Fish pics

[BallAquatics]

I just Googled Danio dangila.  They're the big boys of the family

They are yet another very cool danio!  I've got 8 or 10 in a 55 with some Danio kerri.  They are pretty rowdy and love to splash water at feeding time.



They were about 3 inch long when that photo was taken.  They are about twice that size now.  The males have a reddish tint to them.  Seems to be a common thing with the larger danio & devario, the males generally have red on them somewhere.

I shot this video shortly after the Danio meghalayensis spawned... look how red the dominate male is!

They are all fired up because they think they are going to get some daphnia..... I'd been feeding them lots of live foods trying to get them to spawn.

Dennis

[BillT]

Wow Dennis, nice pictures. I really like the head on of the Danio dangilia.

I have recently using some fish pictures to try to ID different species of Danionella. You can see a lot of details in a picture that you just can't see in a rapidly moving fish. Barbels are a good example. You can also do fin ray counts if the picture shows them.

Once this weather settles down I'll definitely be shipping some fish!  Last year this time I was already shipping, but this year, one day it's 50 and the next it's in the teens... just too risky to send live cargo.

What are the weather conditions (temperatures) that you consider good for shipping fish?

Ok, I'm weak on my Daniology....then those were the Blue Snakeskins???...I should have known not enough red for the Celestials.....I'll figure em out someday...so many varieties...wow

It is quite understandable. The trade or colloquial names of Danios are often very confusing. I have seen some names used for three different species and several species have many common names. I try to just use the scientific names, but the ones they use in pet stores are often wrong. Arrggg!

I just did a talk at an Aquaculture meeting on Danioninae phylogeny so I have recently looked into this.
The classifications have been changed many times in the last 10or 15 years as things became better known. They will be changing again in the next few years.
Danio (includes only the Danio genus fish) < Danionin (includes: the Danio genus, Devario genus {giant danios plus fish formerly known as Inlecypris}, Microrasbora genus, Microdevario genus {formerly some of the Microrasbora}, Laubuca genus {formerly Chela}, ) < Danioninae (includes Danionins plus: Rasboras, Barbs, Danionellas, Sawbwa, goldfish, carp, Tench, white clouds, Opasriichthys, and others).
I believe that all Danios are supposed to have barbels while Devarios (such as the Giant Danio) are not supposed to have barbels.

There are at least 22 formally recognized species in the Danio genus and several others that may or may not be unrecognized species (this is according to fishbase plus some published species they had not listed).
According to fishbase, a site maintained by taxonomists, there are 38 formally recognized species in the Devario genus.

[BallAquatics]

Wow Dennis, nice pictures. I really like the head on of the Danio dangilia.

What are the weather conditions (temperatures) that you consider good for shipping fish?

Thanks Bill.  I'm not what I'd consider a photographer, but digital gives me the opportunity to take lots of photos and hopefully get a few good ones.

As to the weather, first it needs to be fairly consistent day-to-day.  Here lately we have had several 40 degree swings in a 24 hour period.  It's also very nice if the destination has roughly the same temperatures that the origin has.  It's tough to ship from a still freezing Ohio, to a 90 degree Miami Florida.

I generally like to ship from MARCH (50 / 31) through JUNE (82 / 59) and then again from SEP (77 / 54) through mid NOV (51 / 34).  The temperatures in November are generally good for shipping but the holiday season brings shipping delays that I prefer to avoid.

As unpredictable as the weather is, I include the following in all my auctions just to cover all the bases...

In extreme temperatures we reserve the right to delay shipping until weather conditions improve.
If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact me via the AquaBid email system.

Shipping a hardy species of fish helps too.  If I was shipping something more delicate, I'd need to modify my methods.  Not to brag or anything, but I'm very successful with my shipping (knocks on wood), and have very few shipping losses.  After spending months raising fry, it pays to spend a bit of time constructing the boxes and prepping the fish for shipment.  I've had lots of hobbyists remark about my shipping methods, in a positive way too!

That being said, sometimes you just get lucky or unlucky as the case may be.  I sent dwarf shrimp to a remote area of Utah once and they took 9 days in transit.  I was just about to send the buyer a note saying I'd reship the shrimp the following Monday when I get an email saying they arrived in splendid condition.  On the other hand, I sent a friend a box of fish in Pennsylvania.  They were delayed a single day and were all cooked when they arrived.  I assume they missed their flight and spent too much time sitting on a hot airport tarmac.  So goes the shipping of aquatic critters.

Dennis

[PaulineMi]

Interesting information about danios Bill and Dennis.  Great pictures and videos also.

Love hearing about new things and looking it all up on the web.  While reading about the barbels on danios  I discovered that the species we call "barbs" acquired that moniker because they too have barbels.  Simple but something I never knew.

[BallAquatics]

Simple but something I never knew.

I think that's the greatest part of this hobby!  You can learn about chemistry, biology, ecology, etc. all in a single little glass box.  How far you take any or all of this is entirely up to your own discretion.

The Christmas before last, I took my left-over fish room money and purchased some books and an antique Zeiss microscope to learn more about fish diseases.  It's really amazing just how much micro-fauna grows on the plants in our tanks.....  now I know what all those tiny fry are grazing on down in the moss.  LOL

Dennis

[BillT]

As to the weather, first it needs to be fairly consistent day-to-day.  Here lately we have had several 40 degree swings in a 24 hour period.  It's also very nice if the destination has roughly the same temperatures that the origin has.  It's tough to ship from a still freezing Ohio, to a 90 degree Miami Florida.

I generally like to ship from MARCH (50 / 31) through JUNE (82 / 59) and then again from SEP (77 / 54) through mid NOV (51 / 34).  The temperatures in November are generally good for shipping but the holiday season brings shipping delays that I prefer to avoid.

As unpredictable as the weather is, I include the following in all my auctions just to cover all the bases...

In extreme temperatures we reserve the right to delay shipping until weather conditions improve.
If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact me via the AquaBid email system.

Shipping a hardy species of fish helps too.  If I was shipping something more delicate, I'd need to modify my methods.  Not to brag or anything, but I'm very successful with my shipping (knocks on wood), and have very few shipping losses.  After spending months raising fry, it pays to spend a bit of time constructing the boxes and prepping the fish for shipment.  I've had lots of hobbyists remark about my shipping methods, in a positive way too!

Great summary Dennis.

Since I am planning on doing more shipping in the future I appreciate having well though out guidelines from someone who does this well.
Much better than reinventing the wheel at the expense of the fish and people's unhappiness.
I have also seen your guide to fish packing on one of your many websites, another quality information packet.

[BallAquatics]

Thanks for the kind words Bill.  I have this phobia that I will come off as some sort of know-it-all.  It's nice to hear the info is beneficial.

Dennis