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mountaintoppufferkeeper

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Everything posted by mountaintoppufferkeeper

  1. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Short opinion : I would get fish bags, fast the fish for 48 hours, bag them like I was shipping them to myself, and bring them and a temporary set up with me in a personal vehicle. Detailed: Depending on species and size of tanks I would try moving my fish family with me. Assuming the military movers will move the tanks with your household goods, I would prepare for the tanks to arrive in an unusable damaged condition in a worst case scenario. I bet there is a higher risk of busted silicone seams on a big glass tanks post moving to a new home but I have no personal experience on that. If moving the tanks with your household goods move, for a CONUS move, I would consider setting up a few temporary tanks out of something like Irene's video (below) on quick and easy quarantine tanks, My attempt would be to 1. Put the fish in those temporary tanks and then break down the big tanks for moving prep. 2. Run those temporary tanks with the fish in them until ready to move in a personal vehicle. 3. Keep those tanks with me along with filtration heat and food due to the possibility of a delay between when I arrive at the new place and when the military movers deliver a useable tank to me and it has cycled. 4. If I tried this I would fast the fish 48 hours before bagging them individually in fish bags and put those bags into cooler with Styrofoam peanuts layered throughout to insulate and probably a 72 hour heat pack on the inside top of the cooler. 5. I would put the cooler and empty temp tanks along with supplies in my vehicle and drive from the old place to the new place. 5.I would be reasonably willing to try a two or three day drive with my fish in this type of set up, essentially self shipping fish in my car. There would be the possibility that something could go wrong and I would loose some or possibly all of the fish. I think this may be tougher for any move outside of the Continental United States where you would probably want to make sure the species was allowed there and that you did not require some sort of import license to bring them in. I once considered getting a chinchilla in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and got the license to do so; I know mammal pets also required a ridiculously long quarantine when they arrived as well. I imagine it is the same for almost all locations outside of the lower 48 but could theoretically be done for your fish family members.
  2. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    my C.regani are tending to their first fry ever, c.lateralis coloring up, flagfish starting to prep to spawn, and a male golden wonder killifish has decided that a female variatus platy is in fact just a very colorful female golden wonder killi and is courting her
  3. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    If it were me I would go with the livingroom. At our house that would be the location that was the most enjoyed and the most maintained tank due to its location.
  4. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am curious if it is worth it to try and move some of the fry for the Dwarf pike or just let the parents do their thing for a while. I'm assuming they are similar to other cichlids with parental care and they are pretty attentive so far. This pair formed in summer 2019 and relentlessly attacked the subdominant pair until I removed them. After a month of regular runs of COOP BBS for the fish room this is the first time they have produced. My plan would be to use a few ziss breeder boxes for easier observation and feeding of bbs etc. Seems like a decent size group for a first time pair but I am a pike rookie.
  5. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    SUCCESS Crenichila Regani Tapajos pretty cool way to kick off the fish room for 2021. Looks like the coop brine shrimp regime has paid off and we just went from a pair of happy dwarf pike that arrived in may of 2019 to a successful spawn being escorted around the tank. 50 gallon with the pair and now first spawn is mostly the MTS farm for puffer food. I was a bit concerned the snails might prevent eggs from surviving but looks to be not the case. The triangle pleco cave from the coop was the spawning cave this first run.
  6. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    7.0 ph 300 TDS (community well up here) nothing crazy on ammonia nitrate nitrite lots of plants and easy green both tabs and liquid as needed. In theory my barometric pressure is 29% of sea level which probably helped me unintentionally end up with a school of 250 panda corys out of a group of 6 in a heavily planted 55 gallon 3 years ago. I believe the lower pressure helps with encouraging spawning when fish initially arrive since it really tends to kick off those first 7 days in quarantine. With the mountains and woods impacting my natural sunlight for all tanks, the sun cycle likely makes my fishroom a bit more seasonal than others. Pretty fun to learn up here.
