Hb Purples

Half Black Purples

Here are a couple photos of my HB Purple line.  I have kept them since 1997.

Third Best of Show at the 2012 IFGA Annual Show

Catalpa leaves

The IFGA Annual show is in 3 weeks.  Just received a new order of Cattapa leaves to help condition the males.  The botanicals that diffuse from the leaves into the water help to prevent fin splits and infections.  Also helps to enrich the colors, especially greens, probably due to the tannins released into the water.

Multi-Colored Strain

New Multis:   As defined by the IFGA standards, a multi-colored guppy is determined by three or more colors in the caudal fin.  The least prevalent color must be at least 15% of the the caudal color by surface area. You could have four colors or five as well, as long as three of the colors each were greater than 15% of the caudal surface area.  I had a very coarse patterned multi line for years, which I lost during a series of moves.  In the last year I used three lines to create a new line.  I used a fine a fine patterned snakeskin line and two different lines of a fish sometimes referred to a a Mosaic.  This is one of the males.  He took first place at the 2016 East Coast Guppy Assoc. show in the Multi class.

Some pictures of my old multi line.

Multis – I purchased these from an auction at a New York show in 1993.  They threw large fish with a very bold course pattern.  These have always been on of the hardiest and most fertile guppies in my fish room.  Presumably this is due to the diverse genetics required to produce the many colors and patterns in these fish.  Many of the males have body color markings that resemble those of wild-type guppies.  In 1999, the line produced a sport, a male with a very fine and distinct pattern.  I was able to capture that pattern and now carry the two lines of this strain, the coarse, bold pattern and fine variegated pattern.  Some females will produce both color types in the same drop of fry.  By line breeding the two strains, I am able to maintain and improve both lines.  The only outcross I have made with this line since 1993 was in 1997, I crossed them once to the gold MGO reds to increase the amount of red in them.  Red is still the least predominate color in these fish.  The females come in two colors, brightly colored caudals with streaks opf green, white, and red, and clear colored caudals. Recently, I have broken out a red bicolor and purple bicolor line from these fish.  Their genetic diversity and plasticity never cease to amaze me. These are one of my favorite lines of fish due to their variation in colors, hardiness and fecundity.

Foods and Feeding

I routinely get 95 % hatches from my Artemia cysts.

I attach the clean sieve to a acrylic fish container using a plastic towel clamp.

The shrimp are drained into the nylon sieve using the airline to to shrimp hatchery.  If I use the valve at the bottom of the hatchery, I get too many hatched egg shells in with the shrimp.

In this photo, all the nauplii a collected.

They are rinsed in clean cold water and transferred to a hang on the tank acrylic specimen container.

Next the hatchery is sterilized using one cup of Chlorox in 5 gallons of water and allowed to bubble for 30 minutes

After refilling the hatchery with five gallons of fresh water I add 2 cups of salt (25 tablespoons), 5 tablespoons of Epsom Salt (MGSO4) and 4 1/2 tablespoons of artemia cysts.

California Blackworms

I have been breeding and raising guppies almost continuously since I was twelve years old.  Along the way I have developed an array of equipment and supplies that are both economical and highly functional.  In this string I will share some of the things I use in my fish room that have served me well over the years.

For the past couple of years I have been feeding live California Blackworms.   Years ago these were raised in the effluent from duck farms and worse and carried a plethora of diseases.  Now they are raised independently in a clean farm environment and fed a high protein diet.  I feed about one pound per week and have not had any problems associated with the worms.

Black worm facts:  140,000 lbs are sold in the US each year.  Who is buying all  those worms? 

Albuquerque Aquarium

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo

Cincinnati Zoo

Cleveland Metro parks Zoo

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Fort Wayne Zoological Society

Fort Worth Zoo

Georgia Aquarium

Jacksonville Zoological Society, Inc.

Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

Monterey Bay Aquarium

NC Aquarium Roanoke Island

Oklahoma City Zoo

Philadelphia Zoo

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG AQ.

