Elassoma Gilberti

Have you tried frozen brine shrimp? The larger Elassoma should be able to eat this and enjoy it. Frozen bloodworms can work, but often the worms in the batch you get are way too big for their tiny mouths. You can chop them, but it's a pain. I've thought of stocking a freshwater shrimp that will reproduce, like the red cherry shrimp. I figure the Elassoma would eat their offspring. I worry though, that the adult shrimp would attack the Elassoma eggs. I'd be curious if anyone has comments/experience with that.

I have tried live brine shrimp, but the Elassoma for the most part seem to ignore them. Some of them will eat them, but some of them won't. It's nothing like when you feed brine shrimp to a swordtail. They go crazy and hunt them down in a feeding frenzy. The Elassoma just kind of went "meh". Most of the brine shrimp die from the freshwater, not from being eaten.

I've got an issue with freshwater shrimp because they eat the foods I'm trying to feed the Elassoma. And I'm pretty sure Elassoma won't eat them. When I first got the Elassoma gilberti they were in a tank with tiny juvenile shrimp, snails, and crushed flakes, and basically not any other food sources, and the shrimp survived. Then I started feeding the tank microworms, and the shrimp would eat them all. Once I took the shrimp out, the microworms lasted between one and two days, wiggling on the bottom, and the baby Elassoma had a constant food supply. Shrimp will never again go in my Elassoma tank.

I just got some frozen bloodworms from Brian Zimmerman that are small enough for Elassoma to eat whole. They came from this company: http://oregondesertbrineshrimp.com/ Doesn't look like they ship small orders, but we're all in Ohio so I'm sure something can be arranged.

I just got some frozen bloodworms from Brian Zimmerman that are small enough for Elassoma to eat whole. They came from this company: http://oregondesertbrineshrimp.com/ Doesn't look like they ship small orders, but we're all in Ohio so I'm sure something can be arranged.

Wow, they do indeed sell in bulk. $206, hmm.
I really do like the idea of frozen bloodworms. I'm going to check my local fish store for some the next time I'm there. Thanks for the idea!

I noticed that the Elassoma gilberti didn't spend any time in the Bacopa monnieri, so I moved a strand of the myriophyllum into the bacopa to make it seem fuzzier and more welcome to them, and here's the result: Two females chilling in the bacopa/myriophyllum. This gives them more livable space in the tank.
 023resize.jpg   186.11KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...er/023.JPG.html

Also, this is the new little male. He's not an inch long but already courting the ladies.
 half inch male.jpg   223.47KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...h male.jpg.html

but he's still nowhere near as pretty as the full grown males.
 full grown male.jpg   154.88KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...n male.jpg.html

 silhouette_resize.jpg   221.21KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...ouette.jpg.html

My anubias roots were struggling to be exposed to the water column because they were struggling against cladophora algae too tight to the root for me to remove by hand. I bought some algae dissolver and added a dosage recommended for 40 gallons to the 55 gallon tank. Well, there are a couple problems with that. The blackworms that I bought tonight didn't started spazzing out and twitching in response to the algaecide. So I did a 50% water change and the new worms seem fine now. But it gave me an idea, as follows:

If the blackworms all disappear in the next two or three days, I will know for sure that there are still leeches in the tank hunting them, so I'll remove the clams and assassin snails, double dose with the algae-cide, wait a week, do partial water changes, and restock with worms.

Oh, and I bought another light fixture. The cabomba had been leaning in towards the glass where the sunlight came in, so I thought they needed more light. The new bulbs have 6500 K and 3800 lumens. It's an identical light fixture to the other one, the 4 foot Lithonia light strip from Home Depot. I like it.

What kind of bulb did you find with 3800 lumens? What did you have to pay for it? I'm working with some plants too and looking for good solutions.

What kind of bulb did you find with 3800 lumens? What did you have to pay for it? I'm working with some plants too and looking for good solutions.

