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Re: NFC: Flagfish
I collect the Flagfish in the wild here in S. Florida and have noticed a few
things. The spawning trigger seems to be higher temps and algal growth as
they coincide. I kept a number of them in ten gal. for months without paying
any attention to them. Actually forgot em. The tank was very green and filled
with filamentious algea, it's water level up and down with the rain or the
rare dumping of excess water into the tank to bring it's level above the
airstone tube and when I rediscovered them I couldn't believe the color.
Hardy little buggers. The tank also sits, or sat in direct sunlight for half
the day. In the wild they inhabit the upper 12 or so inches in heavy grass
vegitation covered in algea and the temps there can be quite warm in the
summer, in the 90s F.They are omnivors, but obviously prefer algea. Over the
winter when the night temps dropped into the forties, for us thats like the
20s for you yaynkees, they did just fine with no heating. They did however
immediatly suffer from ich. In fact all the natives did well, while the
exotics ALL kicked. Even with the temps maitaned in the low fifties and
upper forties during the day, I noticed the ambient temps of the wild waters
stayed in the 70s with one time recording them at 68. The water holds the
heat over night so there is little significant change.
As for Alaska, and what a really cool/kewl place to live, you might want to
concider the ground temp as well. It will determine the mean average temp for
the water in an outdoor pond, perhaps more so than the air temps. A side
note... they are aggressive in a community tank with a rep for being fin
nippers. If kept as 1 male to 3 females this seems to calm them. The females
have the black spotted dorsal.
Daryl