Hello Everyone

[hot]

Let me introduce myself. I'm Terence Ho and new to this forum and also to the Killifish hobby. I actually just descovered the beauty of these fishes and would love to learn more about them. Ronnie Lee pointed the way for me and hopefully learn from you'll about these lovely and fish.

Cheers

[RonWill]

Welcome Terence to our little hideaway... we usually initiate the newcomers by clobbering them to pieces and take pride in patching them up again! Wait... don't go, we're just kidding!

I'm glad you found your way here and hopefully, what you can learn from here will let you enjoy killies even more. In our past postings, are tasty morsels of information and in some, you'd find more pretty pics to make you drool. Do spend a little time going through those as well as the main site, that digs into the introduction, caring and breeding of both annuals and non-annuals.

Don't be intimidated by those long latin names, it's a mouthful I know, but you'll get used to it. Just have fun while you're here and when in doubt, don't be shy to ask.

[ruyle]

Hi, my name is Bill Ruyle and I'm a killiholic ..I've been a member of
the AKA since 1999 but will be expatting to Thailand in 2 years (my Thai
wife goes back to her home country the first part of next year). Gwee Sia
Meng informs that you guys have been having difficulty in hatching out
non-annual killies, eggs sent from the US. As these are my favorites, I will
be sending eggs myself in both the Aphyo and Epiplaty families. I suggested to Sia Meng that maybe having the US breeder include a flagon of the parents' water to use to wet down the eggs. Most breeders
send the eggs in peat, right? Please inform if you are receiving eggs in
water. Thanks. I hope to be sending eggs of A. amoenum Sakbeyeme and
Ep. fasciolatus zimiensis SL99 sometime this summer. I'm a sucker for the prettier fish BTW, what is the most temperate time to send eggs? It is
always best to choose the most propitious moment. Hi, KL, are you here
somewhere?
Best regards,

Bill Ruyle
(farang9)

[RonWill]

Hi, my name is Bill Ruyle and I'm a killiholic ..

A warm welcome to you, Bill. Glad you can join us. May I know where you're at presently?

Gwee Sia Meng informs that you guys have been having difficulty in hatching out non-annual killies, eggs sent from the US.

Unlike annuals, with their extended incubation period, non-annual's incubation can be as fast as 7 days in water, to 14 days in peat. Any delay at the postal system results in either no-hatch to low-hatch. The local warm weather doesn't do eggs any good either.

I'm a fan of Aphyosemions as well but pardon my ignorance... what 'flagon' are you referring to?... as in a water sample?

Most breeders send the eggs in peat, right? Please inform if you are receiving eggs in water.

Mostly in peat, but I've also received eggs in water-filled 35mm film canisters and in very damp spawing mops. The main problem with eggs in water, is them getting fungicized, unless individual eggs are packed in tiny vials... and that's alot of work! The second problem is hatching while enroute. That said, it'll be interesting if you'd want to try shipping non-annual eggs in breathable bags mentioned in this thread.

I hope to be sending eggs of A. amoenum Sakbeyeme and Ep. fasciolatus zimiensis SL99 sometime this summer. I'm a sucker for the prettier fish

No doubt the A. amoenum are very attractive fishes and there are alot of killies to be suckered into!

BTW, what is the most temperate time to send eggs? It is always best to choose the most propitious moment.

Climate is pretty consistent throughout the year... it goes between hot, hotter and &#$#! hot

According to this site;
TEMPERATURE:
Diurnal** range: Minimum 23 to 26 deg C and Maximum 31 to 34 deg C
Extremes: Minimum of 19.4 deg C and Maximum of 35.8 deg C

RELATIVE HUMIDITY:
Diurnal range in the high 90's in the early morning to around 60 % in the mid-afternoon.
Mean value is 84%
During prolonged heavy rain, relative humidity often reaches 100 %.

**Diurnal = Relating to or occurring in a 24-hour period; daily.

Hope this helps.

