Groenke's Swordtail Breeding Program.

Groenke's method of producing fine fish was so exacting that I will both quote and summarize his suggestions. He started with culling. Groenke wrote, "Heavy culling is absolutely necessary.” He gives an example of what he means, “Within a 24 - hour period, three of my best females had young. There were 103 total. Thirty were culled out at once because they lacked the proper body color. During the next seven days, five more were culled out because they did not develop properly. At three weeks I culled out all the low fins. This left 48 hi - fins, Simpson and lyretail. Of these 48, about 10% to 15% will qualify as first class breeders."


Next, Groenke dealt with environment. He told of how he tried to duplicate the swordtail's natural environment. Groenke noted, "The swordtail, in its natural habitat, enjoys fresh clear running water. I use airstones very extensively. This increases the oxygen supply in the water and forces the fish to swim. The more they exercise, the more they eat; consequently, they grow faster. Airstones also help to expel gases. During the first four weeks of the fry's life, I use two or three airstones per 10 - gallon tank."


Groenke goes on to say that he used a power filter and a sponge filter on each tank and, during the first four weeks, changed one tenth of the water every other day on the fry. After a month, Groenke decreased the airstones, fed less and water changes became one tenth once a week. He commented that the first 4 weeks were the crucial time of development in raising fine fancy swordtails.


Groenke's feeding program could break the resolve of the most dedicated breeder. Groenke writes that, "The first week, the young fry continually have live baby brine shrimp from morning until evening. This means about three feedings a day as the brine shrimp live about four or five hours in the aquarium water. By the second week they have grown considerably and should be fed brine shrimp, live or frozen, every two hours or about eight times a day. At three weeks, I start adding some dry food."


At four weeks of age, the fry were still in the 10 gallon tanks in which they were born and, according to Groenke, it was now time to move them. He used 15 to 30 gallon tanks depending on the number of fry involved. His feeding program also changed. Groenke reported that he now employed a greater variety of dry food, along with tubifex worms, adult frozen brine shrimp, live baby brine shrimp and his own paste food. This menu was offered for the next four weeks and the fish were fed about six times a day. At the age of two months, Groenke wrote that his fish had achieved a two inch body size -- three inches if the tail was included. At this time, Groenke culled or sold everything but his future breeders.


Groenke gave these future breeders about three gallons of water per fish in a 30 - gallon aquarium. He also decreased the feeding schedule to three times a day. This decrease was based on Groenke's belief that it gave "the reproductive organs a better chance to develop." He wrote that he had "noted from past experience that some females which were force fed would not reproduce” and when he cut down on feeding, "within a few months they began to bear young." Groenke theorized that, "With constant forced feeding, much of the oxygen that is taken in by the fish is used to aid organs of digestion, and the result is that the reproductive organs get less oxygen and do not always develop properly."


Whenever anyone asks me for advice on raising fancy swordtails, I always give them a copy of Groenke's article. Few people can meet its ideal procedure, but it sure does set the bar at the level of a real challenge. The only place where I differ from Groenke is on water changes. I agree on the number of water changes for the young fry but I change a larger percentage – say 50-80%. On the sub-adults and adults, I also change a larger percentage of water than he did (80%) and change it more often (2-3 times a week). Of course, this assumes one has a good source of properly aged and treated water at the right temperature ready to go. Individual localities, fishrooms, schedules and/or water problems need to be considered when following this plan. The water must be chemically right and acceptable to the fish. What works for one person may not work for another. Proceed with caution.


Courtesy: http://selectaquatics.com/Website%20redone%20Front%20Page/HF_swordtail_article.htm

Walstad Aquarium Progression Gallery - Full View.

11-March-2012: Walstad First Setup. 

24-March-2012: Walstad Setup Before Pruning.

24-March-2012: Walstad Setup After Pruning. 

08-April-2012: Walstad Setup  - CLF Replaced with 28 Watt Tubelight. 

22-April-2012: Walstad Setup Before Pruning.

22-April-2012: Walstad Setup After Pruning.

13-May-2012: Walstad - 10 Weeks Later - Before Pruning. 

13-May-2012: Walstad - 10 Weeks Later - After Pruning.

3-Jun-2012: Walstad - 3 Months Later - Before Pruning.

3-Jun-2012: Walstad - 3 Months Later - After Pruning.

3-Jul-2012: Walstad - 4 Months Later - Before Pruning.

3-Jul-2012: Walstad - 4 Months Later - After Pruning.

5-Aug-2012: Walstad - 5 Months Later - Before Pruning.

5-Aug-2012: Walstad - 5 Months Later - After Pruning.

10-Sep-2012: Walstad - 6 Months Later - Before Pruning.

5-Feet Walstad Aquarium - 3 Weeks Later.

- New Fishes were added after 3 weeks: Sword Tails - 4, Angels - 2.
- Weekly, 10% Water Change was performed.
- Plants were pruned after 3 weeks and cuttings were propagated.

Before Pruning.

After Pruning.

Center - Before Pruning. 

Center - After Pruning. 

Right - Before Pruning. 

Pigmy Grass Lawn Growing. 

5-Feet Walstad Aquarium.

Finally the 5-Feet Walstad Aquarium is all setup. Here are a few pics. Click to enlarge.

Lush Green Lawn - Another 2 months Away - Part 2.

Aquarium Progression for Last 1.5 months.

Aquarium Setup Initial Setup (1.5 Months Ago).

Aquarium Setup (1 Month Later After Initial Setup ).

Aquarium Setup Current(1.5 Month After Initial Setup).

