Al, are you surprised at this? Would you be more surprised if none were lost? If it was summer, the fatalities would be lower?
Do you think that this challenge will happen again or is this just a one time deal?
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Marie,
I've shipped many fish, including many adult wilds... fatalities occur.... you do the best you can ....but it happens... In the winter it can happen more...we shipped these out the worst possible time...the christmas holidays and after a series of severe storms.... Am I surprised some died...not at all. but once I ship them...I am at the mercy of the shippers and have no control over the way they are handled... These are young fish.. I had wanted to do this earlier in the year but it was not possible.
Is this going to happen again...I hope so.. If I have fry I can part with I will again......I hope others such as Darren did in Australia do it as well here...international groups would all be welcome......I'd love to have this a yearly thing here... with as many groups as possible... I think theres a tremendous amount of information to be learned from these kinds of events.....hobbyists learn by doing...and others learn by following...
Like all things this contest will have to evolve...Next time around I think a group of 8-10 will be better...and we'll set the cut off at 6 fish to start.......of course I have to find people willing to giveway away thier hard earned FRY and any money they may have made off them first, ,,who knows Marie...maybe you'll be one to do some day...or one of these contestants this time.
So to recap...surprised no....another contest absolutely..if possible, I think this is the kind of contest we can do real well here..
-al
My hats off to Al and Darren and all those involved.But we must remember this is also a salute to a fellow hobbyist and good friend to us all BARB.This is exactly what makes simply great helping each other.NEXT YEAR CANADA EH!!!!!!!
Also, having more to work with may not necessarily be an advantage. I now have 9 fish in the same amount of water I planned to only have 6 in. At some point they will outgrow the 40 breeder they are in and have to be moved. I can't just easily move them into a standard 55 or even a 75 really. So I will either be getting another even larger tank to house them all or splitting them up. However, splitting them up isn't really ideal either because...I'll end up with 4 and 5 probably. Having only 4 won't be the ideal situation. So...having more to work with seems fun now but I'd say those with only 5 or 6 or even 10 to split evenly will have it easier when they get bigger.
I'm certainly not complaining about having 9 fish but....I don't think I see an advantage here. :)
Karen,
my advice....pick the best 6 to work with...and if you have any hobbyists near you that would like some ...either give them away...or sell them to buy food for their siblings:)
actually I advise everyone with a few extras to do that...6 is a very decent number to work with for discus social dynamics., IMO
-al
I agree with Al -- if you want to have the original six fish, those with extra could give them away to someone or put them in another tank. If you have multiple tanks, you can wait until a QT period is over and move some of the fish around.
I don't think it's the numbers that really matter in this challenge. Numbers may affect things like the pecking order or how secure a discus feels, but if they're receiving the proper level of care they should all grow at roughly the same rate regardless of how many you have in the tank. Whether you have 3 discus or 9 discus, you are going to care for them accordingly with tank size, feedings, and water changes. In every group you'll have a runt, in every group you'll have a big bully, etc.
The challenge is to see what you can do with the fish you have in the allotted amount of time. The only real difference, most likely, is that those with more fish will have to use more food and possibly need a larger tank.
Ryan
yeah, I will probably end up picking the best six or whatever. I was just...giving an example of how numbers isn't necessarily an advantage. True, I may have more to choose from to pick my favorite or best 6, but I think everyone's fish are pretty equal to start with so it shouldn't be an advantage or disadvantage really. Eileen's came in in great shape and have been doing great from the start, 3 of mine started out barely alive but...you can't tell that now and I couldn't begin to tell you which three it was. So, it all boils down to the care you give them I think.
Exactly Karen!:)
-al
Nope I don't have any problem at all...I got 6 sweet lil fish to grow out and they didn't set me back a ton of cash....I just have to think about tank space...I think after the Q period is over I might move the six test fish to the 75 gal and move my butterfly crosses out of the 75 and into the 125....I still have some time before that happens,so things could change a lot by then....Sounds like everyone is doing ok with thier fish...can't wait till they get larger and we can see some color in them
Mench