correctly and stored at the correct temperature? If not, they might all be duds. If you bough from some stranger online you are taking a gamble that he/she did the incubation correctly.

   If incubated correctly, then you need to simulate the start of a rainy season to get the eggs to hatch. Use a container where you can do a few inches of water. Some might hatch within hours, some may take several tries. In the wild, there might be a false start to the rainy seasons, and early hatchers would soon find themselves without water, thus some you may have to wait a bit and have several drying out periods and retrying needed!

   Also have live foods ready to go!

   Here is a great web page that covers a lot of information.
   http://www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/articles/14-tropical-fishkeeping/107-nothobranchius-rachovi-beira-98

   

   Tabitha
   April 5, 2014 at 4:04 am
   Reply

3. Some great and very relevant questions. Also, as you know, N. rachovii Beira 98 are stunningly beautiful killies. You also know that they are annual fishes.

   look at the last frame:
   http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=463&forum=1& post_id=5112#forumpost5112

   Here’s a little something on their collection:
   http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=737&forum=30&post_id=3095#forumpost3095

   Here’s a somewhat troubling discussion of hatching them:
   http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=527&forum=19&post_id=2204#forumpost2204

   Their eggs may take as long as 5-6 months to hatch. If the eggs you purchased were collected a month ago, they have probably need to be wet at month 3. Chances are very good that they will not hatch. But for reasons that aren’t entirely clear shipping tends to speed up the incubation period. Humidity/ dryness of the peat and incubation temperature are also factors in that so it is hard to say exactly when they will hatch.

   If your seller did not ship the eggs to you (I’m assuming to a temperate zone location) using a heat pack, you may have a refund or another batch of eggs coming. What guarantees do they offer.?(Even the AKA suggests purchases in the cold months are at the buyers risk.)

   By the way if your peat moss is just an ounce or two, add another handful or two more peat of the same wetness. You can put the fish bag of peat moss somewhere out of the bright light at about
   75 degrees F. Please leave yourself notes on the calendar and any fish log you might keep. (Don’t use food bags that exchange no CO2 & O2 through the sides.)

   You can take a container as small as a plastic shoe box, though a sweater box or a 5-gallon aquarium would allow you to spot fry easier if there is very much peat. The room temperature water could be water you had previously treated with a water conditioner & left open over night.

   Fry ready to hatch should hatch in a few hours or the second day. Use a turkey baster or pipette (dedicated to all things fishy) to move the newly hatched fry to move them to another “tank” also of that same water. A plastic sweater box or a 10-gallon tank would do fine. The water initially could need be maybe three inches.

   Baby Nothos can take newly hatched bbs (baby brine shrimp.) Those are bite sized and a lot more nutritious if fed within a few hours of hatching. Please see the first source for more.

   It is unlikely that all eggs will hatch at first, so after a day, after checking very carefully under good light for stragglers, pour the peat water through a fine meshed net and dry it until just moist on paper towels or black & white newspaper. Put it back in a fish bag, shake it loose and put it away for 2 or 4 weeks.

   Probably not all 30 eggs will hatch, but if the eggs were shipped soon (a month) after collection and were kept reasonably warm, many should hatch over a few tries.

   In the wild all the eggs in a pond may not even hatch in a year. Sometimes the rains are not enough to support a new generation of very fast growing youngsters. A year or two later a generation may hatch that is able to renew the population!

   Feed the fry until they have orange tummies. The trick here is not to over feed them so that the decaying bbs doesn’t encourage a bloom of the dreaded velvet (Picinoodinium or Oodinium). Partial water changes are the best defense against diseases. Although it really raises the mineral level in, one could add a level tablespoon per 10 gallons of water. If 5 gallons is put in during a water change put in a little less than 1/2 T in. Use aquarium, marine or cattle feed salt. Do not use table salt.

   Frequent partial water changes and maybe the addition of a few small snails are important. Also install a sponge filter, maybe one operating already in another fish tank. The fry of annual killies can grow very fast. Try to change 50% of the water as often as you can. A couple times a week is a good thing.

   If they are in a 10-gallon aquarium, gradually fill it. Plants are nice but optional k& need light. They do absorb ammonia and offer shelter.Few microscopic protists growing on leaves may be eaten. Java moss is a great low-light plant.

   As the fry grow beyond a 1/2 inch, you might put a divider in the middle of the tank. That rug mesh from craft shops can do. Cut it a lot longer than the tank diameter & bend it so the tensions keeps it in place. Keep the smaller fry on one side and the larger on the other. Females tend to be smaller & bullied, but a case can be made to still raise them together.

   The sources listed below will help you more than this answer. Hope your new killies are a joy to keep and watch!

   

   golden lyretail
   April 5, 2014 at 4:37 am
   Reply