197 replies to this topic

[Doug_Dame]

Wick siphons !!!!  Genius !!!!. (Have a beer. The genius brand would be appropriate.)

[Matt DeLaVega]

That really is a great innovation when it comes to rearing small fry. I am tickled. Stake claim. Very American Currents worthy.

[centrarchid]

Will see what I can do. I had bigger dreams about how to breed and rear Pirate Perch in mass just did not have enough big females.  Actually had two very small females, so small I surprised male did not eat them.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Up until this pirate perch spawning has been mostly speculation, am I correct? You pull that off and fuse an aquaponic wick idea that can really make a difference with fish like this. It is genius like Doug said.

[centrarchid]

This third or fourth year with multiple Pirate Perch spawns each time.  It is easier than doing fatheads.

[centrarchid]

Fry getting bellies on them now.  They are getting close to big enough to rule out other fish species in photographs.  Before feeding, the overwhelming majority of fry stack up along wall at bottom of photograph.  They move very little except when after prey items.

 

 

[centrarchid]

Fry getting big enough to focus camera on.  They are also starting to get skittish.  They are really looking like Pirate Perch now.

 

[centrarchid]

Feed activity is becoming easier to see.  Vision does appear to be involved as with previous batches.  The fry snap in directions not straight ahead.  They are no longer getting big bellies on BS nauplii, so time to switch over to waterfleas.  The fry are approaching the lower size range I collect them when using dip nets.

 

Adults have been moved back into a conditioning tank that is warmer and where I can provide mosquito larvae and pupae.  This summer more effort will be invested in trying to get adults into good weight.  I had 100% survival of adults through breeding season.

[centrarchid]

Working to get image digitizing back up.  Made a sloppy fresh picture of a Pirate Perch fry April 2, 2019.

 

[JasonL]

This all seems like a pretty big deal to me. Publishable imo if you are so inclined.

[centrarchid]

Something changed with adults.  All getting plump as I have ever seen Pirate Perch outside just prior to breeding season.  Gray Tree Frogs are spawning in their tank almost every night.  No large tadpoles evident.

[centrarchid]

The young Pirate Perch I hatched out this year are fat as sin and pushing 2".  They are easily larger than most 1 year old fish acquired from source locality!  They appear obese.  I will try and catch one to see how eye diameter looks relative to overall size of fish.  I am betting eyes will look very small compared to wild caught fish of same size.

[mattknepley]

Fantastic about the fry! I assume the plumpness in the adults looks healthy.  

[centrarchid]

The fry are the 2" fish.  Adults are bigger.

[centrarchid]

Why is this thread getting so many views?  Is someone using it as part of a virus?

[Matt DeLaVega]

Probably a good bit from web crawlers like Googlebot, and other search engines.

[centrarchid]

No dirty words in title.

[mattknepley]

That really is a great innovation when it comes to rearing small fry. I am tickled. Stake claim. Very American Currents worthy.

Agree. Would be great for News.

[centrarchid]

Large tank with robust plankton culture is up and running. Almost age-1 breeders are putting on bellies. We either get spawns off in a week or we miss 2020. They are much larger than similar aged fish in streams. Getting plantkon bloom up was a challenge.

[centrarchid]

Poop for Your Morning Cola,

 

Fish acting like bats foraging in dark and roosting by day. Tank potentially large enough to detect home ranges if done on a small scale. There may be fidelity to roost sites.

 

Tank large enough to enable natural behavior and clear enough to allow seeing of what is going on. Three males are stacked in a corner getting sassy with each other. Females scattered about tank foraging putting on bellies. Males not feeding as much. A couple males are moving about like females. The three sassy males are the biggest fish in tank.

 

Will have to see if camera will work under such low light levels.