2019 - The fish year at a glance

2019 - The fish year at a glance

So it's January 1st 2020 and what a year 2019 was!

I've got a lot of experience with various fishes, dipped my feet in the crazy maddening world of endlers and trying to be an active member of various groups dedicated to Poecilids.

My number 1 realization when interacting with other fish enthusiasts is that you can share a hobby without being friends - aka just because you share an interest does not mean you'll automatically be friends.

And now over to the fish :D  Here I'll first list the species I aquired and still keep, and my plans for them for 2020. Then I'll post a list of the fish that for various reasons I no longer keep.

Neoheterandria elegans – Tiger teddy - I've had a group of them since february 2019 but so far not had any fry....I currently keep them in a paludarium where I've had fry from P.wingei, C.pardalis and L.perugiae, so fingers crossed!

Heterandria Formosa, Least killifish - I have two strains; one is a very robust aquarium strain with large females and one is the Fellsmere, Florida. USA (Finn Larsen) 2001 strain. I've had fry from both strains and keep them separate from each others.

Quintana atrizona - Barred Topminnow - Guanimar. Cuba, 1987, Old Fehlau Strain 

One of my favourite fish, the group of 6 has now grown to 13 and my goal for them is to raise 100 by the end of 2020 :) It looks like there are 3 males and 10 females.

Poecilia salvatoris–Liberty molly - A pair turned to 30 :) The adults and some of the fry live in a paludarium and some young are placed in a grow out tank :) 

Poecilia gilli - Costa Rica molly - got two pairs at an auction but one female was "wonkly" and passed away, the inverted trio I now have are great looking fish so hopefully they'll drop fry :) 

Xiphophorus maculatus - Domestic strain half blue/half red - this is the only domestic strain of fish that I keep, and I'll probably sell them at the next auction simply because I need the space for wild strains. A trio have produced close to 40 or 50 fry, and I've sold and given away about half that number.

Xiphophorus variatus, La laguna - I got two pairs but they seem to be fry eaters as opposed to their domestic relatives, so I only managed to save 2 small fry despite both females dropping. And they seem prone to tumours, I lost a pair to what seemed like ulcers growing from within the fish. 

Xiphophorus Meyeri - Melchior Muzquiz Mexico- Muzquizplaty - I got 10 fish from an auction, 2 adult females and 8 fry, one of the females dropped 3 small fry of which 2 were dead, but the last one is thriving in the tank with the adults and older siblings.

This is a species I'm planning to keep and work with, trying to breed as many as I can and share with other fish fanciers as they are exting in the wild and I think spreading them to as many other aquarists as possible will help make sure they don't also wanish from the hobby.

Xiphophorus milleri - Catemaco platy - I have one pair of the orange spotted variety, the female is round and I can't wait for her to drop fry :) This is also one of the species I'm going to try to work with especially in order to get a good sized colony going :) 

Poecilia wingei varieties

Cumana location

Lime green - I probably did not get a "clean line" and a few months ahead they ended up looking more like black bar endlers but I'm not very happy with them and will probably let them go.

El Silverado - K class - This group is super prolific and throws El Silverado males with a few oddballs now and again, I just love them and will keep them :)

El Silverado snake chest from the K-class strain - A few males developed less silver on the body and when mature developed a snake pattern on the chest. I put them in their own tank with some females from the same strain.

El Silverado - pure strain/ P-class - Unfortunately after initial success I lost all but 3 young fish, but I have a male and two females so hopefully they'll bounce back.

Poecilia wingei varieties

Campoma location

Nr.28 “red” - stunning endlers, small and colourful and one that I'll keep :)

Nr.31 “Blue snake” - I got 12 adults and all but two died shortly after arrival - but the last pair survived long enough for the female to drop fry, so now I have a small group, which I'll keep. Not all the males have strong patterns but they all seem to be true to type :)

Nr.47 ”Blue star” - I have two strains which both seem good and as they are very pretty I'll keep both :)

Nr.48 "Black-Green" - These are actually offspring from one of my Blue star strains - the very first fry turned out a few black-green males and females with black dorsals, so I've given them their own tank and it will be interesting to see what their fry will look like. 

Orange K-class endlers - I got a few orange males from a group of what was supposed to be a pure Nr 48 line but turned out to be a guppy X endler mix. I sold the parents as a hybrid mix at an auction but kept the orange offspring and they have their own tank with some females from the same hybrid strain and I'm hoping their offpspring will be orange as well :)

Santa Maria bleeding heart endlers - I have a few males left after losing the females, and this is a hybrid strain so I won't be getting any more. 

El Tigre - One of my absolute favourites and they breed like crazy, I am hoping as they breed more and more fry, some females will turn out to have dark fins, and I'll keep those and try to get females with as dark fins as possible. That being said there is nothing wrong with females with clear fins.

Poecilia reticulata – Wild caught Colombian - Pretty and they breed well, but I may let them go in order to use the space for other wild type livebearers.

This strain did not do well in an outdoor pond.

Poecilia obscura - oh the drama surrounding this fish ! Basically I ended up getting 3 strains none of which can be proven 100% to be pure P.obscura and I keep them as a curiosity but they do take up 3 tanks that I could use to raise other wild type livebearers in so I may let them go at next auction as "guppy mix"

Lesson learned - not all fish sold at auction is what the label says it is, and some people sell those fish to pet shops as the real deal knowing very well that the fish can't be proven to be 100% pure. So one really needs to know what to look for or you'll end up with lots of small pretty wild type guppies.

Xiphophorus pygmaeus -  Yellow variety – Pygmy swordtail - El Naceimento de Rio Huichihuayan, San Luis Potosi. Mexico (Ivan Dibble), 1996

I got two pairs and they had 5 fry which turned out to be 3 blue males and two females, then I suddenly lost all but two, and they looked poorly for a while, now they seem to have bounced back and I am keeping them and if they breed then that's great but if not then I'm not sure I'll get any more. 

Xiphophorus signum –Comma swordtail - I have a pair and they are young fish, but I'm hoping they will do well and drop lots of fry this year :) They have a very sleek, elegant beauty.

Xiphophorus helleri Rio Ayotac – Green swordtail - I have two pairs and 7 fry which are growing and starting to get hints of green and a few spots - very pretty fish that I'll keep :)

Xiphophorus helleri – Rio seco 2 - Green swordtail - I had a pair and the female dropped a fry in the bag at auction, so I got one extra from the get go - then she dropped 5 more fry and I lost the male, so now they are in a grow out tank with some Liberty molly fry. I'm unsure wether or not to keep this species as it grows quite large and I'm using most of my larger tanks for goodeids, but we shall see :)

Xenotoca eiseni – Red-tailed splitfin - I have two females, I lost the male, and I'm not sure the females are pregnant...I'd love to get fry from the females or get a male.

Chapalichthys pardalis – Polka dot splitfin - Aquarium strain, I started out with 6, then bought two more and lost the last female after she dropped some fry. My other females dropped fry too, and now I have 3.4.4 - a nice group of 11 in total and the females are starting to look round again :)

Chapalichthys pardalis (was peraticus), Presa san Juanico– Polka dot splitfin  - I got 3 adults and two fry at an auction, and the adults are all males....so am hoping at least one of the fry will be a female.

Skiffia multipunctata – Andreas Tveteraas, Lado de Camecuaro, Mexico 1991

I have two adult males and 5 females and hoping for fry this spring :) Definitely a favourite :)

Ilyodon furcidens – Goldbreast splitfin/Trout goodeid - Aquarium strain

I have two adult males and 7 fry 

Ameca splendens – Butterfly goodeide - Aquarium strain

I have one adult female and 6 fry so hoping there will be some nice males and that they will breed well this summer :)

Characodon lateralis “Los Berros” – Rainbow goodeide

A favourite for sure, and one that was on my wishlist :) I got 11 fish at an auction and I've given away a pair to another fish enthusiast because sharing is caring :)

Zoogoneticus tequila “Rio Teuchitlan”– Tequila goodeide

I got 3 males and 4 females at auction but was warned that the two largest fish - the adult pair seemed "tired" and I've subsequently lost them, but the remaining 2 young males and 3 females seem in prime condition and one of the females even dropped at least one fry - which I unfortunately did not manage to save from the predatory adults. 

Limia tridens – Tiburon limia - I've had 75 fry from two adult females, about half grew up in a community tank and I sold 4 or 5 trios at auction, then I lost some fish in the fishroom last winter and suddenly only had 2 males left. Unsure if I'll get more as I'm shifting my focus to goodids and wild type platyfish.

Limia Vittata/Cuba limia, I have a trio that have yet to drop any fry

Limia perugiae/Perugia’s limia - I bought a male and 3 females and got another female fro free, they dropped lots of fry which have all grown up and now I have about 10 adults and as many fry. 

Gambusia hurtadoi – Halfmoon gambusia - Currently have 2 males and 6 females in a heavily planted tank, but they are veroucious fry eaters so I haven't managed to save any fry and raise them.

But this is another species that I'm going to try to work with in order to both keep and maintain a nice sized colony.

Gambusia affinis – Western mosquitofish - 1 male and 3 females, no fry yet but all females are large, so have placed two in a separate tank hoping that will give them enough privacy and peace to drop.

Gambusia sp. - affinis or holbrooki - 1 pregnant female, I thought she had dropped 7 fry and raised them with care and when they were a few months old they turned out to be X.helleri Rio Atoyac. So now I keep her in her own tank hoping for fry soon as I'm hoping she'll turn out to be affinis and that I can add her to that group.

Gambusia vittata – Gulf gambusia - I bought two pairs at auction that turned out to be 4 females. 

Phalloceros caudimaculatus reticulatus – Speckled mosquitofish/The caudo/Leopardfish/Dusky millions fish/One spotted livebearer

I started out with one adult female and 9 fry that I got at an auction, one of the fry turned out to be a male, and the largest female has dropped 8 fry, so now I have a nice group of 18. Very peaceful and don't chase or eat their own tiny fry :) definitely a keeper :)

Girardinus metallicus - The metallic livebearer -  I have a nice group of 3 males and 2 very pregnant females so hoping for fry very soon :)

Small and peacefull and definitely a keeper :)

.................................................................................................................

The ones I lost along the way..

Pallichthys tico – Dwarf merry widow - Stunning fish that I just can't seem to keep over a longer period of time. The ones I had didn't drop fry and one day seemed fine and the next were dead. I would try again, but perhaps get a larger group and not pairs - at the most I had 2 males and 3 females. 

Xenophallus umbratilis – Golden teddy Rio Arenal Costa Rica - This is just sad, I forgot to replace the glass lid after feeding them once and the pregnant female jumped out and I didn't find her until I came home from work that evening...then the male died after a few days without the female. Perhaps the single most bitter moment of the fish year 2019!

Poecilia mexicana – Campeche – Atlantic short fin molly - I got a pair from a petshop and they were both belly up after about a week. I've been offered fry and also seen some amazing adults (with more colour than the ones I had) in other petshops but they grow quite large and I don't have room for them at the moment.

Poecilia chica – Mexican Dwarf molly - They came, they breed and they died...

Xiphophorus maculatus Tabasco Mexico 2015 - I got 2 females and 4 males at an auction and sadly they all died...one day they were fine and the next they were all dead. 

Micropoecilia parae melanzona"red tiger" - I ordered 13 specifically from a petshop, one turned out to be a lone endler, and out of the rest 11 died within the first few days leaving a single pregnant female, who never dropped fry, but instead also died a few month later.

Micropoecilia parae blue melanzona - I got 2 pairs and they also died with no offspring had.

Micropoecilia picta – swamp guppy/Scarlet livebearer - Almost the same story as with the P.tico - but in this case I probably bought 25 adult fish over the summer, managed to get some fry and they all lived and seemed happy until they dwindled away and I lost all of them.

Poecilia wingei – Blue neon - Bought a single pregnant female and she died without dropping fry.

Poecilia wingei - White peacock - I ordered two pairs specifically and one male was dead in the bag. Then I lost the adults and the 6 fry that they dropped

Poecilia wingei - Yellow topsword 2004 - I bought one male and wanted to use him to try to breed my own line of Yellow topswords using other Cumana female endlers, but I ended up giving him away because I'm moving away from endlers.

Poecilia wingei - Nr.48 “Green/Black” - They turned out to be hybrids and not pure endlers so I sold them at an auction as guppy/endler mix.

Poecilia reticulata – Wild caught Nigerian - A hardy feral strain that survived a cold Norwegian summer outdoors but died when I brough them in for the winter.

Xiphophorus nezahuacatl – Northern swordtail - I bought two pairs at auction but one male was..deformed and I lost him, and then I lost the others too. I'm not sure why I lost them, but if I would have them again I would pay more attention to their tank and set it up with more care to their requirements to make sure they had the optimal environment to thrive and breed. 

Limia nigrofasciata – Hump-back limia - Stunning species, but needs very well filtered water. I lost 15 very well developed and large fry due to poor water conditions, and in the end I lost my trio of adults without getting more fry from them. 

Limia melanogaster – Blue limia - Bought 4 males and 1 female at an auction - two weeks later they were all dead. Perhaps internal parasites as they seemed to waste away.