hard to take care of?

[derek9305]

r killifish hard to take care of?

[RonWill]

r killifish hard to take care of?

That is almost like asking, "is curry spicy?" I like it hot but you might lose your tongue from the chilli.

Derek (if that's your name), most killifishes are not too difficult, even if you're new to killies, but not a newbie fishkeeper with a good grasp on basic fish-husbandry. It also pays to know which species you have in mind and being able to provide for them.

Nothobranchius are annual species and can tolerate warmer temps while splendopleure are non-annuals and most prolific between 23~25ºC (73~77ºF). Depending on where you're from (Illinois, no?), a heater may or may not be necessary during winter.

A small 2.5gal limits what "can I put" but is adequate for a pair of smaller killie with a pygmy corydoras or perhaps, a few ramhorn snails.

Lastly, welcome to the forum. An appropriate subject header will allow other newcomers to search for answers more efficiently and I'll appreciate it if you can also read up the forum rules and edit your profile.

[littar]

Hi Ron,

I recently got myself 2 pairs of Nothobranchius eggersi Bagamoyo, and 2 pairs of Nothobranchius guentheri Zanzibar.
My tank was 28-31C and PH 6.2-6.4. The 4 pairs of fish died within the first 10 days. Was the temp is high or not suitable PH?
Thanks.

[whuntley]

Littar Tan,

I sincerely hope I misread your post and that you did not put both species in a single tank. They can produce most undesirable hybrids, and telling the females apart can be a real challenge.

Your low pH gives a clue. Nothos like hard water (usually alkaline) with a fair amount of salt added. That keeps them from being attacked by Velvet disease. Most Nothos are susceptible to such external parasitic microorganisms, and the salt keeps the critters from replicating.

Adding salt to very soft water is purely toxic and not a good idea, at all. If you measure your GH as 4 degrees or more, you can add a tablespoon of sodium chloride to every 20 liters of water, and the Nothos should thrive. Use a brand of table salt that does not contain silicates (the source of the iodide myths), rock salt, or other non-additive salt.

Remember to be very careful not to keep killifish of the same genus in the same tank, until you become quite expert at breeding.

Wright

[TyroneGenade]

Your low pH gives a clue. Nothos like hard water (usually alkaline) with a fair amount of salt added. That keeps them from being attacked by Velvet disease. Most Nothos are susceptible to such external parasitic microorganisms, and the salt keeps the critters from replicating.

Actually, if you have a chat with Brian you will learn that most Notho localities are composed of high alkalinity soft water (i.e. lots of carbonate buffering, and very little dissolved calcium and magnesium). Most Notho localities are about 6.8 from what I recall.

Keeping the water alkaline does prevent velvet outbreaks as Wright says, and normal table salt (NaCl) is equally effective but it does nothing for the hardness or alkalinity, being a neutral salt. It is only effective in soft water because the velvet parasite cannot regulate its osmostic potential as well as fish and other organisms. Adding some other salts (potasium, calcium etc...) to the water may well save its bottom. Salt is however not needed in soft water if you practive propper maintenace. Ian Sainthouse breeds many Nothos very well in soft water without adding salt, and has very little problem with velvet. He has observed that Nothos kept with some salt do die sooner than those who don't have salt added.

I have maintained Nothos in dead soft water for many years without velvet problems and without adding salt. However, when I introdueced a velver infected fish into my setup, then the other fish soon had problems... So proper quarantine is NB.

Back to your fish...

N. eggersi is a lovely peaceful little fish. N. guentheri is a lot more aggressive. The two will probably not hybridize (N. albimarginatus is hypothesized to be the sister species to guentheri and is found together with eggersi), but keeping them together is not clever due to aggression. Also, collecting eggs of them will be hard, the telling the females apart can be problematic.

Did your fish ever eat? Nothos in pet shops tend to be kept in tanks with heavy filtration and strong water current. this stresses the fish out terribly and they rapidly die unless the water current is turned down and they get a treatment with flubendazole or Metronidazole (sold at pharmacists as Flagyl) to clear the gut of parasites. I suspect this is the cause for your fishes demise.

Nothos are generally very tough fish.

In regards to Derek's question: no killifish are not hard to keep. They require the same level of care as other fish, you may just have to modify the keeping techniques to be successful (breed) them. If you can keep and breed Bettas etc... you can keep killies.

Keep well

[timebomb]

I agree with Tyrone. Not on the part about soft water & salt as I know little about water chemistry but the part about the reasons for the fishes' death.

Nothos bought from fish shops are usually highly-stressed. The most likely reason is the way they're packed. Fish import/exporters think Killies are like Bettas so they pack them, one each, to small plastic bags that have so little space the fish can barely turn around.

I have bought Nothos from fish shops which look perfectly healthy but quite often, they die over the next few days after I bring them home. It can't be due to Ph or temperature as the figures quoted by Littar weren't in the extreme range.

Loh K L

[whuntley]

Your low pH gives a clue. Nothos like hard water (usually alkaline) with a fair amount of salt added. That keeps them from being attacked by Velvet disease. Most Nothos are susceptible to such external parasitic microorganisms, and the salt keeps the critters from replicating.

Actually, if you have a chat with Brian you will learn that most Notho localities are composed of high alkalinity soft water (i.e. lots of carbonate buffering, and very little dissolved calcium and magnesium). Most Notho localities are about 6.8 from what I recall.

I am well aware of that and have discussed it with Prof. Watters several times. I was writing about what aquarists have discovered about keeping them in captivity -- a totally different situation. I pointed out to him that my current water was almost the perfect average of his measurements from the wild habitats. He urged me to keep adding the salt, anyway, just as he does. Barry Cooper, another distinguished Notho collector and breeder, does the same, but he has to add some Seachem "Equilibrium" because his water is just too soft (all Si and no Ca, Mg, or K).

Keeping the water alkaline does prevent velvet outbreaks as Wright says, and normal table salt (NaCl) is equally effective but it does nothing for the hardness or alkalinity, being a neutral salt.

You didn't read what I said. Alkalinity has absolutely nothing to do with it, except to guess he had soft water. Salt, NaCl, is unsafe for the fish in really soft water. Without the other essential electrolytes, particularly potassium, it can be lethal. You can safely add salt to harder water and the fish may relish it for its osmotic pressure reduction properties, but of importance here, it is lethal to the free-swimming stage of the main Velvet organism (fresh-water variety, of course).

It is only effective in soft water because the velvet parasite cannot regulate its osmostic potential as well as fish and other organisms. Adding some other salts (potasium, calcium etc...) to the water may well save its bottom. Salt is however not needed in soft water if you practive propper maintenace. Ian Sainthouse breeds many Nothos very well in soft water without adding salt, and has very little problem with velvet. He has observed that Nothos kept with some salt do die sooner than those who don't have salt added.

I have maintained Nothos in dead soft water for many years without velvet problems and without adding salt. However, when I introdueced a velver infected fish into my setup, then the other fish soon had problems... So proper quarantine is NB.

Of course. I have done the same (I enjoy experimenting), but have usually opted for the more traditional methods since I had hard enough tap water, anyway. I do believe that advising a new killifish keeper to use soft water is likely to lead to a disaster.

The real danger is the fish being exposed to the organism, usually Oodinium species of some kind. Back when I was keeping 150 tanks, and adding 2-4 species nearly every month, there was no way to assure all my tanks were always disease free. The simple solution was to do what almost all experienced Notho breeders do, and add a tsp. of salt per gallon to water with at least enough other electrolytes to keep the salt from messing up cell metabolism.


Wright