Riverbank Zoo & Garden

Saint Louis Zoo

San Antonio Zoo

Sedgwick County Zoo

Tennessee Aquarium

Virginia Marine Science Museum

US Army Corps of Engineers

USFW Willow Beach

USFW Greers Ferry NFH

USFW Mammoth Spring

USFW National Conservation Training Center

USFW San Marcos

USFW Warm Springs Hatchery

Uvalde Fish Hatchery

Alabama Aquatic Bio diversity

California Dept. of Fish and Game

Chattahoochee NFH

Colorado Division of Wildlife

Conservation Fisheries Inc

David White/USGS

Dexter National Fish Hatchery

Edenton National Fish Hatchery

Hancock Biological Station

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife

Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery

Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries

Arizona State University

Belmont University,Biology Dept

Bowling Green State University

California State Univ. Fullerton

Cape Breton University

Carnegie Institute of Washington

Carolina Biological

Clark University

Columbia Environmental Research Center

Creighton University

Eastern Illinois University

Harvard Medical School,Dept of Genetics

Georgia Institute of Technology

Humboldt State University

Indiana University

Kennedy Krieger Institute

Johns Hopkins University

McGill University

McMaster University, Dept of Biology

Muhlenberg College

Minot State University

Mississippi State University

Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries

Missouri State University

New Mexico State University/Dept. of Biol

Ottawa Hospital

Penn State University (Biology Dept.)

Southern Illinois University

St. Lawrence university

Stanford University,CEE Dept.

Texas A & M University

Texas State University at San Marcos

UCLA Dept. of Ecology & Evol Biology 

Univ of Maryland, Baltimore

Univ. of Miami, RSMAS

Univ of Texas at El Paso

Univ. of Florida, The Whitney Laboratory

Univ. of South Carolina

Univ. of Utah/Cardiology Div.

University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff

University of Ca. @ Berkeley

University of California Riverside

University of Colorado at Colorado Spring

University of Dayton Biology Dept.

University of Delaware

University of Florida, Tropical Aquacult

University of Florida/Dept. of Zoology

University of Guelph

University of Mary Washington

University of Maryland/College park

University of Memphis

University of Michigan Biological Station

University of Minnesota Duluth

University Of Nebraska

University of New Mexico

University of Oklahoma

University of Ottawa

University of Saskatchewan

University of Texas A & M

University of Texas at Austin

Section of Neurobiology

University of Texas

HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT SAN ANTONIO

University of Utah

University of Virginia

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

University of Wisconsin/River Falls

Vanderbilt University Med Center

Washington University

West Virginia University

California Blackworms sells these handy trays that separate the worms from the water.  The worms are immersed in about 1/2 inch of water in the top compartment and most of the water is in the lower compartment.  Care consists of rinsing the upper compartment and emptying and refilling the lower compartment each day.  By doing this religiously, the worms will last over three weeks if properly refrigerated.

Young fish show remarkable growth when fed blackworms. The high protein content promotes body size growth.  Many say they are too large for young guppies, but they delight in battling to ingest them.  My young fish will begin to eat them as early as three weeks.  They promote egg production and fertility in females as well.

The Second Fish Room

The Second Fish Room

This is the outside of the second fish room .  It is about 75% complete.

I have used exterior siding on the interior walls with a 50 year warranty.  It is already primed, I just need to paint it.  I need to finish the ceiling, install the door, window and floor.  All the electrical is already installed.

The insulation has performed excellently in the fist room, I am going to use the same plan in the second room.  This room is going to house my larger tanks.

