I got this question from Tim Gray of Beeville, Texas, that I think is very interesting, so I’m blogging about it: “Mr. Clapsaddle, could you explain your quarantine practices when bringing in wild stock or from unknown sources?” Here was my response: Tim, This is a great topic. We have ... Read More
greenhouse
Puppies and New Greenhouse Walkways
The photo is of our two German Shepherd puppies, Maya left and Oso right, at about seven weeks. They were “helping” me move the concrete blocks into the greenhouses. Since we went to floor gutters with walkways in our greenhouses starting in 2002, we’ve used walkways constructed of wooden 2X4s ... Read More
Monster Plant – Dieffenbachia species
Since we use plant filters as our only means of filtration and water purification we are constantly searching for and testing plants that will thrive in our system. For those who subscribe to Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine, I wrote an article about our system; please see “Plant Filtration—No Water ... Read More
Gus Cooling Off
Today it was 97°F (~36°C) mid-afternoon. Gus, our two year old Mountain Cur mix (that makes him a mutt’s mutt), found the heat and humidity too much and cooled off in one of our rainwater collection vats. He sat in the water for several minutes before going into our air-conditioned office to shake ... Read More
Plecostomus
Today we processed our Sciaenochromis fryeri (commonly known as Electric Blue Ahli Cichlids). But, this blog isn’t about them; it’s about plecostomus. We put our breeding colonies of cichlids, usually 6 males and 40-50 females, in 300 gallon vats, where they stay for three to four months before ... Read More
Green Lyretail Sailfin Molly
Ashley and I processed the Green Lyretail Sailfin Mollies today. This a is relatively old strain of ours, having been developed in the late 1990s by crossing some Red Leopard Lyretail Mollies from an Asian farm with Poecilia latipinna, San Antonio River, which we had collected in 1998. As usual ... Read More
Scorpion and Greenhouse Ecosystems
This afternoon I was removing a broken vat and, Robyn, a hatchery employee asked, “Do you know there is a scorpion on the vat?” As a matter of fact, I’d noticed it when I pulled the vat out. I figured it could ride along to the dead vat cache. It was fortunate I’d seen it. I get stung by ... Read More
Texas Weather: Persistent Drought with Occasional Flooding
As is often the case in Texas, a drought (we’re a half year into another drought after the last ended a few months before this one started), ends with flooding. Saturday, while Susie and I were in Fort Worth, the farm got 3.2”, the biggest single day rainfall since Tropical Storm Hermine in ... Read More