erratum: Ep fasciolatus zimiensis SL89 not SL99

[killifishdavid]

Ronnie wroteBTW David, here's a quick update from my previous order;
AUS= 6 fry, SPL Moliwe=2, OGO=0 and the COE eggs have all turned white! What's the incubation time for the SPL & OGO?)

It is from 2 to 3 weeks, I will go with the breather bags and water for future sending of non annual eggs, I hope this will improve your hatch results!!

[killifishdavid]

Gwee,
The eggs of:
AUS = 5 fry
MIR TRU tinto = 0 fry
MIR MOE nguti = 0 fry

could take from 5 to 8 weeks from collection date to hatch. Many times these species may need to be force hatched. I have had some of the mirabilis species take up to 10 weeks to hatch. I allways remove the eggs off of tye peat before wetting. This way if they do not hatch soon or after trying to force hatch I place them back on top of the peat for further incubation. If the peat and all is placed in the water then you will loose track of the eggs and what is happening with them. At this all you can do is see if they hatch or if no fry appear!!

[RonWill]

Bill,

Current status of the ZIIs...
7 - in 2ft 'dump tank'
3 - in round grow-out containers
3 - Kwek Leong's survivors (as reported in 'Disappearing Killies')
Total head count @ 13 fry

Hit list...
7 - MIA
2 - drainage accident
1 - bacterial infection
2 - earlier bacterial infection

[ruyle]

Thanks for the update, Ronnie.
I still think 13 fry beats nada

Sent your package today by Fedex ground They said it should arrive in
7 days. I had a learning curve to work thru: finally got an account number
and did everything online including the shipping label! You get a 10% discount on shipping doing it this way. Finding the dropoff place in town
took awhile since there is no signage on the roadside (long story). Hope it
meets your expectations. BTW, how did you like the tapes? I found some
parts abit mind-numbing, yet informative :wink:

Bill
farang9

[RonWill]

Bill,

I've delivered 7 of the larger ZII juvenile to Kwek Leong and will be growing-out the 3 in my 'dump tank'.

Current status of the ZIIs...
3 - in 2ft 'dump tank'
3 + 7 - under Kwek Leong's care
Total head count @ 13 fry

The juvenile have not color-up yet, so I've no idea what to look for... but here're some pics. Perhaps you can tell the difference?

7 ZII delivered to Kwek Leong on May 1st 2004


Pic of 4 juvenile ZII


Closeup view of largest juvenile at almost 2cm


another closeup of 2nd largest juvenile... female?? (belly seems fuller)


I'll post updates of the 3 under my care, when they start coloring-up.

Kwek Leong, I've been feeling jittery about the 10 ZII juvenile in your uncovered tank. Please try to put something over it, or at least reduce the water level.

Ap. BITs have proven to me many times that they can clear 6" and I'm sure the ZIIs are good jumpers too!

Sent your package today by Fedex ground They said it should arrive in 7 days.

Bill, I'm impressed that the controller card arrived in 2½ days, considering it was sent via 'International Economy'. Please advise courier charges when you receive the monthly statement.

BTW, how did you like the tapes? I found some parts abit mind-numbing, yet informative.

I've gone through the tapes. Very interesting but I'll have to KIV the Henri filter till later. Am in the midst of setting up separate permanent tanks for the killies.

Image links edited 051205 ZII's album

[ruyle]

Ronnie, you've done an excellent job with these! They look very well fed and healthy! I too, hope the 2 largest are male and female.

Bill

[RonWill]

Bill, the 3 ZIIs under my care are about 2.5cm and the largest looks like a male, with some colors at the anal fin. The 2 slightly smaller juvenile have yet to color up but I'm hoping for a trio.

The ZIIs were moved to a permanent setup, sharing it with 2 trios of Ap. BIT 'Ijebu Ode', 4 Rivulus XIP, a trio of Ps. annulatus, 2 Blue-eye juvenile, 2 otos, 4 young Corydoras pygmaeus and about 10 ramhorn snails!

Two nights ago, I think, Rashid came over and help scooped up what looks like a 1cm ZII fry, with another smaller 5mm bugger scooting out of sight real quick!

