Mike's Moments
(February '96)

The cold is over and I hope you and your fish survived. Now, right to the gularis . . . folks . . . are there any female Blue gularis out there? My three males are chasing guppies trying to spawn . . . actually they were chasing angels 'til "papa" angel came to the rescue!!!

Hey, I have an idea . . . haven't spoken to anyone about it yet, but here goes . . . I think there should be a MAN OF THE YEAR . . . person of the year if you please. Maybe announce the winner at the show in February or at the Christmas meeting every year or well . . . announce it any time you want . . . but I must tell you there are a bunch of deserving people in this club and maybe we ought to tell them. There are people who will help this club at the drop of a hat and never ask why. That kind of loyalty and giving really deserves recognition. It might be time to really thank them . . . not only with the award, but maybe with a free one year membership to the club. JUST A THOUGHT!

Okay . . . major changes in the discus story. I was so afraid to change everything that I lost sight of some basics. I cleaned and moved the discus tanks. They were at waist high level, so I moved it to the next level higher, put them in a smaller tank . . . Wattley says a 20 tall is OK for a pair. I lowered the pH to 6.5 instead of 6.9 and they are looking better than ever. Their colors are brighter, they seem to be eating more than before and there maybe better egg production. Maybe the move will have broken their cycle, but boy do they look good, so I think it will be worth it.

Do you remember Earle Fisher's talk on killifish and the fish that he auctioned off? I bought some gardneri "Makurdi" killies that night. I am now the proud papa of about a dozen baby "Makurdies." It was all done in a one gallon pickle jar with an air stone . . . no filter . . . and a little bitty plastic container to keep the eggs in for 2 weeks. Honestly . . . Earle is right, it couldn't be easier and they are pretty little things . . . the only downer is the need for live brine for the parents and the newly hatched. If you have microworms or vinegar eels that would be OK for the young, but the parents I think brine is necessary. That's not that much trouble . . . a bowl and an airstone for the fish, and a bowl and an airstone for the food . . . .

Now however . . . the Blue gularis. I just checked in on them and they are chasing the African cichlids trying to spawn . . . females . . . females . . . I'm sure the 3 males will join forces to sing in a trio some sweet, sweet tunes . . . I just saw a small sign sticking out the top of the aquarium . . . "Will Work for a Female" . . . .

I think I may get some microworms and vinegar eels . . . I'll give you a report from my strange world next month. Cross your fingers for those discus . . . .

UPDATE . . . UPDATE . . . UPDATE . . . folks, we've got a batch of discus eggs you wouldn't believe . . . as big as a batch of angel's . . . and they ALL HATCHED and the parents are guarding them. Then after a day or so they moved them off the PVC and took them to the sponge filter . . . OK . . . a huge batch of wiggling discus and the parents are guarding them . . . they are beginning to come off the sponge and swim to the parents. They ate them and spawned again . . . . If it weren't for bad luck . . . .