Ok, by my house is this ditch for collecting flood water, and this ditch dries up every summer. (it is already starting to rapidly shrink) In this water are countless minnows, tadpoles, and snails. I harvested some plants the other day (with a bunch of Malaysian trumpet snails and Mystery snails) attached to them. Since the water will dry up (they are trapped in a large pond right now) I decided I'd like to collect some of the younger fish to rescue. I'm guessing that the parameters are similar to mine because of the snails' shell health, general location, and a dead crayfish I found (that resembled mine that is doing well in captivity).
-I have studied these fish and have found these observations:
~Schooling and fast
~lives in harder water
~often clear in color
~some had a gold gleam that looked like someone coated them with powder
~no bigger than 2 in (largest was ~1.5 inches)
~somewhat curious and observed my hand when I held still
~friendly in demeanor towards other fish
~some that I observed (I had them captured in a lid from one of those critter keepers so I could control the water line easily and release quickly) looked exactly like the Cold Mountain Minnows that I have in my 75 gal (down to the coloration and fin shapes. The only difference is that mine come towards me rather than run away)
If I were to collect some of the fish, how long should they be under quarantine before they are added to the main tank? (and what should I treat them with?)
-this question also goes for the plants and snails
Also, I found this weird plant that looks like a four-leaf clover and floats on the top of the water. It is anchored to the substrate and maintains its shape on land. Is this some kind of semi-aquatic/aquatic plant? (it is green with the feel of a slimyish underwater plant) If so I want to harvest this as well.
And for the food question. We have watermelon often in the Summer and I was wondering if I could feed some of the "meat" from the rye to my fish. Also, what kind of bugs would be best as snacks? (They already ate a mosquito hawk that entered the tank; well the abdomen at least. )
-I have studied these fish and have found these observations:
~Schooling and fast
~lives in harder water
~often clear in color
~some had a gold gleam that looked like someone coated them with powder
~no bigger than 2 in (largest was ~1.5 inches)
~somewhat curious and observed my hand when I held still
~friendly in demeanor towards other fish
~some that I observed (I had them captured in a lid from one of those critter keepers so I could control the water line easily and release quickly) looked exactly like the Cold Mountain Minnows that I have in my 75 gal (down to the coloration and fin shapes. The only difference is that mine come towards me rather than run away)
If I were to collect some of the fish, how long should they be under quarantine before they are added to the main tank? (and what should I treat them with?)
-this question also goes for the plants and snails
Also, I found this weird plant that looks like a four-leaf clover and floats on the top of the water. It is anchored to the substrate and maintains its shape on land. Is this some kind of semi-aquatic/aquatic plant? (it is green with the feel of a slimyish underwater plant) If so I want to harvest this as well.
And for the food question. We have watermelon often in the Summer and I was wondering if I could feed some of the "meat" from the rye to my fish. Also, what kind of bugs would be best as snacks? (They already ate a mosquito hawk that entered the tank; well the abdomen at least. )