Minanora
-
Posts
1,602 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
3 -
Feedback
100%
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Store
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Profiles
Posts posted by Minanora
-
-
Welcome! Your angels are lovely. Makes me miss keeping them myself. Looking forward to seeing that 70g tall come to fruition!
-
1
-
-
Welcome! Excited to see your adventure. Rebel on!
-
1
-
-
I'm not sure about how common the plain Jane ones are. I have about 30 at 3 months old. I'll update you on batch 2 in three weeks if I remember.
I'm not allowed to keep many of mine. I started single strains last month so I feel like I'll need the space for selecting breeders for those projects. I retired my last mutt guppy female. Hopefully she only drops one or two more batches. Her last drop was 90+ fry! My single strain girls all came pregnant but they're young so I'm hoping they only have 2 more batches as well. They're just dropping their second. I'm curious to see the results of these strains fry. I'm hoping I don't have a lot of plain come from these.
-
Everyone is doing well. The 4 ladies with eggs still have them. The oldest brood is now 10 days into development. The last female still hasn't molted. I think she may be the oldest.
Today is water change day! Changing maybe a gallon. Just to clean the substrate up a bit. Going to put a shrimp cave in there for them and clean the glass. Getting hard to see them with a patch of diatoms blocking the best area of the tank.
-
4
-
-
Are you concerned with the skittle shrimp turning into a colony of brown shrimp?
I wanted to do blue and orange neos but decided against it because I don't want them crossing and going back to wild traits.
-
On 1/2/2022 at 4:40 AM, Atitagain said:
Guess I’m going against the grain on this thread.🤷🏻♂️(#1 anyway)
1- more tanks, I’m at 15 now need to get to about 25
2-new cabinetry and stands
3- plants, plants, plants
4- read, read, learn
This is what I wish my list looked like. 😂
You have such wonderful tanks! Exciting to know that you're going to be adding more!
-
1
-
-
I love it!
1. Stop having so many guppy babies.
2. Breed my shrimp and sell them.
3. Don't buy any more tanks... Or plants...
4. Get my algae issues under control.
New and exciting, we may move and if we do I'd have a fish room!
-
3
-
-
I have been thinking about doing the same in my shrimp tank. I've been hesitant because I worry that the chili's will eat all the shrimplettes. If you do go with chili's I'd be curious to see how you're doing with them in a few months. 🙂
I do like my shrimp tank being their "sanctuary" though. They're fun in a species only tank.
-
So, I have many males that have very little color from my mutt guppies. They are almost 13 weeks old, and some just have touches of black at the edges of their tails, or bands of yellow. I'm not sure if they'll color up much more but I will hold onto them for longer. I feed them a ton of variety.
I don't want to take them to my lfs without giving them their best shot. I don't want my babies to be feeder fish if possible. I know some will be, but, mom mode...
These photos are not great to see the males with little color, because everyone moves so much. Near impossible with 130+/- in there. But you can kinda see a few!
-
On 12/31/2021 at 6:36 AM, tolstoy21 said:
I find that once the shrimp colony is a generation or two old in your specific water params, they tend to become much more bullet proof.
I do 50% water changes with crystal reds shrimp in my tanks with no deaths. But, I do make sure the water going in is approximately equal to the water going out in terms of temp and GH/KH. But this is approximate, I don't go nuts trying to do an exact parameter match. If I drop the temp by 5F, or lower the TDS 20-30 points, give-or-take, I personally have not experienced adverse effects. I probably have a few hundred CRS (give or take a bazillion) at the current moment.
I find neocaradina are even more forgiving in terms of water chemistry changes, so long as the changes are not super crazy dramatic you'll be ok. I have a bunch of orange rilli shrimp in a betta tank and do 30% WCs there maybe every 2 - 3 weeks, and they breed like mad. The only problem I have encountered with those is that the betta likes to snack on them!
I can appreciate this information.
I agree with the mild shifts in water parameters. I use R.O. water and re-mineralize with salty shrimp GH/KH and then add 5 percent of soft tap water. I try to keep TDS around 280ish. Once the colony is booming I will pull a chunk of the population and see how they do in my 75G. I'm hoping that after a few generations they'll be wicked hardy and breed in my 75. That tank has pretty good parameters but there's a lot of activity in there. I'm sure the swordtails will be very interested in the shrimplettes. But why not try!?
-
2
-
-
On 12/30/2021 at 7:50 PM, Atitagain said:
I’ll have to check out the crabs. Not really set on fish. Or really set that anything has to be in there, I’m happy with it as is …buuuut it would be cool to figure something out. Being so open and needing to keep water level up really hurt my options.
CYCLOPS! They're cute. I don't care how small they are. 😛
-
3
-
-
Water change setup. I use airline and a flow control valve just like I use for drip acclimation.
