Category: GCKA – Breeding Fish

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         One of the most useful tools that killifish breeders have at their disposal is peat moss. We use it as a pH buffer, as a spawning medium, and as a substrate. However, many aquarists have found that it has another use: as an incubation medium for the eggs of many…

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         How long to incubate killifish eggs is a matter determined by the species, the incubation media and its wetness, and the temperature at which the eggs are stored. Most non-annual killi eggs incubate in water or on wet peat for 14-21 days at average household temperatures of 72-75°F, although a…

For those who breed killifish, there are always challenges ahead. In this occasional column, we’ll highlight a few breeders and their proven techniques.         “I breed killies as trios in gallon pickle jars,” says Zavier Burgos of Orlando, Florida. “It works great with the spawning mop and the fish, because all they do is breed.…

 As killifish breeders, we often are faced with the question of “where are the eggs?” either when picking eggs from mops, or when checking peat in which fish have recently spawned. Sometimes there is no doubt that eggs are present: with some species, they are large, clear, and obvious. With other fish, the eggs may…

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         Even the best and most experienced killikeepers occasionally have problems with eggs and fry. The “proper way” to incubate and hatch out killifish eggs varies, of course, with the species, their spawning habits, their incubation requirements, and the preferred techniques and proven methods of the fishkeeper.         “[Water incubated] eggs,…

Al Anderson          “Most of my Fundulopanchax eggs I gather using fine sand or fine peat,” says Al Anderson. He boils the peat three times to remove most of the tannins, then puts the peat into a blender and chops it until it is so fine that it passes through a homemade net made out of mosquito…

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         There are probably almost as many ways to incubate plant-spawning killifish eggs as are there are killifish keepers. Relevant topics for discussion always seem to include the best methods for collecting eggs, for incubating and hatching them, and for raising the resulting fry.         For fish that spawn in plants,…

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         Population geneticists are well aware that there is great variation in the amount of inbreeding that occurs in nature and the resulting inbreeding depression that often occurs in captivity. However, the mechanics that cause this effect are not obviously clear.         For example, in Rivulus marmoratus most individuals are completely homozygous (alike),…

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         A major fascination about many of the killifish we keep is the way they reproduce, but breeding them can be a lot of hard work, especially for those species that require long incubation times.         What if you want to keep and breed killifish with a minimum of effort?        …

By Donna M. Recktenwalt         Breeding and raising species of the annual and semi-annual killifishes is a challenge for the aquarist, given their substrate spawning behavior and the subsequent storage period required by the eggs. In a previous article, we focused on the spawning media available for use by the aquarist. In this article, we…