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Post by Mark~N on Oct 9, 2015 21:55:20 GMT -6
Last few days my Mellis females were really busy pumping out eggs. Collected over a 100 with 1 or 2 infertile. It's been non stop since adding a lot of black mosquito larvae to their diet. Time to setup another tank 
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Post by dave pauls on Oct 10, 2015 4:41:50 GMT -6
Wow, that's crazy! I've never heard of pseudomugils being that productive. You need to write an article on rainbowfish diets.
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Post by rainbowfish on Oct 11, 2015 9:37:00 GMT -6
Dave that's not that unheard of. I've talked about that before with tenellus and feeding them live daphnia. Mark are you feeding live mosquito larva or still the frozen? Live is always better than frozen but in a pinch and certainly the mossy larva holds together quite nicely frozen. Daphnia on the other hand does not hold up well to freezing and all you end up really feeding is a shell. Frozen daphnia not worth the effort. Also chopped blackworms will work. Don't feed whole ones though. I'm pretty sure that I've recently lost two female mellis to feeding whole blackworms and they got compacted and died. Since refraining from that practice I haven't lost any.
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Post by Mark~N on Oct 11, 2015 14:12:58 GMT -6
Right now the frozen black mossy larvae.as well as hikari frozen bloodworms.daphnia and baby brine for live foods at the moment..Gary. Where do you get clean live larvae? They are able to take the hikari bloodworms whole as all the other pseudo's can. they are a lot smaller than other brands. I am thinking of putting a colony out in the pond next year. |
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Post by Mark~N on Oct 11, 2015 20:00:51 GMT -6
The breeding colony.Consists of 5 males and 7 females
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Post by rainbowfish on Oct 11, 2015 22:09:21 GMT -6
Live larva? I'm guessing you mean mosquito? Just put out some water from early spring to late fall. Make it a little scuzzy by adding some powdered milk and they'll be there. I don't actually do it on purpose as I get yelled at when that happens in the pond outside. But when it does then we do a big harvest then add the BT mosquito dunk which kills all of the larva w/o harming anything else in the pond (like live daphnia). But if you have a bit of land you can put out a bucket away from the house and have lots of mossies. Live blackworms go to Eastern aquatics, buy 1-2 lb at a time ~ $25/lb. I guess I'll have to try the Hikari bloodworms again. A while back they were selling worms that were really big. I didn't like their stuff as much as it was way more water than other brands. But small tasty foods (that Pseudomugils like) is worth the extra trouble. I see that Foster and Smith sells a 1 lb pack of "regular" and also now "jumbo" bloodworms so if you buy them there make sure you get the small ones I guess. F&S has $25 shipping for as much frozen foods as you care to buy. Pond, with no other rainbowfish is a good idea. I don't think the Aussies ever actively breed this fish, they just put them out in ponds and wait for the fry to happen :-). They've got a really long warm period too though.
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Post by Mark~N on Oct 12, 2015 8:03:10 GMT -6
My mistake. I thought you could buy it somewhere. Yes I have collected live larva before outside. I stopped when some neighbors where complaining about the mosquito conditions and ordered spray by's.I am not sure that is why I kept finding dead birds in my pond this year or not.So I was a little hesitant on collecting some this year. Will try next year as the pond is great for daphnia culture as well.75gal kidney and gets real soupy green. Will also try setting up a tub way out back down the trail away from human interference.I just need to be careful. Ken sells Hikari sells 2 sizes jumbo and regular. The regular any Pseudomugils you have will take it whole.As well as small juvs of med-larger bows.I get 8 Packs at a time.$25 shipping at $8.79 a 1lb flat. Cheaper if he lets me pick them up.I did try his frozen black worms. Better live though. Agree frozen daphnia is useless.No fish will take it I have. I will have to get more blackworms soon. So expensive with the minimum order. |
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Post by silver0122 on Oct 13, 2015 17:10:32 GMT -6
I got my frozen hikari from petsolutions. 19.99 shipping and they usually have a coupon code. I tried to stop by kens several times but they never got back to me...
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Post by rainbowbratt on Oct 13, 2015 19:15:37 GMT -6
Thanks silver. I've never used their website before, but looks good. 
Talking about mosquitos....always reminds me of bringing the fish in from the ponds in a rush one year because the weather turned cold fast. It rained a chilly drizzle on us for hours, while netting the fish by flashlight lol....left the fish in big tubs in the fishroom overnight because we were exhausted and cold. Woke up the next morning to the fishroom full of mosquitos!!
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Post by Mark~N on Oct 14, 2015 6:01:55 GMT -6
I don't think Petsolutions sells the 1lb flats of hikari.Only the cubes I ever saw there.
