Creating the right environment

[gweesm1]

Hi all

I do agree that our goal for killiefish is to create a natural environment for appreciation of their beauty (Beside breeding them). Creating natural environment doesn’t mean it must be a fanciful planted tank. You can use plants that are suitable for them (plants that can tolerate high salt content, eg. most ferns, java moss, nana and ect) or plain rocks and driftwoods. These setups can be very nice.

Most cichlid hobbyists, knowing their fish behaviors and biotope, have nice setups with rocks for their fish. I think these rock tanks go very well with them. I feel that we should work towards that, setting up a suitable tank for our killiefish. Not only focusing on beauty but also the well being of the fish.

Personally I had 4-planted tanks, they will be future home for my non-annual fish as I know they will do well in them. Currently one of the tanks (no salt) is used to house all my extra male nothos, unfortunately velvet strikes them, and the planted tank is filled with sick fish! It doesn’t appeal to me at all.

My point is: As a killiefish hobbyist, create the right environment for your fish. Loh’s AUS tank is one good example of creating the right environment. Both the fish and plants are healthy and in harmony. (Mine is quite a bad example of a killiefish planted tank)

This is my opinion, what yours?

Regards,
Siameng

[richy]

I fully agree with siameng. In fact, not just killies, it should apply to all fishes/pets that we are keeping. It is only under such optimum conditions that will bring out its best colors.

Unfortunately, due to ignorance and other factors, we are unable to achieve these environment.

Let strive to provide such an environment for all our fishes!

[Eric Yeo]

Sia Meng I agreed too, I've 1 more 2ft and that going to be like what you stated here

[timebomb]

As hobbyists living in Singapore, we have an advantage over other killifish keepers elsewhere. I've been on killietalk digest for many years now and the thing I noticed is that there are very few people there who keep their killies in planted tanks. Some of them may have a few plants in their killie tanks but generally, most of them use bare tanks to house their fish. I think this could be something to do with the fact that aquatic plants are not easily available in other countries. In the US of A where Killietalk digest is based, there is a very limited variety of equipment for growing aquatic plants.

In Singapore, we have a wide range of aquatic plants and equipment. We may not have many species of killifish around but I believe that drawback would be overcome soon. We also have an advantage of high temperatures which mean we don't have to wait so long for our eggs to hatch. With these 2 advantages, I believe we can become a "market leader" eventually. Hobbyists in other countries will look to us for advice on how to keep and breed the killies in tanks that are also well-stocked with healthy plants. Maybe the Taiwanese/Japanese are already well ahead of us in this aspect but in these 2 countries, very few hobbyists also speak English. That's also another advantage we have, mind you, the fact that almost all of us speak English. I met a few Thai hobbyists recently and they admit it is a big drawback not to be able to speak the language well as the internet is dominated by "English-speaking" websites and forums.

The internet has changed the way everything works. Only a few years ago, very few people know how to grow aquatic plants. The 2 fish shops (Crowntol and Aquatechnics) that display beautiful planted tanks will not reveal the secrets to hobbyists like you and me. The internet changed everything. Secrets that were jealously guarded were secrets no more as people help each other on newsgroups and mailing lists. There were no such things as forums yet in those days.

I was part of a group of guys who formed the first aquatic-based group of hobbyists in Singapore. In those days, we call ourselves the AGG, for Aquatic Gardeners Group. There were about 25 of us. Considering the fact that we were very earnest in our pursuit of hobbyists to join our group and that after something like 2 years, there were only 25 of us, it's really amazing how big the hobby has become now. The AGG became quite well-known to many fish shops and even appeared on TV, on Channel 8, Tuesday Report. The group eventually disbanded but many within the group went on to other things. One became the publisher of the English version of the Aqua Journal. Another few went on to host a mailing list and also marketed a CD rom known as Aquastop. Stilll another is now the owner of the "Aquatic Realm" forum.

Many things have come and gone since I became an internet user many years ago. But the thing that still remain - the internet is one of the most useful tools around if you know how to make use of it.

Loh K L