Super chuffed today! A batch of Odessa Barb babies making their way to Aqua Empire today and with the first quartet of Midnight Metallica Guppies! The midnight strain was developed by my son Colin and I over the last few years and has proven extremely virile. The Midnights will be on display and will be available at Aqua Empire in a few weeks time.
Better video of all the Odess Barb fry.
Beautiful male and female Odessa Barb trio. The male has the reddish sheen which intensifies when there are other males around. They are quite spectacular and not often seen in the Aquarium trade in South Africa.
Odessa Barb spawn coming on beautifully! They're growing like weeds! Note a very bioactive growout tank using algae to first the water. I only clean the front glass at the moment as big water changes can be lethal to the fry.
One of the most under-rated Aquarium Fish, hardy and extremely peaceful. This is a male Cherry Barb with his two girls.
One of our rarer fish, Albino female Kribensis.
Interesting to notice the courtship behavior here of these G1 cross guppies. Noticeably this has gone missing over the last decade or so in some guppy variants. Nice to know the hybrid vigour is there!
Do you know how difficult it is to focus on something this small? This is a Kerri Tetra fry. To give you an idea, those brine shrimp eggs bubbling away next to the fry are 0.2mm in diameter. Andri Graham Richard Barnfield . Spawned right here by Colin and I in a 1ft Aquarium using collected rain water and conditioning the parents on Mosquito larvae.
Was watching our Glass Bloodfin Tetra spawning in our community tank this morning and luckily got it on camera. So just for those that want to try it...
Fish are 8 months old, they were conditioned on Mosquito larvae for about a week, water temp 26 Deg C, pH about 6.7, early morning spawners. I did a massive water change using rain water every time it rains. The female fish is significantly bigger and heavier than the male.
It seems the water changes with rain water, along with the live food induced the spawn. I'm convinced the chaotic atmospheric conditions had a part to play as no spawning was witnessed during the dry season.
One of the most famous 80's movie scenes.
They have arrived! Cannot wait for them to colour up and grow!!! Compliments of Richard Barnfield owner of Aqua Empire who made special arrangements for me to have them ;-).
Baby Albino Bristlenose Pleco ( Ancistrus ).
DIY Carbon Dioxide Reactor for the Congo Biotope.