Fish Folk

So, the Pygmy Sunfish just hide when bigger, faster fish are around. You’d almost never see the Sunfish. They’d do a little better with a smaller species like the Bluefin Killifish… Rainbow Shiners could enjoy a tank with many species of Darters. There are so many beautiful Darter species. These aren’t in my tanks, but here’s a Stipled Darter in brilliant display… And here’s an electric green Missouri strain of the Banded Darter… Just unbelievably beautiful. There’s another species I’ve kept — Saffron Shiner — but never successfully got them to color up…

Nice! He’s the best guy. Most all of these came from him. We met up and caught Catawba Greenheads together last March before NANFA Con. He has forgotten more about native fish than I’ll ever begin learn.

Yeah, they’re really special. I raised these from summer tubbing. Here’s another shot of a male I just snapped…

Rainbow Darters are excellent, hardy species in home aquaria. My males have died, but I still have one female. I never quite got the setup right when they were in my care, but I have found a stream locally where they are native. I can try them again any time.

Many of us have gotten into keeping fish thanks to the breadth of Tropical species in the hobby. Over the last few years, I have found Temperate climate fish species most intriguing. These live in local waterways around the USA. These photos are from our tanks… Banded Darters (Etheostoma zonale) Behavior is similar to goby species. Appreciates green plants in the tank. Males vary their brilliant green color depending on the season. Orangethroat Darters (Etheostoma spectabile) Very friendly and non aggressive. Cold water is best. Cold, unheated basements are perfect. Eats frozen bloodworms. Rainbow Shiners (Notropis chrosomus) More beautiful than many tropical species once mature, these Georgia and Alabama natives are my favorite Temperate species to keep and breed. They eat flake food just fine. Mountain Redbelly Dace (Chrosomus oreas) These are very nice in native river-stream setups. I have been able to breed… around a thousand by now. Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma gilberti) Very shy, these guys need live foods to thrive. Their courting dance moves are spectacular! Oh my… there’s so, so many more

If you can, try Daphnia, White worms, and Black worms instead.

Yeah… just scrape them off, and try to quit feeding BBS for a while. They’ll disappear eventually. I use a library card 📚 😂

BNPs struggling on acclimation is just something I have experienced. I remember a batch of 10x super reds I added once… only to see them dead the next day. No idea why. Temperature, and water chemistry is something to try to be consistent with. I like Greg Sage’s BNP cave from Select Aquatics. But the ACO Pleco Cave is excellent. With zucchini, I cut discs, then cut off the skin, so no chems should remain a factor (vs. organics). Home-grown zucchs are huge and satisfying to use. My neighbor has oodles of them each year. Boiling helps slices sink, softens the fiber, and clears off any worries. I drop the slices into a hot-pot and boil. Very simple. Fish Club auctions are vest for cash. Sell online via aquabid, etc. But the learning curve is steep. Be advised … expect a long wait. BTW, we tested between forum members: it is possible to ship BNP eggs to folks for hatching… https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/28276-shipped-in-pleco-eggs-for-hatching/

I have never kept the “Snow White” line, but I have bred others. Be sure their aquarium is well-cycled. I have found that they sometimes acclimate poorly. Take time to slowly adjust temperature, and acclimate water chemistry. Many times, I have seen BNPs added to a tank, and then just melt away and die. I recommend lots of wood in the tank. Specially designed BNP Caves are very helpful. Add boiled, peeled zucchini along with algae wafers to their diet. Boil zucchini until it sinks. They need vegetable fiber in their diet to stay healthy. Keep up regular water changes. If you feed a lot, they’ll drop a lot of waste. They take a long while to mature to spawning size. Buy large ones if you’re trying to set up a breeding project. If you’re buying juveniles, invest in 7x or so. You can sell extras off later for a good price if you know how.

