Adorable Native Darter

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starsplitter7
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Location: Tampa, Florida

Adorable Native Darter

Post by starsplitter7 » Thu Jan 27, 2011 9:12 pm

I am thrilled to be the proud owner of a Florida native darter. I got this guy for free from a feeder tank. He lives with my trio of Peacock Loaches in the nursery tank. Very cute.

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Laura
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Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by Laura » Thu Jan 27, 2011 9:33 pm

He's very pretty - I like his subtle markings.

starsplitter7
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Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by starsplitter7 » Thu Jan 27, 2011 9:46 pm

He came to live with me on Tuesday. He should look a bit better when he has eaten well. They are very subtle fish. He is very cute propped on his pectorals. I always look in feeder tanks for interesting fish. I have found Blue Finned Killies (another FL Native), Whisker shrimp, kuhlies and darters. And some larve like dragon fly.

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Matt
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Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by Matt » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:35 am

Very nice! We almost never see this stuff in Europe. Hoping to get some Lucania goodei soon but would love to keep some Etheostoma or Percina at some point.

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Jim Powers
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Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by Jim Powers » Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:09 am

I see these occasionally in with feeders, too. I have been tempted. :D
There are also a number of local darter species I have been tempted to keep, but they would need to be kept cooler than I can provide at this time.
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starsplitter7
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Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by starsplitter7 » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:27 pm

That's really funny, Mat, because the Lucania goodei are the Blue Finned Killies I got at auction last weekend. I got 3 males nad 4 females. I used to get them in as feeders all the time, and thought they were minnows. I took them home, because I didn't want them to be feeders.

Jim, whenever you see the darters, take them home. :) If you see the killies take them too. :) They are such cool fish, require virtually no care, and don't deserve to be feeders. I will keep looking in feeder tanks. I would love to have a tank full of darters.

With my fish club, I hope to go on collecting trips. I will post pictures of what we find (besides alligators!). :)

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Jim Powers
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Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by Jim Powers » Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:29 am

I have seen the killies and almost did take them home, but one of the fish store employees was planning to taking them so I was just glad they got a good home.
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Noto
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Location: Tennessee

Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by Noto » Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:52 am

Looks like Etheostoma fusiforme, which is the darter I usually find in the feeder tanks. If you find larger, vertically banded killies they are probably Fundulus seminolis. The F. seminolis are a bit more aggressive than the bluefins.

E. fusiforme is unusual for a darter in that it does well in warm, still water. A lot of the other species would do well in the same conditions as hillstream loaches; I'm surprised the combo isn't tried more often. I certainly intend to try it when I get a large stream tank set up.

starsplitter7
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Location: Tampa, Florida

Re: Adorable Native Darter

Post by starsplitter7 » Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:11 pm

Jim, as long as they get a good home. :) I totally understand. I am happy when they let me have them. We have lots of killiefish enthusiasts, and they breed all sorts of them.

The killies I got at auction, but the darter was a freebie from the feeder tank. I was pretty thrilled.

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