The wild caught shiner fry are still doing VERY well. I have had a minimal death rate, having lost only about two-five fry total since the last move to the 2.5 gallon aquarium. Let me tell you a bit more about the "set-up".
2.5 gallon hexagon acrylic aquarium with acrylic lid. A single air stone. NO filtration. No water changes as of yet. only about an eighth of the water in the aquarium is the original water from the dam. The rest is from my guppy aquarium.
I will very slowly be acclimating the fry to overnight tap water, mixing in a bit of water from the other shiner aquarium to keep the fish from going into shock. I've tried doing quick acclimations before from river water to tap water with small egg laying fry and it just doesn't go over well at all. Even the hardy mosquito fish have a hard time acclimating quickly.
The fish have been fed once--crushed fish flakes. I have not medicated the tank that they are in yet and will not do so until the fish are bigger or show signs of health problems. Some of the mosquito fish showed signs of fin clamp, but the problem has cleared up for the most part, probably due to the slightly medicated and salty water from the guppy tank.
The fish have about 10-12 hours of sunlight daily--From about 7AM to 6-7PM.
No heater has been added to the tank. None is needed. The water in the dam where the fish were caught is a few degrees colder than the aquarium water, which could also account for the diseases clearing up.
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TADPOLE AND FROGS
The tadpole and bullfrogs are in a ten gallon aquarium beside my window where they get about 12 hours of natural sunlight each day. The frogs enjoy floating in the water, their eyes above the surface, while the tadpole enjoys hiding behind the rock in the aquarium.
I have not fed the frogs yet, as I am still letting them adjust to their surroundings. I may toss a moth or mosquito in tonight, or some VERY small crickets this weekend. The two water beetles that were swimming around in the water have disappeared, not died, so I suppose the tadpole has been getting the nibbles.
All is well with the frogs and tadpole. They are active and strong, and their natural instincts to take flight when I come around are still kicking them in the butt.
As much as I would like to be able to handle these frogs as pets, I feel that at this point if that happened so soon I would have major problems to worry about.
Keep on wishing me luck!
I may pay a visit to the bait shop a little later this week to see if they've got any more of those spiffy koi. I know quite a few people that would be interested in buying once they get big.