[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [Killietalk] Aphyosemion Coeleste

Henry,

The folks at BAKA will be happy to help you run down the history of your fish. Go to www.sfbaka.net and click on one of the officers' names to get an e-mail started to them. Thuan Nguyen is most likely to know where they came from. If not, I bet he can point you to someone with the info you need.

Fish don't feel pH and the exact value is unimportant if your water is otherwise good (i.e., no ammonium, copper or lead).

Rainwater is not a good idea in most of the bay area, or in most other urban areas of the US, IMHO. It is too hard to collect it clean enough, and it is so low in tds that it is very hard on most fish. Mix in at least 20% tap water, and suddenly salt is no longer poisonous, and osmotic regulation is far easier for the fish (stress much lower).

Rainforest fishes have lots of greenery to purify/filter their soft water, and they rarely have several million people driving too and from work every weekday. I have found a tds of about 100-120 satisfies the needs of most all of them, and it is easy to make by mixing tap water (dechloraminated, of course) and RO or even distilled water from the grocery store. Measure the GH of your tap water. Use RO to dilute it to about 6 or 8 degrees. [If already lower than that, add enough Seachem "Equilibrium" to bring it up to that level. Your fish and plants will thank you.]

Wright

Little Dude wrote:

Hey,
How can I tell what type of Coeleste I have? When I got them, they were just labeled Aphyosemion Coeleste. I got them at the last SFBAKA meeting. I use water from tap with a PH of ~7.6 but with the peat moss the PH lowers and when I recently checked, it was around 6.8.
I was wondering about the rainwater that you keep your fishes in. Is it better to have them in rainwater?

Thanks,
Henry


From: "M. Frauley and G. Elson" <fraulels at videotron_ca>
Reply-To: killifish discussion list <killietalk at aka_org>
To: killifish discussion list <killietalk at aka_org>
Subject: Re: [Killietalk] Aphyosemion Coeleste
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 11:22:10 -0500

Hi,
I think our fish are constantly adjusting to the conditions we offer
them in captivity, and we're blindly selecting for more than just
colour. I had coeleste Mounana or Mouana (spelling error - I don't have
my notes) until 1998, and it was easy to breed in my pH 7.4, 140 ppm
city tapwater. I also had the GBG population spawning under exactly the
same conditions.
My Titi population are a lot more difficult for me, but I am starting to
get 20% hatches (only over the past two weeks - 2 fry!). I keep them in
50 percent rainwater. I had the CMBB population and never got a viable
egg from them - a killer because they were so beautiful.
I don't know why the populations were easier, but I have seen similar
things with ocellatum. With the samples we keep, usually starting with
one or two pairs, the pattern could be pure luck for all we know. Still,
if I could find the Mounana fish again, I'd try them in tapwater, while
if I were incredibly lucky and found the CMBB Massenga coeleste, I'd go
with much softer conditions to start.

You know, this is pure speculation, but I kept elberti Diang for many
years, in tapwater. They did very well, generation after generation. I
changed my set-up and had better access to rainwater. I spawned the
Diang in really soft water and got a lot more fry. Whether I had messed
up with that is a mystery, as inbreeding could also have kicked in, but
those fish became impossible for me. I could never get consistent fry
from that softwater batch, and have now lost the fish. Coincidence?
Possibly. Probably. But you have to wonder.

Gary Elson

unclescott wrote:
>
> Gary,
>
> Which populations can take water with a little more mineral? Is this because
> of their habitat or time in the hobby?
>
> Thanks and all the best!
>
> Scott
To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/


_________________________________________________________________
Check your PC for viruses with the FREE McAfee online computer scan. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963

To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/


--
Wright Huntley -- 760 872-3995 -- Rt. 001 Box K36, Bishop CA 93514



To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/