hatchery operations

Acclimation Procedures

Photo is a young male Dragon Blood Peacock Cichlid in a shipping bag. Acclimation Recommendations The principals of Goliad Farms, Inc., after decades of collecting, raising, shipping, transporting and importing tropical fish, have developed methods of acclimation tropical fish. Some of these ... Read More

Sunset Variatus

Photo: Male Sunset Variatus I’ve recently begun blogging about the Variatus-type Platies we raise. For a discussion about the meaning of “Variatus-type,” check out an earlier blog I wrote about our Redtail Blue Variatus. This blog concerns our Sunset Variatus strain, which we developed ... Read More

Redtail Blue Variatus

Photo: A very nice male Redtail Blue Variatus either challenging another male or displaying for a female. We raise a variety of Variatus-type Platies. I say “Variatus-type” because while they look like Xiphophorus variatus (Variegated Platy), they are commercial strains and might have genes from ... Read More

Non-Gold Dragon Blood Peacock

The photo is of two Non-Gold Dragon Blood Peacock Males. A couple of days ago, I released a blog on Dragon Blood Peacock cichlids (see: http://goliadfarms.com/dragon-blood-peacock-cichlid/), which I had written months ago and had failed to post. This blog is an update on the genetics of the ... Read More

Our Peacock Cichlids

Photo: Male Skyblue OB Peacock with male Blue OB Dolphin in background. Below is a reprint of the feature article from our May newsletter. If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly newsletter go to: http://goliadfarms.com/blog/ and enter your email address under the Subscribe section to the ... Read More

Poecilia reticulata, McCauley Spring, New Mexico

Photo shows a group of Poecilia reticulata from McCauley Spring, New Mexico Across the Rio Grande River from Santa Fe, New Mexico are the Jemez Mountains. Nestled in the canyons of these mountains is a warm spring named McCauley Spring. McCauley Spring feeds a mountain stream about a yard ... Read More

Giant Marble Liberty Mollies

Back in 2013 I set up a cross of Poecilia mexicana, Campeche males with P. velifera, Campeche females. I didn’t expect much from this cross because earlier matings between P. mexicana and P. velifera hadn’t produced anything spectacular, but I often keep trying despite lack of good results. Being ... Read More

California Bound

I’ll be speaking twice this next week. On Sunday, March 1st I’ll speak at COAST (http://www.coastfishclub.com/ncms/) in Costa Mesa, California at 12:30 pm on fancy livebearers; how we breed and raise them. Then Friday, March 6th, I’ll speak at the San Francisco Aquarium Society ... Read More

Poecilia mexicana, Campeche

We recently processed our Poecilia mexicana, Campeche. We got this wild molly species in June 2009 from Dr. Ptacek of Clemson University. The "Campeche" notation indicates that Dr. Ptacek collected the fish in Campeche, Mexico. It has proven to be one of our most popular short finned mollies. The ... Read More