# Grow killifish like seamonkeys!? What is this?



## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

Forgive me for my typing I am on my iPod touch.

Anyways I just saw a commercial on TV of a product that costs $20.00 that essentially is a teabag of what I believe are killifish eggs, that when placed in water within 24 hours will hatch and within 2-3 months will be fully grown.

Now I do know a little about fish so I know the tank they would supply is cruel for that many fish, I will use my own if I bought these. I'm almost 100% sure these are killifish.

I looked up this product to find testimonials but cannot find any. (that's never a good sign..)

Here's the link: www.getmybff.com

Please look at it and tell me if you see any obvious reasons why I should not try this. I really want killifish so I don't see why not unless it's a total scam. However, I believe that with my knowledge of water cycling and parameters I will be successful given if the eggs even hatch.

Sorry if anyone interprets this post as advertising I am in no way trying to do that, I just want to know if anyone knows about this..

Thanks


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

dan3345 said:


> Forgive me for my typing I am on my iPod touch.
> 
> Anyways I just saw a commercial on TV of a product that costs $20.00 that essentially is a teabag of what I believe are killifish eggs, that when placed in water within 24 hours will hatch and within 2-3 months will be fully grown.
> 
> ...


yes they are killifish and yes the lets call it a "bowl" that they come with is very innapropriate for them no filter or nothing. I am actually concidering buying a pack just to get my hands on some of the eggs. It is kind of sad to see the hard effort put in by killifish societies and private breeders to document how to breed these fish and cultivate their eggs be turned into this and exploited by big companies with complete disregard to the fishes health.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

I agree with what you are saying, and I am also planning to buy this just for the eggs. How do the eggs survive out of water? Also are balloon mollies compatible with killifish? I have heard they are many times but that they will eat the fry.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

dan3345 said:


> I agree with what you are saying, and I am also planning to buy this just for the eggs. How do the eggs survive out of water? Also are balloon mollies compatible with killifish? I have heard they are many times but that they will eat the fry.


Killifish actually come from africa where the water evaporates every year killing the parents leaving the eggs dry in the sand and the next year when the rain comes the eggs hatch its very weird and unique to killi's i believe. And balloon mollies are compatible with most killi's there are a few species that are classified as semi-aggressive but the type they had in the video isn't one of the aggressive types as far as i can tell. and yeah they will eat the fry so would have to be house separately until they are large enough to co habitate.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Go to the AKA (american killfish association) site or get a book and read up. Killies are a whole family of fish from all over (like cichlids). some are tiny and adorable (clown killies), some are appropriate for community tank (F. Gardneri) and others are 10" long killing/eating machines. I would order eggs from someone in AKA, or off aquabid.com before buying a packaged system. Here's link to my local expert's site. http://www.djramsey.com/tropfish/killie_fish.htm A good seller will tell you how to raise them (maybe link to an article) . He does hatch them in plastic shoe boxes, but also keeps them in 2, 5, & 10 gallon tanks. The smaller the container, the more frequent the water changes. You can keep small killies like betta breeders do and do 100% daily water change by dumping each container, filling, moving fish to it, and dumping the next one. But he puts a "filter" in every container, even if its just a wad of filter floss on an air-line. I agree that eggs-by-mail is cool. I bought cichlid eggs and an auction and got a trio of fish, so if you know your stuff, its very do-able.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

We got one of those things at Myrtle Beach on vacation just to see what would happen... we even used cycled tank water instead of bottled or whatever to hatch them in. What a ripoff. Thankfully we only paid about $9 because the darn things never hatched.


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

thats fascinating, though dissapointing that companies are selling them in that way. I knew there were various species of inverts like triops and sea monkeys who could do that but I never knew there were fish whos eggs could dry out completely and still hatch.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

hXcChic22 said:


> We got one of those things at Myrtle Beach on vacation just to see what would happen... we even used cycled tank water instead of bottled or whatever to hatch them in. What a ripoff. Thankfully we only paid about $9 because the darn things never hatched.