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Post by silver0122 on Oct 14, 2015 7:19:06 GMT -6
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Post by Mark~N on Oct 14, 2015 9:21:47 GMT -6
shipping a little cheaper.Still $1.70 cheaper a flat from Ken.Let's hope Ken keeps his prices where they're at
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Post by Mark~N on Nov 8, 2015 8:50:53 GMT -6
So I decided to get a couple outdoors tubs ready and breed my Honey's outdoors. I will be moving a group outside come spring. I want to mimic what Leo O'Reilly has done with his Mellis.I read through a great article he did in InStream Magazine. Thank you Adrian!...Mainly to see what the difference is from indoor/outdoor raisings. Obviously water, feedings will be opposite to start with seeing they will be getting mainly live foods outdoors.My plan is to record any and all data possible from spring to fall to have comparative results from my few years of only breeding tank raised specimens.(Temperature dependent).Things I will be interested in observing are any noticeable differences in fins~(Length or extension growth).Body~ longer or sleeker?.Temp swings And of course M/FM ratio. Also. The difference between raising fry outdoors compared to tank raised. I have 2- 40gal (151L) black oval tubs
I will be drilling holes as Leo did along the top edge and glueing fabric screen over the holes to prevent fry and eggs from being washed out during rain overflows.1 tub for a group of 10-12 males and 15-20 females.? I may change this number. (I will consult with Leo and Adrian .).I plan to remove fry at intervals and raise in identical tubs side by side. Both tubs will have a fair amount of plants. Floating lilies and moss mainly. Along with floating mops. May add some frog bit. Will be positioned to receive at minimum a half day of sunlight.Greenwater should be present as it always is in my large outdoor waterfall pond. Too much turbulence for the Mellis.It will be good to compare water parameters also as I test throughout the summer months. Leo I think is planning some indoor breeding with his Mellis so it will be great to compare results next year. Adrian, I could not find an article on another forum showing your breeding results through the years when you kept them. I thought I saved it but, did not.If possible could you post that here for more comparative information come time?. Thanks! |
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Post by Chelmon on Nov 8, 2015 23:52:23 GMT -6
Breeding Trial - November 1991: Setup 1♂, 2♀
Spawning Tank: pH 7.4-7.8; Temp. 24-29° (room temperature); TDS 235 ppm, Hardness 120 ppm; Alkalinity 62.5 ppm.
Raising Tank: pH 7.4-7.8; Temp. 28°C (heated); TDS 335 ppm; Hardness 160 ppm; Alkalinity 75 ppm.
Tap Water: pH 7.4; TDS 220 ppm; Hardness 110 ppm; Alkalinity 75 ppm.
Nov 3 – 3 eggs
Nov 4 – 8 eggs
Nov 5 – 12 eggs (afternoon spawning)
Nov 6 – 8 eggs (afternoon spawning)
Nov 7 – Nil
Nov 8 – 8 eggs
Nov 9 – Nil
Nov 10 – 8 eggs
Nov 11 – 7 eggs (afternoon spawning)
Nov 12 – 2 eggs
[Changed male – male thought to be infertile?]
Nov 13 – 3 eggs
Nov 14 – 1 egg
Nov 15 – Nil
Nov 16 – 2 eggs
Nov 17 – Nil
Eggs seem to be greatly affected by fungus. 25 drops of Methylene blue added to 4 litre hatching container seemed to work. Previously only 12 drops were added!
Changed ‘new’ fish = 3 ♂ and 2 ♀
Nov 18 – 2 eggs
Nov 19 – Nil
Nov 20 – 1 egg
Nov 21 – 5 eggs
Nov 22 – Nil
Nov 23 – Nil
Nov 24 – Nil
Nov 25 – Nil
Nov 26 – 2 eggs
Nov 27 – 5 eggs, 6 fry
Nov 28 – 2 eggs
Nov 29 – 3 eggs, 3 fry
Nov 30 – 1 egg, 1 fry
Dec 1 – Nil
Dec 2 – 1 egg
Dec 3 – 1 fry
Dec 4 – 1 fry
Dec 5 – 2 eggs, 2 fry
Dec 6 – 3 eggs, 2 fry
Dec 7 – 3 eggs, 3 fry
Dec 8 – 4 eggs, 1 fry
Dec 9 – 6 eggs
Dec 10 – 1 egg
Dec 11 – Nil
Dec 12 – Nil
Dec 13 – 1 egg, 2 fry
Dec 14 – Nil
Dec 15 – 2 eggs, 1 fry
Dec 16 – 4 fry
Dec 17 – 3 eggs, 4 fry
Dec 18 – 3 eggs, 1 fry
Dec 19 – 2 eggs
Dec 20 – Nil
Dec 21 – Nil
Dec 22 – Nil
Dec 23 – 3 fry
Dec 24 – 4 eggs
Dec 25 – 4 eggs, 1 fry
Dec 26 – 5 eggs, 3 fry
Dec 27 – 1 fry
Dec 28 – Nil (end of spawning trial)
Dec 29 – 1 fry
Dec 30 – Nil
Dec 31 – Nil
Jan 1 – Nil
Jan 2 – 3 fry
Jan 3 – 5 fry
Jan 4 – 3 fry
Total fry = 52 fry from 128 eggs.
Hatching 8-9 days @ 28-30°C (heated)
Is this the one you mean?
Adrian
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Post by Chelmon on Nov 8, 2015 23:56:20 GMT -6
This was another one:
March 1994: Collecting eggs (4 Males/8 Females)
Water tested in breeding tank pH 7.5-7.6, Temperature 24°C (08.30 am), Hardness 210 ppm, Alkalinity 100 ppm.
pH of fry raising tub (26.3.94) = 6.8.
March 18 – 10 eggs
March 19 – 19 eggs
March 19 – 3 fry hatched
March 20 – 20 eggs
March 20 – 3 fry hatched
March 21 – 3 fry hatched
March 22 – 15 eggs
March 22 – 1 hatched
March 22 – 7 fry surviving
March 23 – 22 eggs
March 23 – 2 fry hatched
March 24 – 17 eggs
March 25 – nothing
March 26 – 12 eggs
March 26 – 2 fry hatched
March 27 – 17 eggs
March 27 – 11 fry hatched
March 28 – 8 fry hatched
March 29 – 5 eggs
March 30 – 16 eggs
At that time I received wild-caught Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis and most of my attention over the following months was directed to them. On April 25 I setup 2 males and 4 females for breeding - by May 25 I had 79 juveniles. I was also breeding Pseudomugil connieae at the time.
Adrian
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