[Killietalk] Innes 1951 letter from Argentine killie breeder

[ROBERT ELLERMANN <ruevenm at sbcglobal_net>]

Hi Martin,
 
   Here is the text of the 1951 letter to Innes. I will check the author when I get home.
 
 
Bobby
 

Dear Mr. Innes,

You will of course receive hundreds of letters, with advices,
procedures, etc., however, as one staying in a certain country might pick up
more knowledge than another far away, and as, on the other hand, I do not
suppose you to have many correspondents in Argentina, I would inform you
about the following:
Some friends of mine, knowing that I am a passionate amateur aquarist,
sent me the latest edition of your book "Exotic Aquarium Fishes," which I
received a week ago. When looking through it, I read also what you said
about Cynolebias bellottii, where you finish saying that it should not be
attempted to breed them, in view of the curious way they do it in their
natural state. I know, however, that it is done on a minor scale and with
some success here by some breeders, mainly that of the most beautiful
"Peacock Cynolebia" [nigripinnis?] which you do not describe and which is
a credit to any aquarium. Only they are shy of light and should never be put
in strong, artificially lighted tanks.
I do not know whether you know anything about the manner of breeding
and if so, I apologise for the intrusion. If not, I have tried in the
following paragraphs, to the best of my ability, give a description of how
it is done here. There may be omissions in the description. Professional
breeders are extremely jealous of their secrets, as you know, and this is
all I could gather. However, it might be worthwhile trying, if not done so
before. Your long experience may give you some indication which is not
contained in my information.
There exists here in Argentina a variety of Cynolebias, which differs
from the ones described by you, inasmuch as their body is covered by
numerous tiny dots, producing a kind of "neon" effect, according to their
movements and to the light they take. The fluorescence goes from a kind of
peacock blue to indigo blue and produces a most striking and beautiful
effect. Their body, in that case, is a kind of velvety grey-brown, of a soft
texture which forms an excellent "camouflage" in their mudpools. On account
of their luminous spots, it is called, here in Argentina, "pavito real,"
i.e. Peacock Cynolebia.
Some Argentine breeders have bred them with success in the following
manner:
Sexes are separated in different tanks, giving them a special strong
diet of Daphnia and worms. The preparation of the breeding tanks asks for a
special technique and best would serve a tank of 3 to 4 gallons.
Bottom: This must be composed of very fine sand or, still better,
some muddy soil taken from a brook, a rivulet or a big lake. It can be
recommended to mix both of them, i.e. sand and soil, putting in the tank a
stratus of 8 cms (slightly more than 3 inches). The best indicated plants to
put in the tank are: Elodea, Cabomba, Ceratophyllum or Nitella, however,
without planting them as the fishes, when moving themselves in the mud would
anyhow unroot them. The plants have much more the purpose to save the
mothers from the aggressivity of the fathers. There should be one male to
two or three females.
When the water in the breeding tank ripens, the fishes are introduced
and fed with live foods, however, not in excess, so as to avoid the
depositing of too much excrement on the bottom. If the fishes swim calmly,
and seem to show some sympathy towards each other, the success is assured.
Then every day half a centimetre of water is taken out of the tank. The
fishes understand that their medium is bound to dry up soon; they feel their
lives in danger and reproduction becomes a necessity. The mothers, ready for
spawning, follow the male when he buries himself in the mud with more or
less 1/3 of his body, perforating
the mud with his head. The female stays close to him, and realising
undulating movements, lets the roe go; the male, after having fecundated
same, buries it. Once the breeder thinks that the spawning has finished, the
parents are taken out of the tank, putting them in their respective tanks
and feeding them strongly, so as to bring them back to normal condition
again. The taking out of the water continues, until all the water in which
the parents swam, has been eliminated. As the best time for the operation is
summertime, the rest of the water (moisture) evaporates leaving only a wet
bottom. The mud should, however, not dry completely and if symptoms of
drying out should occur, the mud is sprayed with an atomizer, so as to
maintain a constant moisture in the soil.
The foregoing is an exact imitation of what happens in their natural
state. The eggs remain buried for 3-4 months. When the Fall or Winter rains
start, we have to replenish again very slowly our tank until arriving in the
month of December. The water should not be too cold. A temperature of 20-22
C (70-72F) will do. The water should not come higher than 20 cms. (abt. 8
inches). The little fishes come out within 48 hours. However, many of them
result with defects; as they cannot swim and stick in the mud. The healthy
ones are searching immediately for food which should be given at once, as
otherwise they die quickly. The first 3 to 4 days only water with infusoria
should be administered to them.




Martin Fourcade <fourcade30 at yahoo_com.ar> wrote:
HI Bobby

Who was the "e. A 1951 letter from an Argentine
hobbyist to Innes explaining how 
to successfully
breed annuals in captivity -- FOR THE FIRST
TIME -- using a dry 
period and "soil" ?