  7. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Aspiring Goodeid nerm here since 2017. Fish room is 1/3 puffer tanks and 1/3rd goodeid tanks, and 1/3 puffer food tanks of snails,shrimp, and misc other live foods usually. Currently have Characodon lateralis Los Berros and post holiday USPS shipping slow down will start out on Limia Perugia, Boca de Cachon. I did try the X.doadrioi but did not have success with them up here on the mountain. They were very seasonal, at 9200 feet in woods, breeding wise and I ended up moving them on when my ratio left me with all males and 1 female. Cool fish, kept the duckweed down, and ate all the plant based flake I could feed them for 2 years of learning. All the goodeids are interesting. I have had the most longer term success with the Characodons and hopefully the limia moving forward.
  8. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    I have never been to the Georgia Aquarium but want to at some point. I grew up at the New England Aquarium in Boston the center ocean tank mertle the turtle is great and the bottom tank which was basically the whole floor below elevated walkways it had sharks in the 80s and last time was a penguin exhibit with dozens zipping around. I visited Denver Aquarium a handful of times lots of freshwater exhibits there, cool amazon stuff and a restaurant with the ocean tank as a wall, Shedd in Chicago was amazing. Denver has some of Shedd in its design. Monterey Bay Aquarium every weekend when at the language Institute. I missed the baby great whites but the open ocean tank is very cool. I did a cross country move from Virginia to Colorado post Army and stopped at every zoo and Aquarium along the way that I could. Public Aquarium road trips are pretty fun if ever an option; if I am in a city for any length of time the public aquarium and zoo is on my list. I would also throw in zoos with aquatic exhibits in here. They have probably been the introduction to the hobby for many. A zoo aquatic exhibit at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson AZ is where I first got exposed to how interesting native North American fish are. They had an awesome desert pupfish habitat and probably are the reason why I enjoy keeping the flagfish, killifish in general, and goodeids so much. What exhibit have your taken the most out of for your hobby?
  9. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Dwarf chain loach loach school of 16 with khuli loaches,amanos, and a neocardina colony in a coop planted 50, Malaysian trumpet snails, ramshorn snails and assassin snails in another 50, flag fish in 40. Snails and shrimp double as mostly inexhaustible supply of shelled food for my small faakaha puffer. The snails also serve as food for the chain loaches occasionally. I like them all for their different skill sets. Amano and flags for algae, neocaradina and khuli for all small foods in tough spots, snails for general maintenance food cleanup, decaying plant consumption and plant health from soil turnover with MTS
  10. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    I am making a second attempt at growing out a group of clown killifish for a try at a future large colony. First attempt ended with one female making it out of quarantine. Any suggestions for foods to try? I was considering incorporating golden pearls with the standard BBS and coop fry food. Not yet experienced with the killifish fry or extremely small juveniles. Thanks much.
  11. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Thank you kindly. I may have to try that project and incorporate the tube in the pvc overflow return pipe.
  12. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Thank you kindly 🙂
  13. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Figures this would be worth an update for future reference. COOP bulbs have made a nile puffer hang out in back left corner. Puffer is significantly less skittish but still spooks occasionally puffer being a puffer I suppose. Dither attempt 1 (Failure) :Kribs tried a few but they just beat up on the fahaka puffer bad 24 hours and kribs had to be removed. Dither attempt 2 (partial failure) red wag platy....nile eats anything red as it turns out. Dither attempt 3 (success so far) golden wonder killifish...also a fairly awesome combo with the puffer generally leaving them alone and aquarium lily pads filling in top and corners.
  14. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Does anyone have any recommendations for a UV sterilizer in a small 25 gallon sump and approximately 40 gallon system ? I have a green killing machine and that aquatop HOB with the UV in it as options but not set on either. I have limited understanding of the UV best choices. More dwell time is better than less is about it for my knowledge. I set up my continuous overflow rack/fry rack system on early October. The plan is mostly for puffer food colonys and small breeding projects. Id rather have the "just in case" insurance against free floating parasites, algae blooms due to direct sunlight, etc than not. Thanks much. System stats: 3/4 pvc return just dumps in the sump straight currently Kitchen storage rack holding (1) 25 gallon sump , heater, pump, filters etc there (4) 2.5 gallon tanks (bigger ones in photo) (6) 3/4 gallon tanks. ( small one in photo) Vr Matt
  15. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Recreational and tournament golf, gracie jujitsu, and fishing depending on the season and where tournaments fall throughout the year.
