Fish Folk

Do not try to raise temperature above 74-F. They'll respond to spawning triggers (water changes, stone tray addition) between 70-F and 74-F.

@faysalals1 @Odd Duck @Colu Thanks for the question and tags. I'm presently in a "pause" with my hobby. Lots of life going on . . . But to this question, there are several layers of answers. (1) Most Rainbow Shiners for sale are not mature. Fully mature, they measure nearly the size of an adult human index finger. They do not color up (jeweled scales) until they are 6-months old or more. (2) There are decidedly different strains. Unless you know the source, and have photos of the adult brooders that fry come from, you're up a creek without a paddle. The north-eastern range tends to appear more red / brown... But the south / southwestern end of their range tends to display more brilliant blue... There are actually charts (somewhere) of all the variations . . . but basement breeders mix up their own cocktails, and you'll get quite a variety. (3) I have had a few Rainbow Shiners shipped to me F0 (wild-caught) that presented virtually _no_ color. I just cull these. (4) When mature Rainbow Shiners spawn, they turn a brilliant pink or orange. Here's an example of just one male all fired up chasing a female around . . . You can see in that video that certain Shiners are lower color quality than others. That's common if you do not buy from a single breeder. In my view, one of the best US breeders of quality Rainbow Shiners is @WhitecloudDynasty. Watch his videos on line to learn a lot about how he breeds, culls, and selectively creates quality strains. I have kept a long-form journal here on the forum for a few years. You might enjoy it... I take impromptu videos now and then. I took this one recently while mine were feeding... I feed mine a mix: Bug Bites color-enhancing flakes once per day, and frozen mix (BBS, Blood Worms, Mysis, Daphnia) once a day. If your source is careful and honest, they can show you photos of the brooders yours came from.

Bonaparte’s Gull Long-tailed Ducks…

Quite possibly holding. Can you link a video? Take more photos? This is a difficult shot to make a call on. If you think she's holding, and want more fry, you can move her to a temporary planted tank with shelter where she can spit after about 3x weeks. Here's a video my son made about 4x years ago. As an important note . . . these were hybrids, and that is very much discouraged in the hobby. We did _not_ earn BAP award points for our fish club on account of this. But this video will explain how we moved her out... Here's a different BAP video for breeding Auratus. The "dancing" you mentioned is probably them spawning. Sometimes you see if, but often you won't... Now, you can try to "strip" your holding females of eggs and hatch using an egg tumbler if you want to try. Here's how to do that...

How large is the aquarium? How well-planted? Female livebearers can carry milt from males for a long, long time. It is possible that she is gravid and may give live birth. The other livebearers may sense that, or even predate on fry. If she is "boxed" up -- bulky in girth -- she may be carrying fry. I recommend an aquarium of at least 20 gallons or larger.

I have absolutely no idea. Reach out to Freshwater Exotics and inquire if they even know where they could be acquired wild-caught. Be ready to pay ca. $100+ per fish. In my opinion, unless you're an expert aquarist . . . be careful about going for fish you are not fully prepared to cultivate well.

Once they mature to ca. 9-months old to 1-yr+ this strain is always this color. This is not their “fired-up” color. Here is an example of one male from this strain fired up for spawning …

I remain so happy with these temperate-species from Alabama, USA — Rainbow Shiners (Notropis chrosomus). This strain is a blue-caste from Alabama. Unfortunately, you cannot typically buy these in many fish stores in the US. In parts of Europe, they're everywhere.

Genetics on multiple traits is very tricky to track. My approach is to separate desirables from undesirables, and breed until you lock in what you want. But it takes excellent breeding techniques, a bunch of tanks, a willingness to cull, and patience. Lots of patience. I'm not patient enough to be a serious breeder 😅

Several shots from my son’s birding trip along the Chesapeake Bay last weekend… Eastern Screech Owl Lesser Yellowlegs Redwing Blackbird

I just bred mine to mark it off my bucket list 😅 I took 25x to my LFS and gave them to them. They threw them all into a 125 gal plant tank that they sell plants out of. Lots of places for them to hide in there. I have about 12x remaining. Mine are getting sassy. I'm going to give them away soon. My dividing plan awhile back was to take Plastic Mesh sheets (find at JoAnn Fabrics), and create a series of dividers to custom-fit into a 20-gal long. That gives room for about 10x that can run on one filter / heater rather than separate jugs, etc.

@KentFishFanUK I’m pulling on an older thread here… My kid just stumbled on a high cache of Fairy Shrimp in a local park minutes from our home… We started out birding… … but quickly turned into all out naturalist “whatevering.” He found these… And caught one…

I’m driving my oldest son and his friend across state today, birding all day. They’re headed to the shore for a weekend of intense birding with a state youth ornithological society. I will probably post what photos he keeps from the trip. For now, here’s a few more recent shots… Ruddy Duck Hybrid: Mallard x American Black Duck Snow Goose (with Canadian friends) Common Yellowthroat Song Sparrow Spotted Sandpiper

I think Elassoma and White Clouds could live happily together with no heater. Probably... detritus worms (?) Not sure...

I'd probably hope for a 65% success. You'll need to add enough Elassoma to nail the nematodes....

If your plan is to release shrimp from bottom of a hatchery by gravity fall through a metal valve, It could work if you keep it all from leaking.

Final Betta splendens breeding project video. I’m giving these away to friends this week…

Yes! It’s called a trophotaenia, if I recall correctly. Here’s our complete spawning report if you’re interested. I think there’s a few videos…

No, not the Discus. Look at the bottom. Beautiful Assassin Snail skewering an earthworm piece just added 🪱

I’m not sure. I thought Jordanella floridae at first glance… maybe a little male… but that doesn’t seem right. To my eye, the Dorsal + Caudal fin pronouncement seems to preclude Puffer… but I’ve never raised juvenile Puffers.

I've found that 29 gal / 55 gal / 40 gal . . . each has a longer "throw" for light to reach depth. That can be a factor. On the other hand, you seem to really be on top of your chems and tests, so maybe there's something in the concern about old-tank syndrome. I've tried to study up on theories of allelopathy, but nothing ever seems very concrete. My favorite Wisteria tank was a 20 gallon small goldfish tank my son kept up years ago. It was absolutely perfect with the Wisteria growth . . .

I love a long read. How deep is your tank? Hygrophila difformis (Water Wisteria) will grow free-floating as well as planted. Try some floating for awhile.

START-UP COSTS: Starting up a new tank is it’s own cost. I generally estimate cost of a new startup by adding a zero to the tank volume. So for a 55 gal. aquarium, all said and done… tank cost, lid cost, stand cost, gravel, hardscape, plants, lighting, filtration, heater, fertilizers, food, nets, water-changing equipment, water treatment chems, water testing kit, etc.… I estimate a minimum of $550. For a 10 gal. tank, I estimate a minimum of $100. MAINTENANCE COSTS: Although a lot will depend on how you keep fish, I try to estimate a base of $10 / per tank / per month. The more complicated you make things for yourself, the more costs you’ll run into.

Excellent! Very nice evolution.

26.5 C - 29.5 C (80-85 F) is the window I recommend aiming for. They will spawn at that temperature, and remain in optimal health. Here is a crazy grow-out of Gold Rams we bred a few years ago. This was a 20g tank. Insane stocking, but they’d all grown up together. It was a project where we’d bred in an electric blue male ram into the genetics… My son did a whole series on breeding these. I posted it on the forum here somewhere…