Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Elassoma Gilberti

Started by Guest_Okiimiru_* , Aug 22 2010 01:19 PM

«
Prev

Next
»

This topic is locked

1023 replies to this topic

#961 Guest_gnod_*

Guests

Posted 29 September 2012 - 09:17 PM

I just checked my old neglected culture -- there's still a few live, so I added water and fed it. In a week or so we'll see if the Philodina bloom again and I can send you some. If you want a pure culture get it from a Bio Supply house like Carolina Biological. Mine has all sorts of other "bugs" including Harpacticoid copepods, which are smaller than Cyclops and coexist with rotifers.

ooo! that would be awesome! would it be basically a guarantee that my fry would eat these? or should I try to culture infusoria?

BTW. I'm happy to say that I acquired some of these beauties.

:D:D:D:D
on its way and should arrive Monday. Spoke with the aquabid seller from Florida - real nice person.

Edited by gnod, 29 September 2012 - 09:24 PM.

Back to top

#962 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 29 September 2012 - 10:36 PM

BTW. I'm happy to say that I acquired some of these beauties. :D:D:D
on its way and should arrive Monday. Spoke with the aquabid seller from Florida - real nice person.

Cool, start a new thread when they do. It'll be neat for me to follow someone else's tank of Elassoma

I still recommend grindal worms on top of whatever other cultures you grow. And remember that if everything everything fails, the frozen bloodworms at the big chain pet stores that are $5 for 30 frozen cubes work, too. Don't let them starve.

Back to top

#963 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 04 October 2012 - 07:17 AM

My adult fish in the 10 gallon tank still aren't colored up and spawning. I don't know why. About a week ago I decreased the current, but apparently that wasn't it, because they still aren't colorful. Maybe they're just old; today I found a big old dead female.

They are from 2010-11, so it is approaching the end of their lifespan. But they were dancing in the 55.

I added some salt crust from my marine tank and a handful of crushed coral. (the reasoning being that they bred just fine in my 16-20 DH tank). I'm going to pick up some frozen blood worms and start mixing up their diet, too.

Back to top

#964 Guest_Auban_*

Guests

Posted 04 October 2012 - 04:41 PM

try not feeding them for a week or so. my gilbertis started coloring up almost immediately after i set the tank back up when i got to california. they went about 8 days without any feeding at all, and then were fed all the food they could eat.

i have only been here for three weeks and they have already spawned at least twice for me.

Back to top

#965 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 04 October 2012 - 07:40 PM

try not feeding them for a week or so. my gilbertis started coloring up almost immediately after i set the tank back up when i got to california. they went about 8 days without any feeding at all, and then were fed all the food they could eat.

i have only been here for three weeks and they have already spawned at least twice for me.

Hmm, interesting. Thank you for the suggestion

I'm going to try it. I'll give them a few days to recover from their change in water hardness, and then it's no food for them for a week. Poor fishies.

Edited by EricaWieser, 04 October 2012 - 07:42 PM.

Back to top

#966 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 05 October 2012 - 07:17 AM

I found a dead male today. I looked in the tank and all I see are three females. I can't find any fish in the 55 gallon tank. I think that might be it for me for Elassoma gilberti breeding. It's unfortunate timing, what with the American Currents article I wrote on how to breed them coming out soon, but it definitely emphasizes my point. Pygmy sunfish have short lifespans. They live fast, they party hard, and they die fast. If you're not breeding them, soon you won't have any left. The lack of the production of fry and the inability of fry to reach adulthood are serious problems.

It's sad. Maybe I'll get more some day. When I do I'll use the two tank setup method, because there's definitely something about leaving fry in the tank with their parents that can in the wrong setup prevent fry from making it to adulthood.

Edited by EricaWieser, 05 October 2012 - 07:24 AM.

Back to top

#967 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 05 October 2012 - 09:04 AM

Don;t give upi yet. You know how well they hide. And I can tell you that I had a crash that I thought ended my population, and then found a group of young that survived... so keep feeding your tanks and hold on a bit and maybe they are still in there. I mean, heck, there are some people out there that will tell you they are annuals and that all the adults die off every year...

