Anyone want to try fathead minnows?

[Sonny Disposition]

I have way too many fathead minnow hybrids. Does anyone want to try a few? Essentially, they're rosy red feeders that have lost the xanthic trait and morphed back to the wild type steel gray form. I'm not exactly sure how many I have, but can probably part with 10 or 20--either to a single individual, or, if there's more than one taker, in starter groups of six.

If anyone is interested, I'll bring them to the July meeting.

In case you're not familiar with rosy reds/fatheads, they're a native cyprinid. Females lay their eggs on the underside of a rock ledge or other cave-like structure, and males guard the eggs until they hatch. I think they're the only cyprinids to do this, which is what (I think) makes them really interesting. Adults are reputed to not eat the fry, although I couldn't tell you for sure, as I haven't had any spawn yet.

They're also reputed to be really prolific, which is why, I guess, that rosy reds are sold as feeders.

They're called fatheads because when the males get ready to spawn, they develop bumpy protrusions on their heads.

The thinking is that rosy reds are a hybrid between fathead minnows and another species in the same genus (Pimephales).

I bought extra, thinking that most would die off, as often happens when you buy feeders without actually feeding them to something. That didn't happen, so now I've got too many.

I've got fish that would gladly gulp them down, but I'm offering them here in case someone else thinks they're interesting enough to work with. I'd rather not give them to someone who would use them as feeders.

I've had them for about two or three months. They've survived well past the initial quarantine period, so I don't think they're carrying any diseases. (I'm keeping them as dithers for some Gymnogeophagus rhabdotus.)

Here's a link to an Aquaarticles posting about keeping them in an aquarium.

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/pon ... nnows.html

Robin Rhudy also has an incredibly detailed page with lots of information and links about them:

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/rosies.htm

[SCMurphy]

I could use them in my container gardens for mosquito control.

[Sonny Disposition]

OK. Thanks, Sean. I've had to change my plans since I posted this. It's looking like I'll be traveling this weekend, to deal with family matters, so there's a good chance I won't make the meeting after all. I'll try to catch up with you at another time.