My Breeding and Raising of the Killifish Nothobranchius Rachovii Beria 98

Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Well-Known Member
DISCLAIMER: Everything I know about the Killifish is based on my own research. At the time of me writing this (2/17/17) I have had no experience owning or raising killis and this is my first time. If I have anything wrong please feel free to correct me


What is Nothobranchius Rachovii?
So for those who are unfamiliar with the N. Rachovii known as 'The most beautiful fish in the world" to killifish breeders, or "Bluefin Notho" for the rest of us. It is an annual type killifish from South Africa. The scientific name of this fish is really just Nothobranchius Rachovii, the "Beira 98" part referring to when and where it was collected. Beira is the 3rd largest city in Mozambique and 98 stands for the year 1998 when this strain was collected. Other known strains of the Bluefin Notho are listed here.
Beira 98
Kruger National Park
MOZ 03-2
MOZ 04-02 Mazimechopes River
MOZ 04-08 Lima River
MOZ 04-10 Nicuadala
MOZ 04-3
MOZ 04-9 Quelimane
MOZ 99-9
MOZ 99/1
MOZ 99/3
MZHL 05-5
Nhangau MT 03-4
(Strains are taken from BigC's post on TropicalFishFourms)

A little more on annual killifish. Annual killifish refers to the types of killifish that have very short lifespans, and eggs that dry out when their puddle or pond drys out in the dry season and during the wet season hatch. The Nothobranchius genus is known for spawning more than once weekly (So I've heard.) The lifespan on N. Rachovii has been said to be anywhere from 6 month-2 years but I have yet to see how long my will live. They are also capable if reaching maturity within 3 weeks of hatching according to American Killifish Association

My setup. As far as my setup goes I have a 5g tank with Eco-Complete substrate. It is not yet planted but will be densely planted asap (and aquascaped if possible) I have some tiny Chinese HOB that should be able to turn the water over enough with a pre-filter sponge to stop the fry from getting sucked up. I also have a heater on there to keep them warm.As far as my water params go I'm going to try and keep the pH above 7 as Nothos seem to be very prone to velvet in later life.
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My Eggs. I bought 50 of these eggs off eBay for $25, the seller claims to have acquired them at their aquarium club from a breeder over 40 years. They also claim to be a pure strain never crossed with any other killifish. Boy, do I hope they are right.
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Thanks for looking through my thread! Stay tuned for more updates
 
Bullyboy

Bullyboy

Member
I jist started a killi journey my self, thanks for the info all.
I also found a killifish egg exchange page on FB that you may find helpful durring the hatching and rearing process
 
VickiK

VickiK

Member with a lot to say
Ooo this thread is going to be fun to read/watch!

@Reef&LivebearerAquatic - don't forget to update. There are now at least a half a dozen folks (myself in the front of the line) living vicariously though your experience. :wink
 
Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Well-Known Member
So as of today (2-19-17), I'm waiting on my 5g tank to cycle. Some of you may go "he doesn't have his tank setup yet!!" but it came to me as a surprise their hatch date was going to be this month.

Raising the Fry Day, Day 1-Week 3. So almost all Notho Eggs will come shipped in some peat moss. When their hatch date comes around you check the eggs that are mixed into the soil for eyes. If no eyes you can wait a little longer, or if you suspect they are ready you move on to the next step. To hatch them you spread out the peat moss in a small Tupperware so when they eggs hatch they can all wiggle out of the soil. If your timing is correct the eggs should hatch in 2hours-a few days, don't be worried if not all of the eggs hatch. After the fry are hatched out you move them to a larger tub, there should be some aquatic moss in here for them to eat infusoria off of and provide cover. After 3 days of the peat moss in the other container, make sure you haven't left any fry behind, and remove the peat moss, dry it (Read how to in later posts) out, and store it. 2 weeks after the peat moss has been in storage re-hatch it. Once the fry in the larger tub are 3 weeks old (or big enough) you can move them to their permanent home. In my case that will be a 5g tank with a filter and a heater. The fry do not need a filter and heater from what I've read while in the tubs.

What Do I Feed The Fry? For the first 3 days of life, the fry are way too tiny to even eat baby Brine Shrimp (Abbreviated BBS) because of this you are going to want to have an infusoria culture to feed them. After feeding infusoria you can use BBS and once even larger small grindal worms. And once they are even larger they may accept pellets/flake or other dry foods along with frozen.