The New Fish Rooms

For those of you who do not know me, I am the leading all time point winner in the IFGA (International Fancy Guppy Association).  I primarily breed fancy show quality guppies (although I have a number of other aquatic interests as well).  After a rather tumultuous period in my life, in April of 2011, I purchased a new home with one-half acre of flat land.  I had always wanted a detached fish room or fish house as it is called around the stead.  So goes the chronicle of that journey.  I decided to build two rooms of 120 sq. ft each to avoid having to file plans and get permits from the city.  My father builds portable barns for horses out of glavanized metal frames, and had the first fish room ready within a week of my request.  Here is one of my Dad's full sized barns. Pretty cool, huh? (click on the pictures to get a larger version)

The barn at my Dad's ranch, built from scratch by his crew.

The fish rooms are going to be a ways from the house. It will keep up my boyish figure. The first room will be placed just to the left of the olive tree in the photo.  This was taken in May 2011.

This is the view from the location of the second fish room site to the house.  The brush needs to be cleared before we can set the forms for the concrete slabs.

The brush has been cleared and the forms for both rooms are being built.  After this photo was taken, 12g welded wire was put in the forms to prevent cracking of the slab.  You can see the floor drains in place.  I put them in the night before in the dark.  The slabs were poured the very next day and the first building went up 48 hours after that, in June 2011.  I built two rooms 10' by 12' because the city does not require permits on buildings 120 sq. ft. or less.  Permits and plans would have driven the costs up to the moon.

It only took 1/2 day to put up the first fish room.

Galavinzed metal frame with metal roof

Skylight, 35" x 60".  In the end, these will be dual-glazed for insulation.

2" x 6" framing to accommodate R30 insulation.  All the wood has been sealed with Thompson's Wood Sealant.  All the gaps have been filled with foam and all the seams caulked.  You have to open the window to close the door (joke).  The bottom of the studs were soaked in diesel oil, because you know I am going to flood the place.

With the window added, dual glazed, vinyl, nice!

Looking out the door.

The entrance.  Next up, the finished product.  Regrettably, I did not take pictures of the construction phase.  You can see the slab for the second room in the background.

Here is the main work area with a rack of ten gallon tanks on the right.

Brine shrimp hatcheries.  I have finally figured out this water and discovered the secret ingredients required for 95% hatches.

4000 watt, 220 volt heater that never comes on.  Well almost never.  Only when the temp is below 30 degrees F.  Could have gotten by with out it.  The dehumidifier keeps the room plenty warm.  The room has R30 insulation all around.  The ceiling is 12'6" at its apex.  1 1/4 " airline just below the heater.

Another shot of the work station.  It always looks like this (sans beer or wine).

Racks on the East wall.

Ceiling fan with dual glazed skylight.

Rack of 20 five gallon tanks used to house fry from birth to about 6 weeks..

Work station looking out the window toward the house.

Another view of the East wall.

Two linear piston pumps that feed into a one and one-quarter inch air line that encircles the room.

Older Chinese model.  I will replace this with an Alita when it dies.

Alita, smaller form factor, very powerful, whisper quiet.

I drain the the brine shrimp water into the sink via the hose in the picture.

Work station from the West wall.

East wall.

Humidity and temp monitor, $8 on Amazon.

Even with the skylight above the tanks, no algae problems.

Meds, foods and supplies.

Bristol Shubunkins from David Lains (goldfishgarage.com).  I am really happy to get these.  One month old.  Can you believe it?  If only I could get a guppy to grow like this.

Four 30 gallon longs will go here.

Four 20 longs will go on the end of this rack of 5 gallon tanks.  West wall rack to the left, not complete.  Identical to East wall rack, 10, 10 gallon tanks, 4, 15 gallon tanks and 5 30 gallon tanks.

Incomplete West wall rack.  Needs one more 15 and 3 more 30s.

Two and one-half gallon breeder tanks on the North wall.  Fives are on the bottom level.  Two are missing for disinfection.  Just to the right of these tanks will be a rack holding 8, 15 gallon tanks.

I have completed the drip system for the breeder tanks you see in the photo above this one.

Fridge.  Yes I can reach the top shelf.

Brine shrimp and black worms.