I caught the little fella this morning but am holding my excitment until it grows a little bigger (but both fry looks like ZII ).

Here's a pic of their new home on May 10th, before the ZIIs moved in.

Large pic and the rest of the tanks at this page.

I'm hoping also, to hear more good news from Kwek Leong :wink:

Image links edited 051205 ZII's album

[ruyle]

Handsome quarters for some beautiful fish, Ronnie! Really like the mangrove-looking stump and the val. Taking a spin throught the pages
of your other tanks: who says you don't know anything about aquascaping? They all look pretty nice to me...Is there going to be some sort of cover for the tank? Maybe with enough plant cover it won't be necessary.

Best regards,

Bill
farang9

[RonWill]

Flattery isn't get you anywhere Bill but it helps when the Mrs. is versed in Ikebana. I was hoping to use the 'stump' in another wider tank, so I can achieve what Kim has illustrated in this post.

I'm aiming for a setup that's densely planted so it'll be condusive for the killies to spawn and places for fry to hide. Plan to add more floaters + a removable 'Euro bracing' to deter 'kamakazi killies' (ie. a 2-inch wide plexiglass sitting on the perimeter of the tank's top rim).

If this setup works, then we can look forward to the next generation of ZII without all the work! :wink:

[timebomb]

I'm hoping also, to hear more good news from Kwek Leong :wink:

I'm afraid I don't have any good news to report, Ronnie. My ZIIs are quite big now and I'm quite certain there are at least 2 males and 2 females. I thought I saw a fry the other day but it turned out to be a stunted fish from the first batch of eggs Bill sent. My plant is not heavily planted but its surface is densely covered with Hornwort. The fish although healthy don't seem too happy sometimes. I see clamped fins quite often. I'm beginning to suspect they prefer acidic water so I wonder if I should transfer them into a tank using ADA soil as substrate. What do you think?

Loh K L

[ruyle]

KL,
A thin layer of peat for the substrate might be good. Or those almond leaves that you SG folks use. And a de Bruyn filter that naturally makes
the water more acidic (over time), alongwith java moss, java fern, hornwort, to seclude them. Just a suggestion....

Bill
farang9

[ruyle]

KL,
I forgot to place a smiley after "de Bruyn filter." Of course, there's other
ways to make the water more acidic, including using drops of muriatic
acid I've been using well-seasoned and drowned oak leaves in a
few tanks that add tannins to the water which is not a severe as peat. I
have a massive 6 and 1/2 foot thick-at-the-base oak tree in my front yard
that the landlord said was probably around during the civil war (1860-1865)

Best of luck with the fish, KL, and are we going to see some pictures, soon? :wink:

Bill
farang9

[timebomb]

KL, and are we going to see some pictures, soon?

In good time, my friend.

The fish are still too young to have their pictures taken. There are some colours but they are nothing like what we saw in KillifishDavid's picture.

Thanks for the tips on how to make the water acidic. I have a bunch of Ketapang leaves lying around but I rarely use them. I don't like the idea of the water turning a dark brown colour. The fish may love it but I like them in clear water where I can see them clearly. I'll be moving the fish around soon. I have too many species but too few tanks. When I move one species to a new tank, it starts a domino effect and many fish will have to move house too.

It's interesting what you wrote about the big oak tree outside your house. Here in Singapore, such old trees are rare. It wasn't too long ago the authorities here thoughtlessly chop down trees in the name of development. But things have improved somewhat. I'm a land surveyor and nowadays when we do topographical surveys, we have to indicate the girth of trees in our maps. Any tree with a girth of more than 1 metre is deemed worthy of preservation. Before, we don't even show trees in our maps at all. The bulldozers when they go in will just bulldoze everything out of the way. Those were the bad old days.

Loh K L

[A.Rashid]

KL,

The fastest way to drop the pH down is to use ADA soil. All my apisto tank are using this which goes as low as pH 4.5 for my a.bitaeniata pair and the rest on average of 5-5.5. ADA soil normally drops the pH to about 5.5-6.5 and if you have drift woods and other items that produce tanin then it will drop further.

