Getting ready for the cooler weather in 2020

Crossing the Awash River at Gewani

Those were the days. Meanwhile, in 2020, Sue and I are stuck at home.
With the high temperatures in our basement hatchery this summer,

83.5F in the fishroom

we postponed the resumption of managed killifish egg production.   Mops were present to protect the females, so a few juveniles appeared in the tanks without any effort by us.

Young male STR just coloring up

We were not picking eggs from mops or harvesting egg-laden peat, but, for example, seventeen STR hatched with their parents and are now coloring up.

We don't keep much diversity these days, just the kid's and grandkid's favorites STR, GAR, AUS and our project fish for 2020 WAL, plus prior project leftovers  SPP, and AMI.

Upper row from  left: Aphyosemion striatum juvenile, Fundulopanchax gardneri Rayfield, A. australe

                Second row from left: Fp. walkeri GH2 Kutunse, A. splendopleure Tiko Green, Fp. amieti.

We also keep two forms of  Blue Gularis SJO, Niger Delta shown below, and Red Dwarf.

Now it is July. With the cooler weather approaching, it's time to get ready. Tanks are being scrubbed with 135F hot water. That's the setting for our hot water heater! 

Clean tanks get a temporary box filter with homemade peat pillow, a boiled mop, and a planning label.

Plants (java moss, water sprite, water hyacinth) are being divided and grown out in waste tank water (for the nitrogen) with plenty of light and a little sugar (for the CO2). The plants will be transferred to shallow rearing dishes for sheltering and feeding the fry.

Plant grow out tanks

We have begun to condition the breeders with more live foods, mostly brine shrimp and  flightless Drosophila melanogaster. We will add small grindal worms as the cool weather arrives.

Harvesting Brine Shrimp

We purchase one culture of flightless Drosophila, then make new cultures using kitchen ingredients (dried potatoes, dried milk and sugar)  mixed with vinegar and water. We put the medium in deli containers with some excelsior. The flies mate and produce more flies.

We also provide infusoria,  microworms, banana worms, and walter worms for the fry.

Killifish Breeding: Fundulopanchax walkeri GH2 Kutunse, our 2020 Project Fish

Here is a school of Fundulopanchax walkeri GH2 Kutunse, our 2020 project species. Of course we also raise other species, those that are favorites of our kids and grandkids.

In the tank shown are fish we hatched in August of 2019. Now at eight months they are colored up and will begin serious egg production this summer.

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Kutunse is a neighborhood north of Accra, the capital of Ghana, near the coast. Urban sprawl has threatened the Kutunse population,

Their original habitat was coastal forest, so they used to have shade. We try to duplicate their original habitat by providing a dark aquarium with a heavy cover of surface plants, a little salt in the water, and a peat substrate for tannins and a place to lay eggs. Fp.walkeri will tolerate schools if they are all about the same size.


The IUCN reviewed the entire species in 2006 and declared it NEAR THREATENED
IUCN Redlist for Fp.walkeri

Additional information for this and other known populations of Fundulopanchax walkeri is on the American Killifish Association website: https://www.wak.aka.org/Ref_Library/Fundulopanchax/Fp.walkeri.htm   

Killifish Breeding : Making a species-specific water plan

There is little point in attempting the breeding  of difficult species without knowledge of their home waters. For example, consider  two of the killifish species we will  raise this year.

1. AMI The first  species is Fundulopanchax amieti from Gerald Lofstead. It has a reputation for being difficult to breed, hatch, and raise among nearby friends with similar water to ours. Fundulopanchax amieti is a semi-annual killifish from Eastern Cameroon.

Aside: Semi-annual means, among other things, that the eggs can rest in drying mud and plant debris for a short time, say weeks, and then hatch when the rains return. It is common to find this ability, where there are two rainy seasons about evenly spaced in the year, as in Cameroon. By contrast annual killies, for example Nothobranchius,  can tolerate much longer dry periods say six months.  Non-annual species can still arrive at remote puddles by swimming upsteam, then jumping across wet forest floor during a rain, or in the mud clinging to the feet of wading birds.


Fundulopanchax amieti is an IUCN Endangered species.

This link is to the  IUCN Red list page for Fp. amieti:   https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/182209/7831690

As you see from the link, Fp. amieti is  "...  found in ... tributaries of the larger Sanaga and Dibamba River drainage basins.. All known populations, except one, are from the area to the north of the Sanaga River in southwestern Cameroon."

Here is a photo of our larger  male:from Gerald Lofstead.

In the wild they live in water temperature 24.8C ~ 76.6 F, pH 6.5, DH 0.2 according to
The West African Killies page for Fp.amieti

and here is a look at the area north of the Sanaga River in southwestern Cameroon"

2.SPP The second species is Aphyosemion splendopleure Tiko Green from Bill Hodgekiss. Tiko is the type locality and Scheel (for example, 1990) considered SPP a synonym of of A. bitaeniatum This is a  species we have been successful with in the past.

Other than the fact that the fry are small, and so may require a smaller first food (Banana Worms, Paramecium, Rotifers, San Francisco  Bay brine shrimp not the larger Utah strain from Brine Shrimp Direct), they are fairly easy. We use mops and hatch the fry in their parent's water as usual.

.Here is the Google Earth view of Tiko, Cameroon and vicinity.

The AKA writeup is here:

http://www.wak.aka.org/Ref_Library/Aphyosemion/A.splendopleure.htm

As you see, Scheel  in Rivulins of the Old World (1968, page 126) writes the Tiko ... "population lives in the rather hard, alkaline water of the volcanic area."

This would explain why we do well with this supposedly difficult species. Our own water has those characteristics, draining the Watchung flood basalts (solidified lava) and then passing through  laterite soils formed in a once tropical forest. Both the lava and the red laterite soils formed 200 million years ago. Our water is just what SPP evolved in.

Tiko sub-division is indeed adjacent to Mt. Cameroon, see:

https://www.science.gov/topicpages/m/mt+cameroon+volcano.html

where item 2 says that "... Buea, Limbe, West Coast, Tiko and Muyuka [are] sub-divisions adjacent to Mt. Cameroon."

Below is the google Earth image showing the proximity of Tiko to Mt Cameroon/

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Conclusion: These two species will do best breeding in different water chemistry. AMI has evolved in soft, mildly acid water, SPP has evolved in "hard, rather alkaline water".

Killifish Breeding : What is the point? Human survival.

Most of the West African killifish are important predators of mosquitoes.  Both killifish and mosquitoes breed in temporary waters, for example roadside ditches and streams that form in the rainy seasons.

As mosquito predators, many Killifish are much more important than other fish, because they can survive drying out of isolated pools.  These species with eggs resting in dried mud are called annual or semi-annual killifish, and they live through much of central Africa, and also South and Central America, in places where mosquitoes are a serious risk to the population.

Again, some killifish are present in remote temporary pools because their eggs survive in the mud when the water dries up. When the rains return, the eggs hatch, and the fish grow rapidly. Killifish are locally called rainfish for this reason.

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 Changes in West Africa climates are already happening, and dramatic ecosystem changes will cause extinctions in the wild to the fish that eat mosquitoes. Read the link below.

Climate Change Assessment for West Africa

Under the conditions the wild fish evolved in, they can reproduce well and consume most of the mosquito larvae. However, these wild fish cannot tolerate very high temperatures or large changes in Sodium, Magnesium, and Calcium ions in the water.  If these fish do not survive, parts of West Africa, for example,  may be uninhabitable in the near future. That's where captive breeding helps.

Groups of scientists and volunteers around the world are cooperating in captive breeding programs to ensure the survival of  these small fish. Breeding pairs or eggs are exchanged between small labs and amateur hatcheries, along with small water samples from the aquariums in which they were bred and raised.  Since the local water varies, strains are developed which can tolerate new conditions in West Africa as they arise. We are creating a living archive to face climate change as it happens.

Killifish breeding: Start of the season 2019

We just spent last week cleaning tanks (with boiling hot water), buying a few new tanks and shoe boxes, etc. We kept a few pairs from last season, and have put them in 2 1/2 gallon tanks with mops. We also made a wish list of species we want to raise. On the way are eggs of Aphyosemion exiguum, new to me, and Aphyosemion striatum, which Sue and I have been breeding since 1970 in our first apartment. We will also get more A. splendopleure (Tiko green) from Bill Hodgekiss, some Fp. sjoestedti from Jim Kostich , E. dageti  from Martinez Moreno, and a few others.

Me, our son Phil, Sue, and Phil and Rachel's daughters.
Photo by Rachel.

