Re: [Killietalk] My Golden Wonders have me in fits!!!!!!!!!!

[Scott Davis <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

Hey Jeff!

What temperature is your water? If it is 78-80, that
would be ideal for lineatus. If it is more than that,
your males may get too aggressive. Too much lower and
they will not spawn as much. They are often found even
in rice patties (also are sometimes used for mosquito
control there. That is testament to their toleration
of warm water.

Also, could you feed them some blackworms? A floating
worm feeder would be ideal.
See http://www.aquaticfoods.com/accessories.html
(Get one or two of those blackworm holders too. They
slide into small, unobtrusive spaces in the
refrigerator. Mine keep worms, with rinsings once in a
while, for more than a month.)

If you don't have immediate access to a worm feeder,
try a soap-less, grease-less pickle or salsa jar,
scrubbed down, maybe with baking soda. While lineatus
are dedicated surface feeders, they should descend to
forage on blackworms. A modest number of blackworms
can be turkey-bastered into that jar. Don't leave too
many worms there after they have dined, but do leave
some for browsing during the day.

Don't leave any extra worms in water to which salt has
been added. They can die quickly and really foul the
aquarium. If the water is salted, leave no more worms
than can be devoured in a couple of minutes.

If they have more to eat, the females can spawn more
often. Males sometimes seem to sense when females
can't leave eggs. Since such females may wish to eat
the eggs already hung on the mop (or hair algae or
water lettuce roots in nature), the male's chasing
unresponsive females away is a very primitive form of
egg protection.

I would like to think that well-fed males might be
more mellow. That may be an anthromorphization.

Of course with the increased feeding, you will have to
do an additional partial water change once in a while.
Killies and other fish seem more aggressive in dirtier
water.

I'm assuming that you either have that aquarium
located where they can be uncharacteristically warm
for hobby killifish or else you have a heater on the
tank. Submersible heaters and either box or sponge
filters allow you to tightly cover that tank.
Aplocheilus will jump out the least opening and
terminal dehydration claims far too many.

One of those taller Hydro sponges and a few rocks
around the aquarium will afford the females some
hiding places. Plants would offer more shelter, but
also alternative spawning spots. As you get some eggs
off of the mop, you may wish to dump some plants in
there. Although lineatus are very effective predators
on fry, once in a while adults, under a mat of water
sprite, with bellies full of live and frozen foods,
will tolerate a few fry in the foliage. The fry,
snacking on food scraps and smaller siblings, can grow
fast.

Another thought about store bought fish. A certain
percentage of them (especially in a centrally
circulating filtration system) will have been exposed
to one or more worm infestations. Since you are still
effectively in their quarantine period, it wouldn't
hurt to treat them with an anthelmintic (dewormer -
the Killitalk archives are full of discussions) or one
of the commercial treatments for internal parasites.
Those almost always include at least one anthelmintic.
Not doing that may mean that your fish will manefest
those (100 or so possible species of) internal worms,
one, two or three months down the road. It will be
nearly too late to help them then. In the meantime,
internal parasites divert food which could be used for
growth and spawning. The treatment is insurance on the
health of your store bought killies.

This sounds trite, but comfortable, happy, healthy
killies are indeed spawning killies.

Hope something here is of use. Good luck and all the
best!
Scott

--- Jeffcanbefound at aol_com wrote:

> Last week I bought a trio of Golden Wonders from my
> LPS, PetSmart. I have 2 mops that hang all the way
to the bottom of the 10 gallon tank that they are in 
(one on each side). My problem is that the male is
constatly chasing away 
> the  females.  What can I do to help them mate?
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