I bought it at Home Depot for $19.97.
Here's a link to the light fixture, the "Lithonia Lighting All Weather 4 Ft. 2 Light T8 Fluorescent Unit Shop light": http://www.homedepot...catalogId=10053
Image: http://www.homedepot...c3fa747_300.jpg
The bulbs there are these four foot long office-style bulbs that are $7 for two, and you get your choice of a whole range of lumens and K value. With tax and everything included, the whole setup of light fixture and bulbs cost just under $30.

Current picture of the tank:
 040resize.jpg   202.08KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...ze_001.jpg.html

Edit: The fish always hide whenever I get up and move around, so you can never see them in my photos of the whole tank. There are five male Elassoma gilberti, about a half dozen to a dozen females, and more than a dozen juveniles. There are also 11 neon tetras, which I have in there as dither fish but who I'm starting to think don't really encourage the Elassoma gilberti to go out in the open space because they just don't really, as a species, feel comfortable in open space. *shrugs* They come out when they dance.

Photo where you can see an Elassoma in the ceratophyllum: http://gallery.nanfa...ageViewsIndex=2 (scroll down)

Oh, also, these Elassoma gilberti are definitely day-time fish. I don't think I've mentioned that before. There are a few times when I've kept the light on at odd hours, but regardless of what I do to them (maybe it's because they're next to a window?), they always wake up when the sun rises and go to sleep when the sun sets. It's made more obvious in contrast to the neon tetras, who swim around in the tank regardless of time of day as long as the light's on.

Edited by EricaWieser, 11 March 2011 - 06:29 PM.

Oh, also, these Elassoma gilberti are definitely day-time fish. I don't think I've mentioned that before. There are a few times when I've kept the light on at odd hours, but regardless of what I do to them (maybe it's because they're next to a window?), they always wake up when the sun rises and go to sleep when the sun sets. It's made more obvious in contrast to the neon tetras, who swim around in the tank regardless of time of day as long as the light's on.

Video:


Caption:
Elassoma gilberti (gulf coast pygmy sunfish) strictly obey the rising and setting of the sun. The neon tetra dither fish will swim around in the tank regardless of time of day as long as the overhead light is turned on, but the Elassoma gilberti hide in the plants once the sun sets.

Edited by EricaWieser, 13 March 2011 - 06:38 PM.

One of the new males. Now I'm not sure how many males I have. It's at least five.
 087resizelongsmallerfile.jpg   164.86KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...zelong.jpg.html
 087resize.jpg   157.13KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...resize.jpg.html

Video:


Caption:
Elassoma gilberti (gulf coast pygmy sunfish) strictly obey the rising and setting of the sun. The neon tetra dither fish will swim around in the tank regardless of time of day as long as the overhead light is turned on, but the Elassoma gilberti hide in the plants once the sun sets.

Actually, I take it back. They're active at night. I deleted that video.

The blackworms are still there. Maybe they'll stick around this time.

Cool. Every now and then issues will come up, like the leeches. Nothing to fret about unless you are in Japan right now . Just deal with it and keep learning. All life, including us humans, has to deal with things like that sometimes.

*nods*

Update:
The neon tetras were nosing the ground today (they usually ignore the substrate) and this is the first day they haven't been interested in the flake food when I fed them, so it seems likely that they finally figured out how to eat blackworms. I removed them from the tank and put them in a different one. The blackworm population still looks good.

I realize that by putting 11 neon tetras in a well planted tank with blackworms and them removing them, I have accidentally followed the procedures recommended for spawning them. I'll keep an eye on the fry and see if any start turning into tetras. I'll also start looking for a different dither fish species. I'm still interested in Dario dario but they are very expensive.

Edit: As the water settles (after my escapades with a fish net, trying to catch the neon tetras), I am noticing a lot of very active Elassoma gilberti. I wonder if the neon tetras weren't scaring them into the plants? They could just be more active right now because they always are when the water's cloudy.
The gilberti were certainly more active when the neon tetras were first added but have of late been a bit scarce. Hmm. I think I'll watch them for a few days and see if they are more visible than they were the last few days the neon tetras were in the tank. It's difficult because whenever they see me move, they flee into the plants. Grr shy fish.

