Fish Folk Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) It is January. I am getting new fish. O yes… yes I am getting two breeding trios of Elassoma gilberti… And, they are going straight into my former Rainbow Shiner tank (occupants of which are now at my son’s High School NANF tank in Biology class). How does this formerly pristine tank look? So glad you asked. It looks like a slice of swamp… These Elassoma _belong_ here! It’s not quite my first rodeo. My middle son and I bred some Elassoma okefenokee a few years back… We had fun collecting all the fry after BAP, and shipping off… These guys need live food. Looking for live blackworms has been annoying. Will feed artemia. It is full of snails. Even has a mum and son Lucania goodei chillaxing… My mission: keep it swampy. Raise a million Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish. Ship off to NANF dealers. And the odd aquarist who begs… 😎 Edited January 19 by Fish Folk 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwcarlson Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Consider me a tentative begger. 🤣 I'm always curious how "required" live food is for some of these type of fish. I've kept native sunfish years ago and just starved them for a bit and, like magic, they converted over to Hikari cichlid pellets. Of course I wasn't breeding them, so that's a whole different ballgame. Good luck in your project! Should be fun to watch! 🙂 Edited January 19 by jwcarlson 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 On 1/19/2023 at 9:20 AM, Fish Folk said: (occupants of which are not at my son’s High School NANF tank in Biology class) Feels like an oddly specific denial... These are really pretty fish. They remind me of some of the South American Killifish On 1/19/2023 at 9:20 AM, Fish Folk said: Looking for live blackworms has been annoying. What's going on with this? I feel like everyone is talking about how hard they are to come by now. Did the pandemic put sources out of business or something? Have you considered doing a white worm culture? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 On 1/19/2023 at 12:31 PM, Schuyler said: Feels like an oddly specific denial... These are really pretty fish. They remind me of some of the South American Killifish What's going on with this? I feel like everyone is talking about how hard they are to come by now. Did the pandemic put sources out of business or something? Have you considered doing a white worm culture? From what I understand is that there aren’t many breeders breeding black worms, I remember reading there are only two official farms breeding them (whatever that means), I think it’s slightly a monopoly situation as well as shipping them being so expensive (I found a site selling 1tbsp for $2 not counting the $100 shipping) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 On 1/19/2023 at 12:31 PM, Schuyler said: Feels like an oddly specific denial... I messed up 😂 — meant to say “now at…” — I’ve edited this in OP. On 1/19/2023 at 12:31 PM, Schuyler said: Have you considered doing a white worm culture? Might actually be a brilliant solution. Considering it now 🧐 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 On 1/19/2023 at 12:37 PM, Aiden Carter said: From what I understand is that there aren’t many breeders breeding black worms, I remember reading there are only two official farms breeding them (whatever that means), I think it’s slightly a monopoly situation as well as shipping them being so expensive (I found a site selling 1tbsp for $2 not counting the $100 shipping) Everything used to come from CA. There’s a guy up in PA. My issue has been that whenever you get through retailers, the worms have passed through half a dozen hands and are half dead. But if you’re a small breeder, the big companies are not interested in shipping you small, quality product — nor are they concerned to guarantee quality. I’m trying yo get my LFS to order for me. I don’t mind paying them off a few bucks of profit. But if a batch of worms comes in dead, I can just refuse to buy — and they get to complain to the source. They do _not_ like working with new suppliers. On 1/19/2023 at 12:28 PM, jwcarlson said: Consider me a tentative begger. 🤣 10-4. Panhandling notice approved! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Count me 100% a beggar! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 On 1/21/2023 at 2:31 PM, Odd Duck said: Count me 100% a beggar! Duly noted 🧐👍😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Save me a spot in the beggar line too please 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 On 1/21/2023 at 3:04 PM, Guppysnail said: Save me a spot in the beggar line too please 😁 Saved! It will be awhile… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 (edited) My Elassoma have arrived! Now… keep in mind that they’re not all that mind-blowing yet. Some are young, none colored up. I got some Scuds to seed the tank today. Live foods are essential… Here’s a video of one Elassoma foraging after a scud… They’re terribly _non-photogenic_. But here’s a couple shots… Edited January 30 by Fish Folk 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 on the live food topic, you cant just do BBS or dafnia? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 On 1/29/2023 at 8:25 PM, Theplatymaster said: on the live food topic, you cant just do BBS or dafnia? I’m hatching BBS — yes, they appreciate that. What they need are food’s that will provide the nutrient balance for producing roe & milt. Black worms are ideal, but hard to come by just now. For some reason, I am terrible with keeping Daphnia cultures alive for long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Even not at peak they are lovely. I have tons of seed shrimp to seed the tank if you need them. White worms and grindal worms are super easy culture alternatives to black worms. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/29/2023 at 10:44 PM, Guppysnail said: Even not at peak they are lovely. I have tons of seed shrimp to seed the tank if you need them. White worms and grindal worms are super easy culture alternatives to black worms. free shrimp i might take you up on that offer... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/30/2023 at 6:18 PM, Theplatymaster said: free shrimp i might take you up on that offer... No. ostracods=seed shrimp the size of a pin head and great live food for those who only eat microfauna. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianR Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/29/2023 at 7:44 PM, Guppysnail said: White worms and grindal worms are super easy culture alternatives to black worms. Do you happen to have a good recommendation for sourcing Grindal Worms? (other than eBay or Amazon)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/30/2023 at 6:40 PM, BrianR said: Do you happen to have a good recommendation for sourcing Grindal Worms? (other than eBay or Amazon)? Yes. I will dm you in a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 On 1/30/2023 at 6:40 PM, Guppysnail said: No. ostracods=seed shrimp the size of a pin head and great live food for those who only eat microfauna. thanks for clarifying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 On 1/30/2023 at 6:40 PM, BrianR said: Do you happen to have a good recommendation for sourcing Grindal Worms? (other than eBay or Amazon)? Not at the moment. I’ll make inquiries. Carolina Supply has fascinating live foods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 Elassoma dancing… Elassoma pair… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 On 1/30/2023 at 7:03 PM, Fish Folk said: Not at the moment. I’ll make inquiries. Carolina Supply has fascinating live foods. dont they provide things like disection specimens for labs? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 That sure is a sexy salsa dancing boy! 💕 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 On 2/2/2023 at 5:53 PM, Theplatymaster said: dont they provide things like disection specimens for labs? Yes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 2/2/2023 at 4:50 PM, Fish Folk said: Elassoma dancing… Elassoma pair… I like how the male is ALL amped up and showing off as hard as he can and the females is like, “Meh. I’m just going to eat this brine shrimp here.” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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