Boyden
Fish Fanatic
The Idea
Well, I originally stumbled across 'Tropical Fish Forum' looking for some Killifish information. Gathering information on 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' has not been easy but I've got there in the end.
After some deliberation I decided to purchase the eggs of 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' via eBay. There are risk's with purchasing eggs this way. For example, the eggs may not be fertile or the eggs could be from a different SP. than thought by the seller amongst other things. The best way to avoid a situation like this seemed to be bombarding the poor seller with as many questions as possible to ensure the seller knows what they're selling and to ensure you get any of the finer details you need. There's no harm in bugging them after all they want your bid
.
Now, I had read that some people hatch the eggs of many Killifish by simply placing the peat that contains the eggs into a container of aged water at the appropriate temperature and 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' is no exception. This method didn't really appeal to me. it seemed like checking for fungal or damaged eggs would be hard and seeing the fry on hatching would also be a challenge. So I've decided to order some petri dishes and cotton liners to place eggs that I have taken from the peat into. This should make spotting the fry in a small space easy and in turn limit the stress I put them under when transferring them to the raising tubs. I know tubs sounds weird but I'm certain after my research that they will survive better for the first few days this way as opposed to their tank (already aged and ready to go when they're the appropriate size). Pippets/basters at the ready!!
The next part is ensuring I can feed them. Infasuria seems a good start, leading onto brine shrimp and a formulated food the seller of my eggs suggested he uses for his fry. Well that's the basics of the food sorted.
Out of all of the information I've read so far the part I'm most concerned about is treating my eggs with an anti-fungal/anti-bacterial. All the information seems to contradict the last I read and I'm very new to the hobby in general so the thought of using chemicals of any description scares the bajeebers out of me. That said I am confident that you can achieve a reasonable hatch rate if you pay attention and remove any risky looking eggs ASAP without the aid of chemicals.
Things I've had to purchase
I'm hoping that not only will my hatching be successful at all but that if I take the time to hatch this way I'll be rewarded with a higher hatch rate. Once they hatch they're average life span in quality conditions is 3 years so I'd like to sell the brightly coloured males and keep a few females to breed with an unrelated male at a later date. There is no hope to earn money from the fish but if I have a reasonable hatch rate then I'd need a plan and recouping some of the costs seems like a good idea. After a little reading even the males should do well in a peaceful community tank but I think I may have to test that myself before I'd say for certain. However, if this is true it does mean that they will make a lovely colourful addition to a community tank that people are prepared to buy from they're LFS.
I really do hope i haven't bitten off more than I can chew. I'm about to add a tank rack to a walk-in cupboard we have to keep species separate as I learn. This decision was made originally because my current community tank will soon be vastly over stocked when my current fish are bigger (a mistake quite a few make and I'm now in that statistic
). However, I am starting to really enjoy the nuts and bolts of this hobby .
Wish me luck! I'll keep this updated as I go and I'll also put up pictures of everything as I go. If my success doesn't help someone then my failure will
Well, I originally stumbled across 'Tropical Fish Forum' looking for some Killifish information. Gathering information on 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' has not been easy but I've got there in the end.
After some deliberation I decided to purchase the eggs of 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' via eBay. There are risk's with purchasing eggs this way. For example, the eggs may not be fertile or the eggs could be from a different SP. than thought by the seller amongst other things. The best way to avoid a situation like this seemed to be bombarding the poor seller with as many questions as possible to ensure the seller knows what they're selling and to ensure you get any of the finer details you need. There's no harm in bugging them after all they want your bid
.Now, I had read that some people hatch the eggs of many Killifish by simply placing the peat that contains the eggs into a container of aged water at the appropriate temperature and 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' is no exception. This method didn't really appeal to me. it seemed like checking for fungal or damaged eggs would be hard and seeing the fry on hatching would also be a challenge. So I've decided to order some petri dishes and cotton liners to place eggs that I have taken from the peat into. This should make spotting the fry in a small space easy and in turn limit the stress I put them under when transferring them to the raising tubs. I know tubs sounds weird but I'm certain after my research that they will survive better for the first few days this way as opposed to their tank (already aged and ready to go when they're the appropriate size). Pippets/basters at the ready!!
The next part is ensuring I can feed them. Infasuria seems a good start, leading onto brine shrimp and a formulated food the seller of my eggs suggested he uses for his fry. Well that's the basics of the food sorted.
Out of all of the information I've read so far the part I'm most concerned about is treating my eggs with an anti-fungal/anti-bacterial. All the information seems to contradict the last I read and I'm very new to the hobby in general so the thought of using chemicals of any description scares the bajeebers out of me. That said I am confident that you can achieve a reasonable hatch rate if you pay attention and remove any risky looking eggs ASAP without the aid of chemicals.
Things I've had to purchase
- The eggs of 'fundulopanchax Gardneri Jos Plateau' also called the Steel Blue
- Petri dishes
- Untreated cotton wool make-up pads
- Pippets and basters (I'm not sure of the sizes)
- Plastic tubs
I'm hoping that not only will my hatching be successful at all but that if I take the time to hatch this way I'll be rewarded with a higher hatch rate. Once they hatch they're average life span in quality conditions is 3 years so I'd like to sell the brightly coloured males and keep a few females to breed with an unrelated male at a later date. There is no hope to earn money from the fish but if I have a reasonable hatch rate then I'd need a plan and recouping some of the costs seems like a good idea. After a little reading even the males should do well in a peaceful community tank but I think I may have to test that myself before I'd say for certain. However, if this is true it does mean that they will make a lovely colourful addition to a community tank that people are prepared to buy from they're LFS.
I really do hope i haven't bitten off more than I can chew. I'm about to add a tank rack to a walk-in cupboard we have to keep species separate as I learn. This decision was made originally because my current community tank will soon be vastly over stocked when my current fish are bigger (a mistake quite a few make and I'm now in that statistic
). However, I am starting to really enjoy the nuts and bolts of this hobby .Wish me luck! I'll keep this updated as I go and I'll also put up pictures of everything as I go. If my success doesn't help someone then my failure will
