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You heard me right, my fish kill is going well.  Though not my intention, I have made great strides in that direction.  I have just recently cycled my system and I bought some Shiners to experiment on.  I think I just changed the pH to quickly.  I was low on water and added water from my settling tank. I did not believe that 10 gals would affect 300 gals as much as it did.  Yes, the water was high pH, but 10 gals into 300 had a much bigger effect than I expected.  About 1.5 points I would say.  The water temp is right up there and I am sure that exacerbated the situation.  Oh well, live and learn.

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Too bad... but if you recently added this shiners it could be they were already sick?

You bought shiners? How does that work, pay someone to punch you in the eye? :D

Naw, they were being kept in 65 deg water.  I transitioned them in the proper way but eventually that 90 plus degree water is taking them out.  If you keep them cool they will live much longer.  I did a little research and discovered that they are short lived animals unless in ideal situations.  But they make great fish bait due to their shiny appearance in the water.

Daniel said:

Too bad... but if you recently added this shiners it could be they were already sick?

OK we get it, you are not familiar with the most popular bait fish in the U.S.

Alex Veidel said:

You bought shiners? How does that work, pay someone to punch you in the eye?

Well, I'm aware of what you were referring to, but no, I am not familiar with them experientially...I'm no fisherman. I don't like fishing; I just like "catching" :)

Tradewind said:

OK we get it, you are not familiar with the most popular bait fish in the U.S.

Alex Veidel said:

You bought shiners? How does that work, pay someone to punch you in the eye?

Tradewind, Re-read Alex's post... He was being a smart-ass...

Anyway, try fat-head minnows instead of shiners. Rosy reds are the red color variation. Those suckers are TOUGH!! And you can buy them cheap at any pet store. I was surprised to see another patch of spawn a week ago and my water is warm.

You mean a smart "Alex"...

Pat James said:

Tradewind, Re-read Alex's post... He was being a smart-ass...

Anyway, try fat-head minnows instead of shiners. Rosy reds are the red color variation. Those suckers are TOUGH!! And you can buy them cheap at any pet store. I was surprised to see another patch of spawn a week ago and my water is warm.

"Smart alex" hahaha.

And Pat - do you raise Rosy Reds for fish food to sell as bait fish, or some other reason? I'll have to look into this, as I'd be interested in raising these to sell to bait shops. What size tank do you have them breeding in? I'll search the forum, I'm sure there are details on here somewhere about raising these...

Pat,

You read my mind.  I have been having a little trouble finding some bait shops locally that still sell fat head minnows.  It used to be they were very common, but most bait shops have gone to the shiners since there are now a lot of commercial growers.  It used to be they were harvested in the wild, but those waters are difficult to access now.  When I was a young boy with nothing better to do I would find fat head minnows in 6 inches of water on 105 degree days and they certainly did not seem stressed.  They would stay in that water until it evaporated and only then would they die on the damp mud.  Now that is tough.

Pat James said:

Tradewind, Re-read Alex's post... He was being a smart-ass...

Anyway, try fat-head minnows instead of shiners. Rosy reds are the red color variation. Those suckers are TOUGH!! And you can buy them cheap at any pet store. I was surprised to see another patch of spawn a week ago and my water is warm.

Aren't fathead minnows also called rosy head minnows or something like that? I remember picking up some at Petco or some chain pet store like that. I wanted to use them to get rid of mosquitoes in my neighbors pond. Never worked, I'm sure they all died.

Tradewind said:

Pat,

You read my mind.  I have been having a little trouble finding some bait shops locally that still sell fat head minnows.  It used to be they were very common, but most bait shops have gone to the shiners since there are now a lot of commercial growers.  It used to be they were harvested in the wild, but those waters are difficult to access now.  When I was a young boy with nothing better to do I would find fat head minnows in 6 inches of water on 105 degree days and they certainly did not seem stressed.  They would stay in that water until it evaporated and only then would they die on the damp mud.  Now that is tough.

Oh, rosy-red minnows...got it. heheheh

Alex Veidel said:

Aren't fathead minnows also called rosy head minnows or something like that? I remember picking up some at Petco or some chain pet store like that. I wanted to use them to get rid of mosquitoes in my neighbors pond. Never worked, I'm sure they all died.

Rosy reds are simply the reddish/orange color variety of fat-head minnows. You generally see them sold as food fish for larger predatory fish (Oscars etc) in pet stores. The red ones are more popular because they look more like 'aquarium' fish than bait. I bought a couple batches. First last November and then again in Jan,/Feb...about 40 each time. They breed like crazy.

I got them originally as scavengers and had hoped my catfish fingerlings would eat them. They breed fast. I tied short (2 ft) lengths of 4 inch PVC together and dropped them into my FT, I drilled a hole in one end to tie a cord to act as a leash. I'd pull one of these units out every couple days to see if I saw patches of eggs. If I did, i would drop it into one of my DWC growbeds.I wound up with thousands of the things before I quit trying to save any fry.

I really do not want to sell them. I want the larger fish to eat them, but I probably feed too well and the bigger fish simply are not interested. Right now, I am simply trying to get my fish to harvestable size before cold weather kicks in. I have no idea how big my tilapia are, but I'm afraid they are not growing as I see too many small ones. i think they are too interested in mating than growing...

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