Wait did you buy this exact kit? And the eggs did not even hatch? That's sad.. I have never had any killifish before but really like them and was hoping this would give me some experience for cheap.

Can someone explain, that when you order killifish eggs from aquabid, do they come like the eggs in this kit come, or what?


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

dan3345 said:


> Can someone explain, that when you order killifish eggs from aquabid, do they come like the eggs in this kit come, or what?


Sometimes they are just eggs in a vial, sometimes they are eggs in peat moss in a baggie, sometimes they are complete hatching kits - different vendors sell different products.

I work part-time at a LFS, we ordered a few kits similar to this to see if they would hatch - we got a single fry out of multiple kits. (we carry alot of killies, at least compared to other LFS around us, but this was the only time we tried selling killie eggs)

If you have a fish club in your area, they can be a great source of killies - I see killies available at almost every meeting of the Boston Aquarium Society (my local club) and even have a "local" killie club in my area (the Southern New England Killie Association - SNEKA). 

All of the killies I own have come from local enthusiasts via the clubs.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

redpaulhus said:


> Sometimes they are just eggs in a vial, sometimes they are eggs in peat moss in a baggie, sometimes they are complete hatching kits - different vendors sell different products.
> 
> I work part-time at a LFS, we ordered a few kits similar to this to see if they would hatch - we got a single fry out of multiple kits. (we carry alot of killies, at least compared to other LFS around us, but this was the only time we tried selling killie eggs)
> 
> ...


sadly the closest are I can find, is one in San Fransisco.And I live in the LA area, so that would a drive.

Also, I was just looking on aquabid.com, and I am new killis and I don't know where to begin. As in, I want a species that males are pretty (females are not usually) and that stays small. roughly no longer than 2.5 inches to 3 inches. Anyone have any killi type they would recommend, and a seller who is reliable?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Killie eggs don't just hatch like brineshrimp eggs. It's a bit trickier than that.
In fact, putting them in nice big, clean, filtered tanks is pretty much a recipie for near-guaranteed failure. That might explain some of the problems that some of you have had.

You really need to follow the instructions exactly and use the materials provided. They are provided for a reason, ya know. After hatching you can move the fry
to whatever tank you want, but unless the conditions are right, the eggs will not hatch. For example, you WANT high CO2 & low oxygen in the water. This is the signal to the ready-to-hatch fry that the proper time to hatch has come, because it mimics the proper conditions found at the optimum hatching time in the wild. A nice conventional aquarium will simply not have these conditions in it, and thusly the eggs won't hatch.

It's not a ripoff so much as a missing piece of important info.

I know the guy who markets the Triops kits and some killie egg kits under the name of "Fish-Bam-Boom!" He has good stuff, and it really works. 

As for Aquabid, I've tried several killie eggs from lots of places, and the ones from Thailand never seem to work for me. The ones from the States usually work fine. I think maybe they don't do so well coming through customs at the airport or something. Something to consider.

Now, after all that, I have to ask: did any of you click on the link provided in the first post? Did it really go to a site for buying killie eggs? I can't get it to work for some reason, but getmybff certainly doesn't sound like a place I would buy such a thing.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> Killie eggs don't just hatch like brineshrimp eggs. It's a bit trickier than that.
> In fact, putting them in nice big, clean, filtered tanks is pretty much a recipie for near-guaranteed failure. That might explain some of the problems that some of you have had.
> 
> You really need to follow the instructions exactly and use the materials provided. They are provided for a reason, ya know. After hatching you can move the fry
> ...


yeah its not a site for buying the eggs per say, but more of a seamonkey like thing. It gives you the eggs and you place them in what they show as a goldfish bowl (I would never let live there lives in that). Its really aimed for the little kids, I just wanted the eggs.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Get my best fish friend. lol. The link works for me, but the video, although tiny, loads really slow and breaks up. The pics are all killies, but different ones, like you get pot luck. Still its a better first fish than a goldfish from PetChain.

