CICHLID Aquarium Setup - Our Top Five Tips

Cichlids are beautiful fish and I applaud your decision to set up a cichlid tank. Before you start I would like to ease the way by covering several points you may not have considered. This is a big job and it is very difficult to rectify afterwards as once the tank is full of water it will be nearly impossible to move.

The first consideration is the location. Is your planned location big enough to accommodate your size of tank and have enough space to allow filter tubes and lighting cable to run down behind the tank stand? From time to time you will need access to these things and if you cannot reach it will make life difficult. You need to allow sufficient working space. Direct sunlight is the next major consideration. If the tank is in the glare of direct sunlight algae with grow like wildfire on the inside of the glass, on rocks, driftwood and plants. This can be reduced by various water treatments but it is not ideal. It would also make cleaning your aquarium a lot more work than it needs to be as well as spoiling the overall presentation of your fish.

Male altispinosa dwarf cichlid by úlfhams_víkingur

If at all possible you should avoid placing you tank against a cold external wall. A Cichlid tank by definition is filled with warm water. If you have something cooling the water down your heaters will have to work overtime to maintain the correct temperature for your fish. This will also raise your electricity bill enormously. People rushing past your tank will startle your fish and cause them undue stress. Accidental knocks and bangs on the tank will also upset your fish in addition to the likelihood of damage caused to the glass which would be a major disaster. Therefore a quieter location would be preferred by all, especially your fish.

Finally, please give some thought to cleaning time. You will need to transport large quantities of waste water away from the tank. Do you have a clear route to the garden? The water can be used to water flower beds and potted plants rather than being flushed into the sewer system. You do not want trip hazards while you are carrying a bucket of used fish water. It will not be good for the carpet, believe me. Been there - done that.

I hope that I have opened your eyes to a few other considerations other than 'It will look nice there' when it comes to setting up a cichlid fish tank. Of course you want it to look nice, but without further complications down the line. I also fully appreciate that you might not be able to satisfy all the points listed above so you will have to judge each point on your own circumstances and make your own decision.

If I were to choose just one point above all others it would be to avoid the sunlight. Not only is it bad for your tank, you won't see a thing with the sunlight reflecting off the glass and that's not why you set up a Cichlid Aquarium in the first place. Article Directory: EzineArticles

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Tips To Remember Before You Buy a DISCUS FISH

Discus Fish are one of the most popular types of fishes to have in a freshwater aquarium. They are very colorful and they can also be the center attraction of your aquarium. If you did your research about Discus Fish, then you know how expensive they can be.

Discus fish.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are planning to buy a Discus Fish as an additional fish in to your aquarium, here are some tips that you need to remember before you actually buy one. With these tips, you will be able to know how to buy a Discus Fish, which is very important in order for you to avoid wasting your money.

First of all, when buying a Discus Fish, you have to remember that a healthy Discus Fish should look healthy. Discus Fish that tends to stay on top of the tank or near the surface is a sure sign that they are sick. You should also look out for bloated gills as well as unusual spots. Also, be on the lookout for parasites hanging from the fish.

You should also stay away from tanks that have a DNS label on them. DNS means “do not sell” and the fish here are most likely to have a disease.

You should also test the alertness and responsiveness of the fish. To do this, have the breeder or the keeper feed the fish. If the fish is passive and doesn’t take interest of the new food available, this may be a sign of unhealthy fish. The fish you buy should eat the food or at least take interest in them. If the keeper says that they just fed the fish, then you should look for another place to buy a Discus Fish.

As much as possible, you should buy an adult Discus Fish. This is highly recommended for first time owners of Discus Fish as adult Discus Fish costs lesser to maintain than juvenile ones. You need to remember that juvenile Discus Fish are far more sensitive to water quality and food quality than adult Discus Fish.

You also have to know about the dealer quarantine. This is the time where the dealer obtained the fish and the time they decide to sell the fish. The longer the dealer quarantine is, the better it will be for you. Usually, the fish should be in quarantine for at least 2 weeks. This is to make sure that the fish is not spreading any diseases. Also, you need to make sure that the dealer tells you if the fish have been subjected to medicines or if they have been de-wormed. By asking these questions, you will be able to have a good idea about the background of the fish.

Lastly, you have to take a look at the aquarium chemistry. Make sure that you ask the dealer about the current water condition that the Discus Fish you plan on buying is currently living in. This will give you a good idea on how to set up your aquarium and also help you if the dealer of the fish knows what they’re doing.

Remember these tips and you can be sure that you will be able to purchase a great Discus Fish that will live for a very long time in your aquarium.

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2 Great Freshwater Pets - Harlequin RASBORA And Clown LOACH Care Tips

Harlequin rasbora, Trigonostigma heteromorpha
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Cyprinidae family of fish have many fish that are great for aquariums. Some of them are a little easier to maintain than others, but no less fun. This family consists of carps and minnows, which are tiny fish.

The Harlequin Raspbora fish are known for the colorful bodies and high spirit in the tank. One of their main characteristics is the dark triangular shape on the tail end of the fish. It starts in the middle of the body and continues to the end of the fin. These fish, which are part of the Rasbora Heteromorpha family, are popular among freshwater aquariums. They come from Thailand, Eastern Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula and can reach about 1 3/4 length.