                                               

Our son Chris, Jen and their kids.

Now its May, and we have just started the 2019 West African Killifish breeding season. In addition to familiar species, we also raise IUCN endangered and vulnerable species and distribute them to other labs.

 A link to a 2017 video of young fish from some of the past species bred is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oJVodG6_hM&list=PL5tisTQEgG_L3U7Bjka21aMz45UPT5cq0&index=12&t=0s
It shows cohorts of Aphyosemion australe, (for the grandkids) , Fundulopanchax gardneri  Innidere (for Phil), A. celiae, A. splendopleure Tiko Green from Bill Hodgekiss, and Epiplatys roloffi. We also raised Aphyosemion primigenium, seen in another video on our site. See the link below. We didn't make any new videos last year, but plan to this year.

Since our tap water is a little hard and alkaline, we sometimes add small amounts of RO/DI water  before we use it. We don't go to extremes for most species however; instead we keep species whose water drains off of basaltic volcanoes and runs through laterite soils. This is the case for many West African species. Luckily, our water also runs through basalt and then runs over laterite soils. Our rocks and soils are just older, 200 million years older if you want to know.

Our sons raised fish when they were young. Chris raised Zebra Danios  for local pet shops,  and Phil still breeds goldfish, as does my wife Susan. We start the kids young, here is our
oldest granddaughter helping in the fishroom.

Our oldest granddaughter  looking at her tank of Tetras

Her tank, Neons and Glowlights.

Our grandsons also have fish room jobs when they visit. The babies are welcome when they are older.

The kids also like to feed Susan's ornamental goldfish, which she raises in our pond, a good source of infusoria, sphagnum moss,  and rainwater.

Susan's Pond

Her father Phil raises ornamental goldfish in a much larger pond.

Anyway, here are photos of the species we are setting up so far. These are my photos or are cutouts from my videos.

                                         Aphyosemion australe (xanthic form) for our grandkids.

                                            Fundulopanchax gardneri for Phil, his favorite. 

Aphyosemion splendopleure Tiko Green from Bill Hodgekiss

In the past we have raised and distributed several IUCN species of concern and distributed them, including those below.

                                                         Aphyosemion celiae .ENDANGERED

Epiplatys roloffi ENDANGERED

We also raise Aphyosemion primigenium. These are so active its hard to get a picture:

A primigenium VULNERABLE

A blurry video (we put in chopped grindals to coax them to the front of the tank) is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_LLXA--DRw&list=PL5tisTQEgG_L3U7Bjka21aMz45UPT5cq0&index=10

This year we will raise Aphyosemion splendopleure Tiko Green SPP and possibly Fundulopanchax amieti AMI. The latter is IUCN ENDANGERED.

Killifish Breeding : Progress with Aphyosemion celiae July 2017

Aphyosemion celiae is an endangered species of killifish, known from two localities close to each other in Cameroon. See my video on food and localities here: Our local water is similar to the water in their natural habitat, since both flow through volcanic rocks (basalts) and laterite (red clay) soils. We use a common water source for all eggs and fish, a cycled 55 gallon tank with plants, fish, and snails. 

A 55 gallon cycled tank for common water

Twenty gallons are used for water changes every week.  Dried Indian Almond Leaves tint the water and reduce bacteria and fungi.

A. celiae will lay eggs on synthetic mops. We have two mops for each pair. Symbols specific to each pair are written on the cork with magic marker.

A rack for mops, two per pair, with a species ID on the cork

The male watches for Drosophila

A mop dipped in boiling water. It will be cooled in stock water before use.

Before picking eggs from a mop in the 2.5 gallon breeding tank, we wash a replacement mop with tap water. Next we dip the replacement mop in a Pyrex pot of boiling water, then cool it with common water.
We put the cooled second mop in before removing the old mop with eggs. This reduces stress in the fish, as it provides shelter during the disturbance.


With heavy feeding and a water change from the common water, the female watches the male's courtship dance and follows him into the mop.

