Fish Folk

I’d just use a syringe with an air line piece on the end to suck off the infertile / fungussed-over white eggs. Fry can do fine in a 2.5 gal. For weeks. Those brown eggs will begin to wiggle. Then they’ll fall off the leaf. You’ll think they’re all dead, but WAIT FOR IT. They will turn into tiny free-swimmers up near the top. Don’t do anything radical. You need proper food ready _after_ they begin to free-swim. What are you going to feed them?

My son made these videos a few years ago. Hope this info helps! Glad to answer any questions...

Typically, black water does its own good work of acting as an anti-fungal. Just do not squirt the H2O2 directly onto the eggs. Only use ca. 0.5 ml. I only dose twice, once and then again after 12 hrs. I do add an ayirstone. What species?

No water changes. Much depends on how exactly you are set up. We float hatching trays in larger tanks.

Well, I enjoy breeding nearly every species of freshwater fish . . . so LOTS of ideas come to mind! You might enjoy trying some smaller, non-annual African Killifish. I find Fundulopanchax / Aphyosemion particularly attractive. You might like the Emerald Killifish (F. scheeli)... OR the Aphyosemion striatum . . . They have loads of colors! You'll just need mops or loads of java moss for them to spawn in. Fry will hatch. Parents generally leave them alone as long as you've got lots of cover for fry. Feed live BBS, nematodes, etc. for best results. You could easily breed these in a 10-gal.

Not exactly. Rainbow Shiners are Notropis chrosomus. Fieryblack Shiners are Cyprinella pyrrhomelas. Here is the iNaturalist info page on Rainbow Shiners. Their range looks like this… In the wild, here is what Rainbow Shiners look like… Here is the iNaturalist info page on Fieryblack Shiners. Their range looks like this… Here is underwater male v. male combat footage of Fieryblack Shiners… I actually got mine as F1 juveniles from one of the guys who filmed this!

Absolutely the most energetic fish I have ever kept… Boy is getting ready for spawning!

I’d just do a nice big Oase canister filter with a spraybar. Lots of flow. On the whole, easy to clean.

Here’s a brood of F1 Rainbow Shiner fry. Brooders are from the Mobile, AL region. Once mature, they’re a slightly more blue color form, with curious red on dorsal fins…

Out with the lad for 60 mins on the creek today! Tiny trickle, but lots of life… I caught a colorful Crayfish… Sammy caught a cool frog… We loaded up on local fish. Rosysided Dace… Blue Ridge Sculpins… Fantail Darters… Blacknose Dace… White Suckers… And (a first for us!) a Stoneroller… Best hour of the day 😎👍

Here in gardening zone 6, overnight temperatures start diving by mid September. Over this week — mostly Yesterday and today — I tore down three mini-tubs… This involves a pretty long process: (1) Ready indoor tanks (2) remove plants (3) Drain water (4) Catch fish (5) Acclimate fish to indoor water parameters (6) put tubs away. Then, afterwards, there begins the process of examining the yield. Now, this summer, I very rarely fed any tub fish with flakes or live foods. Some leftover BBS went in for fry, but not much! The “red” tub began with about 18x adult red swordtails. There were deaths throughout the season. But the strong survived. Before going outside, they were kept in a planted 20-long with a few oddball NANF… After the season end, the surviving brooders move back to an aquaponics 20-gal long. Here’s a look… There was a surprise find. An egg of a Bluefin killifish came in on water lettuce ordered from FL. He colored up nice, and enjoys life with the “reds.” The fry are adorable! I’m very pleased with the yield… The other 40-gal tub was stocked with “Precious Metals” Guppies. The colony has multiplied, but it appears like brooders struggled through the heat of summer. Fry will need to be carefully culled. Here’s a look… I would call the Guppy tub a “meh” for the season. Two things might have helped: (1) feeding a handful of times a week (2) adding an air stone to help balance the oxygen deprivation of 90°-F stretches. The Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish experiment was a great success! I started with about 12x brooders. The 14-gal tub was an algae nightmare. But in the end, fry survived… After all was said and done, I recovered 5x adults and 80x fry! Housing them is interesting… So that’s a wrap! Hoping to sell off a bunch over the next year.

I like “Malibu” because then, on occasion, you can address him informally as ”Bu.”

Man! I thought I was doing pretty good with Swordtails, but this is incredible! Well done brother!

I’m very pleased with today’s update on this thread. Summer is cooling off fast, so today I tore down all 3x outdoor water gardens (tubs… mini-ponds… whatever). It was a long, thankless job. The last of the three was the 14-gal Elassoma gilberti tub. I had started off with about a dozen brooders. Today, I worked through the muck and mud to pull fry… After hours of careful work, I successfully pulled 80x fry, and 5x adult brooders… I fed them all live BBS. Here’s fry eating… And here is a trio of adults eating… So if you’re dying to get into Elassoma gilberti, or know someone who is, let me know!

Bottom of the barrel Swordtails! It’s getting cold FAST. Closing down my three mini-ponds today. Here’s the last catch of Swordtails. Surprised to find a bunch of fry still. Water temperature was in the 50s (F) 🥶

Hmm . . . I'm shocked your Nitrate is that high, given all of the plants. What is your KH? That is the water hardness I always go off of. Your feeding plan sounds outstanding, provided food is fresh enough. Maybe water change weekly, 15-20% with cool water to stimulate spawning. Otherwise, the Nitrate reading sounds problematic. If you're using titration drops, those reagent crystals are always sus...