[ruyle]

Hi Ron, glad to meet you. I'm in Huntsville, Alabama USA. I was being a
bit facetious about flagon (a large clay or metal vessel that holds wine or
liquor) but yes, a water sample. The Kordon breathable bags may hold the
best hope in sending non-annual eggs. Sending them as quickly as possible
would ensure better success. Will have to check with Tony Terceira and
others that have used this method to see what additives they use when
sending. Spending the kind of money Sia Meng mentioned and having only
one successful hatch, is a sobering prospect indeed. As I will be a neighbor
in a few years, I hope that we can improve the success rate in hatches. My
plan was to send eggs to those interested and then have fry or eggs from these sent to Thailand when I move. There's a breeder in Honolulu that
has an impressive list of lampeyes as well as others (the A.a.Sabkeyeme)
that might be one of the better choices as he is closer than anyone to you
from the US. I've yet to talk to him about shipping internationally, however. Will inform when I do.
Best regards,

Bill Ruyle
farang9

[gweesm1]

Hi Bill

Welcome to the forum, it is great to see you here.

Unlike annuals, with their extended incubation period, non-annual's incubation can be as fast as 7 days in water, to 14 days in peat. Any delay at the postal system results in either no-hatch to low-hatch. The local warm weather doesn't do eggs any good either.

I notice that most of the non annuals egg “disappeared” or rather disintegrated when they arrived. I haven’t had much luck with eggs sent in mops and peat except for 1 order from Dave Mikkelsen. Personally I think it is all about timing when Non annuals eggs are concerned.

…A. amoenum Sakbeyeme and Ep. fasciolatus zimiensis SL99

Guys, if you had not seen or heard of this 2 fish, do a search now!! You will drool…

[gweesm1]

My plan was to send eggs to those interested and then have fry or eggs from these sent to Thailand when I move.

Bill, you can be sure that what we will have here, the Thai hobbyist will eventually get hold of it. Normal airmail to Thailand is about 5 days and I believe this will improve the chances of sending non annuals eggs as well. However lately I realize that sending fish will be a better choice since fry hatch in breathable bags survived the journey from USA. I had bought some fish from a local fish shop and will be sending it over to Oil (Thailand) when the fish are stabilized. If this shipment goes through smoothly , I guess I can do it for you 2 years later.

One other alternative is to handcarry the killifish to Thailand. Thailand and Singapore are just 2 hours away (by plane) and during my recent visit, I brought some killifish up to a close friend Oil.

regards

[ruyle]

Hi Sia Meng,
Looking forward to moving! I'm also wanting to try SAAs when I move to
Thailand as I will have more time. KL is concerned that annuals will fall by
the wayside by non-annuals but I think there is room for both. I've tried
N. korthausae (red) with diminishing results but will be happy to try those
and others once I reach Thailand. I'll be sending you pics of my completed (Tom Barr version) RFUG, can't wait to try it in a planted tank. Good to hear from you,

Bill Ruyle
farang9
AKA 08120
GCKA

ps this Ed Warner's Hatch Water Solution:
1 gallon of water
1 drop Aquari-Sol
1/2 tsp non-iodized salt
5 drops Methylene Blue

some use distilled water soaked with peat for a few days, then strained and
one drop of Acriflavine is added as an antifungal agent (per half gallon of water)--I've had very good luck with this.

[RonWill]

Bill, personally, I would think that breather bags + courier shipping would be an unbeatable approach, for both eggs and live-fish.

Will have to check with Tony Terceira and others that have used this method to see what additives they use when sending.

When Madan, a fellow forumer and good friend of Kwek Leong, brought some wild-caught over, the fish were packed individually, which wasn't remarkable in itself. What did caught my attention was that the bag's water was really really clean!

I was told that no 'additives' were added but the fishes were made to 'fast' 4 days prior to packing. That will minimize the amount of waste produced by the fish within it's small confines. Polluted water would be the #1 killer of fish in transit.

Spending the kind of money Sia Meng mentioned and having only
one successful hatch, is a sobering prospect indeed.

