130 liter for only killifish

[gilad]

my english is bad sorry if you not understant.

i have a tank with 130 liter.
i see the killifish and i'm very like them.
you can to recommend me a population for me....
with all waht i can need to do for him:
ph.temperature.lighting and more...

need your advice

i very like:Aphyosemion striatum (Red-Striped Killie) and Epiplatys annulatus (Banded panchax )

[timebomb]

Aqua,

We can understand you well enough but it would help if you tell us a little more about yourself. Where are you from? We need to know because temperature is an important factor. If you like the A. stratium, you will have better success if you live in a cold country.

A 130 litre tank is big enough for Killies, even if you intend to keep the bigger ones. But the species you like are small so 130 litres is in fact, overkill. Overkill is when you use a big tank to keep a small fish, if you know what I mean.

As for E. annulatus, they are even smaller. I'm quite surprised to see the name Banded panchax attached to this Killie. Aren't they more commonly known as Clown Killies?

Loh K L

[stormhawk]

aqua, are you from Israel?

Shalom if you are and welcome to the forum.

130 liters sounds like alot. Aphyosemion striatum is a nice beginner killifish but you'll need eggs to get started. The nearest people that can help you out would be the Europeans.

As for their care, I will leave it to others to answer. Did not have much luck with striatum myself when I had them.

[gilad]

yes i'm fron israel.shalom
i d'not knows a lot of species. in israel the awareness is very little to killifish because that i want to breed them but i want to breed three species thay combine.
i have more tank with 30 liter.

[gilad]

we have a killifish in the river jurdan it's call Aphanius mento(Blue pupfish)
in hebrew index write Banded panchax i chak it.
my tank is jebo with filter on the top the filter put in water much oxygen and a appliance do a water more worm or more cold you decide(i dont know how call this in english)
the tank empty from fish.
i want to do biotope for them.

[gilad]

i think i little confuse you.
it's my questions:
what you recommend me for 130 liter with only killis?
what the ph.temprature and more for what you recommend me?
i saw a article: how to breed Nothobranchius...and write there the platform need to be peat.but peat not float??
you have killis index?

[timebomb]

Aqua,

I'm just as confused too But let me try to help.

With 130 litres, you can keep any kind of Killie but generally, we don't advise putting more than one species of Killie in one tank. Many of us use small tanks to breed our Killies. It can be as small as 10 litres. Ph won't bother most Killies unless it's very low or very high. What's the Ph of your tap water? As for temperature, some Killies prefer cold water while others like the Nothobranchius generally won't mind warm water.

As for peat, we usually use peat moss. It's very bouyant (floats easily) but if you boil the peat moss, it will sink. I boil my peat moss by putting it into a pot, add some water and then put it over the stove to boil. When it hits boiling point, I let it simmer (go on boiling) for a while before switching off the stove. I then scoop away all the scum (dirt, oil, twigs etc) on the surface and wait for the pot to cool. When the peat is cooled, I wash it with tap water. After that, I pour away as much water as I can and then I leave the peat to dry. I won't let it dry completely though. When it's still a bit soggy(wet), I store it in a tub.

You should be able to find peat moss in the nurseries of Israel. A nursery is a place where they sell potted plants. Is gardening a big hobby in Israel?

Loh K L

[gilad]

o.k thanks.
i don't know what my tank water but in israel the tap water is somthing like 7-7.5 what the killis i can put?
i check my water tank but i think it's like the top water.
yes we have a peat in israel and peat moss.thanks you teach me how to do the peat sink.

[RonWill]

Aqua,
Every teacher I know, know the names of their students. In this forum, everyone know who everyone else is (meaning, we can call their names in the streets when we meet them... that's how friendly we all are). I don't know your name but there's no harm in us being friends.

...how to do the peat sink.

Easy. Microwave the peat in water. 10 minutes on HIGH setting and repeat again. Throw away anything else that floats. Filter through a fish net to wash away the very fine particles and the peat is ready to use (remember to cool the peat first before using )

Boiling is good but it messes up the pot. (then your girlfriend, wife or mother, won't be very happy with your new hobby)

Your pH at 7-7.5 is good for most killies. What do you have in mind? To have more than one species from the same genus, is not good. Some killies can cross-breed and become hybrids (then you have colorful but worthless killies).

Annual species are best kept in 3gal tanks with a small bowl, so you can collect their eggs. Non-annuals are happy with some ferns, a sponge filter and a spawning mop. It all depends on how much extra time you have to care for the fishes.

By the way, my name is Ronnie. What's yours? No one here are experts (except the geezers ), so don't feel shy asking questions and I hope you will enjoy every visit here.

