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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Black Oranda Eyeless Runt



In my "pet store trough" where I put fry culled from a stock that have pet potential this little guy stood out. It was sunny, all the other fish in the tub were hiding from my silhouette against the bright sky and this little guy kept on his merry way. 

Turns out both eyes are long gone, genetics or removed by its siblings, will never be known. It is by far the smallest and blackest of this black Oranda spawn, now if I could just get the tail and color this good on the rest of the stock, things would be too easy. 

It has already been under ice once this year, so far it's a hardy little guy. 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Pink transparent and Blue ramshorn snail

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Effects of praziquantel and sanguinarine on expression of immune genes and susceptibility to Aeromonas hydrophila in goldfish (Carassius auratus) infected with Dactylogyrus intermedius.

Effects of praziquantel and sanguinarine on expression of immune genes and susceptibility to Aeromonas hydrophila in goldfish (Carassius auratus) infected with Dactylogyrus intermedius. 
 2013 Oct;35(4):1301-8. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2013.08.001. Epub 2013 Aug 15.

Abstract

Praziquantel and sanguinarine have been demonstrated positive therapeutic effects on monogenean Dactylogyrus intermedius; however, few studies have considered the post impacts of these antiparasitic chemicals on host after repelling the parasites. The changes of expression of selected immune genes (CCL-1, CXCL-8, IL-1β-1, IL-1β-2, TNFα-1, TNFα-2 and TGF-β) in gill, kidney and spleen and bacterial loads of Aeromonas hydrophila in gill, kidney, spleen and liver following bath administration of these antiparasitic chemicals were evaluated. The results showed that praziquantel and sanguinarine up-regulated to varying degrees of CXCL-8, IL-1β-1, IL-1β-2, TNFα-1 and TNFα-2 in gill, kidney and spleen. They both decreased the CCL-1 expression in gill while increased it in kidney and spleen. However, in all the tested tissues, the expression of TGF-β decreased in praziquantel treated goldfish whereas that increased in sanguinarine treated goldfish. The A. hydrophila challenge test showed that the praziquantel treatment enhanced the susceptibility to A. hydrophila while sanguinarine treatment decreased the susceptibility, as compared with the non-treated group. Overall, the results indicate that bath administration of praziquantel and sanguinarine modulates the immune related genes in goldfish and these may, to some extent, affect their ability to resist bacterial pathogens. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23954698


Friday, October 31, 2014

Friday, October 24, 2014

Adult Brine Shrimp from eggs to eggs

Full life cycle in one liter. 


Best Fishes
David

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Black Dragon Medaka

Hope in hand. My population dwindled to just two pairs. I'm now pushing them for every egg I can get.

As far as I know these are the only ones in the Western Hemisphere.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Bye bye blue tubs

Sad to see them go, happy to see them in Nathanial's backyard!

They fit just about perfectly in their new home.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

This years orandas

Multiple strains, black, Azuma Nishiki, chocolate, tangerine and a few Wakins. 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

The carbon cycle: buffering and solids removal

The nitrogen cycle is often in the spot light of discussion, while the carbon cycle is usually ignored. The bacteria we grow in biological media require a nitrogen source which is supplies as ammonia from the gills of our fish, as well as a carbon source provided from carbonates in the water in order to function and reproduce.  As the bacteria reproduce and die, they generate a lot of cellular debris when combined with solid waste from the fish, accumulates in filter media, substrate and surfaces. 

I use lee's economy corner filters with 1/4 inch lava rock gravel mixed with Caribsea crushed coral, which is actually mined Aragonite not crushed corals. Crushed coral is poor buffering media as they can require pH as low as 7.2 to dissolve. Aragonite on the thee hand starts dissolving below 8.2 pH. 

As the aragonite dissolves, it buffers the carbonate hardness by releasing carbonates, increasing the pH as well as the general hardness as it releases calcium.  With the use of the aragonite "crushed coral" and or a little aragonite sand in the tank and your buffering needs  can easily be accomplished. 

The fine grain nature of the media with a slow trickle of air traps fine carbon sediment in the box, which is much easier to clean than a sponge filter. A couple shakes and rinses and your clean and back into service. 

This set up of course provides considerable biological filtration as well. 






Monday, September 15, 2014

An honor, speaking at The National Academy of Science!

I recently had the honor of speaking at a lab animal transportation symposium at the National Academy of Science in Washington DC.  It was hosted by the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research.

The Academy is on the national mall.  It really dawned on me where I was going when I realized I was speaking in very hallowed grounds, located in-between the Lincoln Memorial and the State Department on Constitution avenue.

Here is a google sphere of the central rotunda of the Academy.  It was awe inspiring.

CLICK ON THE MAPS TO GET TO THE PHOTOSHPERE.



The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Short bodied single tail color mutants

Friday, September 12, 2014

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Friday, July 4, 2014

Craig's List Score $100, 900 miles of shipping $475, value $K's

Bought all this for $100
850 gallon storage tank

Two 63x30 fiberglass tanks

4x thousand watt halides

6 foot acrylic

4 foot acrylic Tank with chiller.
Shipping from Bay Area for $475.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Asian market bowls from Korea and Taiwan

The green bowls are a new model, the white flecked with green are my tried and true bowl.  With a snack the total was $100.