Very Cool vacation and New Fish....

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Summers here and that means I get to spend more time with my family here. Now you might think that means less time for the hobby right?... Well not exactly. But much as I nuts over Discus... My hobby goes a bit farther than just discus ..so a vacation trip can often mean more hobby time.

Every year we go to a friends house in NY for a little R&R ..Its a quiet place...not alot there culturally, but the farmers cows up the street do put on a summer evening concert and the crickets are always singing... Honestly, I love it...my cell phone doesn't work there, and half the time I can't get a signal for my laptop....Its pure heaven when you need some R and R.

This property has a small stream running thru it that never dries out and is usually less than a foot deep...its been a dry summer so it was real shallow... which helped us out with out explorations. My kids call this Rock River... for obvious reasons.

[DiscusKev]

Sounds like fun Al, but where's the new fish

Just wondering, what is R&R?

That 'rock river' sure seems very dry, for a river anyway.

[brewmaster15]

So we explored...Found the usual things... salamanders, dragon fly Larvae, snails, and even a lone crayfish.... and because of the low water we found something we could never really see before... a local Gilled Resident.. My best guest identification here ...a freshwater sculpin. It fits the ID for a Mottled Sculpin...Cottus bairdi....

I've always enjoyed hanging out at the ocean and catching sea robins....neat little creatures to watch....pain in the neck if you hook one when fishing... but these tiny freshwater sculpins reminded me of them....They were great to watch.. There were many 3/4"-1" long fry there, and we found a good number of adults too. Adults were only about 3" max.

[brewmaster15]

R & R = Rest and Relaxation!


and the adults fishes... This one had an old battle scar on its gill plate....Hope I can find him again next year!

[brewmaster15]

One of my interests lately has been keeping temperate fish and This one here is just perfect...So I decided to set up a tank for a couple and do some further observations and see if I Can breed them..have to wait until next year there...

I got to say....I love these little buggers... They come right up to the tank wall and look me in the eye...very inquisitive.. and The males really look stunning when they spread there fins....

-al

[brewmaster15]

and some more tank shots...

I tried to duplicate that streams... even the rocks are from it...

-al

[brewmaster15]

and my favorite shot so far... This fish has attitude!

-al

[DiscusKev]

That is so cool Al, you took the resources from the small river and done a mini bio-tope of it, the fish look also. The one posted on #4 look rather interesting, reminds me of a goby or rock fish, something alike.

[stephcps]

Really cool Al!! I saw a guy on aquariacentral do something similar...it was a really cool tank!! Those little fishies are something!!

I bet your kids had a blast!


Steph

[Discus-n00b]

Thats cool Al, very nice looking fish. Natives are ALWAYS so interesting, a lot of people pay no attention to them though. Its amazing what can come out of your own backyard.

Looks like you are bringing the kids up right haha, get them into all the fish!

[brewmaster15]

Steph they really did have a blast...My kids love the water.....they can't get enough of mucking around ponds, lakes and streams. ..and I have no idea where they got that from!


-al

[Chad Hughes]

Welcome back Al!

Looks like you had an awesome time! I'm envious.

Best wishes!

[Ed13]

This thread doesn't dissapoint, very cool!

and my favorite shot so far... This fish has attitude!

-al

They look carnivorous and a bit agressive. Looks like a very fun, cool, little fish though.

[Jennie]

R & R = Rest and Relaxation!


and the adults fishes... This one had an old battle scar on its gill plate....Hope I can find him again next year!

that guy looks like a mudskipper. is it? Come to think of it they do battle over who get's the best digs, lol

[Eddie]

Looks like you guys had a great time Al! Those little fishes are cool. They look like a sort of goby. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Take care,

Eddie