Update

[selena]

Mr Loh,

Go ahead and distribute your cigars. Had 5 Lyretail frys out of 6 eggs water-hatched last Friday night. Was'nt too sure if they were ready, so I put them in a little container w/ M/Blue. Was over the moon when I had frys over the weekend. Feed them with Microworms but they does'nt look like they are eating. Put some aged water from the Java Moss, seem like a lot of activities going in that jungle, with some fast swimming things darting around. Would like to put some Green Water but mine does not look green enough. Will keep you posted.


Mr Choy,

My baby guppies, baby discus, Half-Moon and others thank you for your recommendation. Found another LFS for adult BS at Bedok, only S$1 for a small bag.


Latest experiment,

I think others would have done this. Had a container wth M/Blue of 5 eggs.
4 looks pretty good with a touch of blue and one looking opaque blue after a 3rd day 60% water change. No hairy stuff so far. Will any newbie be interested in my finding? If so, I will posted it if they do hatch.


Selena

[timebomb]

Latest experiment,I think others would have done this. Had a container wth M/Blue of 5 eggs. 4 looks pretty good with a touch of blue and one looking opaque blue after a 3rd day 60% water change. No hairy stuff so far. Will any newbie be interested in my finding? If so, I will posted it if they do hatch.

Hi, fellas,

I visited Selena today and she gave me some of her A. australe eggs. She had told me earlier that she incubates the eggs in a weak methylene blue solution but I was rather surprised to find how blue the eggs become. Here are some pictures:







If you look closely, you can see eyes on the eggs in the 3rd picture. Selena said she dilutes the solution gradually until the eggs hatch. I'm really surprised that the eggs can remain alive inspite of being so blue.

By the way, there's something that has been bothering me for a while which I think I should say before it bugs the hell out of me. Over the years, I've given away many of my stuff for free to people who asked me for them. I have given mosses and ferns to several hundred hobbyists living in various parts of the world. I have also given Killifish and eggs to hobbyists in Singapore. The thing that I noticed is that girls whom I gave stuff to always try to give me something in return. There's a Chinese saying that goes like this, "When you drink water, remember the source".

In the last few weeks, I gave fish and eggs to Esther Lee, Joanne Teo and most recently, Selena. All 3 gave me many fish in return. Whereas the guys who took my fish or eggs; I never hear from them again. Quite a few never even said a word on the forum. I would have been delighted if they had at least supported this forum. Maybe it's just coincidence but I'll make it a point to give more to the ladies from now on. As for the men, you can always buy the eggs, moss or fish yourself from the shops. So if you're a guy, don't bug me for anything.

Loh K L

[hwchoy]

…but I'll make it a point to give more to the ladies from now on.
Loh K L

mmm… I'm sure Mrs Loh would so love to hear about this.

[Svein]

I have sent eggs to your lovely country, unfortunately not to a girl, but I know that I will get som in return when the summer comes
It's important that Killi people stick together world wide, hmmmm?
regards
Svein

[aphy]

Perhaps the females were brought up to say "Please and thank you", and that's why they always felt proper that we give something in return. In Malaysia, I know that's what's been practised. Even for the males, you do get something back. Guess it's all up to the individual.

No need to feel so bad, I'm sure the guys are thankful. Just never had the opportunity to reciprocate.

[keehoe]

Loh, my killie still young. Can't offer you any egg yet. Frankly speaking i think it is a bad idea to buy egg from oversea for newbie like me. The survival rate is far too low to be worthy.

Should have start with a pair or two and experiment using those egg produce by the pair first.

[PohSan]

When I just started on this hobby, I received plants, moss and fishes from many forum members here. Among them, they are KL, Ronnie, Au, Gan CW and Sia Meng. Until today, I am still very grateful. However, instead of in return of something, I offers my service as a contribution to this forum, eg like mass ordering of BB egg, collection of contribution fund and so on. If my time allows, I will continue to do so.

Regards,
Ong Poh San

[TyroneGenade]

Let said you get 30 eggs and 50% melt so u left 15 eggs then when you wet it the hatch rate is 50% you left with 8 fry. And how many of these 8 fry will make it to adult fish?

All of those 8 fry should make it to adulthood. The only reason they wouldn't is:
poor feeding
poor water maintenance
... and other human errors.

tt4n

[turaco]

i think it is a bad idea to buy egg from oversea for newbie like me. The survival rate is far too low to be worthy.

Not that oversea eggs will always produce low survival rate. Sometimes you get more than you paid for..

Good thing about getting from local breeder for newbie is such that if you failed in the first attempt, you can get a replacement faster(provided seller have eggs), without burning a deep hole in your pocket .

[keehoe]

Turaco, that is exactly what i meant.

TyroneGenade, you are absolutely right. Unless i get all 8 male or female. I think the postal service in your country is quite slow. That might be the cause of the melt down. Perhaps you can share with us how you kept your spawning pair. The fry are tough. Even survife my over feeding.

I had a record of hatching 22 fry and eventually only 2 survife. I had just decided to take the adult killie out of the water by hand and pat it on its shoulder and give a word of encouragement everyday.

In time they will get use to my hands and swim over as soon as they see my hands in the water. Dare not do that to the species you send though. \/

The Orthonotus is average 1cm in size now. Much bigger than any one week old Rachovii. They started to show aggression on tank mate.

[TyroneGenade]

Give the orthontus space. We had 12 fry in a 25 x 40 cm tank (surface area). Once they settle down and get used to each other then they are quite peaceful. We recently lost 2 of our big males and the remainder are now having a bit of rough time re-establishing their community.

The ORT do grow much faster than the RAC. And black RAC grow must slower than red RAC.

My rachovii were a group of 12 fish. 3 males and 9 females. I've since lost 2 females (jumping and squeeshing by sand bowl). They were spawned over a dish of slica sand. Feeding is bloodworm 2x a day, as much as they can eat in 5 minutes. They get a 10 to 20% water change per day (its my job so I have no time problems). The water is hard and alkaline and the temp is 25°C.

I don't know what the Italian Postal Service's problem is. I can get post from Paraguay in 7 days and it takes 3 weeks to get stuff from and to Germany... never mind Singapore. It is about 4 to 6 weeks concerning S.Africa...

Yes, the faster the travel time the less the eggs will stress and the higher the survival rate. Direct routes work best. My best non-annual egg exchanges in S.Afr were with the Uk as we have direct flights from Cape Town to London. For some reason we also had a great serive betwee Cape Town and Hawai'i... Only 9 days compared to 14 days to Portland Maine.

tt4n