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Thread: My [i]Simp. magnificus [/i]tank setup

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    My [i]Simp. magnificus [/i]tank setup

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    I just setup a tank to breed my Simp. magnificus which I got it during the gathering. I have been conditioning the fish with live tubifex worms and by judging from the bloated belly of the female, I feels that they are ready for breeding. I have been trying to breed them on a smaller 1 feet plastic tank but was unsuccessful so I decided to switch to a bigger tank, taking advantage of more space to include a filter and plant.

    I understands that Simp. magnificus is quite difficult fish to breed, especially for beginner likes me. But I hope that my experience could benefit other who is trying to breed this fish and also for more experience breeder to point out the mistake which I have made.

    My breeding tank is a 2 feets tank. The water is conditioned with water conditioner and been aerated for 2 days. A sponge filter, Windelov ferns and a small dish for tubifex worm is placed inside the tank. I also includes two breeding bowls with peat moss to see which type of bowl is more preferable by Killies. I have been trying with the black one but in vain so I decided to add one more. Following photos shows my current setup:-

    I will continue to update the progress and I hope to get some advices from all of you. Thank




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    Hi PohSan, is that pot containing the peat for the fish to lay their eggs in? If so would it be better to use a wider container?

    BTW, the epithet of a scientific name (i.e. magnificus) is always written in lowercase and never capitalised. So in this case it should be Simpsonichthys magnificus or S. magnificus. Just thought that we being serious hobbyist should also keep to good scientific practice. :wink:
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Quote Originally Posted by hwchoy
    Just thought that we being serious hobbyist should also keep to good scientific practice. :wink:
    I think Choy's right. We all should try and do it correctly. When in print, scientific names should always be in italics too. It's a bit troublesome but I think, as very serious hobbyists , we should be more careful with the names :smile:

    Poh San, looking at your picture, I think your water is too turbulent. Killies, especially those which live in ponds, generally don't like strong currents. I think you should turn your air pump lower.

    As for your breeding bowls, contrary to what Choy thought, the openings are too wide. Width isn't a problem for the fish but the peat will get stirred up and they will be all over your tank. A breeding bowl with a small opening has the advantage of keeping the peat in so the tank doesn't get messed up. The Simp magnificus, when they mate, can really stir up a storm of peat. They can really "rock the house", if you know what I mean

    Be patient. It takes time for the fish to get used to the tank. When they are settled, the Simp magnificus exhibits some unusual behaviour. But you may never get to see it if you have only one female. I have one male to several females and many times, I have seen the females behaving very submissively towards the male. The females swim in a group and follow the male whereever he goes. They behave like they are a harem. I wish our women are just as submissive

    The other thing that I think you should do is to remove the dish that you are using to hold the Tubifex worms. I think it's a bad idea. Uneaten food should never be left in the tank together with the fish. General rule of thumb when feeding fish: If the fish can't finish the food within 5 minutes, you are feeding too much. This rule, however, does not apply to live Daphnia or Baby Brine Shrimp, of course.

    Loh K L

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    Quote Originally Posted by timebomb

    I wish our women are just as submissive

    Loh K L
    I wish we have all those emoticons in ClubSnap, such as "hammer" and "beat-up" which surely the ladies in this forum would have a need for, like right now

    Just had another thought. In my archive, I also have video, this is because sometimes behaviour is very helpful in identifying species too. Plus moving fishes are interesting to watch. Just wondering would you care to take a video of your fishes spawning behaviour? Just shoot with your digicam (as long as it is in AVI or MPEG format) and I can help with the editing. Most digicams can take video these days, my Canon G5 manages 320Ũ240 which will do fine on a computer screen.

    Don't have to worry about the scenes, just shoot and make sure subject is in focus. The footage and audio can be managed later. :wink:
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Quote Originally Posted by hwchoy
    Just wondering would you care to take a video of your fishes spawning behaviour?
    I'm ashamed to say this but I already have my camera for more than a year but I still don't know how to use the video function. I'm an idiot with digital equipment and I hate reading instruction manuals.

    Loh K L

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    Well, the invitation goes out to everybody. Anyone who can capture interesting behaviour of their fishes can send the footage over and I will help with the editing. Ah, of course, you will grant me the right to host the video for everyone's benefit
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Thank for the advice from Mr Loh and Mr Choy. Correction was made on my first posting above except the title.

