Friday, I treated myself to a female rainbow darter and 2 Redside dace(Clinostomus elongatus) for a Christmas present. These are the first Redsides I've kept, and I'm already enjoying them so much I just have to share it. What a great aquarium fish. They're active and enjoying the current in my 75 gallon. They've even sparked some energy back into my plump bigeye chubs. What's even better is that the time it took them to train onto frozen food was exactly zero, regardless of what increment of time you use to measure. Their color has actually increased since I've put them in the tank, although they displayed very little red upon capture at a water temp of 45F. These are such sharp looking fish, and wow, what a mouth. I did have to secure a better lid for the tank in case of a jumper as I've read that they're prone to doing. I actually had one jump out of the quarantine tank where I held them for a day. Fortunately I found it in time and it seems to be doing just fine. So far, I haven't noticed any attempts to jump from the 75. I'm thinking this may be because the current is on the bottom, but I'll keep a lid on it just in case. I originally had plans to put SRBD in this tank, as I know of a sure place to find them an hour and a half away. Later, though, I decided to try and make the tank more local to where I'm at and only include fish that I would be coming into contact with within a half hour of where I live. These Redsides have been a perfect addition to it. If anyone has any more information or interesting experiences with Redsides please contribute. I've read all the discussion on here regarding Redside dace, but there aren't a lot of them so I'm sure there's a few more folks out there that are keeping them or have kept them. I'll try to get some pictures of them within a few days. Thanks, and may all of your Redsides be merry and bright.

Steve.

Edited by frogwhacker, 25 December 2011 - 03:29 PM.

I've read all the discussions on here regarding Redside dace, but there aren't a lot of them so I'm sure there's a few more folks out there that are keeping them or have kept them.
Steve.

I broadened my search and found more posts and discussions about them. Still enjoying them. They're eating like there's no tomorrow. I've also been trying to get them to eat small crickets just for the fun of it, but they haven't been interested in that yet. Quite often I see them looking up. With the size of their mouths and position of their eyes, it seems like taking small bugs off top water would be natural. Has anyone else tried getting redside dace to take live food off top water? Thanks.

Steve.

Edited by frogwhacker, 26 December 2011 - 08:02 PM.

They're quite enjoyable fish to keep. I find that they're very easy to "saturate feed" where you target feed them first, get their greedy little mouths filled and then feed everyone else. They'll get some color to them now that you've warmed them up (which I think you've experienced). I find they need day light control to go nuclear and turberculate.

As for surface feeding, just make sure you've got your top sealed, because they will. It's their headwater stream adaptation, much like trout... They have the ability to feed on material that's coming from out of their system (allochthonous food sources).

My 100 gallon was open top with an 8" canopy around it. The halide lights would attract insects, and at times, I'd get some white fly infestations. They would jump. A lot. It was fun once I made provisions to assure they fell back into the tank

Todd

I'll be getting a few of these in a couple days, and this has got me really excited! They sound like great fish!

My 100 gallon was open top with an 8" canopy around it. The halide lights would attract insects, and at times, I'd get some white fly infestations. They would jump. A lot. It was fun once I made provisions to assure they fell back into the tank

Todd

That does sound like fun. I may have to looking into a set up like that to give them room to jump. I could be entertained by that for hours. So far they still aren't paying much attention to the crickets, but they're a lot of fun anyway. One of them is acting territorial, but I don't see any tubercles. They've been getting about 14 hours of light a day. Thanks for the info. and ideas.

Steve.

I'll be getting a few of these in a couple days, and this has got me really excited! They sound like great fish!

I think you'll really like them. It wasn't until I saw them in my tank that I could really appreciate the size of their mouths. They look like they could eat anything. I've seen them in streams and knew that their mouths were rather large, but I wasn't expecting these miniature little bright colored "Jaws". Let us know what you think when you get them. Thanks.

Steve.

So, I've had them for a little more than a week now, and I'm very impressed! Their coloration is wonderful, as is there personality. However, like veveryone else has said, a tight fitting cover is key! I had one jump out in the first 5 minutes! I put him back in and the next morning the same one was on the floor, dry as bone!

So, I've had them for a little more than a week now, and I'm very impressed! Their coloration is wonderful, as is there personality. However, like everyone else has said, a tight fitting cover is key! I had one jump out in the first 5 minutes! I put him back in and the next morning the same one was on the floor, dry as bone!

Ouch. Man, I hate to hear about that. How many do you have left?

After reading Todd's reply about the 8" netting and flies coming to the lights I've been thinking about creating an enclosed jumping area for them. Possibly some kind of a simple frame that's 8"-10" high covered with screen that sets on top the tank and then put the lights above it. Then I could turn loose some fruit flies or something for them to jump up and get without letting the flies escape into the house. I'll have to add some access flaps for feeding, tank cleaning and aerial photos. I'm not sure on the specifics of it yet, but I would like to fix up something that would enable me to enjoy their jumping abilities without having to worry about them taking the big leap.

Steve.

Ouch. Man, I hate to hear about that. How many do you have left?

After reading Todd's reply about the 8" netting and flies coming to the lights I've been thinking about creating an enclosed jumping area for them. Possibly some kind of a simple frame that's 8"-10" high covered with screen that sets on top the tank and then put the lights above it. Then I could turn loose some fruit flies or something for them to jump up and get without letting the flies escape into the house. I'll have to add some access flaps for feeding, tank cleaning and aerial photos. I'm not sure on the specifics of it yet, but I would like to fix up something that would enable me to enjoy their jumping abilities without having to worry about them taking the big leap.

Steve.

Only 2! As for the jumping area, If I were you I'd make a polycarbonate canopy so you can have a window in the front. Then you can just put screen and the lights on top.

Edited by Yeahson421, 09 January 2012 - 08:50 PM.

As for the jumping area, If I were you I'd make a polycarbonate canopy so you can have a window in the front. Then you can just put screen and the lights on top.

That would make for good viewing. I've got several ideas running through my head right now. When/if I get it done, I'll post something about it. It might be a month or two, or more. Thanks for the ideas.

Steve.

I think if I'm remembering right, Nativeplanter had a canopy setup that she once posted photos of.