I'd try a breeder first, so you know the species and the specific hatching conditions. 

You might try a "beginner" killie like F. garderdi before you go for eggs. An adult pair in a breather bag can last for a week and come in the mail. Their eggs don't need to dry to hatch, so once you have them in a tank, you can keep them going, fry just appear. The eggs are big enough to see and they don't need microscopic live food like some of the littler, annual ones.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

dan3345 said:


> Wait did you buy this exact kit? And the eggs did not even hatch? That's sad.. I have never had any killifish before but really like them and was hoping this would give me some experience for cheap.
> 
> Can someone explain, that when you order killifish eggs from aquabid, do they come like the eggs in this kit come, or what?


I can't get the site to load so I'm not sure. Ours was a little "fishbowl" that came with a baggie of dirt (peat moss, maybe?) and a foil pack that the eggs were supposedly in. There was also a thing of brine shrimp eggs, which we never used because the fish never hatched. We followed all the directions except the bottled water part (because we didn't have any). We just used a little water from one of our unfiltered betta tanks, since it had already been dechlored and was a nice room temperature.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

dan3345 said:


> sadly the closest are I can find, is one in San Fransisco.And I live in the LA area, so that would a drive.


http://www.coastfishclub.com/ is in Costa Mesa

http://www.socalkilliclub.com/ is in Seal Beach (mostly)


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

TOS -- I googled the site before I tried the link, just to make sure it was legit


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Bahaahahahahaha I love how the commercial says "You'll never see these fish in a store!"



Actually... yes. Yes, we will.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

hXcChic22 said:


> Bahaahahahahaha I love how the commercial says "You'll never see these fish in a store!"
> 
> 
> 
> Actually... yes. Yes, we will.


Well I have known about killifish for some time, but never seen a single one in any LFS near me. Even my privately owned LFS never caries any.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I've only seen the good ones in one LFS. Clubs are the best bet, but they are a really good fish to mail. You sometimes find "golden wonder' or gold-earred or other of the 4" long aggressive ones in store, sometimes as feeders.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

Well you all are lucky then because my LFS pretty much laugh when I ask for them.. Anyways I checked the site and looked it over more and in the middle of the site is a thing that says "click here for FAQ's." upon clicking it says what type of kill it is which started with a N and the second word started with a K. Don't remember what it was exactly and I cannot look while on my iPod touch. What I thought was interesting though is that if you look at all the question it says the correct ways to grow these and not just plop em in and watch em swim.. Of course it still never said you need a filter. And I think 8 kills in a 5 gallon or less aquarium is bad but I could be wrong.

I will order his Friday and begin that weekend with it and tell you all what happens. If it works cool I have killifish if it doesn't oh well and thank you paypal for my money back.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

ok here it is. Nothobranchius Korthausae from Tanzania Here's a few google links: http://www.killi.co.uk/SpeciesDetails.php?ID=463 http://www.petfish.net/articles/Killifish/korthausae.php
Tops out around 1.5" I would still get a little filter. A sponge and an air-pump would do.
"live food preferred".


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Our LFS never carries killis that we've seen, but Petsmart has the golden wonders, and also sells plain striped panchaxes as golden wonders. (I know they're just a color variety, but still...)
Care-A-Lot Pet Supply is where we're likely to find more interesting killifish. They have a hexagonal tank setup with discus and some more unusual killis in it. We've never bought any because we already have three almost-grown Panchax/golden wonders and they're pretty aggressive.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Those are the nasty ones, chasing other fish around a 55 (in my case). The only saving grace is they tend to jump out of the tank.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

They are seeming to do pretty well in our tank. They usually only squabble with the male molly we have in there, since most of the tank's other inhabitants are bottom dwellers. Nothing serious has happened yet. The even get along with our albino rainbow sharks. They like to wedge themselves between the glass and the breeder net we have in there, though... they really want our baby platies :shock:


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