Killifish Breeding

I do agree that when it comes to keeping or having pets at home, we generally prefer cats and dogs, mainly 'coz they are interactive and prove to be excellent companions, yes indeed. However, raising fish can be an altogether different experience since they are elegant and quiet pets. Fish, precisely being aquatic, prefer living for themselves and do not require much of our attention and care. Though this sounds easier in comparison to other pets, the prerequisite for fish farming is to give them good quality fish food and create an environment similar to their natural habitat, only after which they can grow and enjoy the same. Now, if you have a killifish or are planning to raise one, then you ought to know the breeding techniques, and the dos and don'ts associated with them. Take a look through the paragraphs given below.

Killifish Raising

To start off with, killifish are small elongated types of fish having varied attractive colors and basically associated with aggressive behavior. If you happen to check, there are around 1270 species of this aquarium fish mainly because they are flexible to any type of water habitat.

Habitat
As I stated, killifish adjust to any type of water form, right from large water bodies like oceans and seas to smaller rivers and lakes. They can accustom to mud puddles and standstill water body forms very easily as well. This adaptability makes them a variant in all parts of the world although, they have not been found in Australia and extremely colder regions of Arctic and Antarctica. For breeding killifish at home, you need to first buy a spacious fish tank and fulfill the water requirements suitable for their optimum growth. What matters here is the alkalinity of the water, too much alkaline water is not tolerated by these fish, the optimum pH values being between 6 and 7.

Behavior
When you will go buying, you will realize killifish dwell in 3 parts; some prefer living at the bottom while some prefer in the middle and many dwell at the surface of the water. However, when it comes to breeding, some killifish prefer spawning eggs at the bottom preferably on sand while others lay eggs in the cracks of rocks or generally in hidden areas (within mosses). If you study the killifish behavior, you will find that they are not highly active aquatic species and generally maintain a low profile; they are very shy. However, as I mentioned, they are one of the most aggressive fish, especially the male species and can cause harm to other species dwelling with them. But this happens only during territorial defense and not otherwise. But you need to choose good tank mates for them. If you are raising killifish in an aquarium, you will also need to buy some artificial aquatic plants, mosses, wood or rocks as well.

Food
The next thing that comes to mind is what do fish eat? You need to feed them with hygienic and good quality fish food that would keep them healthy and free of any freshwater fish diseases. Being aquatic in nature, killifish love to feed on insects, mosquitoes and worms which prevail in the surroundings. However, the diet varies with the species; wherein some like to eat water algae and aquatic plants while few feed on other aquatic fish too. You could buy some killifish food available in the market as well.

Now, the most important thing to understand here is, while raising killifish, you need to give a special treatment for the eggs they lay and the resultant fry, mainly because killifish do not take care of them. You have to remove the eggs from the tank and grow them in another one. The fry are developed in a span of 14 days and mainly feed on infusoria, brine shrimp or microworms. And if you are interested to own the most common and popular killifish in the market, then go for Golden Wonder killifish breeding, since these are easiest to spawn and breed, with always being in mood.

I hope you have gotten the gist of killifish breeding. Be sure to undertake proper killifish care, for these are certainly the most exotic freshwater fish ever, and a delight to possess.