-
2
-
-
One of my favorite mamas.
-
2
-
-
On 12/29/2021 at 7:54 PM, PineSong said:
I do not have a filter on both sides. I have a HOB on one side (just because I already had the HOB. I do baffle the flow in order to not churn the fry) and on the other side I have just an airstone.
I do not have any science to cite about the fry needing the water movement or oxygenation from having the airstone, but it just seems healthier to me to not have stagnant water and also to make the fry work at least a tiny bit with current to help them be strong.
Actually, since the matten filter provides so much surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize, I bet you don't need a sponge filter at all and would be fine with an airstone on each side. Others who know more may want to chime in on this.
I agree entirely! that's a huge surface area. Air is always good to add, too. I think it would be great and work quite well. I mean, unless you're insane like me and have 136+/- fry in a 20g high... Next week 68+/- of them leave, but still... I have all of these to add. 🤦♀️
Doesn't seem like it, but things are slowing down! I mean, sure there's even more fry that just arrived today loose in the female tank, but hey, what's life without a challenge?!
-
1
-
2
-
-
@Guppysnail Thank you my friend. I'm honestly just trying to keep my feet on the ground. I don't want to get too excited... But of course, I am. They do love their home. I'm about to put a clay "Shrimp Cave" in there. I was going to yesterday but saw that a female was actively moving eggs so I decided to leave them be for now. So far, all of the females still have eggs and are fanning them peacefully. They're so beautiful, and so cute.
-
1
-
-
Welcome! Very nice! Looks to me like you're off to a great start! I love the space! I look forward to seeing more progress photos and reading all about your stock and experiments.
-
Salutations! I find it funny to be starting a "breeding" post about shrimp before making any posts regarding breeding guppies... Which is my main jam. Ehem, anyway, to start, I have shrimp! They're berried! I have 4 of 5 females berried as of yesterday. I've had the shrimp since the 8th. It appears that the last female is about to berry up as well! There must be something in the water!
I started with 14 shrimp. I drip acclimated them with a bit of prime put in the water they came in right as I opened their bag. I ordered 10, they sent 14. I had one die within 24 hours. None after that, just a few molts. I changed 50% of the water a day before they started getting berried up. With such a large water change, I did drip add the water into the tank to avoid major temperature and parameter changes.
I feed them a variety of foods. Bacter AE, Snowflake food, Pollen Granules, and Xtreme shrimp food pellets. About to try blanched kale out of my garden.
My setup is fairly simple.
5.5 gallon tank. Inert florite black sand substrate. Hydrocotyle Tripartita in the front, Rotala Bangladesh in the back. Cheap nano magnetic light. Co-op USB air pump, air line and sponge filter.
Parameters: pH 7.4, GH 10°, KH 6°, Temp 76°F, TDS 247ish.
I add stability once a week.
I just had one question to start: How likely is it that any of the females will carry their broods to hatching? I'm not sure if they've had babies before, a few of the females appeared to have evidence of carrying before, but I'm no expert!
The shrimp are in a quiet, low traffic, bathroom where nobody really bothers them except me for feeding, and the one water change I've done. And lots of staring at them, of course. FYI there are no chemicals ever used around the shrimp. I don't spray things, or use any fancy/smelly-good products or hair things. So the shrimp are not in any danger. 🙂
-
10
-
2
-
-
Sad to read about the second spawn. Maybe losing the second spawn was a blessing in disguise. More time to focus on the current fry you have and give you a buffer between batches. 🙂
They are so adorable! I look forward to the future updates! Puffers are a favorite of mine but I have to live vicariously through Mountaintoppufferkeeper and, now, you! 😛
-
1
-
-
That is so cool! Adorable to boot! I love that he's scaled with a pond snail. 😛
I love the name of the tank. I am a Witcher fan, so I put a twist on it... and I would totally name that little pygmy Ciri if it's a girl or, Duny, if it's a boy. However the male name could be a few others, but I won't spoil anything.
-
1
-
-
On 12/29/2021 at 12:27 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:
That packet of sperm will be moved aside for a new male so if you decide you’d like to breed her to a different male introducing her to them will interrupt that whole 4-6 broods from the original male.
I think having an extra couple females somewhere might be something to consider. You can do this later of course but as you progress you may find characteristics you like or don’t like and may want to play with ways to accentuate that trait. As you said this is your first go round and the goal is to play around with techniques and this is certainly something I’ve done a bit with my line of Blue Hawaiian Moscows - example: the females can have a black or navy tails and the LFS will not take females that are “colorless” so I’ve been changing up the breeding colony to accentuate this trait.
