Central Florida Farms

Aquariums

Currently we are not taking orders for Tropical Fish, We do have a few aquarium plants available with more on the way! Please check back soon or browse our site information.

Adding Life to Yours!

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Tropical Fish

     Aquariums have been one of my interests since I can remember. My dad was the one who got me involved and taught me just about everything there is to know about raising fish. We always had at least 3 community tanks going at a time while growing up and my favorite was the 55 gallon that seemed gigantic when I was small. I have been raising various fish since I was allowed to have my own tank. My first fish breeding experience was when I was 13. It was with Bettas. My dad told me how and the local fish store had adults of course. So we bought the prettiest male, a pure white male with light purple fins and deep red gills, and two of the prettiest females I could find. One was white with dark fins and the other was an all deep purple. The females were already 'ready' when I bought them so I floated them in jars in the male's tank until he built a huge bubble nest (about 10 x 12"). Then I let them out (one at a time) and watched the courtship and mating ritual. Happened just like my dad had described and the male didn't allow many eggs to drop all the way down before collecting them in his mouth and placing them in the nest. I was excited to see it go as heard about. The females were removed once I saw that the male was driving them away from the nest area with force. He had made many trips to the nest after squeezing them out. The white male did an excellent job and kept the nest up and the eggs in. I noticed the fry were hatching in about 3-4 days (that seemed like a long time) and looked similar to newly hatched brine shrimp, very tiny. I allowed the male to stay in the tank until the fry were free swimming and fed them insuforia and freshly hatched brine shrimp. I ended up with about 200 from my first try. Ever since then I was hooked on breeding fish! Call it beginners luck or just good teaching (following a recipe), but I had so many that I just gave them away as they grew. I ended up keeping about 20 of them (the best of the best) and they looked like "living jewels" in their water globes. Livebearers are very simple and easy to breed, but just as fascinating if you're an aquatic life enthusiast.

     I am not one to place artificial items into aquariums. The more natural the aquarium looks, the better. Plus the fish like it better and receive nutrients from the plants. Either by eating them or the micro-life that comes with them, both or the natural plant decay matter. The plants add oxygen to the water as well and I've never had a problem with stagnant water while keeping live plants in the fish tanks. It also encourages them to breed and gives fry a place to hide when some unexpected are born in the community tank. At least a small percentage live if there are enough hiding places even with larger hungry fish on the prowl. This is just my preference and everyone has there own taste.

     We mainly have supplies for the natural aquarist and leave the artificial plants at Wal-Mart. I have on occasion set up a tank with a few 'knick-knacks' just to see what the thrill was about. It was pretty cool I suppose, had the air filled treasure chest, skeleton holding the rotting ship wheel that swayed from side to side etc but for the most part I prefer my aquariums to look as real as the natural springs do as your looking down from a glass bottom boat. One of the things that I love about Florida is that there is an abundance of natural lakes, rivers, creeks and springs. One of my favorite things to do (ironically) is go fishing for bass. Those fish I will have for dinner with no guilt whatsoever. Another favorite thing I enjoy are the natural springs and see what's swimming around in water. Just standing still and keeping my eyes open. At first you only see a few birds fly by or some swirls on the top of the water, but if you are still and pay attention, you'll begin to see the smaller life forms right next to your feet. Everything from small water spiders to various types of small fish. The occasional alligator and turtles will be noticed more as you just relax and let it all happen as it is when you're not there.

Not the greatest photo:

     Some of the Wild fish that I've caught and kept successfully are: American Flag or Florida Flag Fish (and have bred the Flag Fish), Pygmy Sun Fish (3 different species), Least Killie, unknown sparkly Killie fish, Sailfin Mollie, Sail Fin Mollie, Marble Molly and quite a few different types of sunfish. Lots of other unidentified fish over the years as well. I've found them in the Florida lakes, Alexander springs, Juniper springs, and natural water overflow creeks. Before kids, I was blessed with time and access to the places to pursue this hobby and the finds. There are still a few fish I have no idea what they are but they are easy to keep. I have even placed wild fish in the community tanks with disease free store bought fish, always testing. I would definitely quarantine them first. No way would I take a chance on contaminating the ones I put money and time into. I'll try to place photos when time permits. Time is a thing that seems to be worth more than ten million dollars these days.

     Besides the mystery of the Florida native wild fish, my favorites are the Discus Fish. Not sure if its their color, attitude, shape or everything mentioned, but they seem to have a personality and its fun to watch them eat the live blood worms. They are certainly a little more difficult to keep, but not as long you follow the recipe and be diligent. I have some for a few years that grew to 6-7". I've only had one breeding experience then had to give them up for a while.

     I have learned about and raised fish for over 20 years and don't remember a time since I began my first tank when I didn't have something living in a fish tank. So if you have any questions, please feel free to email me and I will do my best to help out. Most likely you can teach me something new, I am always wiling to learn. I wish I had more time to devote to this part of Central Florida Farms and finish what I started, but I will have to do it as time permits. Thank you again for visiting and have fun with your fish!