Fish Folk

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.

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.

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!

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

Great looking setup!

This looks like a very nice start! Best wishes. I recommend planting an absolute garden in there before adding fish.

Found a dashing species of Darter while looking things up: Bluespar Darters (Etheostoma meadiea) The blue on the face is as close to the Federally Endangered Bluemask Darters as I’ve seen so far… They range between TN and VA. I’m told the coloration may be very limited to spawning seasons. TN game law is tricky. VA would be a safer bet for catching in the wild. There might be some in KY. iNat info is scarce.

Etheostoma spectabile, Mr. and Mrs….

Nice! I’m not a Puffer keeper, but they’re really cool to see. Appears to be two different species. Took me a minute on the Keyhole Cichlid. That looks like an old, old male. Possibly it’s a donation from someone who couldn’t keep him anymore. Notice the eye appears to have a spot. Bottom photo… looks like an African Bushfish? Some kind of aggressive old world Anabantid… Is there a Military Base near you by chance? Looks like maybe there’s some local market for big, strong, predatory / aggressive-looking species…

Ok. That’s proper. Do you know your KH?

Are you testing your water right out of the tap? If so, fill a large Tupperware container with tap water, set it aside with an air stone running in it for 48 hrs, _then_ test that water. That is the best way to ensure you’re getting a fair reading. What are you using? Test strips? Titration drops? Digital?

I prepare Zucchini like this…

My M. ansorgii never jumped out, but my B. imbellis did…

Here is how I use the “pic line” to drain water from the baby betta tub… Here is how Daphnia are fed back through the port… And here is a closeup look at the babies. It’s a theory of mine that many bottom-budget box-store Bettas are the “outcasts” of breeding projects. Desired fish go to higher end buyers. However, due to mendellian genetics, fish tend to look like their grandparents. SO, breed a so-so pair from the bargain rack, and you might get some very pretty orchids. (Might…)

Here is a side-by-side of three fish doppelgängers. The Elassoma is from Florida. The Aphanius mentos is from Turkey. As named, the Astrolebius is from Argentina.

You definitely would enjoy becoming a member at the East Tennessee Aquatic Association (ETAA). I looked into regulations in TN. It’s a gray area with tank-bred Notropis chrosomus. They’re technically both part of the ornamental fish trade, and a native species. Laws strictly forbid taking from native waters to jeep in home aquaria… but may allow for non-local sources. But against this, they are also not allowed to be imported. Safest bet is “no.”

They are beautiful… however, they very rarely color up in home aquaria. I kept some for awhile but they never colored up.

I’m doing research on your regulations. I’ll get back to you…

I’ll always love tropical fish, but lately I’m a native fish pusher 😂 I shared a few photos of some we’ve kept over the last several years last week…

Several of the team members are active on FB groups. Check out: “NANFA - North American Native Fishes Association” and “North American Native Fish Keepers” NANFA is a hilarious blend of Field Biologists, Conservationists, Aquarists, and Fishermen.

They’ve forgotten more about fish breeding than I’ll ever learn. Derek and I have exchanged fish. He hooked me up with Fieryblack Shiners that he bred…

Welcome back aboard! Knoxville, TN is home to my absolute favorite fish-breeding place on earth: Conservation Fisheries. They are a nonprofit dedicated to propagating endangered North American freshwater fish species. I visited last March. Blew my mind…

I miss our EBAs already! We bred several hundred a few years ago. In the end … we were so overwhelmed with trying to maintain them well and move them for a reasonable price that we eventually bagged up the entire grow out tank into two large bags in two standard styros (ca. 80x fish), drove an hour and a half, and sold them for a few hundred dollars to a guy starting a new fishroom breeding / selling business. If you can sell them young, do it! They’re adorable at this size… As for your questions about the setup… Acaras are less “geophagus” (Latin: earth-eater) than other species. I found them to be less so than Rams, Apistogramma cacatuoides, Threadfin Acaras, etc. They appreciate hardscape of some sort to spawn on. Males, when engaging in pre-spawning displays, will sometimes perform “feats-of-strength” for females by tearing plants apart / pulling plants up by the roots. I have never before kept a dirted or Walstad tank. They seem nice. You’ll want to think through your goals very, very carefully. If you want loads of fry, but ease of cleaning, catching, feeding, treating… then you want bare-bottom tanks with sponge filters. Every other sort of setup will involve certain challenges. If you want a pretty tank, with breeding as a bonus, then go for your Walstad setup. But if they spawn… good luck 😎 Here’s a video-loaded spawning report prepared for our fish club on EBAs:

Welcome! Awesome to have another NANF keeper onboard.

It was ca. 83°-F