Temperature

[wEiPInG]

Hi all,
I was just wondering whether you keep your killies (mainly Chromaphyosemion and Aphyosemion i am talking about) at a cold temperature, especially those that are in seperate breeding tanks. How do you ensure a cool enough temperature? ( My "cool" means fan cool at like 25-26 degrees.) My first attempts with A. australes were unsuccessful when I kept them in a 1 foot tank at room temperature with cover and no lighting. They died after about a week or so. I succeeded only after I added a cooling tank to each of my tanks and they survived for a very long time and are quite hardy i must say. With a few pairs at hand now, I was thinking of breeding them in seperate tank but is unable to supply fans for each tank. Therefore I was wondering how you all do it. I was thinking of using breeder tanks in my main 3 feet tank.

One more question. What do you do with all the excess males in each fry population? Cos I read somewhere that the fry are mostly males.

Thanks.

Wei Ping

[whuntley]

Hi Wei Ping,

The problem with most West African species is that they need quite a bit of oxygen. Since warm water (particularly still water) has a lot less oxygen, many folks blame the temperature, when the cure is readily available.

Use an airstone or air-driven filter to get the oxygen level up, and they seem to be much less stressed. Yes, cooler water may be a bit better, but the oxygen thing is probably more important. Witness how well the deBruyn filters work.

IME, when males are predominant, it often is because the small babies were given inadequate moss or other cover, and the larger killed the smaller. That sometimes means the males survive much better. Fix the cause and don't worry about excess males.

I probably have bred over 100 species of killies, and have never had a dramatically skewed sex ratio. [Just watch. My saying it will make it come true! ]

As a last point, when selecting species, try for those from hot lowlands, rather than cooler, faster-running (i.e., oxygenated) mountain streams. Radda and Purzl, as well as other authors, give excellent data on collection locations by species. When I'm in doubt, I check their Color Atlas of Cyprinodonts... for the maps. That often gives me a clue.

Wright

[RonWill]

In addition to Wright has covered, I believe that low-and-wide tanks are better suited to killies and I now use flat tupperware-like containers approx 10"Wx12"Lx6"H.

Together with moderate air-stone aeration and a larger surface-to-water ratio, I believe the higher O2 level will benefit both breeders and fry. Biological filtration is handled by large clumps of moss and java ferns since my breeding containers are stacked 4-high and unlit. Water level is about 3" deep and can accomodate 2~3 pairs.

In my partitioned and re-circulating tanks, I use a double-tier Henri filters and yes, it has worked wonders. In a thread elsewhere, I have instructions and images to help you build these.

I'm experimenting with another drip system for smaller 1' cube tanks and on a windy overcast day, 24degC is achievable. It isn't a bungalow but at least I know the striatums love it!

[wEiPInG]

Do you mean that having an airstone to aerate the tank will ensure breeder and fry survival? I had all my previous tanks aerated by airstones but they still blanked out after like a week or so. I concluded it is due to mainly temperature. There were no lighting though, so the temperture should not be that low isnt it? Think covering the tanks with acrilic plates (the type used as tank seperators) does not help. The tanks are all filled with mosses too.

WeiPing

[timebomb]

Weiping,

When Wright suggested an airstone, he meant that it will help raise the level of oxygen in the water. Since you already have aeration and the fish still died, that would mean it's not the lack of oxygen that's killing your fish.

Without lighting, temperatures should be lower and not higher. Covering your tanks with acrylic will not lower the temperature but it will prevent your fish from jumping out.

Ronnie keeps his tanks outside his house along the corridor. I keep most of my tanks in my balcony. As long as it's outside the house where it's more open, temperatures are lower. I would suggest you think about fixing cooling fans to your tanks. Unlike before, clip-on fans are now easily available and they are relatively cheap. I recently bought 2 from Azmi of Eco-Culture along Upper Serangoon Road and they work just fine. The 3 feet tank where I had a clip-on fan stays a cool 27 C even on very hot days.

Loh K L