killimike Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Here are some photos of Simpsonichthys punctulatus Male Female They are late bloomers, just started laying this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Wow! Gorgeous! How late? How old are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Oh, that male is adorable! Are they fully grown? They look like little fellas. Are these of the type that Danny Katz spoke about in the SA Annuals video? The ones where he forces the hatch by putting the eggs in a jar under pressure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo oakley Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I Like them alot they could srtat a whole new addiction, I am realy starting get the urge to try and find some :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killimike Posted May 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Glad you like guys! Razzi, they haven't grown as quickly as I would have liked, I think they need a bit more space and waterchanges. They are just over three months old, to be only at this size at this age for annuals is unusual. They are supposed to be slow growers tho, so we'll see. I found infertile eggs on the bottom of their containers a few days ago, complete surprise. Now to figure out what is causing infertility, options are: age water too hard water too dirty unfertilised because females expelled them without a male due to lack of substrate for spawning I will step up the water changes and put some peat in there. Lilli, yep, these are them, 'SAA' (AKA to use another TLA South American Annuals). I have yet to try the water incubation method properly. Mr Katz would have all sorts of very interesting things from South America, but over here, 99% of our SAA in Australia are Simpsonichthys spp. Jo, killiguy might have some batches of notho or simpsonichthys peat available. It ships very well :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Thanks Mike. How can you tell the eggs are unfertilised? Are they white as opposed to orange or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killimike Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Got it in one! Eggs all come out looking the same, but infertile eggs will turn and opaque 'white' within 24 hours, and if left in water, often develop a dandelion appearance, with masses of white threads coming off their surface. Very cool looking! Fertile eggs can sometimes succomb to 'fungus' (apparently it's actually a type of bacterial growth, but noone calls it that), but only in very dirty water, or if in prolonged contact with other fungused eggs. So with plant spawners whose eggs are water incubated, fungused eggs are removed immediately. This concern with hygiene is also why eggs are sometimes put in chlorinated tap water for the first few days, to knock off any pathogens that might be lurking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo oakley Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Killimike I don't know if you should be encouraging me :alright: I do like the idea of playing with peat and fish I used to go through heaps when I was potting up carnivorous plants you know I could do both if your not ready to hatch them how long will they remain viable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killimike Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Hey, I just hand out the info, what people do with it is up to them ;-) Triffid park sells some great Canadian peat for using with killies! But plain Brunnings stuff isn't bad neither. The question of how long eggs remain viable is an interesting one. Temperature and oxygen levels affect speed of development, so you can influence how long you have by tweaking these. Also, eggs don't all develop at the same time. This is theorised as a protective mechanism in case rains come early, then the body of water dries again, killing the fry that hatch. But all that aside, sometimes leaving ready to hatch eggs works, and you can hatch them at a later date, even years later! Other times eggs will disappear if they are not hatched when they are ready. Some species seem more amenable to a delayed hatch. Those species with shorter incubation times, and those that water incubate easily, tend to be less tolerant of delayed hatches. But either group of species would look great swimming around carnivorus plants :alright: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 would it be worthwhile rinsing your eggs + peat in tap water before drying, do you think? Or not worth it, since the eggs will be, well, dry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo oakley Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 A farmer about 20-30 minuets drive away that sell peat he has dug himself, it goes all the way to Camperdown in patches. Would that type of peat be OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killimike Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 I don't think you need to rinse peat, I'm sure some people must do it, but most seem to have good results without :alright: Any peat should be fine, as long as it is rinsed and boiled well first, and doesn't have any additives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 One of the issues killie keepers have had with peat intended for potting plants is that it can contain a bit of rubbish like bits of metal or other foreign objects. While your aspidistra ain't gonna care, your notho certainly will. If you have a source of peat that you know not only the collector but where it was collected from, I think you're on a winner. :alright: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo oakley Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 You can see the huge area the guy digs it up form the road. The strange thing and I have heard that it happen overseas as well, the peat some how seems to fill the hole he's dug??? He grows spuds. I think boiling would get rid of any farm chems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts