Killifish Eggs

rowan1984 · 24th May 2008, 07:37

I've often seen Killifish Eggs for sale.

Does anyone have any experience with buying and raising killis this way?

Sounds like an interesting project.

Jarcave · 24th May 2008, 11:43

Yes. Often it's the only way to obtain certain species. Are you thinking of trying them? If so, pick an easy species such as Gardneri or Australe to start with. Ensure you are able to culture livefood for the fry such as brine shrimp or vinegar eels, or micro / banana worms first and away you go. What are your killifish keeping plans?

24th May 2008, 11:56

Some species have such short lives that if you were to buy the adults you might end up having them for just a matter of a few months.
Generally speaking the eggs are easy to hatch and the fry easy to care for and they grow amazingly fast with proper care.

eds · 24th May 2008, 13:15

I've bought quite a few of the non-annual species as eggs and the more common species are little harder to raise than most fry. Give them lots of brine shrimp and microworms are good food too.

The annual species, such as Nothobranchius and SA annuals, are apparently a little trickier as they need an incubation time (which the seller should really write on the bag, or at least be able to tell you when to rouhgly wet the eggs) and then will grow very rapidly so you really need to give them lots of food and good, clean water or you can get problems.

rowan1984 · 24th May 2008, 18:01

I was thinking of setting up a nano tank and killis seamed like an interesting idea for it.

I guess I have to ask - tips on live food cultures?

Thanks

24th May 2008, 18:16

Don't forget that when buying eggs of annual species such as Notho's it is worth repeating the drying and wetting process two or three times.
In nature these fish live in temporary pools which dry up in the dry season. The eggs carry on developing in the mud or dry ground and hatch quite quickly when they are soaked again. But to prevent a disaster from happening if they became wet from a quick shower and then dried again before the fish had time to grow and breed, some of the eggs need two or even three wet dry cycles in order to hatch. This ensures that there is always enough fish in the pool to breed even if the first to hatch have a disaster as mentioned.
It's the same in the aquarium, most but not all the eggs will hatch the first time around.

24th May 2008, 07:37	#1
rowan1984 Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 170	Killifish Eggs I've often seen Killifish Eggs for sale. Does anyone have any experience with buying and raising killis this way? Sounds like an interesting project.

24th May 2008, 11:43	#2
Jarcave Banned Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,685	Yes. Often it's the only way to obtain certain species. Are you thinking of trying them? If so, pick an easy species such as Gardneri or Australe to start with. Ensure you are able to culture livefood for the fry such as brine shrimp or vinegar eels, or micro / banana worms first and away you go. What are your killifish keeping plans?

24th May 2008, 11:56	#3
AndyGordon Guest Posts: n/a	Some species have such short lives that if you were to buy the adults you might end up having them for just a matter of a few months. Generally speaking the eggs are easy to hatch and the fry easy to care for and they grow amazingly fast with proper care.

24th May 2008, 13:15	#4
eds Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 310	I've bought quite a few of the non-annual species as eggs and the more common species are little harder to raise than most fry. Give them lots of brine shrimp and microworms are good food too. The annual species, such as Nothobranchius and SA annuals, are apparently a little trickier as they need an incubation time (which the seller should really write on the bag, or at least be able to tell you when to rouhgly wet the eggs) and then will grow very rapidly so you really need to give them lots of food and good, clean water or you can get problems.

24th May 2008, 18:01	#5
rowan1984 Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 170	I was thinking of setting up a nano tank and killis seamed like an interesting idea for it. I guess I have to ask - tips on live food cultures? Thanks

24th May 2008, 18:16	#6
AndyGordon Guest Posts: n/a	Don't forget that when buying eggs of annual species such as Notho's it is worth repeating the drying and wetting process two or three times. In nature these fish live in temporary pools which dry up in the dry season. The eggs carry on developing in the mud or dry ground and hatch quite quickly when they are soaked again. But to prevent a disaster from happening if they became wet from a quick shower and then dried again before the fish had time to grow and breed, some of the eggs need two or even three wet dry cycles in order to hatch. This ensures that there is always enough fish in the pool to breed even if the first to hatch have a disaster as mentioned. It's the same in the aquarium, most but not all the eggs will hatch the first time around.