Four Great South American Annuals
Spawning Simpsonichthys hellneri, Simpsonichthys alternatus, Nematolebias myersi
and Astrolebias affinis "Tacrarembo"
By Curt Smith
From the Youngstown Aquarist, Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society
Aquarticles
Since these fish are all South American annuals, they spawn in identical fashion, and
the incubation techniques and dry time are the same, I have included them all together in
this report. Until Costa Rica’s recent extensive changes in the names of these fish,
they were all Cynolebias. The A. affinis was Cynolebias duraznensis
"Tacrarembo". The Simpsonichthys alternatus are fairly recent
discoveries, while the Nematolebias myersi is an old favorite of the peat
spawning hobbyists’. Astrolebias affinis "Tacrarembo" is a member
of another species that has been around, but this particular fish, formerly called Cynolebias
duraznensis, has only been seen in the last five years or a little more.
All these species come from Brazil, but Brazil is an extremely large country and their
habitats are not all in the same local vicinity. In fact, N. myersi comes from
the extreme south of Brazil and, perhaps, into Argentina. I have tried to trade with a
native of Brazil for new species, but the Brazilian government prohibits the shipping of
live fishes and the Brazilian postal workers steal anything they think might be of some
value. So, after a few failures, I gave up on it.
All four of these species are kept at room temperature in my basement tanks. I have
changed from 2 ½ gallon spawning tanks to 5 ½ gallon ones and find the extra space seems
to keep the fish in better shape and give them slightly longer lives.
Each of my many spawning pairs or trios of South American annuals is kept in a bare 5
½ gallon tank with a cover that seals everything except about a quarter inch of the front
edge. The only thing in the tank besides a bowl of peat is a handful of Java Moss.
I try to change the water every 7-10 days and remove the peat and replace it at the
same time.
I have used regular peat moss that requires boiling. But more recently I have utilized
peat pellets, coir (coconut hull fibers) and "No-Damp" peat moss. The
"Jiffy" peat pellets (no lime or fertilizer) are dumped into a container of
water (about 5 gallons) and left to soak. After a couple hours, I return and peel the
netting off the pellets and crumble the remainder. Some of the peat floats and I come back
a couple times to stir it up and break up any lumps. After soaking for 24 hours, I remove
the surface debris and pour the junk from the top off into a bucket. The remaining peat,
which has sunk, is dumped into a fine white fish net (large), rinsed under running
chlorinated tap water, wrung out while in the net and transferred to a large plastic fish
bag for storage. I then use it as needed when doing water changes and collections. The
coir only has to be soaked in water for about 24 hours. Each brick makes 8 times as much
mulch as the brick originally was in size. Nothing floats from this medium and it can be
left in water and used from the container as needed.
I haven’t yet made up my mind as to how well I like the "No-Damp" peat.
It can be purchased at any garden center and it is also called "milled peat". I
find it very light and fluffy, and it doesn’t stay in the pots very well and sails
around whenever a fish dives into it. But I have had two of my largest spawns from this
medium, plus a few that didn’t hatch well. So I have yet to decide if the big spawns
were due to the medium or something else. When using coir, peat moss must be added before
storing it for incubation. It is nice because you can actually see the eggs in it, but
peat has some positive effect on the developing eggs.
All four species have a three month incubation period at my temperatures. After the
medium is removed from the tank into the large white net, it is thoroughly rinsed under
running chlorinated tap water as a fungus preventative. Then the net is wrung to remove as
much water as is easily squeezed out, dumped onto sheet of newspaper, and shaken from the
paper into a labeled plastic fish bag. You may be able to remove the peat from the net to
the bag, but I have found that I lose far too much trying to do it that way. One word of
caution: LABEL. Label the bag of peat with eggs, label the matching container and label
the rearing tank. I warn you, if you don’t do this, you will end up with a tank of
fish that you have no idea what they are!
After three months are up, a plastic shoe box is filled with conditioned tap water,
de-chlorinated and adjusted for pH to about 6.5. After this box has warmed up to room
temperature, the bag of medium and eggs is carefully dumped into the shoe box. It is
important to come back within the first hour to skim the surface for debris and to break
up any lumps. This makes it much easier for the fry when they hatch. Some fry may make
their appearance within a couple hours, but most take a little longer – maybe four
hours. I leave them in the shoebox until the next day and then carefully siphon them out
into another box that has been partially filled with water form the first box. Using a
plastic pipette, I gently blow water through the medium and the fry jump out of it and can
be caught after a little experience. The box is left another 24 hours and any fry removed
before I either throw the medium out or re-dry it to try again a month later.
These fry are big enough to eat live baby brine shrimp from the get-go! In fact, live
baby brine shrimp is the only food I ever give them until they approach adult size, and
even the adults like an occasional feeding of baby brine.
The male adults of all four species reach a length of two to three inches, while the
females stay a little smaller. The myersi is related to whitei and
reaches a comparable length. The other three stay around two inches or a little more. As
with all the S. A. annuals, the females are considerably more drab than the males. The
male of the Nematolebias myersi attains a reddish background with darker ventral
bars from gill to tail. The fins also display reds and a little blue. The male Astrolebias
affinis "Tacrarembo" is a bluish fish with some ventral barring. The Simpsonichthys
hellneri has a basic brown body coloration but is spectacular in that there are reds
and blues in the finnage and silverfish dots all over the fins, tail and upper body. The
male Simpsonichthys alternatus is a tailored brown body with darker ventral bars
that extend through the dorsal, anal and tail fins. Though not as colorful as the others,
it is attractive in its own right.
These fish are all annuals. That means that you won’t have them forever. I find
that I can keep most annuals through the first summer if they are young, and lose them in
the second summer. Heat is their enemy as far as living long lives is concerned. Nematolebias
myersi appears to be capable of a longer life than most annuals. Many of my fish are
acquired at the annual AKA conventions, which are over Memorial Day weekend, and they are
sexed out at that time, so they usually live 15 to 18 months for me.
Don’t let anyone tell you that killies are tough. Like any other fish, we
don’t breed them! We just give them conditions they like so they can get on with what
they do on their own in nature. The adults like live or frozen foods – daphnia, black
worms, blood worms, brine shrimp, and frozen cyclop-eze, or anything else similar.
As with many South American annual species, getting them is the tough part!
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