The best part about ADA soil is that the pH wont drop drastically but gradually so fish wont be pH shocked and aso water will not trun brown but clear.

Of course ADA soil is a bit too expensive cheapest in the market for a 9kg pack is about S$36. but there are also taiwan and china ones which are also cheaper and works too. If I'm not mistaken about S$13-15 for a pack of 5kg.

I am not trying to promote ADA product but just to let others know what ADA soil can do for you for softwater fishes.

[RonWill]

I thought I saw a fry the other day but it turned out to be a stunted fish from the first batch of eggs Bill sent

Kwek Leong, I'm confused. What first batch from Bill are you referring to? Are these ZIIs also?? If not, may I humbly suggest you label the tanks, just so you know which species previously occupied it... lest you find stowaways.

I now have the habit of putting plants into 'quarantine' and if that's not possible, then whatever new killie additions must be a different genus.

Example: There's a 4footer that's stuffed with AUS brown which I'll be clearing to the LFS. When it's empty, instead of introducing another line of AUS, I'll dump my Ps. annulatus into it. Any hidden AUS eggs or fry can be safely retrieved later without messing up the population codes.

As for ZIIs preferring acidic water, I have this observation to share. Both the tannic water and lower pH (between 5.5~6.0, according to my Merck pH test strips) have a positive effect on the ZIIs, Ap. BIT Ijebu Ode and Ps. annulatus. Try the ADA'ed tank and post your observations.

I'll be moving the fish around soon. I have too many species but too few tanks

Have you considered combining different genus of killies together? The Aphyosemions can always share with say, Rivulus or the medakas.

IME, in any tank swap, I'm almost 100% certain that stowaways will appear.

[RonWill]

The fish although healthy don't seem too happy sometimes. I see clamped fins quite often.Loh K L

Just noticed this...

Clamped fins is something that really bothers me and it could be bacterial, which have nothing to do with pH... that was how I lost Tom's PRI

[timebomb]

I took some pictures of the fish this afternoon. Here's one of the better ones:



Loh K L

[RonWill]

Kwek Leong, I can see this particular ZII coloring up nicely. How are the others doing?

I notice that there's a discrepancy in the "eyeball to tip-of-mouth" distance. Do me a favor, make close observations of your sub-adults and update me on how many of each (with pointy and blunt mouth).

Click to expand image if you're unclear about what I'm referring to.

This 2 pics taken 040501 and has that same discrepancy. Unsure if this is a sexual dimorphism (ie. difference between sexes)
Male ZII?

Female ZII?



Bill, here're some pics of the 3 under my care (clickable thumbnails);




Hopefully, we don't have to wait too long for these fellas to mature :wink:

[ruyle]

Ronnie, it would sure be nice if the pointy nose ones were males and the
blunt nose, females. KL's great pic shows a male with a pointy nose, no
doubts about it

As a sidebar, I would like to see a thread on pointers for fish photography
by you, KL, Au, etc, such as lighting, lens settings, shutter speeds, and
anything else that makes your pictures come out great. Still experimenting
with my new external flash, haven't been pleased with the pics so far

Regards,

Bill
farang9

[RonWill]

...it would sure be nice if the pointy nose ones were males and the blunt nose, females.

YES Bill, I'm glad you caught on and that's what I'm hoping for too! If this were true, then I ought to have a trio with me (crossing me fingers!) but since I gave the larger ZIIs to Kwek Leong, I'll have to wait for mine to color up, to better differentiate their sexes.

As a sidebar, I would like to see a thread on pointers for fish photography by you, KL, Au, etc, such as lighting, lens settings, shutter speeds, and anything else that makes your pictures come out great

I'm sure you've visited my 'Photo Page' and it's nothing to shout about. The camera in use is an idiot-proof entry-level P&S (Point & Shoot) and the biggest advantage of digital is the facility to view the pics on your monitor and delete those you hate. Best of all, it's very economical compared to analog 35mm film-based photography. I logged over 5k shots with the camera since 12th Sept '03 and would be dead broke if I had to process all these prints!

BTW, your pics are ok. We all need the practice anyway! :wink: