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Fishmonger Newsletter

August 2021

Construction Progress

The building pad is completed. Because the land here is clay based, we brought in engineered fill which will be stable despite hot/cold and wet/dry periods. They did a phenomenal job with this building pad…it is nicely compacted and so precise it looks like a layer of a sheet cake. Concrete foundation framing is scheduled to begin later this week.

Our carbon filters have arrived. These will be used to insure our source water is cleared of pesticides, herbicides, petrochemicals, and other undesirable chemical substances. It is also a great way to polish the water before it goes into our aquariums. These are BIG units…8’ plus. Jonathan is included for scale…he’s a very tall dude.

The 3 pallets contain the sand and activated carbon media for the filters. Don’t worry, we’ve since wrapped everything up tight with a rain/sun proof cover to keep the media clean and dry until it is installed.

These anti-backwash valves will be plumbed onto the carbon tanks to prevent aquarium water from backing into the tanks when the filters go into their backwash cleaning cycles. They are a small detail, but a very important one.

The last of the aquariums were delivered…well, except for the 1 pallet that the supplier lost. One of the pallets was dropped off the lift gate before it had been fully lowered to the floor. There was a loud “CRACK” like a gun being shot and we thought all the tanks on that pallet were destroyed. Amazingly, only 2 aquariums cracked, the rest were just fine.

Oh, and the supplier did manage to find the lost pallet of tanks…it will be arriving tomorrow.

Quick ‘n Dirty Construction Update Vid

Here’s a brief video showing the construction progress (sorry for the bad audio!).

Featured Article

Mogurnda cingulata:

Banded Gudgeon Care & Breeding

Few fish in the world come from families with as much variety as the gudgeons. With species ranging from under 1cm at full length to over 3ft, and coming from habitats consisting of fresh, brackish, and salt water; the Eleotridae family must be crazy around holidays and reunions! With 34 genera and over 180 species, there is a flavor for everyone.

Pic above is a 2” Young Adult Fish

Members of the genus Mogurnda belong to a group of fish called “sleeper gobies”, named for their propensity to lay along the substrate in a lazy manner. Despite this, once you’ve gotten their attention with some live food or other tank mates, you’ll see that Mogurnda cingulata are anything but lazy. Anatomically speaking, members of the Mogurnda genus are very similar to gobies. The primary distinguishing characteristic between the two is the lack of a fused pelvic sucker fin on the Mogurnda; a primary identifying characteristic of gobies. Mogurnda cingulata reach about 5in at full maturity, making them quite the eye-catcher in an aquarium.

In the wild, Mogurnda cingulata are found most commonly in New Guinea, as well as in northern Australia. It dwells predominantly in faster-moving rivers, near to where they let out into lakes. This allows them the benefits of clean water due to the current, while still having the option to venture into a lake for a wider variety of foods. The rivers in which these fish are found often have little vegetation, and instead are filled with large rocky substrate.

These fish are predators! While these are good companions to rainbowfish and other strong swimmers of size or spiny fish like plecos, they will snack on smaller fish and nip at long, trailing fins. Rainbowfish, Barbs, Giant Danios, Brycinus Tetras, Congo Tetras, standard fin Bushy Nose Plecos and the like are suitable tankmates. When it comes to feeding, they are not picky. While they will eat flake foods with enthusiasm, we tend to stay away from flakes because these fish are messy eaters. Pelleted foods are a much cleaner option. They also relish frozen foods such as brine shrimp, bloodworms, and mysis shrimp. The occasional live food feeding is recommended as it will allow them to connect with their natural instincts and enrich their lives. They love hunting scuds and worms, but any appropriately sized live food will do. We like to add some vegetable matter to their diet a couple of times a week to make sure they are getting all the nutrients they need. Most any of the many veggie based wafers and pellets on the market can serve as their “salad,” as can brine shrimp infused with spirulina.

Pic above is a fully grown 4”-5” adult

Because they are not particularly active swimmers, a single specimen doesn’t need a large tank, but keeping groups of adults together does require some space. We have kept as many as about 40 juveniles in a 40 gallon breeder tank. As the fish mature, aquarists have two options: The fish can be kept as a single specimen of their species, or as a colony. Pairs and trios can work, but excessive intraspecific aggression is more likely when they are kept in small numbers. These fish can become very territorial, and keeping too few together exaggerates this tendency, so larger groups are best. Banded gudgeons are reminiscent of mbuna cichlids in this way. For long term maintenance, lots of cover is needed as are separate hiding caves for each fish so that individuals can escape the ground to retire and relax as needed.

If you’ve seen our fishroom tour video that featured these fish, you’ll know they breed with ease! The only difficulty breeding them is selecting a pair. There is very little visible difference between males and females, so they can’t be sexed. The reliable method of pair selection seems to be to acquire a group and wait for them to start spawning. While they are generally considered to be cave spawners, we have had several pairs successfully brood their eggs on the glass of bare bottomed tanks. While we can’t say you should expect this behavior all the time, we have found that they truly do breed in almost any conditions. A typical spawning setup for a pair of gudgeons would consist of plenty of cover and a variety of caves they can select from.

Pic above is eggs about to hatch

These are prolific fish. In the last 2 months, we have had 9 spawns from our group. The eggs of this species are elongated ovals instead of the round shape typical of most freshwater fish. They look like long, slender water balloons. The eggs are transparent and large in size so it is easy to observe embryonic development. Once the eggs are laid, the female is chased away and the clutch is guarded by the male who keeps all comers about 8” - 10” away. The males are very good parents and we’ve never seen them eat a clutch. We have not counted clutches, but guess that they typically number around 300-400 eggs. Fertility rates are very high.

Pic above is a 2 week old fry at a little over 1/4” in size. The orange balls in the gut are baby brine shrimp.

If all except the nuptial male are removed from the aquarium, the male will fan the eggs until they hatch and, in our experience, won’t eat the newly hatched fry. Another alternative that has worked for us is to scrape the clutch off the glass with a razor blade and incubate it in an egg tumbler. In our experience, both the “natural” and the “egg tumbler” methods worked well. The eggs hatch in 8-10 days and the newly hatched fry are large, free swimming, and can easily eat newly hatched baby brine shrimp within a few hours of hatching. They grow rapidly and will reach 1/4” in about 2 weeks. Within 4-6 weeks, they will be ½” long and are able to eat adult frozen brine shrimp, algae wafers, sinking pellets, and other prepared foods. The fry are very hardy and are one of the easiest egg layers we have ever raised.

Pick above is a 6 week old juvenile at 1/2” in size.

Overall, we’re in love with these fish! They’re hearty, do well in just about any conditions, are a great breeding project for beginners and seasoned breeders alike, and above all are beautiful and unique. Keep your eyes peeled for more content about breeding and raising these fish coming soon to our YouTube channel.

Medaka Madness!!!

We’ve gone a bit mad with Ricefish and have several varieties of Medaka in stock at this time.

Pic above is a Miyuki White Ricefish. The bright neon white iridescent stripe down the dorsal ridge is the hallmark of this breed.

Pic above is a Lame’ Ricefish (not to be confused with lame :). They are named after the bright glittering spangles which are reminiscent of the lame’ fabric favored by Elvis, Liberace, and other stars of the stage.

Pic is of a female Youkihi Medaka Ricefish carrying a clutch of eggs.

Pic above is a Galaxy Medaka Ricefish.

Pic above is a Daisy’s Ricefish. Unlike the various Medaka, this species does not like cold water.