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
hatchery operations
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
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
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
Agriculture Award
Photo: Agriculture Award from the Goliad Lion's Club presented at the Goliad County Chamber of Commerce annual 2019 banquet. It was a typical Goliad County Chamber of Commerce annual banquet, this year at the historic Schroeder Dance Hall. The festivities were about half way through the awards ... 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
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