  16. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    I've been a government intelligence analyst for the past 11 years. I mostly find issues and solve them before they become bigger issues, improve skills, develop and present training, build relationships, and write reports. Prior to this path, I was an airborne qualified intelligence collector and infantryman with the Army (December 2001 through 2008). I got broken in Iraq, was medevac'd home, had a surgery, and medically separated. Currently finishing up a BS Sports Management degree on the side for fun and possibly for future use. The fish family is an important part of my relaxation and development as a person. They definitely get their fair share of the funds for all the enjoyment they bring to me.
  17. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Home grown cherry shrimp, Ramshorn and MTS, frozen krill with vitachem, blood worms, and so far unsuccessfully claims on half shell for my small fahaka. Livebearers, frozen krill with vitachem, home grown cherry shrimp for my hairy puffer group.
  18. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Touche
  19. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Nice tank. I did recently have kribs form a pair from a group of 6 sub adults (the remaining 4 did nothing but get beat up and hide). I am not an expert on kribs but they seemed to be a monogamous bonded pair ... once they find a mate they like and decide to become a pair. Someone else may be more familiar with the nuances of Kribs but in my situation the brighter dominant female dug just as much as the darker dominant male. The pair chased the rest of the kribs around a 75 gallon until I removed the other 4 Kribs. The 4 seemed pretty hardy and were fine once removed. If I had not noticed breeding colors on one of the females I would try to add a couple of more kribs short term. A bigger group it might allow a pair to form or to form faster. I would try and bring the extra kribs back to the store once a pair sorts itself out. If that is not an option I would try and rearrange the tank a bit to break sight lines and add a few krib caves on the ends of the tank in addition to the ones you have already
  20. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Full disclosure: I am no expert at fish keeping and always pushing myself to learn from my tanks and others to improve myself and my abilities with aquariums. I have had some success in 35 years in the hobby first with my dad then as solo over the past 5 years or so but like us all have learned when things went wrong and when things went perfect. Recently I have been wondered if parameters of native habitats were actually a deal breaker for most fish to reproduce or if stable conditions generally within the ballpark of their natural habitat along with some fluctuation to trigger spawning are more important. Nature finding a way seems to occur for me more often than not. Do you find that there any parameters which when different from the natural environment of a species is a deal breaker to getting a species to spawn successfully? More importantly are those conditions more detrimental to being able to raise fry to adulthood? I have had plenty of learning experiences over the years when things did not work out but have also managed to set the stage right for a few species to reproduce with my setups over the years: Goodeids: Characodon lateralis, and Zoogoneticus tequila; Other livebearers: platies, swordtails, and guppies; Mouthbrooders : Strawberry betta, betta macrostoma ( was awesome to learn from but fry did not survive due to an equipment issue), and golden mbuna (my first non livebearer way back when); Miscellaneous unintentional success : panda corydoras, flag fish (guarded eggs like sunfish), and Khuli loach Current projects: Gold Stripe Panaque (3yr old colony); Hairy Puffer (1.5 year old group); Dwarf Pike Regani (1.5 year old pair from group); Dwarf Chain Loach (1 year old group)
  21. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Thanks much every bit helps for sure.
  22. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    My answer would be too dependent on too many factors to say yes or no for all endangers species but in general I would be a yes if it were legal and I felt I would be able to be successful with the species in question without damaging the population. Species deemed endangered or extinct would be similar, for me, to trying to reproduce a species that is not known to have been reproduced in the hobby. I prefer to keep and enjoy a species I am reasonably certain I can maintain successfully long term for the benefit of learning from them, hopefully reproducing them at some point, and sending them back into the hobby for others to further learn.
  23. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Thanks kindly. I am hopeful this adjustment is a longer term fix seems promising so far. I had my hairy puffer colony in a tank on the same wall with no issues for 12 months before upgrading everyone's tanks and moving tanks around with a reset early this year. I suppose that could be a function of the species involved in addition to the conditions of the room.
  24. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    235/47/5 75, 3x 50, 1x10
  25. mountaintoppufferkeeper
    Thanks much. That location has some shadows and tv flashes. I installed a diy background on outside left and back of tank, added more coop plants to define the sides, and had Kribensis and Celebes sent to me last week as dithers. I now have a puffer who does not take off and kribs excavating and courting in her tank. She enjoyed the Celebes a bit too much to be dithers. It seems blue eyes is not a color she can resist. Thanks again. Vr Matt
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