Christmasfish
Aquarium Advice Addict
The 2 dwarfed Gourami I got for Christmas is now 100's. I removed Dad only when he cut the original number in half. So now i am the one doing retrieval duties for the eggs and non-mobiles fry. i eyedrop them up with a slimecoat solution and spit them back in the hornwort. I very few unlucky fry that end up deead at the bottom. maybe 1 per day. Swimmers that got disoriented and drowned probably.
I notice they all head for light so I made sure all light sources near the tank are above its level. that seems to work, it gathers them to the top.
So now The tank like has three groups at three locations. The larger , colored fly-sized hang near the heater or the gentle areation. The really big ones hang at the deep end. The small transparent ones hang around the plants anchored to the decorative rock/divider, the sea monkey looking ones hang with the nest still. I gather them from the bottom and dropper them back to the nest on a daily basis. And the number is increasing. Auugh! There must be at least 80 at larger darting stage alone!
I hated disturbing the parents, they were just becoming secure and friendly, ,now they are more easily spooked than before. I finally have control of the nitrate levels when I put all my lucky bamboo in the tank (It doesn't deteriorate in water, needs moderate light and likes it ph soft, some acidicy and nitric conditions.) Then i tuned up the areation so the oxygen isn't sucked up. Ammonia has been 0 all along, ,but finally i have the nitrites dropping below 0.3.
When do they have to be separated by size? and when are they proper labyrinth fish? This fish for Christmas thing is becoming a herculean task!
And how many should I expect to survive (read this as find housing/new homes for)
My grandpa was a show fish breeder, but I was only like 7-8 when I assisted him. And I wasn't exactly interested in committing it to memory... ^.^ My memory isn't just rusty...it has holes! 30 years is too long to trust when it is living things. Worse is this event took over my largest tank, so now my poor Gourami are unhappily waiting in an 8 gallon reptile keeper with a heater and a decoration stolen from the big tank.
I don't think my lfs will take the whole lot. And I will pan fry them before I send them to a Megapet store, it would be kinder (and they look kind like crappie anyway). Our poor bettas are former residents of such a place. I still haven't identified and killed all the parasites and diseases the poor unhappy things have. Siamese fighting fish were one of Grandpa's specialties. His never got sick or stressed! Unlike all his weird goldfish.
Any west coast people want some tropical fish? ^.^
I notice they all head for light so I made sure all light sources near the tank are above its level. that seems to work, it gathers them to the top.
So now The tank like has three groups at three locations. The larger , colored fly-sized hang near the heater or the gentle areation. The really big ones hang at the deep end. The small transparent ones hang around the plants anchored to the decorative rock/divider, the sea monkey looking ones hang with the nest still. I gather them from the bottom and dropper them back to the nest on a daily basis. And the number is increasing. Auugh! There must be at least 80 at larger darting stage alone!
I hated disturbing the parents, they were just becoming secure and friendly, ,now they are more easily spooked than before. I finally have control of the nitrate levels when I put all my lucky bamboo in the tank (It doesn't deteriorate in water, needs moderate light and likes it ph soft, some acidicy and nitric conditions.) Then i tuned up the areation so the oxygen isn't sucked up. Ammonia has been 0 all along, ,but finally i have the nitrites dropping below 0.3.
When do they have to be separated by size? and when are they proper labyrinth fish? This fish for Christmas thing is becoming a herculean task!
And how many should I expect to survive (read this as find housing/new homes for)
My grandpa was a show fish breeder, but I was only like 7-8 when I assisted him. And I wasn't exactly interested in committing it to memory... ^.^ My memory isn't just rusty...it has holes! 30 years is too long to trust when it is living things. Worse is this event took over my largest tank, so now my poor Gourami are unhappily waiting in an 8 gallon reptile keeper with a heater and a decoration stolen from the big tank.
I don't think my lfs will take the whole lot. And I will pan fry them before I send them to a Megapet store, it would be kinder (and they look kind like crappie anyway). Our poor bettas are former residents of such a place. I still haven't identified and killed all the parasites and diseases the poor unhappy things have. Siamese fighting fish were one of Grandpa's specialties. His never got sick or stressed! Unlike all his weird goldfish.
Any west coast people want some tropical fish? ^.^