4 replies to this topic

[Joshaeus]

Well...any ideas? I could be taking several substantial trips in the future and might not necessarily be able to bring the elassoma with me. Another fish forum suggested seeding live blackworms in the tank, but the tank is bare bottom (not to mention it lacks any kind of filter other than the plants and is about 2.5 gallons...I see the potential for trouble here). Do you think the average 'fishsitter' would be willing to just drop an eigth of a cube of frozen bloodworms in the tank daily or every other day? Thankx in advance!

[Dustin]

How long is "substantial"?  If no more than a week, feed them well for several days before and let them roll.  They will be fine.  Otherwise, live blackworms can live for some time and the pygmies will not be able to eat many each day.  Trusting someone else if a toss up.

[lilyea]

Well...any ideas? I could be taking several substantial trips in the future and might not necessarily be able to bring the elassoma with me. Another fish forum suggested seeding live blackworms in the tank, but the tank is bare bottom (not to mention it lacks any kind of filter other than the plants and is about 2.5 gallons...I see the potential for trouble here). Do you think the average 'fishsitter' would be willing to just drop an eigth of a cube of frozen bloodworms in the tank daily or every other day? Thankx in advance!

 

An approach that I have taken in the past is similar to the "seeding with live black worms idea" - I put some gravel or small lava rock on a small plate, terra cotta saucer, or something similar and then seeded the gravel with the live worms.  This probably won't be a sustainable approach, nor appropriate for a longterm scenario, but I noticed the fish picking at and around the gravel pile and it seemed to help them remain healthy over several days of my absence.

[Michael Wolfe]

I agree with Dustin... I have left my natives for a week with no food... darters don't do well, but others do just fine.

 

Another idea, would be to have live plants outside (like hornwort, or water lettuce) and bring them in and seed the tank with them and whatever live buggy things might be on them.

[Joshaeus]

Thankx all! I think I will combine a couple of these methods...in particular, I have realized that the average person would likely be willing to drop in a cube of frozen food as long as I provide disposable gloves (especially for frozen bloodworms).

 

Anyhow, just bought four E. evergladei from sachs yesterday, so now I am officially 1 day away from starting the pygmy sunfish 'adventure'. Here's the tank specs:

'Tank': 16 by 9.5 by 7.5H inches (a three gallon clear storage bin...there were no affordable fish tanks with the appropriate shape for this setup)

Aeration/filter; none (the shallow water should allow ample oxygen exchange, and this tank has a heap of plants...ammonia readings are currently zero)

Plants; Submerged plants include java moss and hornwort. There is also one pothos and one prayer plant growing emersed with their roots in the tank.

Lights; none (HOWEVER, this does get considerable amounts of light from my south facing window and from the 100 w equivalent daylight bulb used to light my room...from shadow tests, somewhere around 1000 footcandles/medium light. The hornwort and java moss should be getting somewhere around 150-300 footcandles after water reflection and the slightly non transparent exterior of the bin are counted, which is well within the growing range for low light plants).

Ferts; Fish food and waste (I am feeding this tank grindals and microworms every day except sunday...as soon as the elassoma arrive and recognize me as the food giver they will also get 1/8th to 1/4th a cube of frozen food at least a couple times a week). Further, I add CO2 to the tank by mixing equal parts (in this case, 1.5ml each) white vinegar and a baking soda mixture (with 1/8th teaspoon baking soda to 8ml distilled water) and using a pipette to quickly add the reacting mixture into the tank.

 

Hoping this goes well...I have thriving Parosphromenus 'sentang' licorice gouramies (which are a lot like pygmy sunfish in care, only trickier...need heaters, very clean, acidic, tannin stained water) in another tank and just discovered a growing fry a little over a week ago, so pygmy sunfish should be a snap.