Aquarium owners love harlequin fish because they do well in communal tanks. They aren't going to fight with the other fish are get territorial. They enjoy a little bit of everything when it comes to hanging out in the tank. While they they enjoy the top of the tank, they also like little hiding spots to hide in vegetation, but give them plenty of open water to swim in.

Harlequin are friendly fish, but do enjoy their own kind. Try to keep them in a small school, at three to six of them should be in your tank. Not only is this for the fish's sakes, but a group of them are a great sight in your tank as the lights glisten off the fish's shiny, colorful body.

Water conditions: These freshwater fish are easy to care for as long as you do the right thing. The water for the harlequin fish should be kept around 76 degrees Farhenheit. They enjoy soft water and peaty water. Use a peat bag in your filter for them. The water should also be slightly acidic. Keep the pH in the 6.0 to 6.5 range.

Aquarium conditions: Consider live plants for the harlequin's aquarium. Find plants that are native to the harlequins natural habitat. These fish also prefer dim lighting. It's best to find plants and other fish that will enjoy the same environment.

Feeding: The harlequin is perfect when it comes to food. They aren't demanding and will eat many things. Try flakes, dried, frozen and live foods. By giving them a good diet range, you can make sure they won't have any digestive problems.

A clown loach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Loaches are interesting freshwater fish. These are the scavengers in your freshwater aquarium. They tend to stay around the bottom of the tank feeding on anything they could find. Many live in low quality water such as murky rivers and have adapted by coming up to the surface and breathing in atmospheric oxygen. One of the more popular loaches for aquariums is the clown loach. They make interesting fish to keep because they also eat the algae in the tank, making cleaning a little easier.

Water conditions: The temperature should be pretty warm. They like it to be around 84 degrees Fahrenheit with a pH around 6.5. Loaches are sensitive to water quality. Keep the water clean with a good filter. Also, the clown loaches prefers a higher moving current just like their freshwater environment.

Aquarium conditions: Line the bottom of the tank with sand or gravel that the clown can dig into. You should have live plants in the tank, but this will change based on the clown loach. A young loach can keep with most plant species, but adult loaches prefer plants such as the java fern and anubias. The clown loaches live to hid, so the more places they can squeeze into, the happier they will be. Don't worry if the loach digs himself into a hole. He's just relaxing.

There are so many different freshwater fish to choose for your aquarium, it's going to be hard to pick just one. Find the ones you are going to enjoy most and take great care of them.

By Abhishek Agarwal Abhishek is an avid Fish Lover and he has got some great Aquarium Care Secrets up his sleeves! D Article Source: EzineArticles

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RED-EYED TREE FROG: Amphibian or Reptile?

Some people mistakenly believe that reptiles and amphibians are one and the same or they simply do not know how to tell the difference. Amphibians are born as soft eggs in water and then hatch into tadpoles. Living out the start of their life in the water they then grow legs, lose their tails, and become frogs.

On the other hand reptiles are born as shelled eggs laid on land and hatch as a smaller version of what they will eventually become at maturity. Reptiles never morph into a new form as do amphibians. There is another way of telling the difference between an amphibian and a reptile: reptiles are capable of living in dry areas whereas amphibians cannot.

Red-eyed Tree Frog near Las Horquetas, Costa Rica
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Belize has many tree dwellers with the Red-Eyed Tree Frog being unique and definitely the most interesting. This beautiful green frog has extremely large bright red eyes, hence its' name. Agalychnis callidryas is the scientific name for this fascinating little creature. The Red-Eyed Tree Frog has a medium bright to dark green body with yellow and blue striped type of markings on both of its' sides and sports deep orange toes. Exact coloration of these tree dwellers varies from frog to frog and region to region. Despite the bright warning like colors the fogs are not poisonous, though the reason for their flamboyant coloring is unknown. As tadpoles, after hatching, the babies are brownish in color and will become green, a coloration they can change slightly depending on mood and environment, as they mature into adult frogs living as long as 5 to 10 years.

During the day Tree Frogs will stay put without moving at all, unless disturbed. By shutting their eyes, covering their blue sides with their back legs and tucking in their bright orange feet under their belly, they then look like green leaves, and are well hidden in their jungle habitat.

As with a good number of frogs the females are larger than the males. The average female is approximately two and one half to three inches long while the average male is about one half an inch smaller.

The Red-Eyed Tree Frog has three eyelids and sticky pads on its toes. The sticky pads help them to be arboreal or animals that spend a great majority of their lives in the trees. Tree Frogs are very good jumpers which they need to be to move from tree to tree.

Eating crickets, moths, flies, and other insects makes the Tree Frog classed as a carnivorous species, even cannibalistic, as they have been known to eat other small frogs. Due to their diet and life cycle Tree Frogs are almost always found near rivers, streams, ponds, lagoons and other waterways throughout the jungle from Mexico to Columbia, South America.

