Re: [Killietalk] 3 banes of fish breeders and nostalgia

["apistomaster at excite_com" <apistomaster at excite_com>]

 Hi All,Three things are real PINTA when breeding killies and other fish for me. Snails, egg eaters and hydra.1.Snails are a mixed bag of blessing and curse. They have their uses doing scavenger duty but they always show up where they aren't wanted sooner or later.2. Hydra can appear out out nowhere once their is a regular supply of bbs. If this was the 18TH Century they would surely be proof of spontaneous generation.3. Egg eating breeders. I did not think this was much of an issue when I first began breeding killies in the late 60's. I even seemed to get a fair production using natural methods.The more experienced I became the more egg eating became a problem. Much of this is because I had worked my way through the different species and each one behaves differently. I guess most surprising to me was when I actually realized I was seeing some annual killies, N. eggersi and some Simpsonichthys with too much time on their fins patiently sift through the peat moss to find and 
eat their eggs. I am one of those killie keepers who has never been any good finding eggs in peat but some of these breeders sure know what they are doing. Even well fed breeders of some species seem to love their own eggs. There are ways to cope with all three of these things but looking back on my earlier days in killies I can't help but think sometimes ignorance was bliss. I did pretty well as a kid and there are some species that were my favorites back then like the bright red, green and blue strain of Scriptoaphyosemion gery that has been replaced by a different form that isn't nearly as colorful as what I remember keeping. On the other hand, we have far more species to choose from than we did over 30 years ago.I started off the new year with the discovery and rescue of the first 4 eggs I have seen spawned by my Corydoras duplicareous. I have to get them set up in a snail free tank to see if I can find and save some more. This was my first sign of spawning these pretty 
Corydoras and I hope a harbinger of a good year in the fish room.Larry Waybright 

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!
Join the AKA at http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/content/index.php?id=9.
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/
Modify your subscription at http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/killietalk