Fish Folk

@Krish as others here have already indicated, the only possible way is for someone in the USA to purchase items from Aquarium CoOp for you, then repack and ship to India. The shipping alone would be very costly.

Very interesting growth off of an anubias. Maybe a “flower” of some sort??

Just saying…

Let me call them this week. Maybe if one of us pays, we can get permission to share login credentials for this purpose. It is such a beautiful film…

Maybe just unfold it to those following here. For my part, I'll gladly pay a viewing fee -- especially since it helps to promote some excellent conversation efforts. And that film is quite beautiful, IMHO. It completely reorganized what fish I've kept in my aquariums going forward. I'm keeping these guys on account of it...

Is it put out by Freshwater Illustrated?

Interesting you mention this. My “someday” pick would also be described this way. Would us each buying screening be helping some conservation efforts though?

I have a load of Hygrophylla polysperma (Indian swampweed) in a 2.5 gal tank where some annual Killifish breed. Let me go snap a photo . . . I also have a small "bacto-surge" sponge filter in there. And since I cannot resist showing him off, here's the male Notho (hiding near the top in the photo above)...

Message me if you have questions or problems with microworms. This is a helpful guide: https://cflas.org/2014/07/17/microworm-care-sheet/

Just watched "Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story." First off, @nabokovfan87 , thank you so much for the delightful film selection! I genuinely enjoyed it all. Here is my review, with a number of quotations. “All great conservationists began with hunting. They were the only ones getting out there…” I think that this is often the case. Without some concept of getting out into nature -- which often begins with hunting / fishing -- interest in biology flounders in books and screen footage. Valerie's story is tragic in part, with the disproportionate and disgusting hunting that followed from JAWS, etc; but also heroic in the end with the marine reservations she has helped to advocate for and cultivate. “From now on, I’m shooting them with my camera.” Largely, this is what our family has resolved to. We enjoy freshwater excursions, but do catch and release. My boys enjoy getting out into nature with dad... When diving with Oceanic Whitetipped Sharks (?), she made a unique comment that went something like this: “We were accepted as another species that had come to feed on the whale, but not until we had [made peace] with the pack…” I think it is very interesting how sharks file the presence of other creatures in a feeding zone. A bit of gentle but firm prodding was all that they needed to come to terms. The documentary really took off with the story of Valerie and Ron's involvement with the JAWS film. The gripping power of a terrorizing story versus the patience required for appreciating truth is on full display. Someone has wisely observed that "the imagination is the author of all error." I loved how she reflected on shark interactions in the wild in one televised interview, “You should treat them with caution, but you don’t go ‘round being afraid of motorcars…” The reflection on sand sharks and nurse sharks reminded me of some of our favorite experiences. Our family has really enjoyed visiting marine aquariums over the years. One favorite, near our vacation spot in NC, is Pine-Knoll Shores just outside of Morehead City, NC. It's a great place with loads of educational opportunities. Here's my wife and son looking inside the largest aquarium... Valerie's chain-mail suit evidence against shark bite force was wild! Again, I think it takes the crazy wild boldness of someone who once went diving on all sorts of fishing expeditions to try things like that. And what a team Ron and Valerie made! Later in the film, her hand-feeding of Great White sharks was very beautiful. Mind you... I'd probably not sign up for it myself due to my flat-line ignorance and inexperience. But her evidence is remarkable. I loved some of the lines about conservation. “You just cannot continually take something unless you replace it.” I agree. Not that I am opposed to taking, but there needs to be a bigger picture. The fin trade was disgusting to witness. “Every one deserving of our respect…” Agree 100%. I just wish that human beings would agree to this towards other human beings as well as creatures. Her aim to build “Enormous marine national parks where you cannot take anything…” is a great concept. Very nice to see some of that happening! I laughed as one commentator said of her, “She’d have the whole world be protected if she had half a chance.” I think that there just needs to be a sense of stewardship with nature. It was deeply moving to watch through Ron’s passing. It is really quite a touching story through the process of human aging. Elegantly filmed and told. The bull shark sequence off of Fiji was stunning! On a more philosophical level, I'll note one point of respectful disagreement: Near the end, she said, “Nature made the perfect animal…” Though I agree that sharks are incredible, I disagree with the underlying premise. I am on the side of adaptive engineering and do not accept that "nature" makes anything. If it did, we would have to accept that "nature" also made shark fin hunters and blood sport great white shark extreme anglers mindlessly destroying marine environments. I do not accept as inevitable the wreckage human beings are capable of inflicting on species. I believe we are responsible to steward life on this planet. So in the end, I agree with her efforts! But probably for some completely different reasons altogether. Great film! Looking forward to the next one.

