Fish Folk

February 2

On 2/1/2024 at 8:02 PM, Khole new fish said:

What can I use for snail calcium, can I use chewable tablets

I have also tried washed Oyster shells used for Chicken feed…

I ought to add… I am not really sure that these provide Calcium, per say, but in my soft water they help improve snail health.

February 1

If you've ever fed that cube black worms, my guess is absolutely yes.

January 31

Cool! 😎

I think that there are enough usable minerals and nutrients in the tank water. Add sunshine, and your plants are definitely going to thrive. If you wanted to explore more, you could add a few drops of Easy Green each week to see a huge burst of life.

If you found the right creatures, you could probably propagate something small in there. Aeration would be a major concern though. Are you familiar with Foo the Flowerhorn on YouTube? Great channel with deep reflection on a single nano tank over the course of long periods of time. Here's one where everything is explained:

If you follow some of this instruction, I think you could build up a nice little biome and keep a couple shrimp in your jar. Perhaps a single nano fish. Sparkling Gourami might be an option. They're also called "croaking" gourami because of the sounds they make in the water. A small Betta might work. I'd suggest something more like a Betta imbellis rather than a long-finned Betta splendens. Any of these Anabantids are good because they can absorb air from the surface through their labyrinth organ. On a tangent... I am very curious about these fringe-of-the-hobby / barely classified gouramis. I do not know what space they need, but man of man . . . they're gorgeous: check out the Parosphromenus project

January 31

Wow… these boyz get big and beautiful!

Here’s a great look at their natural habitat!

January 31

This is so cool! I’d love to breed hundreds of these beautiful darters to help with endangered mussels…

January 31

I have kindled an interest in a US Native temperate freshwater species: the Tangerine Darter...

This fish is native to streams and rivers in central and southern Appalachia. The Tennessee Aquarium has some very good footage of them being caught in the wild...

Now this footage (lo-fi) displays some incredibly beautiful specimens kept in a Virginia Mountain-Stream Exhibit...

Here's a nice short from YouTube / Tennessee Aquarium on Tangerine Darters in home aquaria...

I'm in! I've got to see about getting a group of these...

January 31

On 1/30/2024 at 9:27 PM, Revaria said:

Wow that is a host of beautiful fish, I really like the colors on the first two pictures. are they available in the hobby? Its a shame our native fish are not more popular or available. The only native fish I hear about are the rainbow shiners and the okefenokee sunfish as well as the different colored procambarus alleni species.

I don't keep any crayfish -- although we have some sky-blue mottling on selected species in local waterways here in northern Appalachia.

There are so many interesting, colorful NANF (North American Native Fish) to explore. Here's a few we've kept, and other's we haven't kept yet...

DARTERS

We have kept...

Banded Darters

Rainbow Darters

Orange-throat Darters

Tessellated Darters

Here's a few Darters I'd love to keep someday...

Tangerine Darters

Greenside Darters

Bluespar Darter

SHINERS

We have kept...

Rainbow Shiners

Saffron Shiners (ours never colored up like this though)

Catawba Greenhead Shiners

Fireyblack Shiners

Here's a few Shiners I'd love to keep someday...

Crescent Shiner

Cardinal Shiner

Bluenose Shiner

If you're dying to see more, there's some gorgeous DACE... KILLIFISH... SUNFISH... and PUPFISH...

January 31

On 1/30/2024 at 7:07 PM, Revaria said:

I personally never kept them, but they are on my list. I didn't realize they were heavily into live foods, that's quite interesting? Do you think that the later generations will be as picky or were yours already tank raised?

I have heard some people have converted them to dry foods. Bug Bites flakes are excellent possibilities.

Do you all know how beautiful US Natives are? If you’re just discovering Temperate species… oh my! I have photos for you. Just for example, check these Darters out…

January 30

On 1/30/2024 at 5:09 PM, JS Fish said:

Thanks for the video, I have a couple of questions.

1. Can you feed them frozen food because I cant get access to live food.

2. Where can I find these fish? Is there a pet store or do you have to wild catch them?

1. If you chop up frozen blood worms... and add frozen Daphnia... thaw in hot water... maybe they'll take to it. Honestly, they really do lean heavily on BBS, live black worms, scuds, and live Daphnia. Occasionally they'll destroy a small snail -- almost like a Pea Puffer.

2. jonahsaquarium.com -- I know it's a janky website, but just e-mail them. Best NANF people ever.

January 30

On 1/30/2024 at 10:10 AM, JS Fish said:

I happened to stumble upon an interesting species of sunfish called the Everglades pygmy sunfish.

I was wondering if anyone has ever kept one of these or maybe another species of pygmy sunfish?

Yes! I've kept Elassoma gilberti and Elassoma okefenokee. Here's my little guy talking about the Okefenokee Pygmy Sunfish...

Here's a couple photos of one for my male Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish...

What questions do you have?

January 30

I’m not sure about the leaping, but morning spawning activity triggered by water changes, (possibly also photoperiod lengthening), and ample live foods should yield good results.

If you really want to focus on breeding them, here is an idea:

Cut light diffuser to fit within your aquarium footprint inside the tank…

Zip tie plastic mesh used with needlework to one side facing up…

You can select many colors of mesh. The idea is that when they spawn, eggs fall through the mesh and are not eaten by the tetras.

After a few days spawning them, remove the adults and wait for it!

This technique is similar to breeding Brilliant Rasboras. My son bred them for BAP awhile back. It was absolutely magical watching the tiny fry emerge. Here’s an older thread…

January 30

You should hunt down Sicyopterus lagocephalus

Red-tailed Goby from Pacific Islands… so interesting! You’ll want to up your flow. Check this out:

To set this up, I suggest adding a spraybar. I have no idea where you’d find them, but it’s worth hunting down!

_____

Now, on another vein, I keep some North American natives in _cold_ water that act similarly to Gobys, and can display lovely colors:

These are Orange-throat Darters from Ohio, in a tank with Rainbow Shiners from Alabama.

Unlike Gobys, they do not eat much algae. Darters require live foods and frozen bloodworms.

But there are hundreds of species with a variety of colors. I can show you lots of photos… but I’ll hold off on crowding your thread.

January 29

@OmniPrincess here are a sequence of photos and videos:

I purchased two cheap PetSmart Betta splendens. My goal was to get a successful spawn... just for bragging rights!

This is the Betta breeding shelf in my fishroom. I breed them in the locking Sterilite containers:

Here's the male:

Here's the female (note: she is long-finned, double / split-tail):

Here's the pre-spawning setup:

Here I caught them embracing during spawn. I leave the lights on during spawning and all the way for several days until fry are free-swimming. He definitely ripped her up a bit beforehand:

Moved female out, and male stays vigilant guarding the eggs in the nest:

Male moved out, and here's a look at first fry:

Plan for building a "port" to maintain humidity, but allow for feeding:

Feeding Vinegar Eels through port:

Harvesting banana worms:

12/28/2023 - Fry Check:

01/06/2024 - Fry check:

01/20/2024 - Fry Development:

Draining water from fry tub:

Daphnia feeding for Betta fry:

January 29

Give them 72 hrs. Do not turn lights off (keep them on dim). They need privacy, don’t bother them. Are there eggs in the nest yet? Sometimes the embrace is very quick / minimal.

January 28

Did he build a bubblenest? I have been successful (finally) breeding Bettas, and am happy to share my setup if you’re interested.

January 28

I think that once your autotrophic bacteria catches up, the heterotrophic (cloudy) bacteria will be gone.

January 27

I keep Tropical Fish (warm water), and Temperate Fish (cool water).

My favorite Tropical species is the German Blue Ram…

My second favorite Tropical species is Discus…

Among Temperate fish species, my favorite is the Rainbow Shiner…

My second favorite is the Banded Darter…

Clearly I have a thing for colorful fish…

January 27

On 1/27/2024 at 9:08 AM, Bigdog99 said:

Oh ok thanks.Can plants live plants be in a tank with diatoms or do I need a snail?

@Fish Folk

It is a bit hard to properly explain. Diatom algae is there because nutrients are available. If plants were there first, they might have absorbed nutrients before algae got ahold. Adding plants will help. I’m not sure which snails might cut through diatom algae. Be advised that snails can multiply out of hand.

January 27

Several things to bear in mind…

(1) Betta splendens are far too selectively bred for certain fin traits to be healthy over the long haul. Those long ornamental fins are easily subject to infections.

(2) The sources of health problems with Betta splendens fall broadly under four headings: [a] congenital health ailments… inherited from unhealthy brooders… may manifest slowly over time [b] internal ailments… due to improper feeding, poor digestion, blockage, etc… or internal parasites [c] external infections… bacterial, fungal, ich, etc. [d] external injuries… from sharp hardscape, from fighting, or from excessive flaring. You cannot treat [a]. It sounds like you’re tuned into [b]. Some medications might help [c] but that can be both risky and pricey. You can be thoughtful enough to mitigate [d].

(3) Bear in mind that all of these factors add up over time. You may have no idea what your fish has come through to arrive in your tank. Unless you buy from a breeder, you may not know how old your fish is. Old fish (like old people) break down. You can exercise due diligence to keep your water parameters healthy. Adding a catappa leaf generally helps Betta splendens. A bit of flow from a filter keeps water from getting overly stagnant. Finding the right temperature can be more important than you realize. Too hot… and bacteria begins to multiply exponentially; too cold, and your fish begins to break down.

