Swish

He shoots...he scores!

Picked up a couple of two foot tanks tonight, and a two and a half footer, all for $60! All of them need new lids and they have been heavily taken to with the silicon, but they will be ideal for grow-out tanks and as a sorority for the girls.

I've also changed things up a little in the 'almost-fish room'. We've switched from a heater in every tank, to heating the room with a single halogen heater. Running the heater at half strength keeps the tanks around the 25-26C mark even when it's around 15C outside...even with the roller shutter up to allow some sun onto my spawn tank!

Some money saved there...we hope.

Next, we have cut back on the feedings. No longer does everyone get fed twice a day. All stock gets fed in the evening. Anyone being conditioned also gets fed in the morning. Fry, over two weeks old, also get fed in the morning. Younger fry get fed three times a day.

Currently, I have Cichlid Convict fry who are approaching five weeks, and my first Betta fry having just ticked past their second week. All are now on a mix of frozen Daphnia and BBS. Turns out my mature female Convicts like the Daphnia as well. My male Convict, who is now over three inches in size (started at about one and a half), only wants blood worms and shrimp - so he tends to miss out on the morning feed.

So less feedings, less money spent on food - more savings...we hope.

Getting the extra tanks also allows us to look at firing up the second spawn tank. This weekend we will introduce Midas to Lilly:

 

Midas (our very first crown tail (CT))

 

 

Lilly (Who beat up Herman last time she allowed in the spawn tank)

 

We're pairing these two up for a couple of reasons:

 

1. Because Lilly was so un-lady-like last time she was in the spawn tank, we thought we'd match her with someone a little older and bigger. Hopefully this time, she learns what is expected.
2. Midas is a Local Fish Shop (LFS) rescue - our first CT - so we would like to have some of his offspring to remember him by when he's gone.
3. The majority of any successful spawn will be saleable. With Midas' colouring, it is highly unlikely we will want to keep anything other than maybe a male and a female - but probably only one.

What we would like to see from the spawn (another shot at trying to get the genetics right):

 

1. Lilly's dorsal (the fin on top) is beautiful in shape and extension. We would like to try and get another female with this trait fixed.
2. We will be looking for that female to also be turquoise. We expect a mix of blue, turquoise and steel from this pair.
3. We would expect them all to have red wash but will be picking a female with as little as possible.
4. We would expect a mix of double ray and single ray CT's.

Beyond that, we're not sure due to the unknown background of both fish but particularly Midas. He could have anything mixed in his genetics so it will be quite a surprise bunch that could result. Fun times ahead...