Hello! new to killifish and need advice.

[akillifan]

On the contrary you can get redtail notho from seaview and aquastar. 2 weeks back i bought a trio of 1m and 2f from seaview. All are eating monsters! Been feeding them fbw, mysis shrip, live daphnia and adult brine shrimps.
They supposw to lay eggs on a peat, what is the alternative?

[ksc133]

wow bro you got notho females from LFS? cool man

i hear they are short lived. maybe 1 year + only....

[akillifan]

Redtail nothos are annuals, so, the most is 1 year. I dont have much space, so, keeping a thrio is just experimental. Never kept any killi before so, it will be some learning curve. Be prepared, these small fishes have huge appetite!! Eat non stop.....fun to watch beside my bettas :-)

[ksc133]

hello folks and experts,

currently i am searching for suitable tank dividers for 4ft tank.
i saw some on internet http://www.petmountain.com/product/f...er-system.html
is there any cheap commerical tank divders around in LFS?

are they good enough for killies and frys?

thanks

[akillifan]

Never seen that divider in LFS before. Usually the ones available locally are those one piece plastic that attached to suction cups that need to buy separately.

Most bros will buy them or DIY. If you looking for the suction cups holder, aquastar at yishun have them.

[ksc133]

thanks akillifan

ya those one piece clear acrylic is quite expensive like $20-30 esp big ones for 4ft tank and i need 3 pieces. lolx
maybe i will diy using some china shop plastic screen mesh etc...lolx...

thanks bro

[stormhawk]

Ok, here is a tough question for you - as from Astro, he/she said that the Stripe Panchax was the wild version of the Yellow Panchax and the Blue Panchax is a native fish.
The question is how did they managed to add the yellow to the body and red stripe to the tail which transformed the wild Stripe Panchax into a Golden or Yellow Panchax?
Did they used chemicals or dyed device? Or the food stuff? Or kind of hybridisation of two species you mentioned above?
.

It is always good to share the basics.

Let us use species names to refer to the fishes in question.

Striped Panchax, Golden Wonder Killie etc = Aplocheilus lineatus

There are 3 forms as far as I can recall. The wild form has males that obviously have the stripes along their sides. The Golden Wonder is a form bred in captivity and specifically for the "golden" trait, which causes the stripes to no longer appear on some specimens. The last form is a reddish one, not commonly seen here.

Think of the Golden Wonder as something like an Electric Blue Ram, which was also specifically bred just for the dominant blue coloration. These are not hybrids however, just mutations selectively bred to enhance that particular aspect.

IMO, the wild form is more fantastic to look at than the regular Golden Wonders we get in the LFS, but that is just my personal view.

Blue Panchax = Aplocheilus panchax

This local species is widespread throughout our region. I think someone ever found these in a hotel pond in Bali, so you can imagine how common they are.

A friend of mine, once caught some beautiful specimens somewhere around Bukit Timah. Regional populations have variations in color, so the ones in Singapore may not look the same as those from other neighbouring countries.

[stormhawk]

On the contrary you can get redtail notho from seaview and aquastar. 2 weeks back i bought a trio of 1m and 2f from seaview. All are eating monsters! Been feeding them fbw, mysis shrip, live daphnia and adult brine shrimps.
They supposw to lay eggs on a peat, what is the alternative?

I'm not sure which notho you have to identify it correctly. Female nothos are not easy to differentiate between species unless you've kept them before and the females have a specific pattern that identifies them as females of a particular species. The LFS here do not stock matching male to female pairs, especially Nothos, because these are sourced from Malaysia. I've spoken to the C328 aunty before and she mentioned that what they get is what the farm can supply and they have no idea whether the females match or not.

For example, even though you may be seeing a spawn now, the eggs may not be viable, especially if they are 2 different species to begin with. Should you get fry from the peat or coco peat base, you might get hybrids that are infertile. To be sure of what you get, either get eggs or fish by yourself from a reputable source. If aesthetics is just what you want, then several nothos mixed together is pretty nice to look at too, just not for breeding.

There is no alternative to using peat or coco peat. The eggs must lay dormant in incubation stage for up to a month. According to a fellow keeper in Penang, whom I visited earlier this year, the fastest developing notho eggs he had were from Nothobranchius palmqvisti. In our climate, he said the eggs would eye up within a month or slightly more. The only other annual species I recall having such a fast development rate in Singapore's climate was Ophthalmolebias constanciae (ex. Simpsonichthys constanciae).

[akillifan]

thanks for the advice. the redtail notho i gotten was the Nothobranchius guentheri. I think it's rather common since i saw it quite abundance at one time in seaview. the thrio i gotten one is distinctly have brighter coloration. the other two is more duller in color. i have seen some courtship dance where the male try to press the female downwards. so, it may indicate a pairing of male / female.

am wondering how soon can the female starts to gravid? am not really hoping to bag a 1M:2F specifically for breeding but, if they are 1M:2F, then at least must give it a chance to spawn

[stormhawk]

The female will be gravid once you see her belly is large and full. Should have a slight golden sheen much like guppy females do. If you want her to fill up with eggs faster, separate her from the males to condition her. Nothobranchius guentheri is a prolific species and is capable of laying several hundred eggs in a week's spawn worth on a bed of peat. They are shallow peat spawners, basically ploughing their way through the peat surface.

You can go to www.killies.com, a very old but informative site written up by timebomb aka Mr Loh KL, one of the pioneers of the killifish scene here, along with Ronnie Lee. There is a page on how to spawn Nothos, collecting eggs and storing them. Each person has a different way of doing things but for what it's worth, it's a great site for any beginner to read up on.

[akillifan]

Thanks bro for pointing out more tips.

Btw, that old killi website seems to have some security issue, be cautious if you still frequent it. I am in the IT field, btw :-)

I came across a write up that suggest two media, one is peat pellets, can be gotten in most nursery (maybe) and sand. I have some fine sand used to culture tubi, so, may try it out with them to see if it will work.

[felix_fx2]

If your browser newer with some certain add on it would warn. Doubt it will do serious damage.

[johnchor]

hello astro bro,

where do u get redtail notho females?
i went to seaview today. they only have big colorful males... i even asked the boss/worker there. no females according to him... i did not buy any since no females...

On the contrary you can get redtail notho from seaview and aquastar. 2 weeks back i bought a trio of 1m and 2f from seaview. All are eating monsters! Been feeding them fbw, mysis shrip, live daphnia and adult brine shrimps.
They supposw to lay eggs on a peat, what is the alternative?

[akillifan]

I can't confirm whether the dully colored nothos i gotten are female. below is the photo i just took. the one on the right is confirmed male, how about the left?

[johnchor]

hello akillifan bro

i am not sure too but looking at the pictures below could be a male
http://www.aquariumphoto.dk/nothobra..._guentheri.htm

any experts here can confirm?

thanks