Dear D9VIN,

I feed D. hydrei (larger) and D. melanogaster fruitflies to many fish. A lot of livebearers are surface feeders and will enjoy the flies.

I originally got flies for halfbeaks but found a lot of fish would eat them.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear FishFolk,

I bought three of these Stealth heaters a year or so ago. I threw all of them out before the recall. They worked at first. Later, one wouldn't heat up, one wouldn't turn off and I just didn't trust the third one. I think I have some sterile fish that were 85 - 90 F for a while.

Wish I'd kept the receipt.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear Fishfolk,

After never doing a water change in 16 months (unless I was moving fish out of the tank) I decided I needed to add my five 2.5 gallon tanks to my automated water system.

I bought a 10mm glass drill and matching mini manifolds from Jehmco. After the hassle of drilling 10 and 5.5 gallon tanks I expected the thinner 2.5 gallon glass to be easier to crack and break. I made a new wood template to clamp to the tank and drilled all five tanks without trouble. The small drill bit doesn't always make a clean hole and you need one to fit the manifold in. I just cleaned the glass out of the bit, removed the top wood brace and drilled the rest of the hole out. No cracks no problems.

So now all 21 tanks in my fishroom (aka the laundry room) are drilled for overflow and are hooked up to an automated water drip system.

I can't recommend an automated water system enough. I wouldn't be able to keep fish these days without one.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear FishFolk,

It's about time for the female halfbeak to drop fry again. I managed to get her into a planted 5.5 gallon tank by herself. She is not happy but I hope the fry will be born and survive. They didn't have a chance in the main tank with three big males there.

Hope everyone has a great time at the convention.

Wish I were heading there. It's going to 88 F today in Tulsa and 92 F tomorrow.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear FishFolk,

When I looked into the 20 long tank where my Hemirhamphodon kuekenthali halfbeaks live I saw my first babies on the surface.

I got four juveniles from Mark Denaro (Anubias Design) on the Labour Day weekend and they grew into 3 males and a female. They eat anything but I feed some fruitflies and whiteworms to supplement the usual pellet food.

I tried to catch the 3/4" fry to transfer to a grow out tank and got one. The others were too fast and hiding in the plants. I returned the one I caught to the tank and fed the adults heavily. Hopefully when I come home from work tonight some will still be alive. There weren't very many but this is probably the first spawn.

I've tried to breed Hemirhamphidon halfbeaks for years and have had three other species. Unfortunately these fish are really tough to ship and I never had a pair before. Even when I ordered four fish I'd get two males surviving or two females or a loner. They'd live a year or year and a half and I'd never be able to find a mate for them. Mark brought these fish to the FOTAS meeting in Oklahoma City in 2010 and I picked them up from him there.

I had been thinking of moving the female to a brood tank but didn't have anything but a 2.5 gallon tank available. Hopefully in the future I can move her to a suitable tank and get a good batch of fry.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear FishFolk,

I'd be wary of using convict cichlids fry as feeders. I did that for some wild caught Nomorhampus brembachi (which were very efficient predators). I eventually ended up with a lot of convict survivors in the tank.

Guppies are good but I would suggest Gambusia affinis. They really seem to breed fast. Plus I can't stand Dambusia.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear FishFolk,

The next ALA convention will be in Cleveland, OH. I believe the dates will be April 8-10, 2011. I think.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear FishFolk,

I've finally posted some ads in the classified section. I'd encourage other to do so.

If you upload a picture for an ad
After it has uploaded, click on the picture to enlarge it. Then shrink it again. If you do this the photo will appear in the ad. If you don't it isn't saved.I have no idea why. Let me tell you, it took me a long time to figure out this workaround.


If you have problems with the classified ad system, email or call me and I'll try and walk you through it.


Best wishes,

Earl

Dear Silverbinder,

J. lineate need to get quite large before they breed. I'm thinking my females were at least 3 inches before they had young. I had mine in a 15 gallon tank and that is about as small as you can go. Now I have them in a 20 long. They are quite cannabalistic so you have to watch for young and remove them immediately.

The left side, right side reproduction limitation has been disproved.

Oh, it's FOTAS, Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies. The next FOTAS meeting is in Oklahoma, go figure. My club, OKAA, will be the host.

Best wishes,

Earl

Dear BobB,

There are reputable places online. Some of the sellers on Aquabid are great, others suck. I've been ripped off a couple of times (selling and buying).

One place I would endorse is the Wetspot in Portland, http://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/ However, their shipping is costly. Another good fish source is AnubiasDesign, Mark Denaro. I've been able to get Hemirhamphidon halfbeaks from him. His shipping is not cheap either.

Good luck,

Earl