Re: [Killietalk] Disappearing killi eggs [was RE: Diapteron, australe, etc.]

[Wright Huntley <whuntley at verizon_net>]

wm crash wrote:
> Hi Lee,
>
> My experience regarding eggs disappearing during incubation has been 
> very dependent on the genus. I always have good viability with Simp, 
> Gnatholebias, Aphyolebias(90% or more), average viability with 
> Terranatos (50%-60%), and awfull viability with Campellolebias (10% or 
> less).
>
> Just a note on my peatmoss, I used Canadian Sphagnum Peatmoss that has 
> been soaked in boiling water. The water subsequently used for water 
> changes, and the peatmoss was never rinced of anything.
>
> take care,
> wm_crash, the friendly hooligan
> AKA #08840, SAA #162, SVAS #120, HOOLIGAN #1
> Willmington, DE
>
 Many years ago, I had problems with boiled, but unrinsed, peat. It 
killed eggs and made fish sick, as I recall. Since then, I have always 
rinsed the hot peat under the cold faucet to both remove fines, and to 
chemically stabilize it. Since starting that, I have not tended to lose 
eggs, like before.

Chas. Harrison once pointed out that sphagnum peat gives off huge 
amounts of ammonium, That could be what kills eggs. IDK. It is a pretty 
good ion-exchange medium, so it will react with your water depending on 
where it was before, replacing ammonium with salts. I never have noticed 
it, because the cold rinse in harder water replaces any monovalent ions 
(Na+, NH4+) with Ca++ and Mg++, making it much more stable in MY water.

I have never tried to use the boiling water, because I was sure it 
contained "stuff" my tanks did not need. My version of black-water 
extract is obtained by storing the boiled and rinsed peat in a 5G 
bucket, with a 15G hex UGF plate and vigorous air to stir the peat and 
slowly extract the tannins desired. Worked great back when it was needed 
in much bigger quantities than a few pellets.

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley - Rt. 001 Box K36, Bishop CA 93514 - whuntley at verizon_net  760 937-2276 (cell) .

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