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RE: [Killietalk] i need some urgent information......... !!!

Mark and RJ,

"Mark Pearlscott" <mark at pearlscott_com> wrote:
RJ,

I've heard lots of people indicate that the sand ends up damaging the
eggs.  Do you not find this to be the case?  Is your sand very
'round-edged', versus 'rough-edged'?  I've been playing with the idea of
trying sand as a spawning substrate, but it just feels too coarse.  I
would love to have an easy way of separating eggs from substrate though,
and sand does seem perfect for that.

Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Pearlscott, killifish addict.
A Member of:
AKA - http://www.aka.org
NWK - http://nwk.aka.org
PSK - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pugetsoundkillies/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


-----Original Message-----
From: killietalk-bounces+mark=pearlscott_com at aka.org
[mailto:killietalk- 
bounces+mark=pearlscott_com at aka.org] On Behalf Of
tranquilitybase at netzero_net
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 11:17 PM
To: killietalk at aka_org
Subject: RE: [Killietalk] i need some urgent information......... !!!


I use black sand as a spawning substrate for nothos. I put it in a
small
dish and swirl out the eggs. I then move them into peat for storage.

My water is not suitable for peat. It just is not hard enough. If I
put
peat into my tank the pH crashes in a week or two and so much for my
fish.
This is why I started working with sand. And I am more than satisfied
with
the results sometimes I collect hundreds of eggs depending on the
species
and time. I just swirl the sand and the eggs float out.

Peace,

~RJ~

I found even Jersey Greensand was too harsh for many eggs, and had no source of fine rounded sand (all our playground sand was harsh, sharp silica). As a result I tried the tiny glass beads the state uses to make road stripes reflective. Unfortunately my rare *Camp. brucei* decided those clear little round things were eggs and I could feel the hard-packed little bellies on the (expensive) carcasses. :-(

Most of us, even those in "distilled water" country like Hayward/Alameda and SF have found it better to adjust the water hardness and buffering and continue to use peat. I use Jiffy pellets, mostly, now. By the time I boil one in the microwave (so it sinks easily), and rinse well under the tap in a fishnet, it is no longer terribly chemically active, anyway. [I ignore the pellet number, as that process completely removes any added fertilizers or lime.]

Nothos often originally come from soft water, but in captivity I think most find they are better off (less Velvet?) in a bit harder alkaline water. In soft-water areas, adding a little Seachem "Equilibrium" can bring GH up enough that a little baking soda can safely be added to increase the KH (alkaline buffer).

Then well-boiled and rinsed peat will never cause a pH crash.

Just my US$0.02.

Wright

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

                On rolling back government:
    http://www.hillsdale.edu/newimprimis/2004/april/default.htm




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