Re: NANFA-- Spawning Difficult Fish Outdoors & New Method for

Todd Crail (farmertodd_at_buckeye-express.com)
Sun, 2 Mar 2003 10:46:59 -0500

Thanks both of you. This is all gonna go into "The Farmer Files" to be put
up on the web at some point, if you don't mind (oh and prolly used out back
this year... :)

Great information! :)

----- Original Message -----
From: "unclescott" <unclescott_at_prodigy.net>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 12:20 AM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- Spawning Difficult Fish Outdoors & New Method for
Growing Oxygenator Plants

> Thank you Jeff for a lot of food for thought.
>
> My outdoor containers are mostly kept with raising daphnia in mind. I have
> found that usually if the containers are kept under the trees (and in my
> case strategically between a wood pile and berry patch to cut down on
> tourist traffic) the dragon flies have almost never found them to lay
eggs.
> (Knock on wood....)
>
> It was suggested to me that exposed water reflecting sunlight is visible
at
> quick a distance in the air. Some years back our exposed containers
> certainly drew dragonfly and subsequent larvae, damselfly and their
larvae,
> a couple of species of water bug, water skaters, and backswimmers. We are
> down wind from some marginal wet lands.
>
> Under the trees the daphnia gets joined by blood worms, other cladocerans
> (brought in by the wind? varmints' whiskers?) and the occasional glass
worm.
> If the daphnia population is maintained at a pretty high density, the vast
> majority of mosquito larvae are evidentally consumed while microscopic and
> few large larvae were found. (This last dry year for some reason was a
> better year for glass worms. Maybe a lack of alternate sites)
>
> Mossie egg rafts are useful floating in the tanks of small mouthed,
surface
> feeding fry and were skimmed off once in a while.
>
> Rarely damsel fly larvae will infest a culture. They don't seem to take
the
> toll that dragonfly larvae take and are pretty well accepted by fish if
the
> damselflies are bite sized.
>
> As an experiment last summer several smaller containers - the 20 gallon
> plastic tubs (blue in our case) sold for $6 each at Menards - were placed
> under the trees. Standard floating aquarium plants (water sprite,
salvinia,
> anacharis), water hyacinth and a little water lettuce were included in
> different containers. Fish growth wasn't very impressive, indicating that
> such small containers needed to be more often fed.
>
> We actually added RO and rain water to the tubs so that birds, squirrels
and
> chipmunks could drink without falling in.
>
> Despite a thinning of the tree leaves in the parched summer months, most
of
> the fish survived without noticeable predation.
>
> I would be interested, from the standpoints of live food production and
fish
> raising, in what the experiences of others might have been raising aquatic
> things in the shade as opposed to in the open sunlight.
>
> Jeff's accounts of larger containers are intriguing. Maybe a move after
> retirement would be to a larger parcel of land where projects such as that
> are possible. Then will have to learn to keep sunfish. :)
>
> Also ... know of killie nuts raising daphnia in stock tanks - then one
needs
> a freezer and bagging kit to save the daphnia. ;)
>
> Jeff, do you have photos of your outdoor tubs and of your greenhouse
on-line
> somewhere?
>
> Thanks and all the best,
>
> Scott

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/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org