วีดีโอ

yes the sponges are fascinating to me!

Merry New Year! We will have to do a close-up video of the sponges. Charles

Thank you for the information. I put in a 55-gallon vat by itself and haven't seen it for a while. I'll check on it when things warm up a bit. Charles

Interesting. I have no idea what value to place on this species. I'll look into it. Email me at charles@goliadfarms.com, and we'll see what we can work out. Charles

I haven't heard of the mutation before, maybe because they don't survive metamorphosis. Charles

Interesting. We don't force their growth, and we don't deliberately raise them. They simply take advantage of our systems to feed, mate, and produce offspring. Charles

@goliadfarms7029 poor phrasing on my part, didn't mean to imply you were doing it intentionally. Just excessive high protein feeding and ideal warm temperatures year round can accelerate growth tremendously. See it commonly with pet turtles that grow large and dont have time to grow the muscle and body mass to properly support the shells.

@@P-K-P No problem. It didn't take it as criticism. Thanks for the information. So far, its normal siblings seem to be growing normally. Of course, now they have to catch fish, mice, and insects on their own. No more well-stocked buffet for them. Charles

You're thinking of birds. 👍

They are real. They thrive in the greenhouses. Charles

Last night was our coldest night and we survived that. Charles

So do I! But then I love all fish. Charles

Thank you. I'll look into that. Charles

They are loud and very startling at night when I'm checking the greenhouses. Charles

It is a very cool tadpole. I'm hoping he grows up. Charles

Thank you. It is an interesting frog. I hope it survives to adulthood. Charles

Thank you. I'm hoping that second frog makes to to adulthood. Charles

It got colder than I like, but we wintered what should have been the coldest night of the year last night. So far, so good. Charles

Thank you for watching. Charles

The name of frog or the sponge? The frog is Lithobates catesbeianus, and the sponge is Dosilia radiospiculata. I have named the frog Fred-the-Frog. Charles

We plan to resume more frequent videos. Last night was the coldest night of this winter, and I hope the last. So far, so good. Charles

It is interesting. After the fish one died, I hope the second one survives. I'd like to see what it looks like as an adult. Charles

I think I remember that from when you originally identified it for us. It seems to be happy in our systems. Charles

We just had what I hope was the coldest night of the year, and we survived it. This morning is warming up fast with full sun. Charles

Hope you are doing well Stormy!

We miss you too!

Stormy, you have visitation rights! Charles

@ well I’ll be around that area Saturday. Y’all going to be around?

@ Susie will be in Austin until Sunday night, but I'll be here. Charles

We acquired its breeding stock as Sunshine Peacock. Our practice is to not give a fish a name we aren't completely certain of. So, it will continue to be treated as an aquarium strain with the name Sunshine Peacock. Charles

This fish brings a nice price, equivalent to Peacocks, and is fully worth the time. Charles

Yes, that is the floor gutter. Water from the sump is pumped into the vats. The water then overflows from the vats into the floor gutter. The water feeds via gravity back into the sump. The water in the system completely circulates about every hour. Charles

@ wow that’s amazing keep up the good work 😁

@ Thank you. Will try. Charles

Most of our cichlids are bred in 300-gallon vats. We do raise some pair-bonding cichlids in 55-gallon vats (barrels), one pair per vat. In the 300-gallon vats, the breeding colonies are 3-6 males and 40-50 females. When we raise mouthbrooders in 55-gallon vats, we use one male to 4-6 females. Charles

It dropped the water temperatures more than I liked, but all is good so far. Next fall we have a lot of infrastructure work to do. The previous winter storm with its power outages caused our double layer of greenhouse film to permanently collapse into a single layer causing a significant loss of insulation. It also caused damage to the wood railing on the sides. After hurricane season is over, we'll replace the tops of both Greenhouse 1 and Greenhouse 2. Charles

We don't have a USDA import/export license, so we don't ship outside the USA unless the buyer has a transhipper to handle the customs issues. Charles

Duckweed should make a good source for biogas and also for omega oils. Charles

We no longer have a USDA import/export license. We have shipped to universities in the EU, but they handled the customs issues through a transhipper in New York. Charles

Thank you. I hope to improve color and hifin in future generations. Charles

Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, and Cheerful Other Holidays. Charles

Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, Cheerful Holidays. Charles

Thank you for watching. The holidays have interfered with making and posting videos, but we'll get back on track soon. Charles

Thank you. They are improving each generation. Charles

Thank you. They are still a work in progress. I need to get them to consistently appear variatus-type. Charles

Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, and Cheerful Holidays. Charles

Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, and Cheerful Holidays! Livebearers are fun fish. Charles

Totally agree with you 👍 Platties have always been one of my favourites in my community tanks. Their varieties and colours are amazing

Thank you. I'm still working on the color. I also plan to transfer the marigold color pattern to swordtails. I know I could simply purchase some Marigold Swords, but it's fun to create my own. Charles

@@peterferguson2344 Platies offer the chance to create new color combinations. I'm currently working on creating a Purple Variatus. Charles

@goliadfarms7029 purple!!! Amazing as purple is my favourite colour 😁👍

@@peterferguson2344 The strain is in very early development. If I make progress, I'll do a video. Charles

That is a 12" aquarium with a one-inch grid on the back. I'd say those two males were at least 7". The females were 5-6". Charles

I also took Latin in high school. As a biologist, I've found it very useful. That said, I now think Spanish might have been a better option. Charles

True. Charles

@ 🎄😆

@@tiffanyclark-grove1989 Happy Christmas and Merry New Year. Charles

@ Christmas cheer and good will - Diana😄🎄

Bullfrogs do occasionally take a fish, usually mollies and the like that tend to stay near the water surface. But ours prefer insects, mice, lizards, and small snakes. They do their hunting at night. Charles

@goliadfarms7029 thanks Charles, wow, I'm dumbfounded. My lifetime of zoology has left me doubting that any conventional frog would or could hunt prey under water. I could only think of Xenopus and the African dwarfs that appear to have evolved to do so. Being a pendant I have to ask if your statement about American bullfrogs is based on direct personal observation or circumstantial evidence? Knowledge of wildlife diets is often based on gut content or scat analysis which is not quite the equivalent to actual feeding behaviour. I guess my two questions arising are: have you seen a bullfrog catch a fish that was alive and swimming in the water; and, would you regard a bullfrog as a threat to a pond full of mollies?

@@maxiculture I have observed a bullfrog resting submerged, except for the head, lunge at and catch a molly feeding at the surface. As to whether a bullfrog is a threat to a pond full of mollies, I rather doubt it since a molly represents to significant amount of food for a cold-blooded predator. Charles

@@goliadfarms7029 wow, thanks for the clarification, Charles. Cheers, Jim.

They are handled with care, and they thrive. Charles

Thank you. Charles