Blog

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Raising Mosquito Larvae for Fish Food

Photo: A mosquito larvae culture system to raise live foods for fish. I originally wrote this as an article in our monthly Newsletter (now dormant, but likely to be revived). I’ve made some edits, but it’s largely the same information. Also, it’s a timely blog since mosquito season will be ... Read More

Arulius Barb

A male Arulius Barb (Puntius arulius or maybe Dawkinsia tambraparniei) in front of a one-inch grid to show size. Note the filaments on his dorsal.   Recently I got this email from a customer (slightly edited): “Hi Charles. I hope you guys fared the cold weather well. I just wanted to ... Read More

Developing a Strain from a Single Fish

Photo: Two very young male Bronze Sailfin Mollies showing the improved coloration I selected for. They are too young to sport nice sailfins, but they grew up with large dorsals. As evidence of their youth, look at their gonopodia (anal fin), which are just beginning to develop. How many times ... Read More

Poecilia formosa – Amazon Molly

Photo: Two Poecilia formosa, Amazon mollies, collected from Coleto Creek at Highway US 77 in Victoria County, Texas.   December 12, 2017, four of us plus two German Shepherds went collecting on Coleto Creek in Victoria County, Texas (see my blogs: ... Read More

Coleto Creek Collecting Trip – December 21, 2017.

Photo by Anne Rokyta: Coleto Creek at US Highway 77 with German Shepherds, Oso and Maya.   December 21, 2017 was warm, an occurrence happening more and more frequently lately. The weather was sunny, and temperatures hovered around 80°F (~27°C). It was a perfect first day of winter for ... Read More

Lucania goodei, the Blue Fin Killifish

Photo: A group of Lucania goodei, the bluefin killifish, in a sorting jar.   While collecting fish in Coleto Creek in Victoria County, Texas (I’ll be blogging about this collecting trip shortly) with our nephew (Darin), his wife (Anne), and three-year-old daughter (Sylvie), Darin picked a ... Read More

Aulonocara stuartgranti ‘Chiloelo’

Photo of a male Aulonocara stuartgranti ‘Chiloelo’ we are currently selling. We raise a number of species in the Aulonocara genus, including these populations of Aulonocara stuartgranti: Chiloelo, Flavescent, Maulana Bi-Color, and Mbenji Blue Regal. This blog concerns Aulonocara stuartgranti ... Read More

Hurricane Harvey Recovery – September 12th

Photo of damage to the interior and exterior of one of our greenhouses. Before I launch into what we’ve been doing since we finally got commercial power, I need to thank my brother-in-law, Danny Rokyta. Danny came over the day before Harvey hit to make sure Carl and I had properly installed our ... Read More

Update on Poecilia reticulata, McCauley Spring

Photo: a shoal of Poecilia reticulata, McCauley Spring I first wrote about this fish for my column in Tropical Fish Hobbyist, January 2013 issue (http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/expendition-to-mccauley-spring.htm). Here’s a quote from that article about this guppy (the quote comes ... Read More