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

Back to top

#968 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 05 October 2012 - 11:23 PM

I chopped down all the plants in the 55 gallon tank and replanted everything. There are officially no Elassoma gilberti males left.

The people who say that Elassoma gilberti are annuals and that all the adults die off every year might be onto something. Thinking of them like that would spur you to keep them breeding and would help you keep your population going. It's a good mindset.

Back to top

#969 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 30 October 2012 - 11:30 PM

Here is a link to the Fish In Focus article I wrote on Elassoma gilberti: http://www.nanfa.org...Egilberti.shtml

Mine have all passed away. I guess the lesson to be learned from that is to keep your Elassoma gilberti breeding. They have a one to two year life span and if there haven't been new fry and juveniles recently, there's a problem, and soon you'll have no fish left. That's why it's worth your time to put these fish in a bigger tank as opposed to a tiny 5 or 10 galllon, to get multiple males holding territories and courting females at once. Keeping pygmy sunfish is more about keeping a colony going than keeping any one individual fish.

Back to top

#970 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 16 December 2012 - 10:53 PM

!

I turned the lights on in the 10 gallon tank after lights off to take a picture of the plants. The fish were all sleeping. I knew there were female Elassoma gilberti in this tank:
(bottom right fish is a female, see her brown mottled stripes)
Posted Image

but what I didn't expect to see was this!
Posted Image

*minor swearing and dancing up and down*

that's a MALE! He had a darkened dorsal fin seconds before that picture was taken.

I am removing the guppies from that tank RIGHT NOW and this time, I'm feeding them a mixed diet, not just grindal worms. I don't care if the blood worms are expensive, I missed my Elassoma gilberti. *sniffles*

Edited by EricaWieser, 16 December 2012 - 10:53 PM.

Back to top

#971 Guest_danawhicker_*

Guests

Posted 18 December 2012 - 09:11 AM

Congrats! I was pretty bummed when it looked like your breeding stock of elassoma had fizzled out.

Back to top

#972 Guest_don212_*

Guests

Posted 19 December 2012 - 07:44 PM

i like what your doing except if your lights are suspended on tape a disaster is likely, i made a hood from an old plastic sign

Back to top

#973 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 20 December 2012 - 02:00 AM

if your lights are suspended on tape a disaster is likely

It's packing tape; several inches wide and stronger than your average tape. It's been set up for over a year now without any problems.

Back to top

#974 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 20 December 2012 - 02:01 AM

I haven't seen the Elassoma, not even one of them, since I evacuated the guppies from the tank. If I didn't know for sure they were in there I'd say the tank was empty. They're very good at hiding.

Back to top

#975 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2012 - 07:28 PM

I added nearly a pound of live blackworms to their 10 gallon tank just now.

Back to top

#976 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2013 - 07:01 PM

Discovered a dead Elassoma gilberti. I think the male's the last fish in the tank. If so, my colony died out.

Edited by EricaWieser, 01 January 2013 - 07:01 PM.

Back to top

#977 Guest_Auban_*

Guests

Posted 01 January 2013 - 11:37 PM

I added nearly a pound of live blackworms to their 10 gallon tank just now.

think it might have been a bit too much? a pound of animal mass is a lot for a ten gallon...

Back to top

#978 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 02 January 2013 - 11:01 PM

think it might have been a bit too much? a pound of animal mass is a lot for a ten gallon...

Eh, there weren't even enough worms to cover half the bottom of the tank. And they're all still alive. Blackworms don't rot; they stay alive and turn the soil.

I think they just like getting my hopes up and then dying. *shrugs* It was a good run.

Edited by EricaWieser, 02 January 2013 - 11:45 PM.

Back to top

#979 Guest_EricaWieser_*

Guests

Posted 09 January 2013 - 07:35 PM

Found this:
Posted Image

http://gallery.nanfa...06_004.JPG.html

I think he's the last fish in the tank. I counted two corpses, too.

Back to top

#980 Guest_Auban_*

Guests

Posted 09 January 2013 - 07:57 PM

think there might be fry in the tank somwhere? with those fish, i wouldnt be the least bit surprised. the fry hide so well i have waited weeks before actually seeing them in a grow-out tank.