Of my koi swordtail fry that are remaining (16 of them) 7 of them have curved spines.  What causes this?  Is there anything I can do to keep it from happening again with later batches?

Spring is here, my goldfish have survived their first winter outdoors, and surprisingly so have the gambusia!  There seem to be quite a few gambusia still around, which is cool.  I wasn't sure they would survive the winter, but they did.  The water temperature still isn't holding above 55*f, so no feeding yet, but soon:)  Once it is steadily warm, I may add a few small koi and I am very interesting in finding blue bitterlings.  I think I may decide against adding golden orfs, they seem more delicate and seem to need a very large pond to be happy.  I might also try zebra danios and white cloud minnows in the pond and see what happens with them.  I think if I have enough plant cover they will survive being eating by the goldfish and koi. 

I am going to also start breeding cory cats for sale to the local fish stores.  My blue rams are in demand and doing well.  The stores aren't having troubles with them, like they have with ones they ordered.  My acclimation to full tap water from half R/O, half tap seems to be working as there are very minimal losses in my tanks or at the stores.  Anyway, I want to add the cory cats as they are another high demand fish and I can raise the fry in the same tanks as the ram fry and they will help eat up any food the baby rams miss.  This of course means adding more tanks to hold the breeding adults, which means more water changes, but all well. 

For cory species, I think I am going to use albino corydoras aeneus, corydoras paleatus, and corydoras panda.  These seem to be the most popular types around here.  If I ever find dwarf corys I will probably try them as well (corydoras hasbrosus or corydoras pygmaeus), just because I like them.  I will set up three 15 gallon tanks to house the breeding groups and keep them similar to my breeding groups of blue rams.  My only dilema here is that they adhere their eggs to surfaces, including the glass of the tank.  Trying to get the eggs off of the glass would be a bit hard to do without damaging them.  Any ideas? 

 

 

Picture credits:elpono_njg, Whisper Photography

As of midnight last night, just 6 weeks after the last batch of Convict fry, the parents have laid eggs again inside a sea shell in the 55 gallon.  The parents had only been in the new tank 6 days!  They are prolific.  I will post a picture of the shell with the eggs inside.

Allow me to introduce myself:  I have been keeping fish for most of 37 years.  I have never owned saltwater fish - though have said "Some day".  However, I have kept most every kind of freshwater.  I prefer the Cichlids.  Right now I have four tanks running.  A little 5 gallon Eclipse acrylic tank on the kitchen cuonter with some 6 week old Convict babies; a 54 gallon acrylic double hex that is joined by two 4 inch diameter tubes between the hexes; a 50 gallon with a pair of mated Red Devils; and a 55 gallon with the parental Convicts who are prolific, and some Zebra Danios as dither fish! 

I enjoy live plants and currently have 10 varieties in the double hex wheresome dozen  6 month old Convicts reside with a couple of Tetras.   I enjoy surfing the net and talking with other fishkeepers from all over the world.  I truly enjoy ging to the fish auctions at the local clubs with my girlfriend, and my youngest daughter. 

A month or so ago, we set up a 10 gallon with some 6 month old Convicts and live plants at her house.  She truly enjoys watching them, and nothing could make me happier than to see her enjoyment. 

I live in Michigan, and look forward to the comraderie of local fishkeepers and the clubs. 

Recently, I set up the 55 gallon and moved the Convict parents into their new home after seeding it with water and gravel from their old home the 50.  They are doing fine after almost two weeks.  However, I am thinking of eliminating the Red Devils and placing small friendly schooling fish or African Cichlids in the 50 gallown, which is on the same stand as the 55. 

So, I am enthused about meeting others here, maybe see some familiar faces from FishChannel.com or other forums. 

Drop me a line anytime as I would be glad to "talk".

Best Wishes for the Fishes!

I did a water change on my 29 gallon display tank and some of my crypts melted!  I didn't do any bigger than normal of a water changes, so I'm not sure why they melted.  Will they grow back? 

Any 1 have any suggestions for cool looking easy-to-care-for beginner fish? I have 4 guppies and 2 tadpoles and one crawdad.... and also of any cool aquarium catalogs {besides foster and smith}

 

When I switch my tank over to discus I will need a creature to eat hair algae for me.  I usually use siamese algae eaters when I get a hair algae invasion, however they are very active and would not be a good mix with discus.  I knkow that amano shrimp will eat hair algae some and was wondering if they would do OK in the tank conditions that discus need (high temps and lower pH, soft water).  I know that the discus will eat some of the shrimp, but I have had amanos in with angelfish before and most of them figured out how to survive. 

anybody know why 2 of my 3 balloon mollies would have it in for the 3rd molly? my black female and white male have decided that they no longer want to get along with my orange female. when she gets close to them they both dart at her and bang off of her sides and appear to be trying to nip her as well. she seems undetered and continues to try to stay near them, only to always be chased off again. would adding another female balloon molly add to the chaos or help alleviate it? please help!