What are all of your water parameters, and your lighting schedule? You said temperature is at 27-C. Have you tried lowering that down 23-24 C for a period of 3x months? Do adults of this species ever predate on fry? Are fry born with trophotaenia (like Xenotoca doadrioi)? Or are they more similar to common P. reticulata? The parameters I would attach most closely would be (1) Temperature (2) Water hardness / softness (3) pH (4) Dissolved oxygen. What is your current diet? You might want to stimulate spawning with live BBS, Daphnia or Grindal worms. That is a long window to have no fry . . .

So, just to be clear, are you specifically asking about CA regulations governing keeping, importing, or transporting Potamotrygonidae to your current home? If so, the regulation that applies is found here, see pg. 14, and 18. But if you’re trying to _actually_ ask if you’ll legally be allowed to gave them in _some other_ state, do let us know.

Probably easiest for us to help you with the details… what species? What state? State regulations are more related to what native fish can be taken from state waters, and what fish may or may not be sold or imported as a purchase. Help us learn what you’re looking at!

^^agree 100%^^

I'd give three weeks. But maybe others have better answers.

Started with a pair of Congo Blue Dwarf Cichlids in here and two pairs of Jungle Endlers… Now this 29 gal. is just an untidy jungle… with Jungle Endlers! If you’re looking for these, let me know. I have extras 😂

Most dwarf cichlids — both New World and African riverine — are benthic. Expect squabbles in the lower third. But it’s possible. Buy young Kribs.

I've got to say, I had the same experience all over again watching this film: what an undervalued TREASURE we have with our own native wildlife in the USA! How awesome to be introduced to everyday, ordinary folks who are helping to save these glorious creatures. Here's my film review with quotes... "A story about America's richest waters and some of the people who have found them..." the life in the waters, the environment the rivers and streams run through, and the people involved in caring for them were all so unique and fascinating. Casper has to be one of the more interesting human beings you'd ever meet 😂 PART 1: FINDING LIFE The discovery of native life -- wherever you live -- is so awesome. And if you're into fish, discovering native fish is a double joy. We found a unique species of Sculpin that lives very locally (in our backyard creek!). It was taxonomically named by a guy teaching at the university 15 mins away: "Blue Ridge Sculpin" (Cottus caeruleomentum) "Rivers radiate out from the southern Appalachians..." indeed -- they do wherever you get interesting combinations of hills and small mountains. We live in the northern Appalachians. It's not quite as special, but . . . it's great fun to explore! While I was watching, I kept observing how awesome the music was. Humming House did the music. Worth checking out: Back to the film, I was mesmerized by the Sturgeon. Maybe the most adorable fry . . . so hard to believe they become 6-7 foot, 100-yr old prehistoric gentle monsters! Totally impressed by the rescue operation. Got to say, that shot of mixing Sturgeon eggs with milt using a long hawk feather was classic! One thing that came up over and over was the danger posed by damming up rivers. How important it is to rescue the available routes from getting blocked and destroyed. Mussels were a revelation (all over again). So interesting! "The biggest and most wide-spread change that has led to the demise of mussels is the damming of our rivers." These creatures are so helpless. So important to help. I will say that Darters are an absolute favorite species of mine. They are hard to keep in aquariums well, but we enjoy catching them in our backyard creek as well... "These little non-game fish are the canaries in the coal mine." Very true! Makes me glad to see them healthy in our local waters. I do order some in from NANF aquarist suppliers to keep in home aquaria. The Banded Darter is my all-time favorite... I'll say that the ones we saw on our visit to Conservation Fisheries last March were unbelievable. They do such an amazing job of caring for them there. We should all go for a visit 🤩 PART 2: TAKING SHELTER Very key insights about erosion. "When mud gets washed into a stream . . . it just smothers life . . ." I had never properly thought that through. So sad! The Hellbender was fascinating. That's something I'd love to watch closely underwater. I thought it was fascinating at Warm Springs Fish Hatchery (Georgia) that he said it takes 16 hours of daily work to care for the fish. Two full shifts daily. Lots of work! "It's really stressful when you're holding the last individuals of a population under one roof..." "This is kind of a 'Hail Mary' of conservation... this is a last-ditch effort to save a species..." That really stood out. I cannot imagine. PART 3: RETURNING HOME "We all live downstream..." I'll be quoting this forever now. I loved watching the Tennessee River Rescue annual River trash clean up. So encouraging! But sad state to things too... Great insights on the filtered water through forests. That makes a lot of sense why the water is so special. Go to say that the closing clip, with the kids, "Woah! Did you see that??!!" was mint. I definitely am enjoying getting my boys out into the creeks around us. Got to teach them from the start...

Hmm… I think I would not be distressed. If fish are fine, and rain is refilling, it’s probably not a very big deal. It could be that your water treatment is skewing the test. Check your local water report to learn of broad spectrum antimicrobial treatment: https://ordspub.epa.gov/ords/safewater/f?p=136:102::::::