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Thread: Incubation Period

  1. #1
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    Incubation Period

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    Hi all,

    I am starting this topic for your guys to input the incubation period for your Nothobranchius or other genus. I hope this post will serve as a guide for you and other beginners including myself. Our fellow hobbyist outside Singapore, please note that this is with respect of our temperature here.

    Nothobranchius steinfort (8 weeks)
    Nothobranchius foerschi (8 weeks)
    Nothobranchius albimarginatus (3 weeks ~ 8 weeks)
    Nothobranchius sp. aff. rubripinnis (8 weeks)
    Nothobranchius korthausae (6~8 weeks)
    Nematolebias whitei (8 weeks ~ 9 weeks)

    As you can see that the incubation period for most Nothos is around 8 to 10 weeks. However I had hatched eggs (albimarginatus) in less than 4 weeks.

    (Loh, is it possible to compile all the information into a single post after everyone has input?)

    Regards,
    Gwee Sia Meng
    AKA 08742
    SAA 163
    Fish List

  2. #2
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    Sia Meng,

    I don't know if it's a good idea to list down the incubation periods of the various killies we have. It can be misleading.

    We know that "egg development time" depends on many factors, 2 of which are temperature and the dryness of the peat. I think another factor is the amount of oxygen made available to the eggs during incubation. Now, let's pause a while and think about this. How is it like for the eggs in nature?

    I used to believe that Notho eggs won't hatch if they are not put through a dry incubation period. But now I don't think this is necessarily true. Mother Nature is very clever, far more clever than we give her credit for. If the species is to survive and they have survived for millions of years, I'm quite sure many Notho eggs will hatch even before the ponds dry up.

    We already know eggs of the same species can have different development rates. And the difference can range from 3 weeks to something like 4 months. I do suspect if we leave the eggs in the breeding bowls and don't collect them, chances are one day someone will report seeing fry in their tanks.

    I think Lily has hatched Notho rachovii eggs that were incubated for only 3 weeks whereas Alex has also hatched them after an incubation period of more than 3 months. They both got the fish from me, mind you, so we are talking about the exact same species of killie. So the difference can range from 3 weeks to 3 months. I don't know how information like that can be useful to anyone.

    So let's just keep in mind that the best thing to do would be to watch out for "eyed-up" eggs. As you have discovered yourself, most Nothos will hatch after an incubation period of between 6 to 8 weeks.

    There's also this thing called the "hatching window". How long will "eyed-up" eggs stay alive if we don't wet them? Here again, I think it depends on various factors too so we can never be sure.

    The thing about killies - the more I learn about them, the less I understand.

    Loh K L

  3. #3
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    Loh,

    You have a point there, but my concerns are some of the beginners here will be getting eggs from oversea, and most of the time, the breeders will advise on the wetting dates or even if they don’t the beginners will tend to ask them. However these wetting dates might be 1 to 2 months later than what we practice here as the egg development here much faster. (One of the breeders advised me to hatch his nothos eggs after 3.5~4 months of incubation but I didn’t bother and hatch it in 2 months with good hatch rate). So I thought we will be in a better position to advice them just in case if they do not see any eggs.

    I do agreed that watching for eyed up eggs will be the best indication for wetting. In fact, I am doing that for most of my species, however I had encountered times when I can’t find any eggs (even though there were eggs) So I thought the information will be useful to serve as a guide.

    Regards
    Gwee Sia Meng
    AKA 08742
    SAA 163
    Fish List

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