Reel McKoi wrote:
"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...

I just released my five gold white clouds into one of my half-barrels
from their quarantine. (Good luck, little fishies!) There's papyrus,
azolla, cambomba, egeria, and frogbit in there. The single mosquito
fish in the other two barrels have been going lean and mean, since I
know hungry live bearers will eat soft plants just fine and I want them
eating any stray insect larvae. Do I need to feed the 5 white clouds or
will they find enough to eat between plants and insects landing on the
water?


# I would feed them at least once a day. A 1/2 barrel isn't likely to
produce enough insect life for that many fish.


I'm just starting quarantine on the first shubunkin and I'm quite sure
that little piglet will need extra food. He was barely used to the
quarantine tank and already trying to eat the clump of java moss I put
in with him for cover. Sheesh! I haven't kept goldfish since I was a
child and I'd forgotten how much they can eat.


# That's because goldfish get quite large, as pet fish go. They're not
small fish. If you're going to keep 7 fish in your barrel you will probably
need some type of aeration.

Oh - it's gonna be 3 barrels linked together by spillways with a filter
and pump. I'm almost done building the spillways and there will be
plenty of splash to oxygenate everything. I'll have about 60-70 gallons
total volume circulating through the 3 barrel system.

White clouds are tiny things, so I'm not too worried about them as far
as oxygen goes at the moment but thankyouverymuch for the feeding info.
They'll be in the top barrel with a basket around the spillway to keep
them there. (Still gotta build that.)

Once I get the pump going and finish quarantines, there will be two
shubunkins in the middle barrel so they have some company and the lower
barrel will have only the one Gambusia I already put there (plus all her
offspring).

So total planned fishlife in 60-70 filtered, aerated gallons will be
2 Gambusia (plus offspring - they gave me females)
5 white clouds 'cause I really like that fish
2 shubunkins

Sound reasonable? I know the shubunkins may be cramped for swimming
room in the barrels when they get to full size, but I've already asked
and LFS will happily take back big ones and trade me for small.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__