Not only is it sobering (an understatement) but that kinda dough often put us into 'involuntary fasting' as well.

As I will be a neighbor in a few years, I hope that we can improve the success rate in hatches. My plan was to send eggs to those interested and then have fry or eggs from these sent to Thailand when I move.

Ah, so you'll be the new kid in the block! If you desire to have a backup of the species in the neighbourhood, I'm very sure that there will be more volunteers than you have fishes!

While we 'speak', I'm slowly establishing a small 'core group' to maintain the various killie genus; I'm into Aphyosemion, Sia Meng for Fundulopanchax, Jian Yang into SAA and Au... well... he's a mixed lot, going where the sun don't shine! We still need others to cover Rivulus and lampeyes.

There's a breeder in Honolulu that has an impressive list of lampeyes...

Could you be referring to Fudaka or Tsutsui? I was corresponding with Darryl about him shipping Ep. (Pseudepiplatys) annulatus eggs, until his breeders decided to stop cooperating!

Anyway, do hotlink the RUGF pic here as well. It's always interesting to see how others 'do their stuff'.

[timebomb]

Hi, my name is Bill Ruyle and I'm a killiholic ..Hi, KL, are you here somewhere?

I'm always here, Bill :smile: Welcome to the forum.

The eggs (AUS 97-24) you sent arrived a few hours ago. Thanks. My eyes are not what they used to be but my maid saw 2 good eggs and several fungused ones. I already have the peat inside water and if the eggs don't hatch after 2 days, I will dry the peat again.

By the time you move to Thailand, we should have quite a good selection of species here in Singapore. The Killifish scene here now is much more active than what it used to be. Every now and then, new hobbyists join the forum here and enthusiasts like Ronnie, Sia Meng and Au infect them with the killifish bug

With the arrival of budget airlines in the air travel industry, airfares to Bangkok are a lot cheaper now. In the near future, flying from Bangkok to Singapore and vice versa would be like taking a bus. There's a Killifish scene in Bangkok but its a small one and the guys there are not as organised as we are in Singapore. Over here, although we do not have a killifish club, this forum makes it easy for the handful of serious killifish breeders to keep in touch with each other.

Perhaps when you are stationed in Thailand, you can kick-start the killifish hobby there. What with your connections and experience, it should be a piece of cake for you

By the way, guys, I like to let you all know what a generous person Bill is. When I got to know him through the net about 2 years ago, he offered to pay for my membership fees to join the AKA. And to tell the truth, we hardly know each other then. I once said that over the last few years, I had the good fortune to be the recipient of many acts of kindness. What Bill did was one of them.

Loh K L

[timebomb]

Let me introduce myself. I'm Terence Ho and new to this forum and also to the Killifish hobby.

Welcome to the forum, Terence. When I see a new enthusiast coming in here, I think of how it was like for me 2 years ago when I was searching high and low for the eggs of the Nothobranchius rachovii. Back then, the fish was so precious and they were so beautiful. Over time, however, the fish has either lost its beauty or I got tired of looking at them. But I was surfing around on my own website the other day and happened to click on the picture on my homepage which leads to a bigger picture of the fish. When I saw that pic, it reminds me of how beautiful the fish really is. It would be a pity if this species becomes lost to the hobbyists in Singapore just because the few serious killifish breeders got tired of looking at them.

I no longer keep the N. rachovii but I'm sure someday I would love to have them in my tanks again. I hope the newbies would keep the species alive in Singapore. Here's the big pic I was talking about:



Loh K L

[stormhawk]

Ron, I think you were referring to Mach Fukada. Anyway, there is another breeder in Honolulu but he doesn't ship internationally.. or so it seems on his ads on Aquabid. He's known as Manuran on Aquabid and I must say, he has some impressive fish indeed. Ron, betcha this time you'll drool when you see his cameronense

Bill, don't worry, there's several of us here who have some annual eggs available. In fact, they do have some beautiful annuals. When the time comes you can obtain the eggs from some of us. :wink:

[hwchoy]

There's a breeder in Honolulu that
has an impressive list of lampeyes as well as others (the A.a.Sabkeyeme)
that might be one of the better choices as he is closer than anyone to you
from the US.
Bill Ruyle
farang9

I'm not sure about postal routing from Honolulu to Asia. Hawaii may be physically closer but postal distance may be longer e.g. if it is necessary to route post to the west coast for consolidation. Anyway “lobang” ** you might be able to find out the postal routing?