    As for the dish, my fish usually do not starts feeding when I dropped the worm in. I think that they are still unfamiliar with the new environment.

    Unfortunately, my digital camera is of a older model (canon A40) which can shoots only 15 seconds of video.

    Regards,

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    Pohsan, unfortunately the title cannot accept italics tag. But your efforts are much appreciated.
    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Hi Poh San

    As you have only one pair of fish now, you can’t afford to use a breeding bowl with small opening. The fish might missed the breeding bowl and lay the eggs elsewhere. Having peat spilling all over the tank is not an issue now. Just change water every week. You goal now is to collect eggs to ensure there is next generation. Once you have lots of fish(next generation), you can experiment/play around with different setups.

    Au and I are still using wide mouth breeding bowl, we are not too bothered by spilled peat as we change 80%~90% water every week. (please do not follow what I am doing!! I am not suggesting that you should change this much of water, I do not mind 100% wipe out as I have spare eggs for most of our fish)

    Breeding bowl:
    Unless you have > 1 male and many females, do not put in more than 1 breeding bowl.

    Personally I feel that the tank is too huge for the pair, try using a smaller tank, it makes life easier for the fish to find the breeding bowl. I know of a few more experience breeders using very small tank when they have difficulties getting the fish to breed or get the fish to enter the breeding bowl.

    One other method is to use small goodies container or pickle jar, lay the bottom with peat and allow the fish to breed in there for about a 3~4 days. Before placing the fish in there, condition them for about 1~2 weeks. When the fish is in the jar, do not feed them, as you will contaminate the peat.

    This is the last resort, the disadvantage is the amount of peat you have to handle. I have tried this and it works well, both for annual and non annuals (replace peat with mop)

    If you need jar, I have spare.

    These are just some suggestions; you will have to determine what works for you.
    What works for me might not work for you, what I find difficult might be easy for others.

    regards
    Gwee Sia Meng
    AKA 08742
    SAA 163
    Fish List

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    Hurray! Today I wetted the 3th bag of peat which I collected from the breeding bowl on 29th December 2003. I did not managed to hatch any egg from the first two bags. To my surprise, when I checked the hatching container in the evening, I found 7 frys !!! All of them are stilling laying on the top of peat. Taken the advice from Au, I will transfer them to the raising container tomorrow.

    Another good new is that I also found two Aphyosemion australe Chocolate's eggs sticking to the moss when I was preparing the raising container for the Simp. magnificus fry. I didn't expect them to breed so soon as the fish is only 2 cm in length so I thought that they have no yet reaching their maturity stage.

    Finally, I have also partitioned my 2 feets tank into 3 partitions in order to hold Aphy. australe Chocolate, Aphy. australe Orange and Simp. magnificus. I put in sand for the Australe compartment and leave the Simp. magnificus's compartment bare. As soon as I transferred all the Aphy. australe Chocolate into the compartment, I observed that they started the breeding again!

    Today must be my lucky day.

    Regards,
    Ong Poh San

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pohsan
    I have also partitioned my 2 feets tank into 3 partitions in order to hold Aphy. australe Chocolate, Aphy. australe Orange and [i]Simp. magnificus[/i
    Pohsan,

    You might risk eggs mixed up of the A. chocolate & orange, even the S. mag too. It's better to have individual tank for each species with a cover on top. What kind of partitions are you using? Acrylic board held on by rubber suction caps?

    Gan.

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    Hi Turaco,
    Thanks for the reminder. That's one of my concerns also when I am setting up the partitions. To prevent mixing, I have the acrylic board custom cut to size from one of the hardware shop and filled up all the gaps between the acrylic board and glass wall with filter sponge*.

    First, I transfer all the Australe Chocolate into the middle partition. Then I will observed for at least one week to ensure that no fish swim to the other partition before I transfer other fishes.

    * - the idea of using sponge was inspirated (in another word: copycat) by Ronnie's rack.

    Regards,
    Ong Poh San

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    Hi Turaco,
    I give a second thought to the mixing issue. To totally eliminate this possibility, I will keep the Australe Orange in the second planted tank. This means that I will have one spare partition to keep another killies!