I had no fry when I kept a batch of Red Swordtails indoors. After being outside in a 40 gallon tub all summer, I have ca. 30-40 fry. I cannot say what triggered them.

New arrivals. Here’s some wild-caught (F0) N. chrosomus brooders…

Yes. All good! I’d 6x. That’s a decent bio-load. Be sure you do not overfeed. My son keeps Amano Shrimp with Nano Rainbowfish, Pygmy Barbs, Killifish and Julii Corydoras.

(Now I'm hungry for lunch!)

IMHO you will learn to dislike 29 gal. tall tanks for this purpose. Awful to get into. The height is not a plus with that footprint. They're designed for the aesthetic value of viewing through the nice large front pane. I always leave a minimum of 8-inches above the lid of any tank to the bottom of the rack above. That's about enough room to fit a large specimen container in at an angle.

This week, I’m acquiring some of the more heavily blue-hued Rainbow Shiners (Notropis chrosomus). I’ll be getting a breeding group of wild-caught F0s, and a group of juvenile F1s. For perspective, there is some variety within this species — enough, in fact, that attempts at an updated taxonomy is underway. @WhitecloudDynasty has been breeding these. Here are several of his stunning F0 males… Anyway, I have had to get tank space ready. For the juveniles to grow out, I gave an unused 20 gal (long). But it’s been rather unloved. Looking bad… I had been raising Nothobranchius guentheri killifish in there, but when only males remained, I moved them on and let the tank “go.” So, I replaced the lid, added an AquaClear 30 HOB, upped the air, removed the heater, performed a 95% water change, added several cups of crushed coral to counterbalance some peat moss remaining. Now it’s settling for a few days… As it turns out… I have more tanks to clear out and fish to move along. Sumner tubbing season ends soon! But this I got done today!

Correct. Not for free… Rams, Ancistrus, Cardinal Tetras — all work with Discus. I’ve kept Electric Blue Acaras with them. Even Congo Tetras!

I do not know, but I’d avoid mixing. You might find that the young corydoras won’t necessarily inhibit Laetacara spawning.

In my view, there are three sorts of customers who are interested in Discus: (1) Discus breeders. There are very specific ideal water parameters, tank set-ups, and practices for inducing Discus to breed. Tanks are bare. Feeding is very precise. Water change schedule is rigid. (2) Discus perfectionists. You can observe hundreds of such tanks here on this YouTube channel. There is a LOT of money in every tank displayed here. I still recall standing in shock at a fish store a ways outside Washington DC a few years ago as a lady bought half a dozen adult Discus, ca. $500 / ea. Largest order I had ever seen in person. They were a birthday gift for her husband. (3) The rest of us. And I’ll be honest, we don’t do too bad! Here are photos from a 55 gal. I have kept Discus in now for years. I just use two large sponge filters. I only change water once a week (30-50%). I feed lots of frozen food, but also some dry flakes, etc. I recently set up a tank for a group of young Discus. It is not their “forever home,” but as a 40 gal. breeder, it suits them for a while. Same set up: sponge filters, added air stones, 85-87°-F. I can go on and on… many photos… If you have questions, feel free to ask. I keep a rambling Discus journal on the Forum here:

In southeast, M-fish are _vicious_ in aquariums. Very nice Sunny! I’m pretty bad at precise species ID.

