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Fish Folk

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Posts posted by Fish Folk

    Shipping Fish Checklist

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Snapshots from the boxing up process…

    Catch large school with large net…

    IMG_4593.jpeg.273bfe06f2668bee460622ea44ba4b5e.jpeg

    Move to large specimen container,  remove duckweed, cover, and examine…

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    Prepare precise water volume for shipping and treat with Amquel…

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    Count out precise numbers of fish, move to shipping bag, add O2…

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    Close up box with Acclimation Guide and Shipping Notice, label filled out and covered with tape to protect from rain…

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    Now to the P.O…

    • Like 3
    • Love 1

    Shipping Fish Checklist

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Here is what goes _in_ the box apart from fish…

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    A. Acclimation instructions. This is crucial info.

    B. Shipping Notice / species care guide.

    C. CryoPak — maintains ca. 72°-F in box.

    D. Custom cut styro lining.

    E. Paper towel lining, and corner protection.

    • Thanks 1
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    Shipping Fish Checklist

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 10/16/2023 at 3:40 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

    Do you also do a little care sheet to go with the fish? 

    Yes! Because I’ve gone over details about what’s in each box elsewhere, I omitted that in this original post. Maybe I’ll take a few more photos and mention that here…

    • Love 1

    Shipping Fish Checklist

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Fish Folk

    I’m shipping out some juvenile F1 Mountain Redbelly Dace tomorrow.

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    They don’t look like much yet — more like mini Siamese Algae Eaters at this stage — but they’re worth the wait…

    Setting everything out tonight, I thought I’d share a little enumerated checklist for how I ship day-of. This is not a full-scale review on exactly how I ship from top to bottom, but more of the practical process on go-day…

    IMG_4554.jpeg.dd1e46b9d9588cdfa245c1874e1188f9.jpeg
     

    1. Large fine mesh net for catching the whole school in order to select the best for shipping.

    2. Small fine mesh net for selecting the best fish to sell.

    3. Paper towel for padding. I prefer this to newspaper. 

    4. Regulator for O2 tank.

    5. Bernzomatic O2 tank I bought at Tractor Supply.

    6. Small Lee’s specimen container. I use 1.5 of these for water volume in this particular shipment.

    7. Plastic fish bags. I’m just using a double bag method with fish bags from my LFS.

    8. Kordon AMQUEL. I add 3-6 drops per bag to counteract ammonia buildup in shipping.

    9. Rubberbands for sealing up fish bags.

    10. Skimmer net for removing duckweed before shipment.

    11. Siphon hose with small pre-filter sponge fastened to the end for draining tank water into shipping bags. Avoids plants, etc. 

    12. Packaging tape.

    13. Blank label (USPS Priority Mail)

    14. USPS Priority Mail Medium sized shipping box, well insulated and taped up already.

    15. Sharpie for labeling fish bags and completing shipping label.

    16. Scissors

    17. More packing tape.

    18. ACO Specimen Container.

    • Like 5
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    Gender-nonconforming betta really wants to be a mom/dad?

    in Fish Breeding

    Posted

    On 10/15/2023 at 11:34 AM, Epiphanaea said:

    Does anybody with experience know what sort of survival rate I should expect in the fry?  Would 30-ish eggs yield me 10-15 adults, or would it be far fewer, on average?

    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!

    • Like 1
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    Pearl dace in NJ

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 10/14/2023 at 11:38 PM, Ken Burke said:

    “if they're really _only_ in that pond”
     

    That was something I was curious about. I would love a conservation group verify, and rebuild the population. Good on the kid to figure it out!

    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

    • Like 2

    Pearl dace in NJ

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 10/14/2023 at 11:12 PM, Ken Burke said:

    Immediately thought of u. @Fish Folk 

    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. 

    • Like 2

    German Blue Ram predicament

    in Fish Breeding

    Posted

    On 10/13/2023 at 3:14 PM, NanosotaAquatics said:

    @Fish Folk @Guppysnail thank you for the advice. However I did wanna see them raise the fry up, rather than raise them myself. If I observe him eating more eggs I will remove the eggs but it may be too late as they prolly will be hatching by the time I get home from work. Hoping he was just picking off the infertile ones. After this spawn I prolly will start pulling the eggs myself. I just really wanted to see them parent them themselves.

    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.

    • Like 1

    Fieryblack Shiner 🔥

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    On 10/13/2023 at 2:20 AM, AquaHobbyist123 said:

    These guys deserve way more attention than they get. There are a few people who do breed this species, such as Derek Wheaton and Phil Farell, and obviously @Fish Folk and me eventually (I hope). However, it is pretty much only available from breeders, special NANF dealers, or in native fish circles. I hope to one day get this wonderful fish species to be more common in the hobby.

    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…
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    • Like 2
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    Blue Acara starving

    in Diseases

    Posted · Edited by Fish Folk

    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...

    • Thanks 1

    New Found Goby

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 10/11/2023 at 3:38 PM, vividheckel said:

    Gorgeous new fish! Does anyone know of anything similar? I'm looking to get some gobies soon, but I don't know.

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

    And check these out...

     

    Seagreen Darters

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    On 10/11/2023 at 1:46 PM, AquaHobbyist123 said:

    I keep mine cooler using a 4-fan chiller. Works very well for me. Though fish are a bit more tolerant of warm Temps here I'd imagine, due to it being fairly hot in the summer. Feels like an oven outside in the summer sometimes.

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

    • Like 1

    Seagreen Darters

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    On 10/11/2023 at 10:51 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

    Something for @Fish Folk… 😅

    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…

    IMG_4324.jpeg.aae503dcf35a163f370fffc5c17d4bf7.jpeg

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    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.

    • Love 2

    New Found Goby

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    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)...

    Screenshot2023-10-10at10_23_45PM.png.ab68ef551277ac118e6ea4563649d07e.png

     

    • Like 4
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    how big an air blower do i need?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    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.

    • Like 1
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