What Is Infusoria? Definition by Dictionary.com | (Formerly) any of various microscopic organisms found in infusions of decaying organic matter.

How Do I Culture Infusoria? I'm going to show you how I did it, keep in mind there are lots of ways.
1. First I found a clear bottle that holds a reasonable amount of water.
2. Find some organic materials that can house the microorganisms, I chose romaine lettuce. It's better if this is getting old/over ripe/mushy.
3 If it is not old/over ripe/mushy, make it! This is easy, just hit it to bruise it etc. For the lettuce, I just rolled it around in my hand to make it soft.
xtvwHsD.jpg

4. Take some water from an established tank (Using water from a planted tank is waaay better) and put it in the jar, try to siphon or use a syringe to pull water off surfaces or plants if you have them.
21rICzr.jpg

5. Put the water in the jar and place it somewhere bright but not in direct sunlight.

6. (Optional) If you're really having fun, stare at the bottle for a couple minutes. Some of the creatures are just barely large enough to see. I have seen two creatures scurrying around in about 5 minutes, both different looking.

7. Let the culture sit! Some people stir it up every few days to add some oxygen to the water. The culture can take anywhere from 3-14 days.

8 You'll know it is ready to harvest when the odor turns from a smelly to a "sweet" and when the water turns cloudy from bacteria to pinkish or clear again.
 
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Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Well-Known Member
So an update on infusoria, the culture is cloudy and smells like the worst farts ever. I have no idea if it's not going to work or if I wait a little more it'll clear up and I'll be able to use it.
 
Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Reef&LivebearerAquatic

Well-Known Member
HUGE UPDATE ON ALL MY LIVE FOODS

As of now, I am culturing 3 different live food. Ist here like live food syndrome like multiple tank syndrome? I think there is...

Infusoria
So I dumped out the previous (failed) infusoria culture and started 2 more, one using tea made from my filter and one using tank water. To make this filter "tea" I simply took out my filter media that removes large particles and poured water through it multiple times. In both bottles I some small potato slices and very small bits of lettuce. I've also read up a ton more on infusoria & paramecium. Basically infusoria are mostly single-celled organisms that eat bacteria and the bacteria live free floating in the water and on the potatoes, the potatoes slowly rots into the water making food for bacteria and the bacteria are consumed by the paramecium and the paramecium are consumed by the fry and the fry are consumed by big fish and big fish consumed by bigger fish and big fish by birds oops got carried away. Anyhow, infusoria might work this time.

Grindal Worms
My second live food is drumroll please Grindal Worms! Grindal worms are easy, and there are plenty of tutorials on them so I don't feel the need to make one but I'll simplify. They live in coconut fiber substrate and can eat about anything. I'm using the David Ramsey method and are currently feeding mine whole wheat bread with organic yogurt on it and yeast flakes (yeast doesn't have to be active) they seem to be multiplying, and the culture should explode in population within about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, Grindal worms are too large for baby fry, but great and basically a super food for adult fish.


Micro Worms
My third live food, is well, in the mail. That's okay though! I bought a culture of micro worms, these little worms are around 80um in diameter and a little under 1000um long (1mm.) According to a killifish breeder, these are small enough to be fed to freshly hatched Nothos (but I'm skeptical.) They live in a lot of food based substrates such as oatmeal, mashed potatoes, flour and any other starchy thing. Microworms since they are so small prey on any ACTIVE yeast. The reason their substrate is starch based is because the yeast is going to eat the starches, multiply and be a food source for the microworms. It's basically free

Should I order some Paramecium?
paramecium are widely available from biological supply companies such as Carolina Biological. Paramecium is single celled organisms that are grouped into "infusoria" and are the perfect sized food for killi fry the second they swim to about the 3-day mark. it would run me a (hefty) $20 but I'd have the almost guarantee of a successful infusoria culture. What do you think?


P.S. About a month ago I hated microbiology, I think I'm in love now due to some darn worms! <3 <3
 
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Betty

Betty

Well-Known Member
Staff member
You're doing a lot of good research to get it all right.

Do the fry have to have live foods? They won't eat a powdered fry starter kind of food?
 
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