So in the last 2 days, I have collected 14 eggs from the Fp gresensi and also 14 eggs from Fp oseri, but must admit that I have run out of room in my small collection of egg storing boxes (that can be seen under my New Fishroom). I think that I will have to use some other small containers, which will be a first for 5 years in this setup.
Also wet some eggs of Fp spoorenbergi (collected 20/1/20), Fp marmoratus (collected 6/1/20 and 27/1/20) and Fp oeseri (collected 28/1/20 , so we will have to see what we get from these in the next few days. The Fp marmoratus egg collected on the 6/1/20 was nearly missed, as I do not keep a list of non-annual eggs with approx. hatching dates, as I do for my Nothos. Maybe this was because it was only 1 egg, and not many in the other container either.
0 Comments
Well the male Fp gresensi Takwai that I found in an unused tank, just 2 days ago, is definitely doing his business as this evening I collected 14 eggs from the mops. So it looks as if I will keep this species going in my fishroom for at least 1 more generation.
I really feel sorry for this male, as he was left on his own for nearly 5 months, without any feeding or water changes. Though he looks very healthy. Well surprises are always nice to receive, and I got a wonderful one yesterday evening.
Now I have been maintaining Fundulopanchax gresensi Takwai successfully for some years, and even gave a trio to the 2019 BKA Convention, but since Christmas I lost both males, and from the last batch of eggs I only hatched females. So have been looking around for a spare male without any success, and was thinking that I would have to purchase some eggs (probably from overseas) once some warmer weather comes. Now prior to last year's Convention, the trio were isolated in a separate tank in order to make it easier to bag them up prior to travelling up to Wetherby. Now this tank (which is on the bottom level of my stand (hence cooler) was not needed until now (I have a lovely group of Fundulopanchax mirabilis mirabilis that I hatched from purchased eggs) so yesterday evening I decided to clean out the tank. From the title, I expect that you can guess what I found, yes, a lovely full coloured male Fp gresensi Takwai. So he has now been transferred to the tank with the group of females, and hopefully I will be successful in getting eggs for the next generation. Just to say that I have added my updated list of Nothobranchius species that I am currently keeping (see Nothobranchius under menu heading My Killies).
Also added a piece on my new Nothobranchius breeding setup (8 tanks so far, with 2 more to come), but it is still early days so I am not sure if it is any better than having small containers in the tanks to hold the peat/coir. Just to say that I have today added some details and photos of the homemade food I have recently being using to feed my fish on a daily basis and it is based on a mix of frozen sea fish. The packets of which I purchased from Iceland, and must admit that it is a lot easier to prepare than beef-heart.
To have a look, go to "My Killies" --> "Food" --> "Fish Based" We here on the East Coast actually got away with a lot less problems than most of the country over the last 2 weeks, but our thoughts and best wishes are for those that have been affected.
In fact the rain that we have had over the last week have refilled my water-butts which is good news for my killies. Though we will have to see if we get enough during the summer to continue with the regular water changes as I have been doing. Normally, we get a lot less rain here than the rest of the country, so I may have to purchase a RO Unit to take up the slack during those drier times. I have started to remove details on specific species of killifish from the common genera name or locality and instead will enter them as sub-sets of the genera (if that makes sense). Anyway, you will see what I mean when you look under "My Killies" --> "Species" where I have started updating "Nothobranchius".
Hopefully, this will allow me to build up details and personal observations on particular species to such an extent that I can write some articles for the BKA newsletter or the BKA website. Well that is my plan at the moment, but we will just have to wait and see how it progresses. If anyone has any suggestions or comments for the website then please drop me a line and I will see what can be done. Just remember, that though I have kept killies for donkey years my experience with websites is minimal at the best. Well it has been some time since I added anything to the website, but today I have been busy updating the "Other" category under "Species", for those species that I have lost and added since I wrote that section. Also added a sub-section for Chrom. volcanum which gives a bit more insight into the strain that I have been maintaining since June 2015 (nearly 5 years). Well worth a look as I have added a link to a great video by Jan Tropicalfishlover Wirén showing these fish in full display.
Also have converted most of my killies over to a 50/50 mix of rainwater and my very hard tapwater, except for Aphanius mento Zengen. After a few problems I was having with reduced number of eggs especially from my Nothobranchius species, I thought that using 100% tapwater at 400ppm (26dH) was just too high to be used for both fry and adults. We will see how this works out and I may have to adjust further, especially for those species that I am currently finding it difficult to breed. Therefore, in order to help me do regular water changes I have added an additional large water container (95 litres) which holds the 50/50 mixture, and it is fitted with it's own pump and line for filling the tanks. |