10-23/02

I was introduced to the Nothobranchius line of Killifishes in 2000 at the WAKO (Wisconsin Area Killifish Organization) show and auction. They have become my favorite Killifish. I am forever intrigued by a cycle of life that spins in the puddle of an elephant track.

In the aquarium, there are dozens of ways to reproduce this cycle. In my experience, the simplest way is to keep the fish in a small tank with either milled peat or coconut fiber as a bottom layer of ‘dirt’ instead of gravel. Some keepers use cups of various types to contain the dirt. I’ve tried a weighted margarine tub…a plastic mesh "Forever" coffee filter…and other gizmos equally inadequate, unnecessary and messy.

My Nothobranchius rubripinnis KTZ 85/28 came from Hawaii. They were bred by Darryl Tsutsui. If you’ve ever been to the Killifish section of Aquabid.com, Darryl is "Aquariaman" and although he swears he no longer keeps killifish, he’s a perpetual lister. I’ve bought a half dozen species from him now and am always very pleased with his fish.

I received 5 young adult pair from Darryl and felt obliged to start siphoning immediately. They were actively spawning within hours of being acclimated. I collected every week to 10 days. This time can vary. It’s up to you. After siphoning, I simply replaced about as much medium as I took. The siphoned ‘dirt’ is poured through very fine mesh net, squeezed dry and dumped onto a flattened brown grocery bag. The clumps are broken up a bit and the pile is left to dry a little. During this drying time I try to get a feeling for how many eggs have been collected. This fish seems pretty prolific. Not all Nothos are…but I did catch them at the perfect time of their short lives: the Beginning. In the few short weeks I had these fish, their egg production decreased noticeably.

The bag is half folded into a chute and the dirt is slid into a plastic bag, marked with a collection date, sealed up and put in a box on the warmest shelf in my cupboard. 90 days later, I open the bag, dump the contents into a 3-gallon tank and wait 24 hours to see who makes it. Fry can take small food immediately.

There are plenty of places on the Internet to learn about Killifish keeping and breeding. There are articles on water, temperature and salinity, diet, incubation times, etc. If you’d rather learn directly, WAKO members are everywhere. Like so many other things in this hobby, all you have to do is ask.