Photo of a possible Limia vittata/Poecilia mexicana hybrid. The upper fish is a female Limia vittata. The bottom fish is a possible female Limia vittata/Poecilia mexicana hybrid. I have tried for years to produce a molly/Limia hybrid to no avail until maybe now. Why would I attempt this? ... Read More
Vat Worms
Photo: A likely Diplocardia ornata, a vat worm found in one of our vats and crawling on author’s hand. Long ago, I promised a blog updating two species of “vat worms” found in our greenhouses. At long last, I’ve just finished it. Before you read this blog, you might want to get some ... Read More
Return of the Indigo
Photo: The head of a large Texas Indigo Snake ( (Drymarchon melanurus erebennus). After at least 50 years, I finally once again saw a Texas Indigo Snake (Drymarchon melanurus erebennus) on our farm. But first: A DISCLAIMER (well…maybe, you’ll have to read more to find out what is ... Read More
Developing and Setting a New Fish Strain
Photo: A young breeder male Skyblue Dragon Blood Peacock Cichlid. One of my favorite aquaculture activities is the development of new strains of fish with new colors, fins, shapes, etc. That isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy maintaining wild-type fish and pure species as they appear in nature, but ... Read More
Fish Growth Inhibition
Photo: A 55-gallon vat with 144 adult male cichlids 5+" long, showing that our system allows crowding without growth inhibition. See below for the possible reasons. Recently, a hobbyist messaged me: “I’ve heard that fish release a hormone that will slow the growth of other similar fish. Do you ... Read More
Bryozoan, To Be or Not To Be…
Photo: A freshwater sponge (Dosilia radiospiculata) growing on aquaculture mesh in one of our vats. This blog is an update of another blog: https://goliadfarms.com/a-bryozoan-lives-in-the-greenhouses/. Read it for background. Way back in pre-Coronavirus ages, October 2019, I wrote ... Read More
Gold OB Peacock
Photo: A breeder male Gold OB Peacock in a five-gallon bucket as he is being processed before being moved back into his breeding colony. WARNING!!! This is a rather long and geeky fish blog for my fishkeeping friends. I decided to kill two birds (or fish, whatever!) with one stone by 1) ... Read More
Xiphophorus alvarezi, Chiapas Swordtail
Photo: A young, three to four month old, male Xiphophorus alvarezi. Xiphophorus alvarezi, the Chiapas Swordtail, is a wild swordtail species from, remarkably enough considering its name, the Mexican state of Chiapas. We acquired this species in the auction at the April 2012 Fort Lauderdale ... Read More
Raccoons 13, Possums 3 (and Coonhound Paralysis)
Photo: The first of 13 raccoons (Procyon lotor), a youngster from this year, we’ve live-trapped since November 7th. Beginning around November 1st of this year, our greenhouses began to show signs of a raccoon (Procyon lotor) invasion. This often happens in the Fall when the mature raccoon ... Read More
A Bryozoan Lives in the Greenhouses
Photo is of a bryozoan attached to a 1/2" aquaculture netting to show its size. During the last few months, we have noticed a number of these bryozoan creatures (it turns out plural is appropriate as you’ll learn below) pictured above in some of our vats in Greenhouse 2 which mainly houses ... Read More