Several thoughts... -- It's possible that your fish may have Ich -- or stress Ich. Watch for that on the fins of other fish. -- (1) That EBA may be a male. The dorsal and anal fin extensions look long. Are you sure that's a female? (2) Keep up on your water changes. I recommend 30% weekly. Always use water treatment. (3) Try cutting back on your feeding: Feed twice on Monday, once on Tuesday, once Wednesday, once Thursday, Twice on Friday, once on Saturday, and nothing on Sunday. Your system may need to cleanse its bio load for a few weeks like that. Your fish will not die. (4) Add more live plants. Now, after you've done that, add more. Then, once you've finished, add MORE!!! 😎 🪴🌱🌿

I keep a small group of aquariums in my basement -- about 420 gallons total across a number of small tanks, ranging from 55 gal, 45 gal, 33 gal, down to 2.5 gal Killi tanks and 1 gal fry jugs on a rack. I use three standard Dehumidifiers I bought from Lowes. I run them day and night until they fill, and dump them out at least 2x times a day. I tried setting up continuous with a hose attachment to a drain, but I have drainage problems. Between October - March they are set only if humidity rises above a set level. I also run two room fans continuously to circulate air. Nothing is worse in a house than a serious mold infestation. A dry basement is step #1 to mitigating that buildup. I know that's not all terribly brand-specific, but it gives you a benchmark. There's some work to emptying things out daily. I'd be happy for a better solution, but this serves my purposes. I do find that with the tanks higher up on racks, the water level drops fast. I tend to just top those tanks off with fresh water in stead of doing deep water changes.

In the past, I have had a few mid-sized New World Cichlids the have suffered Hole in the Head Disease. Limiting stress, water changes, and lightening the bio decomposition load help. I'd put a divider between tanks. Limit all stress. If that's not hole in the head, it sure looks pretty serious. Sorry for your troubles. Geophagus are such beautiful fish. If you haven't seen problems with other fish . . . it is possible that you have a problem you didn't create, but cannot resolve.

Awesome! We share your fixation here. Following this.

You definitely should get into some NANF! We've kept two species of Elassoma: E. okefenokee and E. gilberti Here's a fun little video I did with my middle boy a couple years ago... Both species tend to hide a LOT. You'll do best if you have ca. 4x females and 2x males. The males will spar a bit, bringing them out. Then the dominant male will put on a dance show for females. You can easily keep that group in a 20 gal. long. I've got E. gilberti going outdoors in a water garden all summer . . . probably not a great idea in TX unless it's in total shade. The main issue would probably be with any species becoming invasive. I recommend _buying_ NANF here. Antiquated website, but excellent product and experienced shippers. Loads of knowledge there too. Always keep NANF out of risk of getting loose into waterways. If you're keen on catching them from the wild and keeping them in TX, that's a bit more of a State Fish & Game Law question. For example, here is a list of species that can be found in Texas (scroll down to fish, and click on the "fact sheet" link). But some lovely fish are actually _endangered_ (i.e. Comanche Springs Pupfish, Leon Springs Pupfish, Spring Darter, etc.) My personal recommendation is to _buy_ F1s or F2s from breeders (i.e. fish that are tank-bred in captivity, not wild caught). This will help you skip over issues. Just keep them out of the wild in TX. Hey, if you're patient, I can mail you a bunch. I filmed this the other week at night. You can see some tiny E. gilberti fry... The greatest challenge is keeping up on _live foods_. Many species of NANF struggle without a regular supply of live foods. We hatch TONS of brine shrimp, seed the substrate with Black Worms, have tried loads of nematodes . . . it's a large challenge. If you can get them outdoors, then mosquito larvae, etc. really supplies a lot of what they'll need. Look into Gianne over at Inglorious Bettas for some informational videos on Elassoma.