    Regards,
    Ong Poh San

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    The total fry count has increased to 15. :P Beside fry, I also observed some worms swiming in the hatching container which I was quite puzzled. I believe they are microworm based on the size. But how do they go into the hatching container? I remember feeding some to the adult (just to see the adult's response) so are those worm went into the breeding bowl and been collected together with the peat? How do they survived the long drying period of 2 months with only little moisture?

    Regards,
    Ong Poh San

  15. #15
    Hello Pohsan,

    for a beginner breeding an annual killifish can be a real challenge. I hope I can give you some useful advice from my experience with killis from over 30 years of breeding, and collecting. The magnificus I found in Brazil in 1992 and 1995 at the type locality and some other biotopes. They, as mostly all Simpsonichthys (except S. fulminantis, S. boitonei, and S. zonatus) prefer a neutral water with pH about 6.8-7.5 with average hardness and temps between 20-25 °C. They can stand higher temps but will not live very long then. In nature they thrive in the mentioned range.

    One thing can be important even though all magnificus are from strains imported years ago. They donīt like acid environments and particularly not fresh peat! Some species are literally allergic against peat and the fine fibres floating in the water (e.g. S. flavicaudatus, S. flagellatus, S. hellneri). From the foto you show I take a rather heavy aeration and from that flotation of the water. These annuals donīt like this and prefer stagnant environments. More, they donīt like intense lighting as more or less all biotopes where they live in are turbid by clay from the ground under the ponds.

    The fry you are describing seems to be overstored. From my method of peat drying (see Aquarium Atlas Vol. 5 introduction to the chapter of killifish, and Aquaristik Aktuell, Vol. 3+4, 2004) mostly all Simpsonichthys hatch after 4 weeks, in average. Spawn the fish at 22-24 °C approximately, take out the peat container after 1-4 weeks and place it on the floor wher there are 18 °C for some days up to a week. Then pour the peat through a mesh net, squeeze it only tightly (not too firm!), and wrap it into newspaper sheets and place it on the top of your tank lighting. Check the peat in paper twice a day. When it has turned lighter and feels only moist it is ready for storage in a plastik bag or container, again on top of the tank cover where the lighting heats it up to 30 or max. 35 °C. This will not harm the eggs, no fear. To hatch the fry, wet the peat in water of 18-20 °C after 4 weeks. After three weeks check the eggs in the peat. When you see the eye of the fish in the egg, try to see if the iris is golden. Is the egg losing its shine of the surface when you turn it between your fingers, then it is ready to hatch immediately.

    This way you will have success with all mentioned Simpsonichthys.

    Best,

    Steffen Hellner

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    Wow!! That's certainly new information to us, Mr Hellner.

    I'm surprised to hear that the eggs of almost all Simpsonichthys hatch after only 4 weeks. My own experiences tell me that it takes about 9 weeks for the eggs to be fully developed at our temperatures of 29 to 31 degrees C.
    I don't know of anyone here who has ever left his Killifish eggs on top of his tank lights! Surely, the eggs will be cooked, won't they?

    I wanted to check the temperature of my light covers just now but there's hardly any heat. And then I remembered I'm using electronic ballasts which are known to give off very little heat. If anyone here is using conventional ballasts, please place a thermometer on top of your lights and let us know the temperature.

    Mr Hellner, when you mentioned tank covers, are you talking about wooden ones? Over here, most of our light holders are made of aluminium and I suspect they can get very hot when conventional ballasts are used. It may not be a good idea to leave our eggs on top of such covers.

    Loh K L

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    Steffen,
    Thanks for an excellent summary, too much of keeping Killifish seems to be based on rumour, so it is good to get some first hand information.
    I was surprised about the peat and acidity, and also the incubation times - a lot of it seems to be more black art. So it is great to hear some straight forward facts.
    I have two tanks of S. magnificus now, one a young breeding pair in a small tank and another two foot tank with 12 but male heavy. I was hoping to see how they are as a social group in the 2' tank, but unfortunately they seem to be a shy fish so as soon as i enter the room they stop what they are doing and start watching me rather than me watching them.
    But when I do catch them having fun in the peat, wow like the other posts say - the peat goes flying!
    Anyway thankyou for a great summary of Simpsonichthys sp.

    Scott.
    Thanks again,
    Scott Douglass

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    Hi Steffen,

    Thanks for the excellent advices. I am no more keeping this wonderful fish but I will certainly keep them again when I have more spare time and space.

    Regards,
    Ong Poh San

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