Penny Jeter

Has anyone else out there tried it?

Ikea ODLA (LECA planting media) is so inexpensive and looks an awful lot like like many smaller bio media for canister filters. Got me thinking about using it for biomedia-- has anyone tried it? Other LECA have been used, and some report nitrifying result. I am thinking specifically about their ODLA product.

Quick question out of ignorance here. The API Aquarium rock salt says it is made from evaporated sea water. Wouldn't this work?

I have no trouble with Baby Brine shrimp (Nauplii). Where I cannot seem to get a foothold is in growing them out. Three times a failure in this. Using a 5 gal aquarium. About 5 inches deep with water. Have aeration (not too much). single airstone. Filling with freshwater aquarium water (so the water has been treated with Fritz Complete and may have some BB present before making brine) that has had aquarium salt added to make it a brine. Used a small hatchery to hatch the nauplii. Dumping hatched BBS Nauplii ONLY into the tank (ambient temps between 70- 75 most days). Adding a pinch of Spirulina powder daily. First attempt, used fresh water, dechlorinated and bufferred a bit, made brine. Shrimp were swimming about and died within a week covering bottom of tank : / Second attempt tried using aquarium water. Prepped with brine a few days before hatching Nauplii, and added a pinch of spirulina when adding the nauplii after hatching. Third try--same as second, but waited a day before adding spirulina powder. ANY IDEAS? Am I just terrible at growing out BBS?

I realize I keep posting here...I guess I am lacking in confidence on several of the fish and hoping others may be able to let me know the right answers/ their experience. As they got older/more developed, some things began emerging which I am uncertain of... and I just let them grow. I tried to shoot a few iphone shots (sorry about the quality--they swim around so quickly!). 2248 and 2249 shows one we call "Tiger." Had a black stripe that developed near its shoulders and grew. We've grown attached to this specific one and will likely keep him, but there are several others with this same coloration, and unsure how to proceed with them (sell/cull)? In one shot you can also make out he has one black iris and one typically colored ("Bowie" eyes;-). 2247 is one of the runts. A bit undersized and super-pale in color. Very vigorous swimmer/active with the biggest fish alongside. Pinky-red, fully formed dark pink gils like father/fertilizing fish. (S/C?) 2246 has not changed color yet. Most of the others are golden, pale/peach or striped. Its a good size fish...just not yet orangey yet. Otherwise active and healthy behavior. Some others are similar.(S/C?) 2245 has the odd/curled-looking gill on one side. The sunlight looks weird on this shot, but it's the best one of it. He's very active and one of the larger fish in that particular aquarium. There are a few like this--with a gil that is curled or formed oddly on one side. They seem very active and healthy otherwise. My feeling was that these would likely be culled or saved as personal pets? Someone said in another forum that if both gils were curled, they may be sellable to some . Any feedback appreciated. I think I am nervous as this is my first rodeo:-)

Thanks Pine, Fish Folk, and Whitecloud! I am in fact a "new breeder." We kept only one hatch group (they've been laying eggs pretty reliably every 1-2 weeks since January (Wisconsin) with 100-200 eggs. We've allowed them to be devoured before and after that group as 8 tanks are maxing us out. We expected to see about a 30% -60% survival rate. We're currently at 77 or so from 91 fully hatched. The spike dorsal was odd to me (it growing in full later). I'm not talking growth after injury—as a fry and juvi it had a single spike dorsal. It's grown in full now. The fish in the image above has the weird lower caudal...but it straightens out often into correct position. The heterochromia (thats not the correct term I'm sure--but one eye completely black and the other metallic with a black center) is apparent in the fertilizing male (daddy), and its on several of the juvies (maybe 20-30%) -- this doesn't compromise them at all I imagine. Is that right? Are any of these red flags for either keeping as pets or selling?

The Punnett Squares for fish breeding must be so interesting. Two Fancy Fantails, and 91 hatched offspring, that range the gamut of resemblance! Some appear almost like clones of one or both parents, while others make me wonder what happened? Their scales ranges from metallic, to nacreous, to matte. Their bodies are all primarily short and rounded, but some also have a more pronounced "shoulder" to them. The eyes have a large back button on many, while others have a metallic eye with the more typical black center...some have one on each side. The fins are strange too. We didn't cull for minor fin issues, which has been interesting. That said, I had a few FIN QUESTIONS: One very identifiable one had only a spike for its dorsal fin, but was very mobile. We kept it. It appears months later that the fin has "grown out" to pretty much a full dorsal. Is that possible? Others had slight to visibly altered caudal fin issues, but their mobility seemed fine. About 4 or so had a "pinned" (not sure if thats the correct phrase) lower caudal on one side, that probably eliminates them from sale, but doesn't hinder their mobility at all or existence as house pets for us. Is there any issue with this. One was born with metallic scales, but has developed dark patches all over. Almost "holstein-ish." No water parameter issues. It's fins seemed normal for the first 5 months, but every so often the lower caudal on one side (and anal fin) appear to push out sideways on it. It then seems to return. Is this a normal occurrence? I'll attach a photo for one that bulked up pretty quickly (the one I mentioned in Question #3 above). He has developed the spots and the occasionally bent lower caudal/anal.

The female is the paler fish (top). Just over 3 inches body. The male is about 2.5 or so body length(bottom).

Thanks all. Yeah, it’s super cute when they swim up to the glass when we approach the tanks and see those big eyes waiting for food. We noticed some developing black patches. Maybe some calicos? I’ll have to try and post the parents. Been so busy maintaining all the tanks and keeping parameters up after work. The breeding has been extremely regular since January (so cold weather initially). Between 100 and 200 eggs (which we’ve allowed to be devoured after that hatch group since I’m pretty tapped out with space for tanks, etc.) every two weeks. I noticed the female has gotten lighter in color, slightly bigger, and more aggressive with the male/bullying. I suppose alll that egg laying must be exhausting 😉 Do those who do this regularly know what grow size most fish reach for sale?

BACKGROUND We had what we had believed to be two female fantails. We quickly discovered the 1.5 year old fantail must've been a bit older than that, and not a female 🙂 The pair are 'prolific breeders.' Every 1.5 to 2 weeks since January (cold upper midwest too) the bottom of their 40g is littered with eggs. We harvested the second set of eggs (~150)from them, hoping to see about a 30% -50% survival rate. Curiosity more than anything. We have not harvested any eggs since then, as that would exceed my resources. 91 eggs hatched. Out of the 91, currently about 81 are still alive. We humanely euthanized only for mouth and gill defects, or severe fin defects...not for aesthetics or minor fin deviations(e.g a split tail fin or spiked dorsal)--its not my intent to engage in any debate on this. It is a strong belief of my wife. About 2/3 of the juveniles (now about 4 months out) are a pale pink to peach to orange color, with the "black button" eye. Darn cute. About 1/3 are a more typical bronzy/yellow metallic color, with the smaller black "pupil or iris" in the metallic larger eye. They've been well cared for (water, feedings, multiple tanks, etc) and of course this cost will most certainly exceed any recoup we could possibly make. We are not professional breeders, but what I like to call "accidental" breeders. QUESTIONS Is there any resource out there to confirm species/sub-species of goldies? I realize Fantails are not the biggest ticket nor the most glamorous breed, but they're what we love and have cared for for 12+ years. I am not expecting to profit or break even (with this pair and their regular breeding, it could be possible-- but our hobby resources and tank space have been fully tapped out ) but what is an amount for a healthy, well-card for juvenile. I've heard numbers from 1 -5 dollars?