7 replies to this topic

[Darter keeper]

I ordered some of these guys from Zimmerman's a bit over a week ago & I gotta say they've already become one of-if not my favorite-s fish, They also seem to hold their color very well. (some red with very tiny small black Blotches and some black with the blotches like some have mentioned on other threads) They haven't jumped any since the first day. (one jumped to the top of the bag when I was acclimating them) But I do wish that I could provide them with more flow for them to play in without worrying about heating up the aquarium or lowering the water level much since it's starting to warm up (they like to swim against the "up draft" created by the air stones) and to end this off here's some pictures I tried to take of them tonight(with darters) (might be a bit blurry since they're almost constantly moving) https://imgur.com/a/tvxSBAD

[Michael Wolfe]

they do look nice... but remember they are small stream fishes and more flow means "I gotta make a run at that and jump to the next pool in this riffle pool system"  If you are not getting much jumping right now, I would stick with more bubbles and current that come from the bottom... you may have cracked the code to keeping them in the tank.

[Darter keeper]

I would stick with more bubbles and current that come from the bottom... you may have cracked the code to keeping them in the tank.

I might've already gone overkill with the stones... (4 stones & 2 20-60 gallon pumps) I did order a small air curtain to do some testing with but it probably won't arrive until 3 weeks from now. (maybe even longer sadly)

[Matt DeLaVega]

Great fish. I would suggest lowering water level a bit if you haven't. Seems when they start jumping, it catches on quickly. You may have no problem.

[Darter keeper]

Update: it's been exactly 2 months since I started this topic so I thought I'd give a update.

Everyone has been doing great, there has been no jumping out of the water'n hitting the lid. (they do sometimes jump right at the waters surface if they see the food before I have a chance to drop it down to them but that's it on "jumping") They have adapted very well to life in a aquarium but I did notice the other day that 3 of them have lost there black stripe & replaced it with a very light red (they still have speckles) so I'm curious is this temp related? Or just out of breeding coloration? Did my best to snap some pictures of them. (I'm leaning more towards temp) https://imgur.com/a/nQwpz1N

I'm thinking about making a video of me feeding them soon if only I could scrub this pesky green algae off (I've tried multiple times with a sponge but I just gave up)

[Matt DeLaVega]

Such awesome fish. Built for snatching up insects drifting in the current. It looks like non breeding coloration to me. So temperature and light cycle would play a big role. Diet can also contribute to coloration. Live foods are going to help RSD maintain color.

[Darter keeper]

Such awesome fish. Built for snatching up insects drifting in the current. It looks like non breeding coloration to me. So temperature and light cycle would play a big role. Diet can also contribute to coloration. Live foods are going to help RSD maintain color.

Thanks for the contribution to the topic. I thought it was temperature because I skimmed through all the images that I could find of redsides a few months back & none of them quite looked like that. (also the temp just spiked up into the 80s in the last day) I feed them at least one diced earthworm every other day & some blood worms every 2-4 day, (the majority of them go to the darters vai turkey baster) I've been thinking about feeding them some other live foods (flying insects) but I'm not exactly sure what else would be in my area that'd be ok or very nutritious for them.

[Darter keeper]

So I've been thinking about doing yearly updates on this topic. Alright so let's start off with I still have everyone (no one gets jumpy unless it's feeding time when my hand's less than a inch from the waters surface) and I have yet to see any neon red coloration but some do hold a brick red with black mottling. (think this might be purely due to the substrate coloration) Their current diet consist of bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, vibra bites, & chunks of earthworms, I'm thinking about getting a frozen flat pack of krill to try. (wish I could find it cubed) None look gravid as of yet but I'm fairly certain that I have a ratio of 3 males & 3 females. 25% water changes every 2 weeks with gravel cleanings monthly also been using colder water during spring but I am thinking about upping it to 30% occasionally. Image: https://ibb.co/wwdqz20

Edited by Darter keeper, 26 April 2021 - 03:20 PM.