Path: utzoo!hoptoad!uunet!lll-winken!gryphon!richard
From: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: killifish
Summary: Hooked another one, Gary.
Keywords: Egg laying tooth carps
Message-ID: <3893@gryphon.CTS.COM>
Date: 8 May 88 05:17:08 GMT
References: <9194@reed.UUCP>
Reply-To: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton)
Organization: Trailing Edge Technology, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 97

In article <9194@reed.UUCP> torch@reed.UUCP (You want I KEEL You!?!!?!?) writes:
>
>   Okay, I'll bite.

Take it to alt.sex, pal.

>  I've tried keeping just about every type of fish but killifish,
>   And I find that I'll have a 10 gallon tank free this summer.
>
>    Any suggestions as to:
>     Killi species  (the hardier the better),  
>     tank setups (filtration, substrate and lighting)
>       Any good books on killies out there?

As to which killie specie is the best for beginners, this is real easy.
Aphyosemion gardneri. (Aff'ee-o-see''me-on and you can probably figure
out gardneri, oh ok, gardner-eye, tough huh ?) or A. australe.

The gardneri are probably a slightly better choice, they are a bit bigger
and blue fish are just neat, the australe are still pretty nice though.

These are probably the hardiest.

With a 10 gal tank, probably an undergravel filter and some hornwort is
the ideal setup. No heater required, killies prefer it cool. Really.
They get listless above 76 and live longer in cool water.
Males are quite tough on females, so trios, (1 M 2 F) are better than
just pairs. More M's than F's are a disaster.

Killies are not great community fish, they dont school, and tend to
be intimidated by most other fish. These are the reasons they very
seldom appear in local petshops.

Books ? Well, the Pet Library series "all about killifish" or something
like that is worth the dollar it cost. Just.

Killifish by Dr. Anthony C. Terceira is passable. Tony is a good
friend but the book is a disapointment.

The bible of killie fanciers is Col. J.J. Scheel (pronounced skeel)'s
reference work _Rivulins Of The Old World_ (ROTOW)

This is THE definitive work on taxonomy, nomenclature, biology, you name it.
It's not the end all for rules and guidelines for keeping killies, but
truthfully there really is nothing to it so not a lot needs to be said.
It was published in 1968, and will be hard to find.

So why keep killies if they have all these bad points ? Simple, they
are the most brightly coloured of all fish, fresh or salt water, and
are the easiest fo breed of any fish. The lazy mans way to breed these
things is to feed them well. Unlike most other fish that spawn once
a month or so, producing large number of eggs, killies spawn
every day if left to their own devices, yielding 10-20 eggs a day.
If they are well fed, they will not eat their young. The young
however are cannabilistic, and grow quickly, so they must be
harvested frequently if any numbers are to be obtained.

If however, the sexes are seperated for a week and condtitioned
well on live food, 200+ eggs can be expected, 100 the next day
and so on until they level off to 20-30 per day. So you can 
go either way; no work or maximum yield.

Killie people are fanatics, 300+ tanks are not at all uncommon
because killies are small and dont need big tanks. 

Oh yeah, the cardical rule of killie keeping: you need a tight cover.
This cannot be emphasized enough. They jump. My god how they jump. 
They can escape through holes that they cannot physically get out of.
Even if the tank is securly covered, they can leap out when you open
the tank to feed them. They are quite famous for this. A few people
keep tanks at half volume to get around this, they are less likely
to be able to get out through a good cover.

As has been pointed out, there is an American Killifish Association,
whose convention is in a couple of weeks, if you cant find any killies
locally, let me know; i seem to recall there is a pacific northwest
chapter someplace, which would be a good source of fish.

I could go on and on about these things, they have been, are, and will
always be my favorites.



>
>    Or would I be better off setting up another 10-gallon
>    marine tank?  (I've already got one running now).
>
>
>      Well?
>
>
>
>      


-- 
               noalias went. it really wasn't negotiable
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM                          rutgers!marque!gryphon!richard