Reply With QuoteGood luck, bro. Post some photos along the way too..! Killie fishes are interesting and beautiful creatures.
Hi,
Just introducing myself here in the forum =) Recently my gf bought me a "Magicfish" kit thing for Xmas for me, knowing I like such quirky, science-y gifts and childhood fascination with SeaMonkeys =)
Already heard of killiefish and their diapause-capable eggs, but never really thought much of it until not. Although it was marketed as a toy/kit thing, I am determined to raise them well and possibly start producing my own eggs, thus been reading up quite a bit on their care.
Decided to join and land here after recognising a member, RonWill, here from another parrot forum which I frequent =)
Nice meeting you all!
P.S. I just wet the bag in the kit last night according to instructions, with a bunch of BBS ready in another container. Going to check tonight after work, first time hatching, ahh, excited and worried at the same time =P
Good luck, bro. Post some photos along the way too..! Killie fishes are interesting and beautiful creatures.
Welcome to the killifish section Edward. If the eggs were stored well within that "Magicfish" package, they ought to hatch fairly decently. I've seen those packages at C328, but the thing is, they don't label what the eggs are, so you won't know what species you get, until they grow up.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Welcome to AQ, Edward. Lots of nice folks here and I hope you'll enjoy every visit... and my avatar is kinda hard to miss, isn't it?
Welcome also, to the world of killifishes. It's fascinating and addictive both at the same time... ask those who've been there, done that! The 'killie scene' is very quiet at the moment but there's a wealth of information in the archives. Go dig around and if there's anything you don't understand, just ask.
First off, I'll admit having zero experience with these "Magicfish" kits but chances are that the killies belong to the Nothobranchius genus and rather unlikely any of the Simpsonichthys... but hey, I could be wrong.
What does the instructions on the kit say about hatching these little 'magics'?? Does it have a wet date? Can you spot the eggs and if yes, can you see developed iris of the fry's eye? Yeah, I know the eggs are tiny but grab hold of a good magnifier to see better.
If you have already added water, try to keep it shallow, about 2inches and add a wee bit of salt (some annual species are very prone to velvet infection).
Lastly, enjoy the process and keep us updated.
I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
Ronnie Lee
AquaZ: will take shots and upload when I can!
stormhawk: well I kinda like the unknown species aspect, since I dont have a preference and it'd be nice to be surprised =)
Ron: Yea, kinda sad though, that a lot of activity seems to be from the 2003-04 era, but I can also see some pick-up in activity recently (me) haha.. btw, the instructions are pretty detailed, but in summary it states to hatch the brine shrimp the day before, then place the "peat bag" in a small container with water.
And nope, no wet date, only a "Use By: May 2010" date. and the peat is in this small tea bag like sack, where the fry is supposed to hatch and swim out. Sadly, when I checked really really hard yesterday night (24hr mark) I could find nothingand I'll try tonight to see if I can open the bag to observe the peat.
BUT! I re-read the instructions ytd again and found out I missed a big Warning at top. Please ensure the bag has stayed above a temp. of 18deg Celsius for 2 weeks prior to soaking.
Ahh.. I missed it and soaked it straight. ButI'm thinking from the time it was packaged, shipped to singapore and sat in the store it should've been more than 2weeks right?
Guess I'll just check again today and see how, if not I'll have to dry and store and try again in 2 weeks =P
All that excitement haha.. I already got a container of BBS swimming about and 3 small cultures of microworms going =) First time getting microworms, and they're really tiny somewhat intriguing and i actually feel like I'm keeping them as pets instead
Now seeking for vinegar eels and grindal worms!
Lastly, if this peat bag thing doesnt work out, I should be sourcing for "proper eggs" this time to hatch from a breeder. And perhaps ask him to pack and "surprise" me on the species
Important thing to note is whether the peat in that "sack" is extremely dry, or still moist. If the packers did not take into consideration to leave some moisture, some species' eggs will not survive in desiccated peat.
I believe the Magicfish boxes contain eggs from Nothobranchius species. From memory, they tend to produce dark coloured eggs. So you might miss them the first time you see them, especially if you cannot spot any developed irises from the embryos within.
I'm looking for vinegar eels myself.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Oh, the sack was in a small ziplock, still with moisture and a bit of condensation within.
So shouldn't have dried out.. hopefully the eggs have hatched by now, or it will hatch the second round =) apparently they packed about 20 eggs in each sack.
And I will let you know if i find the vinegar eels!
Hmm tried to find out whether it is possible to get naturally occurring vinegar eels. But it seems pretty hard in Singapore.
Is it ok to order a culture from overseas n send it over? Is it allowed?
Not sure. It is advisable to consult the AVA website. I never ordered cultures in from overseas before. If the sellers packed them well, and sent them in an insulated box, there should be not issues if there was no leakage along the way.
I doubt vinegar eels are native to Singapore, and getting a starter is the only way to go so far.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
sigh i'll make do with the MWCs first then.
ANYWAY! this is really sad. I took out the sack, opened it, drained the peat on kitchen towel and went thru it with a magnifying glass, there was nothing! and in the water, no fry! ahhh this is depressing.
