Fish Folk

I miss my Betta imbellis…

Female Betta splendens will be ready to spawn on a regular cycle if they are well fed and cared for. If fed a rich varied diet of live foods, females can release HUNDREDS of eggs per spawn. I leave a light on for 48-72 hrs to let a pair spawn. Then the female comes out. Male guards until I can see free-swimming fry, then he comes out. I never keep them in a tank much deeper than 6-inches of water. Anabantid fry must develop their labyrinth organ to survive. You’ll have hundreds… then they’ll all mysteriously crash. Micro nematodes like Banana worms, Walter Worms, or Micro Worms are excellent early goods. Artemia nauplii (BBS) are staple too. If you can get them past 2-weeks, your chances are very good!

I'm messaging right now with a guy at CF in Knoxville, TN. Pearl Dace are only a rarity up there in New Jersey. "Extirpated" is a local issue in NJ. They are propagating elsewhere in the wild successfully. iNaturaliat has observation listings here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&subview=map&taxon_id=105208

I messaged the guys down at Conservation Fisheries in Knoxville, TN. I also recommended them to the YouTuber. They could theoretically "ark" a population if that was needed. They specialize in rebuilding US native species where there is often only _one small place on earth_ where the species naturally breeds. I know that Penn State does do some conservation work, but I think that a dedicated breeding group is what is really needed. It's so delicate . . . if they're really _only_ in that pond, any number of factors could devastate the line.

This is awesome!! Wow!!!

Cheddar! It’s fall spawning season, folks…

You may need to wait for 7-12 attempts before a mature pair learns nit to eat fry / eggs. Hopefully not! Like you, I’d love to see them raise fry themselves. I’ve heard — cannot confirm — that brooders raised by their parents will take to raising their own fry. Be mindful that lights-out / lights-on often triggers a panic response in certain fish species. Leaving a low light on constantly may help the parents.

Here’s a thread on what I do… I always pull eggs, and hatch in an isolated container in the tank.

And here we go, making more…

They’re a really lively, active fish. Mine are happy to eat anything. Fry grow very slowly, so turn around on breeding is slow. They’re not very aggressive unless jousting for spawning rights. Almost impossible to photograph. I’ve only gotten a couple semi-decent shots of mine…

My fishroom is always near 80-F in the summer heat. They really suffer until temps dip into the 70s. Winter is their happy season! I'm hoping for a spawn sometimes soon. These RMDs and R-Shiners are getting old...

My NANF are so thrilled summer is over…

Pea puffers are probably best in a species-only setup. I wouldn’t put them with Loaches. An empty 20-long is an exciting space! What have you kept before? What level of experience are you at?

Sending out the bat signal for @Colu on this situation. Sounds to me like you're doing things right. My instincts say... something internally is diseased. But your treatments all sound like they've covered a wide range of possible problems. I'm going to be personally honest: After having kept many hundreds of fish over the years, I've adopted a slightly jaded mentality. I wouldn't tend to spend a lot on medicine unless it was a brooder. I'd just buy another EBA. I've kept and bred hundreds of them. I've had to learn that some fish are just not healthy. Here's a peek at some we've kept and bred... If it were me, I'd buy some new EBAs. Keep caring for this little one, but enjoy healthy fish meanwhile...

Look up "stiphodon goby" on YouTube. ChawChow channel features some beauties. Look at these males sparring... And check these out...

Yo! Show us your 4-fan setup in operation. I’ve got to see that…

Oh believe me! I’m a HUGE fan of @AquaHobbyist123 ‘s neck of the woods. I can collect Greenside Darters and Rainbow Darters up here… My challenge is keeping their tank water _❄️cold🥶_ enough. My basement has stayed in the mid-70°-F range, even during fall. Winter should hopefully dip things into the 60°s which is where they do much better.

That's so great! They're some of my favorite species. I cannot get mine to slow down at all!

This is very beautiful! I do love the gobys. I have one little sand goby. She gets along well with everyone I've kept in her tank -- Guppies, Swordtails, Bluefin Killis. But you know . . . for anyone living here in the US . . . have a good look at US Native Darters. They're kind of our natural variant on Gobys. Darters don't eat biofilm. They do need a freezer well-stocked with frozen food. But their colors are intense. I cannot get enough of Banded Darters (Etheostoma zonale)...

Not enough experience for my math to mean very much, but I'd probably go for the VB-600g (250 watts). Though honestly, I _think_ that the VB-390g _might_ get the job done alright. In my basement, I have about 20x tanks running on a PondMaster AP-20, 28 L/min, 20 watts. My setup is not nearly as efficient as your plan with PVC and dropping lines.

Sounds fun! I know I’ve heard of certain companies that make a powder mix to imitate Rift Valley lake conditions. Here’s two products… Make sure you special order your Yellow Labs. Never trust box stores to get you 100% pure, non-hybrid stock. Find a very persnickety breeder, and pay the piper well.

Those blue Stiphodon look 🔥

No, I really do not. I top off water each week. But the Aquaponics system is so efficient, my Nitrates are zeroed out. The only reason I _occassionally_ change water is that salt slowly builds up in any aquarium where live Artemia nauplii (baby brine shrimp) are being fed. I'm trying to encourage my Swordtails and Bluefin Killifish to spawn in there over the winter, so live BBS is stimulating. I do "wash" my shrimp so that the salt doesn't kill the herbs...

I've never personally kept Koi Guppies. I have some "Precious Metals" from my outdoor tub that are colored up indoors now... My only 2-cents on trying different color forms of Guppies is that buying imported Guppies can be a discouraging experience if you are not well-informed on how they're typically kept. I always, always, always find that livebearers _born in my water_ are where things begin to get good. Most stock I order from abroad crashes. I have to work really hard to get fry from them to start anything with. So... buy from a breeder who will tell you everything you need to know to match parameters, etc.

Beautiful! Easy Green can be helpful. But a number of those plants will benefit most from root tabs. My basic rule of thumb is that if a plant can thrive without being planted by just drawing nutrients from the water column, Easy Green will always be excellent. But plants such as Val, Swords, Crinum, etc -- really benefit from Root Tabs most of all.