1.5 Months has passed, waiting for some Lush green grass. I will be covering the Lawn status in a short while. Before that lets go through some highlights:


1. If you are wondering how come there is lush green growth in last 2 weeks on the left hand side of the aquarium. Well the credit goes to Baking Soda (Sodium bi-carbonate). 1-small spoon of baking soda was added for last two week(every Friday) to provide bi-carbonates to the plants and that seems to be working great. 


Good growth was seen across all aquatic plants when Baking soda was added each week. This is significantly seen on on the Left Hand side of the tank.


2. For inital 1 month weekly water changes of 15% was being carried. But still diatoms started showing up. If you are wondering how did I remove the brown algae (diatoms) in last 2-weeks. Then answer is "sucker fish". I bought a sucker fish and its does a great job of cleaning my fish tank. Just see the difference in the leaves in last 2 weeks.   


3. Three new aquatic plants species have been added


a. Ambolia: This is certainly the best looking plant in my aquarium. All credit goes to a office colleague Sohan for sharing a few stems of Ambolia Plant.

Ambolia

b. Parrot feather & Water Lettuce:


The two stems, almost touching the water are Parrot Feather Plant. These have been trimmed by my Rosy Barbs but still the plant is sturdy and is doing great. 


The root like structure floating on the left top corner are the roots of water Lettuce. These are floating plants and have a aerial advantage and are doing okay. The roots are being trimmed by Rosy Barbs when they are hungry and don't have any food around.

Parrot Feather and Water Lettuce.

Lush Green Lawn

1.5 Month has passed by and even though all the other aquatic plants are doing good, Grass doesn't seems to be showing similar growth trajectory.


Cobra grass is almost dead. Micro swords are growing new leaves but no new offshoots like it did the last time. I have added some chemical Fertilizer(after 1.5 month of Walstad Setup) and have also trimmed the grass. Trimming encourages growth (spawning runners) according to most forums.


Hair grass are new additions (2-weeks back) but they also are not doing great. Lets wait and watch, I expect some new runners in micro swords in next two weeks.

Aquatic Lawn 2-Weeks Back. (1-Month After Initial Setup).

Aquatic Lawn Current (1.5 Month After Initial Setup).

Mysterious Deaths in my Aquarium.

In my Walstad setup, whenever there is a large 50% water change, my snails use to die in next 24-48 hrs. These death use to be mystery for me, but finally I found the problem. It’s the ‘Old Tank Syndrome’.

Old Tank  Syndrome is a series of events. First, the nitrate cycle converts ammonia into nitrate. This is good, but in doing that it releases acid. This 

consumes carbonate buffer, just like mixing vinegar and baking soda. Slowly, but surely, this leaves your tank ever more acid in pH.

At some point, the water becomes acid enough to start shutting down the bacteria. This starts at around pH 6.5 and "all" conversion stops below pH 6. Ammonia starts to form, but it's "ok" because acid water converts the deadly Ammonia form to the far less deadly Ammonium form.

This state of Lower Ph (acidic water) and high Ammonium is called the ‘Old Tank Syndrome’. Most of the fishes by now have got adjusted to this acidic environment.

All seems fine, until you change the water in a tank with Old Tank Syndrome (OTS). Adding new fresh water cause the pH to bumps up. This instantly 

converts all of the Ammonium back to Ammonia, and your fish suffocate and die due to ammonia burst.

Plants consume ammonia directly, But if your pH is 6, or below, you must be careful – no matter how old your tank is. Plants, continue to work as long 

as they are in their pH ranges.

Warning signs for OTS: Persistent pH 6, or below is a classic sign of OTS. 

Remedy:

-        Gradually Raise the Water Ph by increasing the Buffering (KH).

-        Make smaller 10-15% water change every 3 days instead of large 50% water change.

To take care of this acidic water, one can add some carbonate or bi-carbonates into the aquarium.

Eg:  Sodium bi-corbonate (Baking soda) for instant relief.

Crushed coral, sea shells in all its forms, is Calcium Carbonate. It dissolves slowly, and is a fine source of both KH and GH.

By slowly  adding bicarbonates, the acid will be neutralized and the ph will be raised gradually. Any more acid created by the bacteria will be absorbed (neutralized) by dissolved bicarbonates in water.

Also remember if you have snails, then these folks are also gradually depleting the water of carbonates/bicarbonates to make their shell.

Buffering helps you to maintain your PH levels. 

Build your own Aquarium.

5-Feet Aquarium.

So finally I am done building my own 5-feet aquarium.

Here are a few links that will help you out building your own.

Link 1:

http://www.austinglass.com.au/aquariums.html

Link 2: Glass Thickness Calculator.

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

See to it that you are well through with the whole process. Here are a tips that may be helpful for you.

  

11. I preferred the method 2 presented in Link1. The only difference was the side glasses are placed on the bottom glass instead of side glass sticking to the edge of the bottom glass. See figure below.

22. You can use a the normal general purpose silicon sealant instead of getting some costly aquarium sealant. I have good experience with china made brand “GP” and “Resibond”. The sealant glue costs you around Rs 125 and the silicon gun cost you around Rs 80.

33. My bottom glass had cracked when I had placed the aquarium for drying in hot sun. Note Acetic glue cures via air moisture not via heat. I had to replace the bottom glass. To remove the glass you need to use a Topaz Razor blade and a pen knife.  The razor blade is used to cut open the sealant and the pen knife is used to widen the insertion created by the blade. Once the blade and pen knife is in, just drag the blade to cut open the selant and then drag the pen knife to widen the cut. See pics below.

44. See to it that you are present at the glass vendor while cutting the glass. The vendor may dupe you by providing a normal glass instead of a 'float glass'. A normal glass has lot more irregularities due to which it may break easily in pressure.