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
Fish
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
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
Update on Scuds (Shrimp, not Missiles!)
Photo by Matt Hill of EcoAnalysts, Inc., our go-to expert on invertebrate identification, of one of our male scuds. One of the livefoods for fish we raise in our hatchery is scuds, also known as Gammarus. We recently sort of got our scuds identified. See this blog for details: Update on Gammarus ... Read More
Giant Green Sailfin Molly
Photo: A large male Green Sailfin Molly from four years ago and one of our breeders used in our attempt to create a giant molly. For about eight years, I’ve been working to develop a very large Green Sailfin Molly, which I creatively named Giant Green Sailfin Mollies (“GGSM” for short for the ... Read More
Litter Worm Update
Litter Worm Update Photo: A group of litter worms (Bimastos heimburgeri) in one of our compost piles. I previously blogged about finally finding a lab to identify our scuds, litter worms, and vat worms. For information about the scud identification and some background see these ... Read More
Update on Gammarus Identification
Photo by Matt Hill (EcoAnalysts, Inc.) of one of our male scuds. This is the first in a series of blogs about finally getting some of our hatchery’s invertebrates identified. You might want to read this blog for ... Read More
Maybe I can get some invertebrates identified, finally.
Photo: Grandnephews, grandnieces, and nephew’s girlfriend’s daughter returning home from a visit to our greenhouses to see the fish. Our German Shepherds, Oso and Maya, are providing escort and security. Our nephew Devin Rokyta, his girlfriend Anndrea, Anndrea’s daughter, and whole passel of ... Read More
A Possible Female Guppy/Molly Hybrid
Photo: A possible Poecilia reticulata (guppy) x Poecilia mexicana, Campeche (molly) hybrid in front of a grid to show size. We found the fish in the above photograph January 15th of this year. Before I describe the fish and argue why I think it might be a hybrid, let me give you some ... Read More
Teas, Fish, and Chickens
Photo: Greenhouses without their covers immediately after Hurricane Harvey. Note the trees in the background stripped of their leaves by the hurricane force winds. So, what do tea, fish, and chickens have in common? This blog will tie them together. Our farm and hatchery have had two ... Read More
