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Re: New to killies
> Normal minnows around my house are eastern
> mosquitofish.
Gambusia?
>What is 'greenwater'?
Greenwater is when the organic content of a body of water becomes great
enough to encourage the growth of algaes and protists such as Euglena and
paramecium. Those latter creatures also have clorophile in their bodies.
Virtually all healthy freshwaters (and aquariums) will have them.
They also are significant food for really tiny fry and more importantly for
creatures such as daphnia. The daphnia are often very important in the
aquatic food chain. For some killie people, greenwater is actually cultured
to feed to daphnia cultures which contribute towards our killies' well
being.
However in nature or a pond, with or without a die off, greenwater can
significantly cut down on the oxygen supply.
> I live in North Carolina.
...a gorgeous state larger than many of us realize. You may be quite a ways
from Raleigh, but they have an aquarium club there which includes members
familiar with killies and natives. One person who comes to mind is Dr. Bob
Goldstein.
As you probably know, your area has a number of killies, dwarf and pygmy
sunfish and others dear to some aquarists. I envy you.
> Also how well can killies withstand ammonia?
Better than many more active fishes. However large numbers of organic wastes
may even retard a killie's ability to use and metabolize food efficiently.
Ammonia may well be what that "mysterious growth inhibitor" is in grow out
tanks.
> I'm moving the killie today because the betta he/she
> was with died last night of ammonia burns and I don't
> want to loose the killie.
This may sound a little critical, but did the Betta die of polluted water or
nibbling from the Fundulus? Betta fins are attractive snacks. I watched a
Betta display to some gardneri I had just sold to a shop. I told the
proprietor that it wasn't the best idea to keep them together.
Naturally my advice (the shop is no longer with us) was ignored. The Betta's
posturing was not so dissimilar to what killies do when establishing a
pecking order. The next day the Betta has a buzz cut.
You are wise to keep a new fish in quarantine. Probably most of us can
recall when we didn't and rued the day. Many fish come through quarantine
fine. Some die of something ugly - but at least it doesn't spread to others
and the quarantine tank can be bleached out and in time reused safely. On
rare occasions there is an illness which can be cured either by TLC or
medicine.
Dr. Martin Greenwell of Shedd Aquarium suggests a preventative saltwater
bath for freshwater fishes to get rid of ecto-paracites. He also suggests a
freshwater bath for marine fishes. I don't know what to do for brackish
water killies. Marty surprised us by suggesting a formulin treatment for
internal paracites. My advice is leave the fish alone and see what happens.
("If it ain't broken....")
Welcome to the world of killies, Catnip. Their diversity and geographical
spread will amaze you. Learning about them, keeping them and comparing notes
are all great fun.
All the best!
Scott
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