Some potential ways to help…

(1) Add some live plants. Add a catappa leaf floating. Ensure that your tank is fully covered to maintain humidity above the water in cold, dry season. Betta splendens intake surface air. It is best if that air is humid.

(2) Engage in a few minutes of mirror-play each day. Get your boy flexing his colors. Just use a hand mirror so he sees his reflection and flares up a bit. Do not overdo this. At the same time, ensure your water is regularly changed. Fish live in their own toilet, so to speak. Clean water will promote health.

(3) Add a very lightly bubbling Ziss air-stone, or if you don’t already have one, a small sponge filter. Keep the bubbles very low / very small.

_______
I’m raising baby Betta splendens right now. It is a project!

My oldest son set up a nice 5.5 gal for a female Betta a few years ago. The environment was perfect, but she came with some genetic issues, grew a tumor from under her left gill, and passed…

My middle son kept a pretty Koi male, and adored him. But he also swung a baseball bat in his room and shattered the tank 😑

January 27

Yeah… the safety data sheet fir Slime-Out just lists it’s active ingredients as “Proprietary.” This is fairly common for Fritz Aquatics treatments.

If you keep hammering your tank with antibiotics, you’ll K.O. your beneficial bacteria colonies. Be sure you add FritzZzyme 7, or equivalent to rebuild your colonies.

January 27

On 1/27/2024 at 12:07 AM, SomethingsFishyHere said:

Ok. Here’s some thoughts:

(1) Moving from one tank to another might have caused them to encounter something harmful. I cannot say exactly what…

(2) If possible, get ahold of that local breeder. Find out all of the water parameters these fish came from.

(3) Think through lighting. Is something too bright? Too close to a high traffic area in the home making them jump, hide, etc?

(4) Do you have caves? Kribs do tend to stay in caves a fair bit. That may calm them.

January 27

On 1/26/2024 at 11:45 PM, SomethingsFishyHere said:

Thanks for getting back to me. So I had the female for about a month no issues at all. Then I got a male a week ago since I planned to breed them. They were both fine but the male hid a lot. So then I moved the pair to a separate setup with the same parameters and temperature. All the other fish are completely fine except the kribs they both started acting the way I described after the 2nd day. So I feed New life spectrum tropical fish pellets. I also feed Xtream aquatic foods krill flake and Omega One veggie mini pellets. I swap out regularly. So I bought them from a local pet store and he ended up having the same issue and symptoms described. So im not sure if its some type of parasite or something along those lines. They both looked completely healthy. Normal bellies and such.

So did the fish even touch your LFS water? Or did you get a call / message indicating that they had arrived for you to pickup in the shipping bag?

Do you know where they originated from? Any chance you maybe ran parameter on the bag of water he came in?

We've bed Kribs before, and raised fry to full color. I'm keeping Nanochromis parilus pair right now... but the male has not yet proven to be a good mate.

January 27

So sorry to hear! Let's walk through this methodically:

When did you acquire the P. Idenau Krib? Have your fish died within days of being added to a new aquarium?

IF you just recently receive these by a special mail-in order, did you test the actual temperature of the fish bag when you received it? Or did you just plop the bag in your tank water to acclimate and then drop them in within an hour? If so . . . my first guess is a temperature mis-acclimation. Fish are cold blooded, and when they get raised from ca. 60s to 80s suddenly, their organs just sort of "explode."

IF you've had them awhile, how do their bellies look? Are they rounded and feeding right? What exactly have you been feeding them? Sunken bellies is a bad sign of internal parasites. Many wild=caught fish retain parasites. On the other hand, if you've been feeding large (or hard) pellets... or certain large-portions frozen foods... fish can die suddenly from blocked intestinal tracts. In Mbunas from Lake Malawi, that's sometimes referred to as "Malawi Bloat." Of course, your fish are River fish from west Africa (Idenau, Cameroon).

There are a number of other possibilities that can suddenly take a fish down. But to help, please share some more detailed information!

January 26

Female Rainbow Shiner (Notropis chrosomus) and male Orange Throat Darter (Etheostoma spectabile)…

January 26

On 1/25/2024 at 8:19 PM, tolstoy21 said:

Been absent from the forum for a little bit cause, well, life can get busy.

A half a year or so back, I acquired half a dozen sterbai and they have been breeding like mad for me since.

This video is of my personal tank where I probably have about 30 or so Sterbs. I maybe have another 50 in my fish room.

First time I've had a large number of corydoras. Man, love these little guys!

Great looking setup!

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