In the fall
of 1998, I moved my fish from a bedroom in my house to the garage. I built
a new fish rack which can be viewed here.
These are the species I am keeping as of September, 2001. Some are eggs only. None of these photos are mine, thanks to all fish photographers who share their photos!
A System for Killies
Everybody develops a system for maintenance of their tanks. Here's what I
do.
I keep larger tanks and divide them into compartments. This allows me to
keep more species in the same space. I particularly like to take 10 gallon
tanks and divide them into two 5 gallon compartments. This is a good size
for most species of killies. I also have a 26 gallon divided into 4 and two
20 gallon tanks divided into 2 compartments each. In these divided 20 gallon
tanks, I give space for young fish to grow out. I'm a big believer in
planted tanks. The fish look better and feel more comfortable in a planted
tank. I use java moss and fontinalis in most tanks as well as java fern. I
haven't had as much luck with other plants, most eventually deteriorate.
Other plants that I like include water sprite and najas; both of these
require a lot of light and while they do fine for me in the summer months,
they always die back in winter. I treat them like annual plants and replace
them when I want them again. I also believe that snails have a place in
killifish ecosystems. I like to keep one snail in each tank, they help keep
algae down and eat some of the uneaten food. They are very useful in
shoeboxes for the same reasons. Don't put more than one or else you run the
risk of a big population explosion in which the snails become a liability
rather than an asset. Snails are a good indicator of tank water conditions
and if you see them dieing off, you can be sure that your water conditions
are deteriorating.
Water changes are very important for good killifish husbandry. It allows you
to overfeed your fish (to maximize egg production). I don't advocate leaving
food in great quantity in any tank, but if you are changing water regularly,
your fish will not suffer if there is some uneaten food. I change 25-50% of
the water every week. The use of a water changing resevoir has greatly
simplified this and made it much faster and less of a chore. The resevoir is
described below. Ensure that the water is within 2 degress F when you change
it. I use Amquel, Novaqua to treat chloramines and rock salt at the rate of
1 tsp per gallon to prevent velvet.
I feed my killies a combination of live and frozen foods. For adults, I
rotate feedings of frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms and beef heart. I feed
them chopped blackworms twice a week. For fry and small fish, I hatch brine
shrimp daily. I also feed them grindal worms occassionally. I have a
culture of paramecium that is used for tiny fry. A good trick for very small
fry is to keep them in a well lit container. I use a 12" fluorescent bulb
that I leave on 24 hours a day for the first 2 weeks. This encourages growth
of algae and an ecosystem that includes small animals which they can eat. Do
not overfeed small fry, the uneaten food is deadly. They will find something
they can eat. I don't bother with most other foods, I find them far to be
much work and that the cultures fail eventually. I will feed mosquito larvae
when I find them during the summer.
The Fish Rack
Its made from 2x4's and 2 sheets of 3/8 inch plywood. It is assembled with
lag screws. The rack is approximately 8 feet long and 20 inches deep.
Three shelves contains tanks ranging from a row of four 10 gallon
tanks and a row with a 26 gallon and two 20 gallon tanks. The bottom row has
row for stacks of shoeboxes for fry. All the tanks are split into
compartments. The 10 gallon tanks are split into two. These are my favorite
configurations. The fish are easy to see and 5 gallon tanks allow some room
for uncooperative females, etc. The third tier of my stand is at eye level
which I find makes the best display. The second tier contains bigger tanks
that I use for grow-out space and for group spawning. The lowest level
contains shoeboxes for fry, my brine shrimp hatchery and fish food cultures
(grindal worms, paramecium and vinegar eels).
Water Changing Resevoir
I have an overhead 15 gallon resevoir
that I use to treat tap water. I plumbed in hot and cold city water to the top
of the
resevoir, then merely turn on a value to fill it. I manually add salt,
Amquel and Novaqua. Formerly, I used a 200W
aquarium heater to keep the temperature at 72F. Since I have plumbed in hot
water, I no longer use a heater. The resevoir stays 1 or 2 degrees warmer than the tanks. When I change water, I mix it to the temperature I need, this has saved me a great deal of work! This setup lets me change water very quickly. I simply
open the garage door a bit, run a long (25') siphon hose, siphon water directly out of the tanks, then fill
from the resevoir. A simple ball valve designed for garden hoses and a mist spigot
is used at the end of the hose.
Heating in the winter
One of the problems with moving the fish from a bedroom to the garage is
heating. The air temperature inside my garage dips to the upper 50's in the
winter. I use aquarium heaters (VSI Therms) in each tank. I find that one
heater per tank is sufficient even if the tank is divided into compartments.
For the unheated vessels (such as shoeboxes), I enclose the entire
compartment with a heavy plastic shower curtain and use a small,
thermostatically controlled room heater. It works pretty well, the shoeboxes
do have some variation in temperatures so I am more careful during water
changes to mix slightly cooler water in my overhead resevoir. I need to heat
the shoeboxes for approximately 5 months during the year. Last winter, I did
not run the heater and suffered a few loses of young fry. Most of the killies
did fine. I wouldn't do it for rare Nothobranchius, but other species seem
to do fine.
Build it yourself
The plans for the rack can be found here. It is
built with 2x4's and 3/8" plywood. I use standard varnish to water proof the
plywood (I could have used Marine varnish, but didn't think it was
necessary). Lighting is provided with 36 inch fluorescent shop lights. I
use one 4-outlet pump to run all the tanks and the brine shrimp hatchery.
Standard aquarium heaters are necessary in the winter (VLSI Therms are
wonderful, do NOT buy Rena/CAL).
A build it yourself incubator
To support good development of eggs of annual species it is desirable to
create an environment with constant temperature of 70-75 F. A high shelf in
a kitchen or a drawer under a water bed may do the trick. (the latter is
what I did for years). When I moved out into the garage, I decided to be
build an incubator from an old aquarium heater and a styrofoam box. I like
to keep all of my ``fishy'' items in the same place and I find that I check
the eggs more frequently as part of my normal fish upkeep when they are close
to the tanks. I was able to obtain a styrofoam box which is used to shipped
pharmecuticals. These are much thicker (1" - 1 1/2") and more sturdy than
the common coolers found in supermarket. I cut a slot into the box for
the power cord. For the heater element, I used an old aquarium heater. I
removed the heating element and connected a 4 W night light. I use a beaker
filled with gravel and plunge the heater into the gravel. The gravel helps
to give the heater some thermal mass and tends to help the light from quickly
burning out. That's all there is to it! My styrofoam box is large enough to
accomodate 30 bags of peat.
Email: jimceleste@aol.com
Fax:
Home: (408) 736-8881
Jim Fong
Sunnyvale, California USA
jimceleste@aol.com
Last update: January 8, 2002
