Hello all
I am a newish member and I need advice. I buy eggs of different species (Nothos, Funds, Epys) on Aquabid and none of them hatch. I put each straight into water as soon as I get them. The water is treated and has sat for a week. With these should I be waiting 3 months before I put them into water? Any advice or link to advice would help

David M. McClory in Toronto

I am new like you so I cannot give you to much help but I will try.  First thing you need to do is check the collected date and find out the incubation time for those species.   This date is not an absolute but a guideline as to when they should be ready.  You will then need to inspect the eggs to determine if the eggs are ready and this can be done by looking for two eyes in the egg.  The eyes should be developed before wetting meaning you can start to see a ring around the eye.  After wetting the eggs and some hatch, redry the eggs and store them for a week and then rewet.  Redrying only works on annuals as far as I know.  Hopefully someone with more experience can help you.

What Frank says should help. Collection dates make a big difference. Also as a newish member you may want to start with some of the easier varieties to try to hatch from eggs. Nothos can be difficult as a first fish to hatch.

David, when you get that egg issue sorted out please post your results and methods here. I have questions just like yours.

David, I believe Frank implied this, but you need to try to confirm that you in fact have eggs. I am assuming you checked the ratings of the person from whom you purchased eggs and found them reliable. Once you have confirmed eggs, you can hold off putting them in water until you see a gold iris around the eye. They should hatch at that point. The more local your eggs, the more likely you are to have a successful hatch IMO.  Good luck!

What I did was put the peat with the eggs in little spice bottles and left them for a few days. Then I took water from my 40 gallon tank and put it in the spice bottles, and left it for a week. I then got a 5 gallon tank and emptied each of the pet bottles in, evening the bottom surface out and waited.

I have 10 fry now and my next question is at what point should I put them in the 40 gallon tank. There are no adult killifish in the 40 gallon, just 4 adult plecos. and nothing else. What should I do with the fry, in other words?

I am no authority or expert by any stretch of the imagination but a 40 gallon sounds pretty big for 10 tiny fries. If it was me I would grow them out in a 5 gallon for a little while. Maybe until they get 1/2 to 3\4 of an inch long. This would keep the live food like newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms and vinegar eels close by to them so they can gorge on them and develop. At a certain size it will be plain enough to you what further to do.

David -
There is also the filter system to beware of. I assume that a 40 gallon with adult plecos would have a rather fast turn-over filter such as a canister. At any rate, newly hatched killies are not the strongest of swimmers - then again adult killies aren't going to win any swimming contests. Jumping maybe, swimming no.
So you don't want to be sucking up your newborns. Give them some time in the grow-out tank.
A couple of other questions: what species are the killies? Is the 40 a planted tank (most killies LOVE planted tanks - lots of cover and lots of food)?
Best of luck!

Hello all
Thanks for all the comments
My 40 gallon has a Aqueon Quiet Flow #30 filter. There are 4 large plants that almost reach the top of the water. I half of that tank is planter. The other half has two pleco caves, and 4 busy plecos at the moment.
The 5 gallon tank has two partitions, so 3 areas. closest: 2 epyplatus dageti; middle: 3 Notho sp. NATA TAN; farthest: 4 or 5 fund. gardneri Makurdi long-fin. The 5 gallon has no plants yet, nor any direct light. It is beside the 40 gallon, lighted tank, nor any filtering.

My 5 gallon has one pair Fundulopanchax gardneri . It seems to be just about right. I have been advised to have several spawning mops in there for both egg laying and hideouts for the female . The behavior of my fish indicates that this is good advice. You may want to get two more five gallons for your fish. Sounds like it may be borderline overcrowding.

Good advice about the multple tanks. In the meantime how often and how much should I change the water?

This is only my opinion. Water changes cannot be too frequent. Fish in the wild have a constant water change. Our aquarium fish live in a somewhat toxic soup of their own wastes , uneaten food and the resultant bacteria. Ed Warner, in his book, Success With Killifish makes the claim that frequent water changes help fry grow strong and vigorous. I don't think that benefit ends just because they are grown. I do a 30 percent water change in my 5 gallon twice a week. I do daily water changes in small containers and my 20 gallon with only 2 Pachypanchax playfairii gets a 30 percent weekly change. In addition I siphon out uneaten food, if any, daily. I'm a bit anal in my aquarium maintenance but fish are expensive and water is cheap.