24 replies to this topic

[Ken]

A couple pictures of my Etheostoma variatum (variegate darter). I wanted to show the video of them spawning but it was to large of a file.....  This was the first time I had actually watched them spawn. 

Attached Files

•  027.JPG   93.48KB   6 downloads
•  018.JPG   151.26KB   3 downloads

[Chasmodes]

Beautiful! 

[gerald]

Nice! have you managed to hatch and raise any?  Are they recently caught or have you had them a long time?  If they're long-time captives, did they spend the winter at room temp, or do you have a cold place to keep them during winter?  Just curious as to which darter species can breed in captivity without significant winter chilling.

[Michael Wolfe]

Ken, you shod load your video to YouTube or Vimeo. These allow you to easily paste the link into the forum and the video show up here automatically. Contact me on email if you need help.

[Ken]

Gerald, to answer your questions: "Nice! have you managed to hatch and raise any?" Not yet. Keeping my fingers crossed. " Are they recently caught or have you had them a long time?" I've had them since March of last year.  "If they're long-time captives, did they spend the winter at room temp, or do you have a cold place to keep them during winter?" They got down to the high 30's briefly but spent most of the winter in the low 40's. 

 

Michael, not sure how to do that. Do I need to sign up for those?

 

On another note; just walked by my Headwater darter (Etheostoma lawrencei) fry tank and some movement caught my eye. Couldn't get an accurate count because of the debri in the tank and because I have let algae grow a film on the glass. Counted six on top of the sponge filter and six up near the front of the glass. plus the was some movement at the bottom rear of the tank but I couldn't see well enough.

[Mysteryman]

Nifty! Those are bigger than I would have guessed.

[mattknepley]

Very cool! Best of luck with the fry!

[Josh Blaylock]

Lookin good!

[Ken]

Here's the video of them spawning.... I hope this works...

 

[Cu455]

You put the link in between [.video.] LINK [./.video] . Remove the periods in the brackets. I had to put them there so the program doesn't read is as a command.

If you quote this post you will see how I did it. Very cool video.

Edited by Cu455, 04 May 2015 - 02:11 PM.

[Michael Wolfe]

Here's the video of them spawning.... I hope this works...

 

_https://vimeo.com/126763861_

 

 

You put the link in between [.video.] LINK [./.video] . Remove the periods in the brackets. I had to put them there so the program doesn't read is as a command.

If you quote this post you will see how I did it. Very cool video.


_https://vimeo.com/126763861_

 

Ken, I edited your original post and just put the url in (as you can see above) and it automatically put it in as the actual video.  Not sure why it didnt work for you.  It does also work the way Cu455 did it. (NOTE: I added the underscores before and after the url to make them show as text in the quoted post)

[Sean Phillips]

Awesome fish! I have a beautiful pair but they're both fairly skittish so it's hard to get a good prolonged look at either of them. How did you get that tank to that low of a temp, just a really cold basement?

[Ken]

Thanks for the help guys. Yes Sean. When we remodeled the basement we set the fishroom up to take a cold period though I also use a chiller.

[Ken]

Still haven't seen any fry.... though I'm not giving up on them yet. I amy just be overlooking them....

[Todd]

Ken,

 

Your varigates are awesome!

 

I have on variegate darter in a stream community tank.  I can't seem to get him to eat.  Every other fish I have in there started taking PE Mysis within a few days.  The variegate has been in there about a month and is starting to get skinny.  Otherwise he looks and acts healthy other than he won't eat.  He gets active when I feed the tank but I have never actually seen him eat. 

 

Any tips you are willing to give would be greatly appreciated.

[littlen]

Todd, are you offering anything other than mysis?  Although all the darters I've brought home eventually start eating mysis, they seem to mostly ignore it the first few weeks.  Especially if bloodworms and/or blackworms are offered.  Have you tried either of those?  I've never met a darter who could refuse a live blackworm.

I've never kept Varigates.....are they snail specialists?  Perhaps a few tasty pond snails would be appetizing.

[Casper]

Earthworms.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Adults often do not seem to acclimate well.

[Todd]

He is pretty small for a variegate.  He is not as big as my rainbow or orange throat adults so I don't think he is quite an adult yet. 

 

I have tried PE Mysis, hikari Mysis, brine shrimp, various flakes(SRBD foods), dried and frozen bloodworms. 

 

It seems as if he knows there is food in the water because he gets active but he just does not seem to recognize anything as food. 

[gerald]

Sounds like he really needs LIVE food (blackworms, earthworms, mosquitos, amphipods), at least  for awhile until he regains some weight.  You may be able to train him onto frozen foods later, but he's not going for them now and will most likely die if you dont try live foods.  Also, you may need to isolate him from the other fish for awhile so he can get his fill.  He probably cant eat as fast as the other species in the tank.   This is a common challenge with darters.