A few questions about killifish have been on my mind lately

1. From what I heard mummichogs need air exposure from low tides for their eggs to hatch, but I also heard that they have been established in freshwater ponds in the town of Windham NH. Can a pond really have the water level fluctuations needed for mummies to spawn or can they make do without it?

2. Why do every photograph of banded killies look brown with silver stripes (even the ones I took) but the fish does not look that way? Is it an effect of the flash? I recently looked for a picture of a males spawning colors to compare to my own killie and all the photos online were brown with silver stripes.

3. The one time I did take pics of my killies a year ago, one went all white after the photo was taken and soon died. How can taking a photograph kill a fish?

4. The couple times I noticed young banded killies in my tank were when the water levels in the tank got low. Are bandeds a species who need water fluctuations for hatching or is this coincidence. (I suspect it is the narrow gap of water above the vegetation with low water allows the baby killies to leave vegetation and not get eaten like they would with high water).

Mummichog eggs don't so much need air exposure, as they can adapt to it and slow down development until the next spring tide comes in and allows new larvae to drop into the water. And I'd say your white fish dying was a coincidence.

um my killfish pictures do not look that way...very colorful actually.

Edited by bumpylemon, 13 December 2010 - 03:09 PM.

um my killfish pictures do not look that way...very colorful actually.

cool, nice color, it's not the black with white spots spawning color but nice. A step up from brown and silver.

Some killies like banded and rain waters and probably others need shallow water for the fry to swim up. They normally spawn in inches of water. When they lay eggs in deep tanks, the fry don't make it to the surface at swim up. They don't get air in swim bladder, can't swim normal, hop along the bottom like darters and eventually die.

cool, nice color, it's not the black with white spots spawning color but nice. A step up from brown and silver.

you went from never seeing a colorful picture ever to now this isnt a full spawning color picture? dont get greedy lol

maybe its just your camera and the peoples pictures you saw camera...speaking of camera....i am getting my new nikon d3100 in 2 weeks! cant wait!