I agree with everyone else on trying to keep some of your females separate so they’re not pregnant and it definitely will help as @Minanorastated to get them to focus on coloring up and growing. You will also notice some males coloring up really early. Sometimes those boys will come out smaller and less robust as they sexually matured too fast. Some breeders pull those males and may or may not cull them. I don’t know that I’ve been working too hard on this but I do sometimes pull them to tanks around the house so I can watch them and see how they’re developing color wise and in their conformation- Moscow tail, dorsal fin, etc.Enjoy and have fun!
Good point surrounding changing the male. I've also read studies on brood health improving if there's more then one male. Superfecundation is the correct term in this event, I think. The female will take sperm from each to rear a single, multi-fathered brood. (Similar to how kittens in a litter can have different fathers).
@Beardedbillygoat1975Have you noticed that the ones that color up earlier display more of the wild traits? I feel like that's the case with my mutt fry. Not my single strain though. I have one male that's almost fully adult colored half black half red rose at 27 days. It's the first time I've seen one color so quickly. However he's slightly larger than the rest of the brood, just slightly. I consider him properly sized for 4 weeks, just way more color, and still has his standard anal fin. Half his body was a silky jet black at birth. The next male behind him is just starting to get yellow-brown in his tail over his slightly less jet black. I'm sure the first one will sexually mature faster but I'm going to pull him from the rest and put him with my breeding males today.
@CinnebunsIn any case, breeding guppies is always interesting and fun! I intentionally breed guppies, black swordtails, and Sakura orange shrimp. I look forward to seeing your breeding adventure as it progresses! The only other recommendation I have is to keep a birth calendar for the momma and a log of water parameters for each tank. Each female has a pretty consistent cycle length and tracking it will help you know when to get her situated to drop fry.
-
1
-
-
On a side note; the divider I got for the 20G is better than i thought it would be. I'm pretty sure that babies over 2 weeks old won't fit through the top long slits. I'll be able to test it in two weeks; babies born this morning. 🤣
-
1
-
-
On 12/28/2021 at 1:21 PM, Cinnebuns said:
@Minanora I knew females could hold sperm and have many batches but for some reason I thought it was 3. You are the 3rd person in the past 2 days to tell me it's 6 so that must be it!
You seem well informed so if its ok I want to make sure I understand separating fry accurately. Usually seperate them around 2 months of age correct? Some might be late bloomers but most should show by then if I'm correct? And keep unknowns with males until sure.
Ty for your time.
It is fine to try to separate them at 2 months. Feeding variety will help them develop. With a trained eye, you can honestly start separating them at around 1 month depending on if you can see the gravid spot. Females have a gravid spot that the males will lack, a dark dot at the back of the abdomen, just before, and rising from, the anal fin. I seperate mine as I can. I don't really worry too much about it though. It's something I try to enjoy rather than perfect.
On 12/28/2021 at 1:34 PM, lefty o said:its typically that they can hold for 4 batches, but ya know nature, it isnt exactly consistant.
I will agree with this, but, under optimum conditions, with a female that is of adult size, and has been in contact with a male through 4 broods... I have experienced the 6 batch hold. Sadly the female didn't live beyond that point, so I wasn't able to confirm that 6 broods was the limit for holding. Bless her soul. After that I decided to always "retire" my ladies after they provide 2 broods. I'm actually experimenting with no exposure beyond them showing in their first pregnancy. Just to see how things go and maybe give myself some breathing room, if I'm lucky!
-
1
-
-
@GameCzar I was thinking the same thing. Haha!
Congratulations on starting your adventure! Guppies are easy to breed. I have my females separate from the males as well. Your plan is pretty solid!
I will note that females carry sperm packs for months. So even if you only have the one female, and have that ONE conjugal visit, you will likely wind up with several broods beyond that single visit, upwards of 6 batches! I have a females that are on brood 2 after being seperated from the males. Hopefully my oldest female only has a few more in her. I want her to retire.
I do recommend separating out the male and female juveniles so they're able to color up and grow quickly. If they come of age mixed, they start to focus on making more babies instead of growing.
Matten filter/filter pads are a great idea for tank dividers. I just got a large tank divider for a 20G high tank, I haven't opened it yet, but I'm sure the holes are large enough for the tiny fry to get through. For me I'm not so worried about the tiny fry so much as I am worried about juveniles coming into maturity. PLUS, dividing them gives everyone a better chance to get fed I think.
-
So, I will say this as well. Plans can always change. So unless you're 100 percent certain that you're going to be moving in the next 3 months, I would go ahead and do your setup in a way that fits your end goal, or something similar.
Setting a tank up on the floor sounds like a pita to enjoy imo. Plus with foot traffic, dander, vacuuming etc, I'm sure that isn't the most suitable environment for a rimless.
That and water changes are very difficult, and/or near impossible, if you're using a gravity siphon at similar levels.
If you do set it up on the floor, I recommend putting something under it like Zenzo said. Better safe than sorry.
-
2
-
New Here
in Introductions & Greetings
Posted
Welcome!