Here is a video series showing Betta splendens from purchase, to spawning, to fry growing out. I am still very early on in the process, but wanted to share some things I am learning. I went for cheap big-box-store Bettas. I was especially looking for a unique, mature female. I found this very nice double-tail female... And then I decided to pair her with this long-finned male... They had some aggressive "false-starts" during which times they each sustained some injuries. Eventually, I made some changes and decided to try again... On the following day, I caught them embracing / spawning... After a while, I removed the female and allowed the male to guard the nest. I kept the light on 24/7 to keep him from "switching-off" and eating either young fry or the eggs. It was Christmas Eve. He guarded the nest faithfully... A couple days later I found tiny fry free-swimming and removed the male... I concocted an odd feeding port to preserve air moisture while allowing live foods to be fed, and began feeding tiny nematodes (vinegar eels, banana worms, etc... The fry development over time was fascinating to watch: December 28, 2023 01-02-2024 01-11-2024 01-15-2024 Fry growth correlated to feeding larger foods. From nematodes, I moved to hatching baby brine shrimp. Once young daphnia were in abundance, I began feeding that as well. Now, the project continues!

Ok. Here’s some things to keep In mind about breeding fish in high quantity and growing them out quickly: (1) Generally speaking, your water needs to be changed before poor quality affects fry development. (2) Frequent offering of live foods, and an otherwise high-protein diet is crucial for fry growth between 1-month and 4-months. So rule of thumb: Feed Quality / Feed Frequently / Change Water Often. Now, certain species do not require as heavy a water changing process. But this is sound advice, generally speaking.

I'd leave it alone. Java ferns aren't necessarily dying completely when they produce new off-shoots.

Before launching into a lengthy reply, help me understand a few facts about your experience: (1) Have you ever successfully bred and raised Betta splendens before? (2) Do you regularly breed and raise aquarium fish? (3) Are you familiar with the breeding process for Betta splendens? (4) Do you understand the development process for the labyrinth organ in Anabantids? (5) Do you keep, propagate, or hatch any live foods regularly? If you answer "Yes" to all of the above, we can get into specifics fast. If not, there's just a little learning curve.

It is probably fine. Enjoy the baby J-ferns, I pluck mine off, and plant around the tank once they're about 4x that size. Just be sure that you preserve rhizome stalk. I've had them melt away entirely, then restart from the rhizome without explanation. Are there any fish in there?

I assess that you have a bacterial infection in the caudal fin on that lemon-yellow Discus. I have struggled with this in certain species. I cannot say what this could be, but in my case, I think it has been a flexibacter infection...

In my opinion, unless you (1) get very good at one or two specific valuable species, (2) can produce them consistently in substantial quantities, and (3) unless you get good at shipping fish… …breeding fish for profit is more of a pipe dream than a profitable plan. Do what you enjoy! Here’s what I’m enjoying…

Introducing… Etheostoma spectabile — Orangethroated Darters.

Wait for it… wait for it… (acclimating…)

Banded Darter sat for a couple photos today…

Mr. Redbelly Dace… still a stunner!

You might find that fish ca eat the hearts of artichoke stems. You could cut them into discs like this…

I’m growing a colony of Jungle Endlers. It’s a slow process… because I basically let a pair of Nanochromis parilus snack on unlucky fry. But enough survive. Here’s a few of the fellas… It’s a jungle where they live …

It depends on how long your aquarium has been cycling for. If it has been set up awhile, bio will coat all hard surfaces. If you have hardscape like lava rock in there, bio will be honeycombed everywhere in there. I guess there's always risks with unknowns . . . but I'd totally do whatever you want with your HOB. BTW, I like AquaClear filters a lot.

I have had 4x of these (two pairs). The males are brutal partners. What happens is that she'll come out and display for him, coax him into a cave, corner, who knows . . . they disappear awhile . . . I get very hopeful . . . but nothing. I'm sure there must be some trigger or environmental element that I'm just missing.

There she goes… he’s still not taking a hint…