Our female colors up as she watches her mate's courtship dance. There is a video on my YouTube site here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLD62PIoat4

Start, then click the box lower left to enlarge

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Later we will have a video on water changes. Notice from the picture we don't use filters in the 2.5 gallon intensive breeding tanks, instead we rely on weekly 80% common water changes. If the breeding tanks need cleaning they are partially emptied, placed on the bench, the fish are netted with a soft net and placed into an already cleaned and scalded replacement tank with common water and mops. The old tank is scrubbed with a plain plastic pad, rinsed with very hot tap water  (110 F), Scalded with boiling water,  dried with paper towels, partially refilled with common water, and a  clean mop added when needed. This procedure resulted in the courtship depicted above.

The eggs are placed in glass petri dishes with stock cycled water, i.e. “common water”. In the case of A celiae, we add a few drops of a stock methylene blue dilution, made with 10 drops of Methylene Blue per gallon of water. ON SOME BROWSERS CLICK 2X

A glass Petri dish holding half the eggs from one mop.
Note the letter C marked from the underside, code for A celiae

We gently pull the eggs away from the yarn, then drop then into the water. The photo shows seven A. celiae eggs collected from a small mop on 25 July 2017. Notice that three of the eggs are darker. When the eggs are near hatching, you can see the eyes.

The cover glass gets a paper tape label, including the species code CEL for A. celiae, the number of eggs circled, and for A. celiae, the letters MB for methylene blue.

The eggs are checked once a day, and infertile eggs are removed. About half the water is removed and replaced with common water using a disposable plastic transfer pipette.
Below two A. celiae fry have hatched. The remaining eggs are “eyed up”.

Click to enlarge.Some "eyed up" eggs and two hatched fry.

When they hatch, fry and eggs are moved to a Pyrex bowl in stock water, and labeled. Then the eggs are returned to their petri dish. In a few species the fry are slow enough to  catch with a blunt eye dropper, for example here:  

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The second day the fry are fed newly hatched brine shrimp.

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When they get big enough to jump out of the Pyrex bowl, they are transferred to labeled mini Critter Keepers.
Note the salmon colored bellies, full of brine shrimp nauplii.

Perhaps you would like to count the fry? Try the video:

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Killifish Breeding : Progress with Aphyosemion primigenium

Originally published in 2012 as oldafricahand  on my blog westafricanforests.blogspot.com, lost when hotmail died. This blog does repeat some material below.

A very frightened A. primigenium male.

We have a young pair of Aphyosemion primigenium. They live in a 10 gallon tank of aged, softened peat water. The tank has tight lid, a gravel box filter and two mops.

The male is above. He is very shy and rarely swims in the front of the tank. Here he has seen me and his red dots have faded, but he is very bright when courting the female. The female is very tame, and hangs out in the front of the tank much of the time.

Currently we are raising several cohorts of young, totaling 33 juveniles, and have several dishes of viable eggs. I'm getting overwhelmed with A. primigenium and have slowed egg collection. The parents don't bother their young.

When the fry hatch out we keep them in labeled pyrex bowls, about 4" diameter  x 1.6" deep, with a few sprigs of Java Moss. Each plant has been visually checked with a magnifier to make sure there are no mature Hydra on them. Snails are also not included in the fry bowls.The bowls are checked each day, and half the water is changed with a turkey baster. Removed water is put into a plastic dish to be sure no fry are removed with the water.


[Note: We raised this species in 2012 and 2015.  In 2012 we had a few Hydra.]

If young  Hydra are seen the water and fish, less the moss, are dumped into a clean labeled bowl. The hydra stay behind, attached to the glass of the old bowl and the moss.  The old bowl is cleaned with scalding hot water,  then wiped with a new paper towel. That's the end of the Hydra.



 The A. primigenium fry can eat freshly hatched brine shrimp immediately, and they grow fast.

Aphyosemion primigenium is considered "Vulnerable" on the IUCN redlist, here:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/181645/0. Vulnerable is the next level below endangered.

The IUCN reviewers write:
"Aphyosemion (Mesoaphyosemion) primigenium is known from maximum five localities from between Mouila and Bdede-Lebamba [Lebamba] in the Ngounie and Nyanga Rivers in southwestern Gabon."

Above is the Ngounie River, a tributary of the Ogooué River, as it flows past Mouila.

Above you see the Ngounie mapped from Mouila toward Labamba, and A. primigenium also extends into the Nyanga watershed, shown here at balloon "A". The river runs about 90km between the two towns, which are about 50 miles apart as the crow flies. The trip from Mouila down N1, then northeast to Labamba, is 114 km long.

Here the two towns are shown in Google Earth. Note the scale.