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Elassoma okefenokee

Started by Guest_Erica Lyons_* , Jan 21 2014 10:46 AM

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79 replies to this topic

#61 Guest_Nativefishnic_*

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Posted 19 March 2014 - 12:27 PM

Wow your bucket tank did a great job. Congrats! How many elassoma okefenokee did you start off with?

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#62 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 19 March 2014 - 12:42 PM

Wow your bucket tank did a great job. Congrats! How many elassoma okefenokee did you start off with?

Here is a video of the three females and two males that were put into the bucket tank:

youtu.be/DlR8lDU3JuI

That was January 25th, so they spent almost two months in the bucket before I had to remove them because the bucket tank got overrun with cladophora and became solid. I could tell it had deteriorated and it was time to evacuate the fish, so on March 15th plus or minus a day I removed two adult males and seventy five larger fry, basically juveniles. The bucket tank is now empty. The seventy five larger, counted juveniles went in the 10 gallon with the older fry from month one, and an uncatchable ten to twenty ish small fry were poured into the 15 gallon tank with the very young fry in there.

I currently have:
10 gallon tank with the seventy five juveniles from the bucket and also the juveniles that were already in the tank from eleven adults being in there in from late January to late February
15 gallon tank with unknown number of smaller fry (the uncatchables from the bucket tank and the ones born in there from nine adults being in the tank from late February to mid March)
75 gallon tank with 11 adult elassoma okefenokee. I'll upload a video of them later. They are quite happy and are nosing up and down the front glass.

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#63 Guest_Nativefishnic_*

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Posted 20 March 2014 - 01:17 PM

That's great. What do you plan to do with all the fry?

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#64 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 20 March 2014 - 01:46 PM

Distribute them using aquabid.com. I hope they'll become more common among fishkeepers now that frozen bloodworms are stocked at Petsmart. I've also restarted my grindal worms and am documenting how to start a culture of them here: http://forum.nanfa.o...rindal-worms/

When flake food was all that was available, pygmy sunfish were 'expert' level fish. But now I like to think this fish isn't just limited to experts any more.

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#65 Guest_Nativefishnic_*

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Posted 20 March 2014 - 08:07 PM

Oh ok I think I just bid on some of yours.

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#66 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 01 April 2014 - 08:46 PM

Lowered the water level to temporarily remove the tanks and permanently attach the stand to the wall. I left it with only a few inches of water for a few days and they all came the surface. As I was adding an air pump, I took this picture. It's the 'count the fry!' game.

Posted Image

http://gallery.nanfa...enokee.jpg.html

I see 12.
They're growing

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#67 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 03 April 2014 - 12:00 AM

http://img.photobuck...zps086506f5.jpg

youtu.be/Rz5N86byLiA

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#68 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 03 April 2014 - 10:56 AM

I keep watching that video over and over. These juveniles are so cute.

It's nice how they're not afraid of the camera, or of me. Their parents are in the 75 gallon tank, and will play at the glass up until I walk up to the tank. Then they go hide in the plants, terrified. *shrugs*
Oh, and I shipped out over a dozen of these juveniles this morning, as I have several times this week. I think soon there will be many more people keeping these pygmy sunfish.

This evening I'm going to go pick up the other 10 and 15 gallon tanks for the four-tank-stand, now that it's secured to the wall. I like this four inches of water setup. It makes each tank a bucket tank.

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#69 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 05 April 2014 - 09:03 PM

Current video of the 75 gallon tank:
http://youtu.be/7rSPbxYqNvk

youtu.be/7rSPbxYqNvk

Photo of the tank stand, complete! It's screwed into the wall studs.
Posted Image

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#70 Guest_Doug_Dame_*

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Posted 06 April 2014 - 01:20 PM

Erica, what kind of bulb are you using in the reflector on Tank #2 in the rack ? I've used a variety of common CFLs in a similar way, but don't have a firm opinion how well that works for plants.

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#71 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 06 April 2014 - 01:48 PM

From top to bottom it's currently:
no light
Home Depot clamp light with 1600 (I think) lumen full spectrum compact fluorescent bulb
Home Depot 18" undercabinet light with full spectrum bulb
24" standard aquarium hood light (came with something else) with unknown bulb

The clamp light is by far the brightest, with 1600 lumens. It is my favorite. $9 for clamp light, $4 for bulb.

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#72 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 12 April 2014 - 05:03 PM

This is the first time these elassoma okefenokee juveniles have seen grindal worms. Unfortunately what with restarting the culture, I don't yet have enough to feed them twice a day like I should be right now. So I hope they make do with vinegar eels. Maybe they'll accept the thawed frozen bloodworms if I chop them up. I'll try that. But anyway, yes, here is their first reaction to grindal worms.

youtu.be/92v7PHSDYcg

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#73 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 15 April 2014 - 12:25 PM

These babies are fun to feed grindal worms because they look right at me when I walk up to the tank. It's the same look a dog gives you when you're holding food. I like these born-in-my-tank fish

The adults originally shipped to me are hiding somewhere in the 75.
Oh, I've shipped a lot of these juveniles away on aquabid, and am aroundabouts done now that I only have a few dozen fry left. The largest of these babies should start coloring up around a month from now, maybe? It'll be great to be able to get video and pictures of adults colored up in breeding dress, not afraid of me. Then maybe by July or August I'll have generation two

*evil furtive cackle* I will be selectively breeding them for more blue color. The least shy ones are already getting more food than the shyer ones, a form of selection on its own. I only add grindal worms to the closest half inch to the front glass.

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#74 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 07:37 PM

These babies are fun to feed grindal worms because they look right at me when I walk up to the tank. It's the same look a dog gives you when you're holding food. I like these born-in-my-tank fish

Here's a video:

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#75 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 26 April 2014 - 03:24 PM

First confirmed male! Look at the blue on his sides, this is a boy

http://img.photobuck...zps3ae733fd.jpg

Also, may I note that this was not the first photo taken, with flash? He a trooper, stayed right up in front although he dropped his dorsal and clamped his caudal to tell me he didn't like the flash. Oh, and he wasn't at the front glass pane until I walked up and dropped grindal worms in. What a good fish

Video of them taken just now:
http://youtu.be/H96St-A1AAw
youtu.be/H96St-A1AAw

I will let you all know when I see the first dance.

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#76 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 26 April 2014 - 09:06 PM

I wish I could raise snails like that

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#77 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 26 April 2014 - 09:50 PM

I wish I could stop raising snails like this. They eat the grindal worms I try to feed to the elassoma. In my L144 pleco breeding tank, I'll add a zucchini and then have to take it out and scrape the snails off three or so times before there's few enough snails in the tank for the plecos to get to the zucchini. I don't mind them aesthetically, but it's annoying when they eat food I've intended for the fish.

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#78 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 27 April 2014 - 07:43 AM

I know you like breeding, but you should dedicate one tank to some darters, just to observe, and to feed snails to... they would love you... and their personality would show that.

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

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#79 Guest_Erica Lyons_*

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Posted 27 April 2014 - 08:13 AM

Yeah. But I don't keep fish I can't breed, and I just don't have the room for multiple darter spawn tanks right now. I'm currently breeding 9 different types of fish and a shrimp species in seven tanks in my apartment's living room, so the no extra space excuse is legitimate. I do round up the snails for each monthly local club auction and take them to that. Somewhere out there there's a puffer, loach, darter, etc that's benefiting.