really cool when they get to size.... wish i had a large hap tank... would consider... hope you get some takes on them...

Rich: this is a fabulous way to support those who support us, and Wetspot is a class group when it comes to ordering/shipping new aquatic prospects... I have never had a bad dealing with them and they always seem to get in species that are harder to find locally. I highly recommend this to any of our members that are wanting to try new fish, or inverts... and YES PLEASE - support our donors!!!!

First, what is your reason for raising the KH? Raising KH +/or GH are two different situations that can alter your water chemistry based on the current PH in your aquarium. one general way to "buffer" your water is to use crushed coral, (placing it in a net bag in the filter, rather than as a substrate) You can add it to your substrate but it is easier to add or remove from a filter... Another, but caution, as it has to be carefully added, and testing on a regular basis, is Sodium Bicarbonate, (baking soda) but this can change much more drastically, and not recommended unless you are very vigilant with testing. bottom line is stable water parameters, are usually easier to work with over someone's water that fluctuates. Again my original point though, is why do you want to change it? I have very low PH in my well water, so with my africans, i tend to add crushed coral to the tank, along with adding some actual coral or limestone based rock.... problem is that you have to monitor it... If it is for Livebearers, i tend to add some rock salt to my tanks, but again, stay vigilant...

if you are currently a member of JRAS, make sure you keep records, and you can apply for BAP points... if you haven't joined yet, still - keep your records and consider coming to the November meeting (nov 16th) and join there, I am sure the BAP committee will allow you to record this breeding towards BAP points

i spoke with Milan from Click n Fish, and he has both, he will bring a couple blue ram girls and not sure how many female blue rice fish.... will hook you up tomorrow night david

I don't know if the gals from Charlottesville are coming tomorrow, if they are i know they will bring fish. I will see if susan bragg can send them a message on facebook, as i dont have their info, and do not know if they check the forum regular before meetings..

Richard: I do not know who is coming to the February meeting but i am pretty sure you will be able to find some at the March SPRING FLING, (March 19th) if you can't find any this month, Don't forget we will have our 1/2 day auction at the spring fling..... good luck david

The Monthly meeting for February will be an in-person meeting. Masks optional, and we will be practicing social distancing. There will be a mini auction after the speakers presentation.

So the August meeting turned out quite well.... we had about 18 people attending, and despite the current health issues, all were masked and in very good spirits.. We even had a couple NEW guests attend. Mr Jim Long, a long time friend of several of us in the society, gave a brilliant and factual lecture on culturing, and harvesting live foods.. from the very tiniest (green water and microscopic like rotifers) all the way up to nematode types like white and grindal worms. He spoke on how to produce the cultures and how to maintain, and in turn collect and feed to your aquatic friends... His inciteful background (possibly based on his own trials and tribulations on keeping them) was very useful and he answered all the questions brought forth by members. after Jims Lecture, we took a brief social break and transitioned into our monthly mini auction. Jim supplied many starter cultures, along with newly formed cultures of daphnia, green water, vinegar eels and the like. All in all there were about 2 dozen auction items and the live cultures were very popular in the bidding wars.. While this was not one of our largest attended meetings, I believe it was much needed and folks seemed to enjoy the comradery, just being able to see and visit with each other. The JRAS board met about a week ago and our decision to move forward with in-person meetings was discussed, and unless state and local decisions are made to close down public events, we are planning on moving forward with meetings.. Of course this will be dictated by govt. decisions. Please watch the website, facebook or instagram for upcoming announcements regarding meetings of JRAS.

David Sombach 11:05 PM (1 minute ago) to JRAS Blake:please send me the information on the rice fish group, and where you saw the info on rice fish eggs, and such... I am interested in trying the purchasing eggs idea, and will be happy to work on sharing with you, if we can come up with ideas for getting some of the newer varieties.... I would be willing to eat the postage or shipping in order to get some of the different fish... thanks david

I am bringing the following items for the mini auction: 1. Bag of Wisteria 2. Limnobium stolonifera, not the normal one stems and leaves tend to grow up and out of water 3. Bag of Hornwort 4. Bag of Hornwort 5. Bag of Najas (aka Guppy Grass) 6. Bag of Najas ( aka Guppy Grass) 7. 15+ Cherry Shrimp. 8.15+ Cherry Shrimp 9 bag of PINK Ramshorn Snails 10. bag of velvet swords *high dorsal genes more to come as i check out what i have...

you can post it on the forum/marketplace thread... just reference july 24th meeting auction items.. I will mention that in the forum announcement page and on the home programs page.

yes! we are going to have a mini auction at this meeting look forward to seeing you there

If you are in the richmond area, Azalea, Skoolz of fish, and Click n fish all carry blackworms when they can get them Personally, i think a 20 is kind of large.... but if thats what you work with then why rock the boat... with that being said... i have had my best luck with moving my sterbai,,,so keep them, and feed them heavy in the 20 then move them to a ten or 5 (that is established) and give them a water change right after you move them (maybe 5-8 degrees) keep the 20 running so you can move them back after you get some eggs...