Best regards and thanks

Martin


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> Today's Topics:
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> 1. Re: dropsy advise (ROBERT ELLERMANN)
> 2. Killie history talk (ROBERT ELLERMANN)
> 3. Killie history talk (ROBERT ELLERMANN)
> 4. Re: Killie history talk (David Sanchez)
> 5. Re: Killie history talk (Markus Brown)
> 
> 
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 09:18:08 -0800 (PST)
> From: ROBERT ELLERMANN 
> Subject: Re: [Killietalk] dropsy advise
> To: killifish discussion list 
> 
> I agree 100% David. When I over feed and/or fail to
> change water is when dropsy appears -- usually in
> SAA's and Callo/Fundulopanchax. Chopping blackworms
> and red worms into small pieces helps ALOT!!!!!!!! I
> am a chronic over feeder and killies are a pain with
> that because of their predator eating habits. I
> have balanced out the fault by trying to just use
> worms and beef heart for growing fish and
> conditioning fish when breeding them (I rest annuals
> at times) and I just use them 3-6 times a week
> depending on the species. I try to make brine
> shrimp, bloodworms and daphnia the standard diet but
> even bloodworms can cause problems -- especially if
> they are fed too often and especially in SAA's --
> they bloat Gnatholebias very easily. I try to get
> killies to take good dry food to get around this
> problem and use a salmon/shrimp based frozen food
> too. Over feeding and poor water changes is deadly.
> 
> Bobby
> 
> David Ramsey wrote:
> Whatever the bacteria or creepy crawly thing is that
> causes dropsy, if it is
> everywhere then there has to be a trigger. I find it
> will happen in a tank
> that I am really pushing the food to, especially if
> the tank is a little on
> the cold side. With the cooler weather, all my tanks
> on the bottom rows
> without heaters would qualify. Particularly to fish
> that have no 'off'
> button. Blue Gularis will eat blackworms or
> earthworms until they look like
> puffers laying on the bottom of the tank. I pulled a
> corydoras out yesterday
> that was huge from overfeeding. But the cories in
> the tank were spawning
> this morning. They have been getting absolutely huge
> amounts of live food,
> with virtual 75% water changes every day to trigger
> spawning. It worked. But
> it also has me with one fish that will probably not
> be able to clean out
> their system and get rid of the bloat. Have all that
> food putrifying in
> their system and in a couple off days it will have
> the classic 'dropsy'
> look, complete with the distended scales.
> I think that kind of 'bloat' that can not get
> cleared through the system
> will act as the trigger for what we visually call
> 'dropsy'. My picky eaters
> never get it. Only the pigs.
> David Ramsey Lawrenceville, GA
> djramsey at earthlink_net
> 
> 
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> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 10:16:07 -0800 (PST)
> From: ROBERT ELLERMANN 
> Subject: [Killietalk] Killie history talk
> To: AquariumHobbyHistoricalSociety at yahoogroups_com
> Cc: killietalk at aka_org
> 
> Hi,
> 
> The history talk when pretty well. I took 4 big
> bags of written materials with me and before I do
> this again THAT will be on a power point. It is just
> too much stuff to use as reference in hard copy.
> 
> The talk ended up being broken down into the
> following main areas:
> 
> 
> I. The role of Gemany in the development of the
> killifish hobby.
> 
> 
> 
> a. Early societies.
> b. 1905 importation of Aphyosemions into the
> hobby.
> c. Early import houses -- Aquarium Hamburg
> d. Seaman collectors -- Groch, Stoye,
> Hansen, etc...
> e. Individual Breeders ("kitchen breeders")
> 
> f. Arnold and Ahl, Roloff, plus Boulenger
> g. Early books and magazines -- Rachow,
> Ladiges, Arnold and Ahl, Holly, Meinken and
> 
> Rachow, Wochenschriften, etc...
> 
> 
> II. German's bring killie keeping to America.
> 
> a. Dr. Bade
> b. Fred Stoye
> c. Dick Buettner
> d. Franz Werner
> f. George Maier
> 
> III. The work of Innes and Dr. George S. Myers.
> 
> a. Aphyosemion created by Myers.
> b. The Aquarium Magazine
> c. Myers' use of the term "Killifishes" in
> Innes' Exotic Aquarium Fishes.
> 
> IV. The Killifish hobby develops through-out the
> 20th century.
> 
> a. Brine Shrimp eggs.
> b. Stoye's breeding experience.
> c. Myers' 1952 special issue of the Aquarium
> Journal: "The Annual Fishes".
> d. Wolfsheimer and shipping killifish eggs
> through the mail.
> e. Wolfsheimer and Aquarist Internationale.
> f. Scheel: his "Killi-Letters", copious popular
> articles on killies. Stenholt Clausen and the
> role of F. gardneri.
> g. Brichard opens up the Congo region for
> imports.
> i. American breeders: John Gonzales, Rosario
> LaCorte and Dr. Bruce Turner
> j. Killies become the "IN" fish in the late
> 1950's and early 1960's.
> k. American Panchax Association.
> l. The Aquarium Magazine's "The Panchax
> Exchange"
> m. The role of Nematolebias whitei and the
> annuals: Dr. Foersch.
> n. The first hobbyist collecting trips: Roloff,
> Hannerz, etc....
> o. Al Klee's 3 part article on Aphyosemions in
> the Aquarium Journal.
> p. Bob Criger's desire to create a killifsh
> organization: The AKA.
> q. The formation and brief history/significance
> of the AKA.
> r. Fred Kyburz, Leo Hoigne, LSB Leakey,
> Paramount Aquarium, the AKA and killie 
> imports.
> s. DKG, BKA, etc.... 
> t. European collecting trips.
> u. The South American interior opens up: Costa.
> 
> V. The development of breeding killies.
> 
> a. Learning about water chemistry and habitat.
> b. German/American methods for eggs that work
> using water incubation.
> c. Annuals in the 1930's and belly-sliders.
> d. Observing annuals in the wild in the 1930's
> and 
=== message truncated ===








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