Hi Ken;
One problem with keeping killies is the urge to collect everyting that
is a killie that you can get your hands on. Soon you have more
species than you can raise.
A second problem is the urge to raise and keep raising hatch after
hatch until you notice you have enough of them to offer them to a
local Pizza shop for anchovies. Need time, tank space etc and soon
you start losing fish since you don't have enough time or space to
really do things right.
I am still in the too many species stage (since I hate to ever give a
species up) but try to do the following.
1) Work with maybe 4 to 6 species at any given time while others just
get fed, water changed and normal maintanence. No real effort to
collect eggs et all, but watch their age so you still have a chance to
get eggs from them and not lose them(and that species from your
fishroom). Basically raise a "single generation" of each species.
Split the group just in case you have a problem in a tank.
2) when you raise a decent group of fry (to maybe 2 to 4 months old)
from a species (decent is in the eyes of the rearer- do you want a few
pr or do you want a big bunch-remembering you have to do something
with them, and shipping is as much work as rearing them and taking 10+
pair to an auction will get you as much money for more supplies as
would taking a single pair!) then move on to another species that you
are "about to lose if you don't get some fry going soon"
Do not try to just keep pumping out a species or you will go broke
feeding fish you will just keep in tanks(consuming space and food and
water change effort) till they die of old age). Note that despite all
this, a 20 gal well planted tank filled with 10 or so pairs of a
species, is a nice tank to just watch and not to be shuned.
Bill Shenefelt
http://shene.killi.net
To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/