** lobang, pronounced low-bung; a malay word meaning a hole, vernacular usage to mean “a means, usually obscure or out of the ordinary, of doing or finding out something.”
Sample usage: “Hey Ronnie, you got any lobang to get some nice killifish?”

[ruyle]

Hi, I was referring to Chuck Nishihira, a mentor of Mach's and a founding
member of the Honolulu Killifish Club (but never a member of AKA) and
is a masterclass breeder. His nick is "Manuran" on Aquabid and I haven't
approached him yet on sending eggs to Singapore. It would be great if he
would as he also is quite successful breeding the Tanganyikan(SP) lampeye
that is quite impressive in a long tank with a school of them jetting back and forth on the front glass (have some filtered sunlight hit the front glass
and you will see how electric theses fish are!). They need rift lake salt mix
to thrive but well worth the trouble, and one of the species I would like us
to have. They do require a good sized tank, at least 3 foot long or more
to be happy. Gotta run and get to work, take care. Thanks KL about the
AUS eggs, will have David send more when he has them. I go by US Navy
Seals numbering when it comes to killifish: 2 is 1 and 1 is zero. :wink:

Bill

[CM Media]

Hi, I was referring to Chuck Nishihira, a mentor of Mach's and a founding
member of the Honolulu Killifish Club (but never a member of AKA) and is a masterclass breeder. His nick is "Manuran" on Aquabid and I haven't approached him yet on sending eggs to Singapore.

I've being corresponding to Chuck and he had sent eggs to me twice.

Refer to here for the first lot of eggs I received from Chuck.

The second lot just arrived ia few days ago and below is one of the fish that was in the lot... :wink:



Hope I can succeed getting the eggs to hatch and then raise them.... :wink:

Chuck has a fair collection of very beautiful and rare non-annuals. His main concentration is still on the Lampeyes...

[hwchoy]

Au, very beautiful fish, what is it?

[CM Media]

Au, very beautiful fish, what is it?

It's the Lamprichthys tanganicanus.

[hwchoy]

orh that one, *drool*drool* :wink:

[ruyle]

Yep, that looks like one of Chuck's alright! Glad to know he sends eggs to
Singapore. He doesn't advertise it, like Ron said. He has a Riv specie that
is very pretty for a Riv on Aquabid right now. I bid and won the Ep. fasciolatus zimiensis SL99 eggs (Dave Mikkelsen's) that he will be sending to me this Monday. I've only gotten the A. amoenum Sakbeyeme from
Chuck, but they are healthy, robust fish.

Got a couple of questions: how do you post quotes in those little white boxes and also how do you post photos to this site?

Au SL, great photo!

Thanks,
Bill
farang9

[stormhawk]

FWIW, there was an LFS which specialises in African and Neotropical cichlids and oddballs. There was a shipment of wild Lamprichthys tanganicanus adults that was part of a shipment of Rift Lake cichlids. It could be possible that the guy at the LFS might bring in adults again.

Au, I've seen the pic somewhere. Anyway, that's a beautiful fish that has a plus point - you can keep it with them big bruisers AKA Rift Lake cichlids :wink:.

Bill, the zimiensis is the fish on the first page of David's website correct? I think it is because the last time I saw a pic of it anywhere was on his ad on Aquabid. Ronnie's pretty curious too.

About the quote and pics here's the steps.
1) You select a section of the post you wish to quote and highlight the whole string of words and press the Quote button at the 'Reply' section.
2) As for pics, you press the Img button at the 'Reply' section and add in the image link from an external website and press the Img button again.

Do a quick Preview of your reply/post and you can see if it's successful.