What is the big deal with Killifish?
- Thread starter Marala
- Start date
Do they say "dye free" on the wrapper? I was using some yarn I had lying around with no wrapper. It's dark blue, and not the ideal dark green that most use, but I thought I would give it a try.Lisa01 said:
Gonna hit Michael's and see what they have.
Thanks a bunch!
Roan
And this type of information is why Killifish get a bad wrap. The false accusations of the "1 year lifespan" has kept killies from becoming extremely popular. In all actuality, only a small fraction of killifish will only live for a year. Most all fish's lifespans (as with about any animal or insect) is correlated to their size. For the most part, the smaller the animal the shorter the lifespan. Larger the animal, longer the lifespan. As Lisa01 stated, some live over 5 years. Killies range from around an inch and a halff to around 5-6", some are topwater, some are more mid-lower water fish. There is a huge variation among the killifish families. The "one year fish" reputation came from some of the south american and african annuals. One of the most common is the nothobranchius species which are among some of the most colorful, hardy and easy to raise killies. These are also the most common to find eggs of. They are from Africa and most of them, their environment dries up and the eggs must hatch in the rainy season. They are fast growers because of this. Even-so, most of them will live past 1 year. I have a couple now that are reaching 2 years and I've heard of some over 3 from friends. Some killies can be kept in un-filtered, un-heated 1-gallon containers and some need 50+ gallons to properly be kept. Some are highly predatory, some are very delicate. Some will kill other males (similar to bettas) some are schooling fish (lampeyes). Go do some research. Beware though, killies are THE most addicting fish I've ever run across and will quickly become an obsession. They are among the easiest fish to keep and breed and are in my opinion among the best looking fish including saltwater. www.aka.org is the website to the american killifish association, the premier club in the world for killies. enjoy, KYle
Sorry for the misinfo guys. I was repeating something I read back in the 70s in an old aquarium book in the egglayer chapter. I took data on one fish and applied it to a whole species. I know better than to make those kinds of assumptions. You all have my most sincere apology; especially Marala. Your question was a good one and deserved an appropriate response which, I see you received. In the future I'll try to keep my mouth shut...er, fingers off the kbd about topics with which I have no personal experience. I dislike misinfo as much as the next person. I definitely should'nt be generating it. Thanks for the corrections, folks.
Mark
Mark