[gilad]

my name is gilad(israeli name) and i live in kibuzz(like village but little different) that call moran.I 13 years old.
i not thinking nothing because i not know genuss well i want you advice to me what killis bring??
you have a index for genus of killis?


you have very nice forum...well done!

[gilad]

i have more question:
1)you can send eggs killis in the mail? because i saw in trading post people they look for eggs..??

[zmzfam]

Hi Gilad,

glad that you put in a name. You might want to update your profile and at the same time put your name in the signature so that people will know that it is you. The signature is the last line on this post and that is where my name is.

To your question, yes, eggs can be sent through the mail. However, any frys obtained depends very much on the condition the eggs were sent in the first place. It also depends on the postal service, how fast they can deliver to you and whether the mails are exposed to the sun.

I would suggest that you start off with a small plastic tank for the killies. 130 l is a very big tank for killies. I know somebody uses his 3 ft tank as a collection of only male killies - of different species.

A good website for the genus index is : http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Killif...nera_Index.htm
However, this only lists the non-annuals.

Have fun!

[stormhawk]

Gilad, why don't you try to keep Aphanius mento instead? It is native to Israel and if I remember correctly the form from Israel is a very beautiful population too. I believe there is more than 1 Aphanius species in Israel.

[nonamethefish]

Agreed,

Their is a thread with info on these fish somewhere here...they are very nice and from what I've heard they need big tanks.

[gilad]

no!
because:
1)he in "einot zukim" nature reserve. and i not take fish from nature reserve.
2)is not beautiful like other killis.

and what bad on big tank???
impossible to bring a 10 killis from one species??

[stormhawk]

gilad, the problem is, if you keep too many species in a single tank from one family like the Aphyosemion or Fundulopanchax, they might interbreed if given a chance. If you do not like Aphanius mento that is okay I suppose but apart from that you'll definitely need separate tanks for each species.

I never knew they were living in the nature reserves in Israel.

[gilad]

the questions not finish:
1)peat moss is peat with plant die??
2)killis dig in platform??

[Scott_sg]

Hi Gilad,

I am up early for rugby in a couple of hours and could not sleep after a bad day, so I will try and answer some questions.

Firstly my advice would be to get a small tank for killies, you can buy them cheap these days or probably even find one from friends or family. Then get something nice, cheap and simple like Amphyosemion australe. You will get some experience and even things work out you might be able to make a bit of pocket money from them

For your big tank if I was you I would use that to get a nice mix of all sorts of fish. Probably no killies You will get lots of experience with different fish that will help you and be lots of fun. It will also let you experiment and learn.

When I was 12 I got a 4 foot - 120cm tank for my birthday, over the years I had just about every sort of fish in that tank, including at one stage Diamond Pythons But I learnt a great deal about fish from it. Over time you will learn about water ph lighting and what suits different fish. I used to keep lots of tetras and barbs in mine and would take out pairs to breed in another small tank I found. You will have lots of fun and learn things like how to feed and raise fry, it will always be interesting since you can have plants and catfish and different things in there. You can put some small cichlids in there such as Kribensis and if you are careful you can watch them raise the babies, add some gouramis and you will see them build nests of bubbles. There are many things you will see and learn.

For Killies they are a bit more fussy generally, so just get a small tank and go from there. Get a pair of something that you can find locally. I use very simple plastic tanks for most of my fish. A simple sponge filter, maybe some plants and peat on the bottom.

If you are not sure what peat is, ask the gardening and farm adults on your Kibbutz. Since it is used in gardening. Rinse it lots and then boil or microwave like Ronnie said. It is almost like saw dust. Yes peat moss is the remains of a moss that died long ago. When it is in the tank, Killies will lay there eggs in it. Then you take out the peat and store it damp. Then depending on which fish you have, maybe weeks or months later you wet the peat and the eggs will hatch. Baby fish!

Aphanius mento ?? Whoever keeps fish that are local to them? I have kept more Rainbows in Singapore than I ever did when I lived in Northern Australia.

And don't worry about asking questions. I am about to ask Ronnie one of the dumbest questions on Killitalk so far.

Have fun with your fish.

[gilad]

i have a tank with 20 liter i can to breed killis there.
but what i do with the adults thay eat the eggs.right??
1)i think like that to bring a couple killis to breed them in the 20 liter tank 2)the adults transfer to 130 liter tank
3)to grow the little fish to adults and transfer them to the 130 liter tank
4)sale tham and to buy a another genus killis fish.??
waht you think??

[gilad]

the platform must be a peat moss?