I'm wondering if they hatched and died.. some of the peat escaped from the sack, and there's fine debris all over the small plastic container of water.
Just in case, are there anywhere I can purchase killi eggs locally?
I think the eggs perished while within the bag, or they just pack in peat with NO eggs inside.
I don't expect much from those kits anyway. As for buying killifish eggs locally, I don't think anyone is still selling eggs. Your best bet is Aquabid, but since it's winter in Europe and North America now I think, you should wait till next year to get any eggs. If there are Asian sellers on Aquabid, you can give it a shot. Just don't expect awesome results, especially when buying eggs from overseas sellers. Sometimes things don't go the way you want them to.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Yep, got some from Rb5 on Aquabid =) And I think the kits should've included a 'potential' wetting window date just to be sure, if not its like flying blind in the dark with one wing.
-sigh- oh well at least the kit served its purpose and sparked my interest in killifishes and resparked another old interest in freshwater aquascaping =)
I bought a similar one from Thailand. It actually took about 2 full days before I started seeing my first fry. So far 3 have popped out, I'm waiting one more day before drying out the peat for another cycle.
Now the brine shrimp eggs that came with the pack, that's another story...none seem to be hatching after 1 day of wetting. I'm a bit desperate for fry food now, it's been about a day since the first fry popped out. They've been transferred to a raising tank with java moss, but I'm thinking they'll be needing food now.
Help??
Hi schent!
I had 3 fully-harvestable microworm cultures before, but sadly on Xmas days they were cleared by the cleaners thinking it was rubbish (i left it outside cuz I had guests)
However I just started another 3 yesterday, and they're reproducing really quickly. There should be more than enough to feed that few fries =) wouldnt want them to go hungry.
I have decapped brine shirmp eggs too, along with an amount of brine shrimp eggs which hatches very well after 24hrs. Yes I know, I am a very kiasu "fish dad" lol..
My location's at Sengkang, my contact number is 9one2757three7. SMS me to see how you can come get some worms/brine shrimp/eggs to feed the fries =)
P.S. There -might- be some microorganisms on the java moss to last them for a bit, so I think they should be fine for a day or so, and also their yolk sac should tide them a while too.
@schent781,
The brine shrimp eggs that came with your killie eggs from Thailand.. were they packaged in a small plastic vial? Because usually they ship the eggs with fairy shrimp eggs, not brine shrimp. Fairy shrimp eggs occasionally have bad hatch rates. If they were truly brine shrimp eggs, somewhere along the way, they did not store the eggs properly and hence their quality must have dropped.
If you can't find a suitable early food for the fry, find an LFS near you that stocks live Daphnia or BBS. They are small enough for most killie fry. However, some killifish have really tiny fry, like Simp. costai, that require microorganisms for the first week or so, before moving on to larger foods like BBS and Daphnia.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Happy New Year!
Thanks Edward for sparing me a microworm culture!
Stormhawk: thanks for the advice too
I'm sad to report though that the 3 fry that came from the kit didn't make it into the new year. Sigh, I don't know how long the eggs were spent in transition between supplier and store, and in what conditions they were kept. The bag of peat had no packing date or wet by date. I'm feeling guilty now, not quite fair treatment or respect these beautiful creatures deserve.
Nonetheless, I intend to try my hand at raising fry again. But for now, I think I'm going to stick with adults.
Good luck with the eggs from Taiwan Edward, let us know how they turn out!
That's sad to hear, right now i'm still incubating the eggs, they dont really seem very developed yet.
Shall update everyone again soon =)
And as for the microworms, i think if you get adult fish u can try feeding them some too heh.. though i think they might be a bit small
erm...just a quick question about microworms.
One of my new cultures I created from the original tub you gave me, has turned completely pink. Thinking it might be a mold of sorts that might collapse the culture, I created another culture (this one is is starting to show shades of pink too). Aside from it being, erm, fabulously pink, the microworms seem to be multiplying like crazy. Is it still safe for fish?
Could it be the medium I'm using? I'm using an oatmeal+water+bakers yeast medium. Different from the one you're using, Edward, which, if I recall, is instant mash potato based.
Tried looking online for reasons why the medium might be turning pink but couldn't find any.
This is a bit corny, but maybe I used "red man" brand yeast, so now the culture is turning red/pink?! hur hur.
OH... i know that pink.. I believe its a form of mold. cuz in my first 3 cultures one of them turned a bright pink too.. and I found it pretty fascinating actually lol.. anyway, the pinkness subsided in about a week and it looked pretty normal after that. One point to note though, the cultures attract fruit flies like nothing. So try not to let them get into the culture.
To provide air i cut a hole in the lid and taped a piece of fine cloth over it. The last culture I had fruit flies visit, and soon I had maggots squirming all over the culture. The fish love them though =)
Just a quick update:
SO exciting! just checked the eggs, one of the packets are still pretty clear, though i can see a small opaque dot on the side.
The other pack of eggs, I can see two reallllyyyyy small eye-like dots in there! This is the way it supposed to be right? Is it almost ready? or should it only be ready when one eye covers the entire egg?
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