Hello Blake: Corydoras Sterbai, usually breed in small groups.... and most often will deposit eggs on the glass, filter stems, or large leaves (like anubias type plants) Yes the cold water change is most often utilized, but what conditions are you presently keeping them in? Tank size, community or devoted just to the cory's, what sex ratio? planted tank or bare, ph, kh, gh, temps.... all that helps with a solution.. Not knowing how you are keeping them,,, this is how i would set them up..... ratio of at least 2 males to 1 female. their own dedicated tank, (5 or 10 gallon is sufficiant for a half dozen fish) I would keep the tank bare, (no substrate) and put a couple potted anubias in it, but keep it minimal, so easier to harvest eggs off glass or plants. sponge filter, and temps around 76-80 f. ph (sometimes higher ph can lead to problems, but anything in the 7.0 range is good... Too high can present problems with either not laying or the eggs not hatching because of too much calcium. If you are relying on tap water, (not well) and the ph gh or kh is higher, then i would suggest either collecting rain water, or purchase water that is much closer to neutral to set them up in... and when you do your cold water change, use your rain water, and you can do as much as a 10-15 degree difference .....try to do it in the early evening, and keep your lights lower through the evening and on to about late morning. Now.... after saying all that..... really try to push the high quality feed to them for about 7-10 days before you do your "change".... I would recommend picking up some live black worms and feeding them heavy with them... I think there is more protein in blk worms than white worms or micro worms... you can always supplement with other foods, but the black worms really work well. When my sterbais have bred for me in the past, (especially when i wasn't really trying... it is usually after i move them to a new tank, and the conditions between the two are different enough that they were sort of 'shocked' into thinking there was a change... Certainly barometric changes do help but i don't necessarily rely on just that. If you get eggs, you have two options.. leave the parents in there and remove eggs, or take the parents out... my suggestion would be to take the parents out,,, that way you aren't messing with different water parameters to hatch them. and if you use a 5 gallon, it's easy enough to feed babies without some not getting food. Hope this helps and you may get other feedback from some of our breeders.... good luck cheers david

April will be a problem for me acquiring fish, as i am travelling a lot next month... might have to wait on this one. david

Rich, i am interested, but need to know couple things... 1. what date are you thinking of receiving the order (if it happens) 2. how are we paying for the items, direct with wetspot or through you? 3.

Hello Jim: We normally *(pre covid) have monthly meetings where it is possible to put fish up for auction, but........ and i say "but" JRAS members generally, will not be your target audience.. There are a couple members that keep cichlids, primarily africans but they have to want that species... While we are still having zoom meetings, we do plan on having another Tailgate Tagsale, but won't be until later May. If you are having to move these fish to make room, and cannot wait till May, and costs aren't as much a priority as moving them, then i might suggest one of our local fish stores... Click N Fish, Azalea, and Skoolz of Fish, all three sell africans, and while you won't get rich on selling them to them, they may be an option. The other option would be to post the listing you made on here to the Potomac Valley Aquarium Society's marketplace forum and the Captial Cichlid Association's forum. both those clubs have members that will travel, and we get many of their members come down to our events. I hope one of these ideas help david

honestly, lighting shouldn't matter vs windo.... you don't want it to get too warm or cold,,, 70's or thereabouts... just make sure you haven;'t treated the tank recently ( with any meds or salt) good luck

I am not sure if Dennis still has a culture running,, I had a few but not sure there is anything there.. however.... i do have a couple micro worm type cultures, water based, where there should be some infusoria growing in them.... I would be happy to see what i have and let you know. Jim Long, (killie guy who lives in the warrenton area) has MANY MANY infusoria cultures running.. just a trouble meeting up with him... Dennis and I met him in Fredericksburg 6 or 8 weeks ago and traded cultures... So he is a very good source and very generous. on a different note... have you tried parboiling a couple lettuce leaves, and putting them in a container (use aquarium water) of water.... to keep it running I put a piece of split pea and half an algae tab... place top o bottle but dont screw it , just let it sit on the top. if you have a windowsill where you would eventually grow green water there that is a good location for the bottle.... ( i have used large orange juice bottles for this... not an opague container, a clear one) david