should be arriving today…will be trying a handful each of the blind cave fish, and the 1st of the Tequila Goodeids, are coming on the same shipment… since the tequila’s are not available as often, I went with them 1st, before the Ameca splendens
spring has sprung… time for a few more fish… Astyanax mexicanus, Zoogoneticus tequila
- Thread starter Magnum Man
- Start date
I'm waiting for my next new fish. Should be warm enough here within a month. The fish I'm hoping for are probably still busy feeding and ducking predators somewhere in Africa, though I'll also go for a few killie eggs from European breeders.
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I’m a bit confused with a couple of on line tips, for the tequilas…
“It prefers mineral-rich, alkaline conditions.”
I can easily do that…
“Botanicals: Indian almond leaves or alder cones may help promote biofilm and offer refuge for fry”
I can easily do that…
but I generally do not add driftwood, or a lot of botanicals, to my hard water tanks, but always have plants growing out of the tanks… as far as cover for fry, I’ve been using river pebbles, I find them pretty effective for fry hide outs… maybe I should try adding a few, as my base well water is rock hard and alkaline, I’m sure those items are not going to drop my ph, I just seems counter intuitive… I have a big bundle of almond leaves here…
“It prefers mineral-rich, alkaline conditions.”
I can easily do that…
“Botanicals: Indian almond leaves or alder cones may help promote biofilm and offer refuge for fry”
I can easily do that…
but I generally do not add driftwood, or a lot of botanicals, to my hard water tanks, but always have plants growing out of the tanks… as far as cover for fry, I’ve been using river pebbles, I find them pretty effective for fry hide outs… maybe I should try adding a few, as my base well water is rock hard and alkaline, I’m sure those items are not going to drop my ph, I just seems counter intuitive… I have a big bundle of almond leaves here…
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I kept tequilas for several generations, so I learned a bit about keeping them. I never added botanicals, though I did harden my water. I would never keep them with Amecas (which I also had for many years, back when the tapwater I had was hard), because such a threatened fish should be bred and distributed. You won't get fry survival in a community tank. Moving females out would be dangerous to them.
You and I have different fishkeeping philosophies when it comes to single species set ups versus communities.
You won't have to worry about fry, though mine got their biofilm off terrestrial plant roots in the wood, as you already have. I went with sensible Goodeid lore to avoid a protein rich diet, as Goodieds provide nutrition in the womb, and as a group adapted to lower protein diets, high protein is said to cause oversized babies and high death rates during fry drops. Z tequila babies are a good size.
My tanks had some wood, just because I had it and it looked good, hard, mineral rich water, plants with tough leaves like java ferns and Anubias barteri, no heaters and moving water. I had tequilas for about ten years, until the line became infertile.
You and I have different fishkeeping philosophies when it comes to single species set ups versus communities.
You won't have to worry about fry, though mine got their biofilm off terrestrial plant roots in the wood, as you already have. I went with sensible Goodeid lore to avoid a protein rich diet, as Goodieds provide nutrition in the womb, and as a group adapted to lower protein diets, high protein is said to cause oversized babies and high death rates during fry drops. Z tequila babies are a good size.
My tanks had some wood, just because I had it and it looked good, hard, mineral rich water, plants with tough leaves like java ferns and Anubias barteri, no heaters and moving water. I had tequilas for about ten years, until the line became infertile.
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I do like my community tanks… but with my rio swords, that tank has become almost all about the swords… if the tequilas are doing well, this tank might be all about them as well…
I’m hoping with the right habitat that some fry can survive in the tank, without removing the females…
the Amecas, are a back up, as they sound like they are less likely to eat their babies…
I’m hoping with the right habitat that some fry can survive in the tank, without removing the females…
the Amecas, are a back up, as they sound like they are less likely to eat their babies…
None of my Goodeids really went for their young in decent sized tanks. In too small a tank, things go weird for all livebearers. If I removed tequila females, it was always early in the process when they were just gravid. They'd get their own tanks then. Moving them when they were heavy with young isn't a good idea.
I never reached the expertise of someone like @emeraldking , but I had a number of years when my fishroom was Xiphophorus, Poecilia, Goodeids and then softwater killies and dwarf Cichlids in another section. They aren't all as predictable as guppies, and that makes them fun. When people say "livebearers are all easy" they're really saying "I lack experience and knowledge of them".
I never reached the expertise of someone like @emeraldking , but I had a number of years when my fishroom was Xiphophorus, Poecilia, Goodeids and then softwater killies and dwarf Cichlids in another section. They aren't all as predictable as guppies, and that makes them fun. When people say "livebearers are all easy" they're really saying "I lack experience and knowledge of them".
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both of the tanks I’ve mentioned here are “larger” but are only 36 inch length tanks ( a standard 55 or 70 gallon seem like one of the best of the common foot print tanks ) but both seem fine for a “single species community” tank, probably much better than a standard 10 or 20 gallon tank… hoping you are correct on the preditation thing…
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ooooh… I like my new pump out pump, for water changes on this tank… 20 gallons pumped out in just 3-4 minutes… this shows both the pump out pump ( in the tank ) and my fill nozzle n this picture…
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at 50% water change this does drop the temperature too much with the well water on full to fill, will have to slow down the fill a little bit…
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with the 65 gallon, with the swords in, I decided to do 10 gallons out, fill, and let it get back to the correct temp, then do a 2nd 10 gallons… will do that same procedure with the 45 gallon next time…
To refill with the hose here, I have to mix some hot water in. That means in the dead of winter when the water is really cold coming in, I have the fishroom divided into 5 banks. I do one morning, one evening over 2.5 days, at about 30-45 minutes per bank - 2 to 2.5 hours total. In a few weeks when it warms enough, I'll have 2 banks and have the whole room down to 90 minutes. Come summer, I can do it all in one morning.
The water heater is quite small, so I have to ration warmth. It's a precious commodity!
The water heater is quite small, so I have to ration warmth. It's a precious commodity!
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blind cave fish and tequila’s both went into the same tank… a wide variety of sizes on the tequilas at least one adult, and the balance varying down to 1 inch long ( 6 of them ), and the cave tetras, were all medium sized, and there was also 6 of them… the 2 adult super red bushies are still in there… I pulled out the over size tilapia breeding cages, and replaced those with several large size lime stone slabs, and a large piece of wood… tank is still a little cloudy, with the 50% well water, water change… the plastic plants will eventually get replaced with live aquatic plants, and there are many hoya vine starts already going…
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one of the midsize tequila…
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curious if the speckled ones ( like in the last picture above ) are females or immature males???
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