Captain Beardy

Hello Caryl , long time , thought you might like to know I successfully raised the silvertips. Ended up with 44 from the one pair spawning on an afternoon. Have sold a few on trade me a traded others for German Ran fry! I did try some Cardinals, beautiful fish but very shy. Perhaps it was the number, only 6. They stayed down the back and I got frustrated so traded them for tropical fish flakes! My Black Neons just spawned in a separate tank so here we go again. I am also fattening up Neons that I bought from Hollywood Fish farm. I was a bit disappointed to start with, got one fish with one eye! But I paid for 10 and got 13 so haven't complained. Think I should name him Wonky after the Wonky Donkey! Will be heading off for a few days so need to get my auto feeder programmed again. Worked well last time. best $27 I have spent. They cleaned out my Daphnia pond, council drained and water blasted it. Was gutted. But a few good rains and hey presto. Daphnia are back and thick again. also another batch of Ducklings to watch. They are Auckland city ducklings though so will probably grow up to be snobby Ducks that only drink flat whites. Hope you are well. Love to hear what's new.? Richard

Morning Caryl, Another stunning day in lock down. I still have about 30 fry. As they grow easier to spot but they move much faster, hard to count. They are getting big now, Daphnia definitely helped. So much in the pond the excess I have started to freeze. I use and ice tray and get loads of little cubes. Have tested the frozen stuff and they still eat it. I have 5 adult Silvertip Tetras which spawned again the other day. I experimented to see if I could switch them on. I add an extra filter that give some flow to the tank It worked. Felt a little guilty because the females get a hell of a work out being chased. Eggs flying everywhere was good to see. But I am thinking I want something different in the tank. Love the look of the Cardinals but everyone only has neons. First I think I would need to move on the Silvertips, I have the feeling they are just a little too dominant in the tank. My Black Neons have spawned too but only when the Silvertips were in the other tank. So my questions to you? Do you know anyone with Cardinals? And what do I do with these Silvertips? Some contacts in Auckland would be nice. Hope you have a great day. Richard

Hello Caryl, my fry are still going strong. I have figured out how to strain the larger Daphnia so I just get small ones. I feed once in the morning and that keeps them going nicely. I spend way too much time counting! Just over 20 I reckon. They are looking like little fish now with tails growing out. So cool. Just a little proud of myself since I only bought the Aquariums a couple of months ago. Would like to thank Youtube! You can binge watch just about anything and learn more than just the basics. A few months ago I also bought a recurve bow and tried out archery, binge watched youtube and in one month I won a little competition at a club! Have been feeding my Silvertip Tetras with a little eye dropper on the surface. They get so excited I have them jumping. Gave me a thought, do you think I could get them to jump through a hoop? The flames might be a bit much but we could progress slowly right. So I need to design a little hoop with a suction cup. Obviously way too much time on my hands! Maybe we could start a new Forum " Tetras Taught to leap through hoop in lockdown". I would love to chat with a few other Fish keepers? say hello please! (no offense Caryl!) Considering a Bolivian Ram? I am also passing on a couple of Bristle nose plecos to a friend. Didn't realize how much mess four fish eating loads of cucumber can make. Wouldn't mind a few Lemon Tetras or Neons. Will have Silvertips to trade, Could even pass on a successful breeding pair? Hope everyone is well. Richard

Very funny! Was considering popping down to Blenheim, think I could get a essential pass, I have family in Hamilton and know the airport doesn't mind who travels where. What's your address? I could stop in for a cup of coffee. I am a Jafa though so would need it to be high quality coffee with milk steamed to just the right temperature. Ahhh, come to think of it I might pass, would miss my new Mercedes too much. Oh and I need to keep feeding my little fry! I watched one stalk a tiny Daphnia and pounce. Most of the others are too small, a good sign though right! Favourite pass time is trying to count them. Not easy, getting older and need glasses. Confident there is still 12 or more after my accident. Will keep changing water, thanks for the tip. Infusoria still doesn't look like it is growing. Frustrating. Have a plastic bottle outside . Have been putting cap on and off because it stinks so much. Used some potato peel and a touch of yeast. Think it might be a fail.