Edited by EricaWieser, 15 March 2011 - 06:08 PM.

Oh, also, the female that was removed to the 10 gallon tank because of suspicious bloat died about two days ago.

I think I'll watch them for a few days and see if they are more visible than they were the last few days the neon tetras were in the tank.

Yeah they are. It's only been a few hours, and already they are not hiding in the plants as much. I took some photos to test their skittish-ness and got ten shots, the sixth with flash, before the male decided to return to the recesses of the plants. This past week they'd been hiding as soon as they saw me. This is a change from that.

 flash.jpg   65.83KB   0 downloads  one fish two fish red fish.jpg   65.22KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa.../flash.jpg.html http://gallery.nanfa...d fish.jpg.html

Perhaps they live their lives in the plants and only come out to investigate when something has changed, like when fish are added or removed, or the water is cloudy. They're probably inquisitive. Or maybe the neon tetras had been nipping their fins (I notice the male in the picture has a nipped caudal tail. Neon tetras spend the majority of their time chasing one another around and beating one another up, it seems) and now that the tetras are gone, the Elassoma gilberti can emerge once more from hiding.

Edited by EricaWieser, 15 March 2011 - 08:51 PM.

Aww, the fry are exploring the whole tank now. This is the first time I've seen one of the two millimeter fry hanging out in the middle of an open patch of substrate away from the plants.

Aww, the fry are exploring the whole tank now. This is the first time I've seen one of the two millimeter fry hanging out in the middle of an open patch of substrate away from the plants.

Picture:
 baby Elassoma gilberti size reference versus Physa snail.jpg   154.64KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa... snail.jpg.html

Also, here is the color difference that female Elassoma gilberti sometimes get based upon their mood. There are two females in this photo, one light and one dark.
 Two female Elassoma gilberti crop resize.jpg   193.13KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...i crop.jpg.html

They are more active today than they were a few days ago. I'm watching the tank right now and one of the females is playing the nosing the glass game they do. Here, I'll take a video. *records video*



That's what I'm looking at right now.

Edited by EricaWieser, 17 March 2011 - 07:03 PM.

Photo of the tank during the day (taken today, in fact)
 tank as of March 20th 2011 resize.jpg   157.93KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...h 2011.jpg.html

Fish picture:
 Elassoma gilberti male March 20th 2011 crop with edges.jpg   235.66KB   0 downloads  Elassoma gilberti male March 20th 2011 full crop.jpg   208.17KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa... edges.jpg.html
http://gallery.nanfa...l crop.jpg.html

Everything's going pretty smoothly. I feed them crushed fish flakes a couple times a day, microworms when I remember (which is about every other day, even though I tell myself I should feed them microworms every day) and there are blackworms living in the substrate. Yup. That's about it.

 Elassoma gilberti male full color crop with edges resize.jpg   201.6KB   0 downloads
 Elassoma gilberti male profile resized.jpg   163.57KB   0 downloads
 Elassoma gilberti male clear resized crop.jpg   195.16KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...l size.jpg.html
http://gallery.nanfa...rofile.jpg.html
http://gallery.nanfa...d crop.jpg.html

The black one was chasing the clear one out of his territory.

Here's a photo of a male hunting blackworms. You can't tell from the picture, but he just ate one. The worms under him all fled underground just now, but the ones off to the right didn't feel his sudden movement and he's considering them as his next bite.
 Male Elassoma gilberti hunts blackworms resized crop.jpg   153.26KB   0 downloads
http://gallery.nanfa...d crop.jpg.html
Full zoom in: http://gallery.nanfa...l crop.jpg.html

Edited by EricaWieser, 21 March 2011 - 07:45 PM.