Beautiful, love it! Plant at the back almost looks like a rock overhanging. Super cool. Barbs are quite popular. I did have a good look at them. Made a mistake last night. With all the plugs on the multiboard I got mixed up and switched the filter on in the fry tank. W I will never know. Still giving them egg yolk and first bites. I have added the smallest sponge filter and turned it down low. Noticed a little Nitrate/Nitrites so have change about 30% of water. I used the Pure Dew water from the supermarket. It says it is ultra distilled, PH neutral, steam distillation, reverse osmosis, less than 1ppm solids. Sounds good. They are all still alive. Thanks for the pictures Richard

Thanks Caryl, so far so good. First bites and hard boiled egg yolk. Can see movement and a couple of little bellies might have something in them. Taking it day by day. Lock down entertainment. I dropped about three tablespoons of Salt into the 70L, Used the Himalayan pink salt from the pantry.. The spots have gone from my Black Neon Tetras, think I had a win there. Took about three days. The Sunset Platys were so heavy, I spotted a fry hiding in the rocks. It moved out and for a second I thought the Tetras might leave it alone. Sadly I was wrong. Gone in a flash. Have counted close to 30 Silvertips now though, happy with that. Curious what you have one the go? Richard

Finally, after a couple of failed attempts I have at least 15 baby Silvertip Tetras. Super exciting but know I am a long way from real success yet. They spawned Wednesday afternoon, it is now Saturday morning. Had the tank covered up most of the time. Now I need to see them eat I guess. I have a source of daphnia so thinking of straining the large ones to try and find eggs or the tiny babies. I also have Hikari first bites. Oh an I have an infusoria culture that is just not there yet. I have tried a couple of times with out much luck. Anyone in Auckland with a culture? Sure we could do a contactless drop some how. Would appreciate the help. They are so small, wish me luck! Richard

Morning Caryl, so yesterday had some Silvertip Tetras spawning in my breeding tank. This time just a pair, I had plenty of eggs make it to the bottom. I have removed the adults and covered the tank. A few questions. How long you think roughly before I might see something if they hatch? I have the filter off at the moment. it is a Eco 37 so think 21L, do the eggs need flow? Would a little higher temp help? 27c at the moment. I am trying for some infusoria but do have some first bites and the smaller daphnia as a fall back. Have a couple of cool little videos, Silver Tips spawning, and then one of a water Boatman insect getting chased by a Silvertip Tetra but being beaten to it by a Black Neon Tetra. Last question! have a Black Neon Tetra with a couple of white spots on the dorsal. Really hoping it doesn't get worse. Any tips on that? Crossing my fingers for fry! Richard

Captain Beardy is because I really am a Captain. I run a Yacht. Which leads me onto something cool. I was living onboard at the beginning of the first lockdown. I started feeding Parore behind the boat in Auckland's Viaduct. Snapper soon turned up and before long I had a nice shoal living under the boat. I went from wheat bix to fish scraps and then some Kingfish arrived. I feed them for a few months. The Kingfish about 10kg would take from my hand and would be circling in the morning waiting for me. "Bubba" would draw a little crowd when spotted, was so much fun. Have stopped now, the fish left with the arrival of winter. Have attached a picture of my daughter and the kingfish. Richard

Still harvesting Daphnia , the ducklings are growing super fast so it must be good stuff. My silvertip tetras are showering eggs too. Watched some yesterday but as per usual all eaten before they reached the bottom. Trying a solo pair today. Less mouths more eggs? Also ran a bigger filter to get some flow. Is this a common trigger. I thought it set them off the first time. And a confession please don't judge too harshly. Dropped a female on the carpet. Went to pick her up and she flipped back into my hand, back in the tank quick and she seams ok. Whoops. Mistakes happen right. I bought the tanks late July so that is when I started. I remember tanks as a kid, but they usually failed. So far no fatalities !! The way I am going will have the opposite soon if I can just keep a few more eggs. Thanks for the reply. Richard

Thank you, will put a mask on an get some distilled water. A scatter yesterday but could do nothing but watch them all get eaten. Have a solo pair in today. Less mouths more eggs? Loving the action, something so cool about watching eggs rain down. almost sounds a little weird. Guess fish people would understand. Have a friend who bought some Cichlids. He has lost two fish. Are they a little more advanced? Will let you know when I get some fry. Cheers Richard

Thank you, trying again. Feeding them loads of Daphnia. crossing my fingers. Have put a little mesh under the Java Moss. PH is 6.5? What is soft?

Help! I watched the eggs scatter, watched them in the Java moss. I didn't see them eating many and I separated that night. I covered the tank and switched the filter off. Don't understand? Any ideas?? I was pretty hopeful I might of cracked it already. The fish definitely worked hard! Love some feed back. Hope everyone is staying safe and doing their bit. Good time to watch some fish. Richard.

Hello people, new to the game and think I might have some Tetra Fry on the way. Trying to culture something but not having much luck. Until! I walked across the street in the Auckland CBD where there is some fresh water with a small duck family. A flashlight showed up heaps of Daphnia. So I sucked up a few and now hoping I can bring on a bunch more. Couldn’t resist and fed some to my Tetras. They went berserk. There was also one of those water boatman insects. A Silvertip Tetra took off after him and it took him a few seconds to catch it. Then a few to crunch it up and get it down. Was a fun watch. Black Neon Teras lit up as well. Curious if any inner city folk are interested in the source? Hope everyone is staying safe and doing their bit. Richard