Chorus Frogs are closely related to Red-Eyed Tree Frogs, both of which share the same body style and many of the same habits. However Chorus Frogs are more vocal, Tree Frogs are only most vocal during mating time in the rainy reason.

As previously stated: Unlike amphibians, reptiles are capable of living in dry areas. The fact that the Red-Eyed Tree Frog lives in trees, that are sometimes found in dry areas, makes this little amphibian a truly unique little creature.

By Anthony Benjamin Anthony Benjamin, an avid writer, world traveler and a great lover of nature. He would like for you to check-out his latest book: http://www.amazon.com/Belize-Wildlife-Barrier-Fishing-ebook/dp/B007E2SFNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336140932&sr=8-1 Article Source: EzineArticles

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ELECTRIC CATFISH - Malapterurus electricus

Electric Catfish - Malapterurus electricus

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Unique Characteristics of the CLOWN LOACH

The clown loach has many unique characteristics starting with their morphology. They have a spine underneath each eye that becomes erect when they are stressed in some way. They can use it to defend themselves or attack other fish, which only happens in one instance as far as I know because the clown loaches are very peaceful normally. When you have multiple clown loaches that are added to an aquarium they may squabble in order to figure out who is going to be the Alpha, the top dog as it were. In these fights the sub ocular spines are erect and some fish may sustain permanent scars or other minor damage. 

Chromobotia macracanthus syn. Botia macracanthus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When a clown loach is caught for transport they will generally erect their sub ocular spine. At this point you have to be careful that you're not stabbed with the spine when handling the fish. Also, if you're using a net the spine can easily get caught and possibly cause major injury to the clown loach. Another consideration of the spine is that if you put the clown in a bag for transport they may rupture the bag with their spine. So you're better off double or triple bagging them, or even better still would be to transport them in a solid container. You may also see the spine erect when the clown is sharing a tank with more aggressive species of fish.

The docile clown loaches scare easily so it's recommended that you have other peaceful species for them to share an aquarium with. Sometimes the spine can remain erect for more than 12 hours after an encounter, eventually it will go back to resting position. Something you may notice when taking a careful look at a clown loach is that they don't appear to have any scales. Don't believe everything you see though. They do have very small and faint scales on their body, but none on their heads. They also don't have any skin covering their eyes.

Another curious thing that you will notice is the clicking sound clown loaches make when they're eating or squabbling. It can get quite loud, so loud in fact that you might be fooled into thinking that the aquarium has cracked. They make the clicking sound by grinding their pharyngeal teeth. Imagine if you were sitting beside a river bed in Borneo (where clown loaches live) and you begin to hear them clicking; thousands of them clicking. I think it must get just as loud as many frogs on a pond, but I digress.

During the late spring you may notice some strange behaviour from your loaches at dinner time. Well, you can always expect strange behaviour from them, but this behaviour only happens once a year for a short period of time or it may not happen at all. Some aquarists find that their clown loaches have 'feeding frenzies' in the late spring. They all attack the food as though they haven't been feed in weeks. I speculate that they do this because of something in their natural habitat. It could be a time when food is scarce for them in nature or maybe they need to get as much food as they can for the breeding season.

For the sake of keeping this article short I have limited the unique attributes to only a few, but if you have a clown loach you know there are many more.

By Bjorn Allpas Bjorn Allpas writes about his hobbies and activities. This article is regarding his interest in tropical aquarium fish, like the Clown Loach. For information on this entertaining fish visit http://www.ClownLoachFish.com Article Source: EzineArticles

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Care of Live AQUARIUM PLANTS

To add that special effect and enhance the natural setting within your aquarium, try using live plants instead of fake plastic plants. The use of live plants will not only add a pleasing visual appeal, but will also help maintain your tank. By adding oxygen to the water, the use of live plants helps keep your aquarium balanced and will aid in fish health.

240 litres aquarium with different Aquatic plants: Echinodorus, Anubias barteri var. nana, Hygrophyla difformis, Microsorum pteropus 'Windeløv, Micranthemum micranthemoides, Vallisneria sp, Echinodorus tenellus, etc.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The most important factor in growing and maintaining healthy aquarium plants is the lighting used. For a well planted aquarium, it is suggested to use 2-3 watts per gallon of water. The use of fluorescent bulbs is practical and adds a nice lighting effect. Take caution when deciding to use florescent lights if your tank has a depth of 20" or more. The low growing plants, or plants with multiple leave levels will suffer from a lack of light as the florescent rays will not provide enough light.

Once you have figured out what type of lighting you will use, you must turn your attention to the hardness of the water. The majority of aquarium plants will thrive in water that has a hardness between 4-12 dH, and between the range of 6.5-7.2 for pH. Plants need clean and clear water to survive best in, so proper cleaning and maintenance should be performed on the aquarium. Most plants will not survive if there is too much debris or waste in the water, so keeping up with cleaning is essential.

Once your plants are established in a clean, well lighted tank, you must care for them by making sure they receive the nutrients required for healthy growth. Plants need both macro- and micro nutrients. Macro nutrients are usually found naturally in tap water and in the fish themselves. These nutrients include nitrates, sulfates and phosphates. Macro nutrients should never need to be added to the water of the tank. They exist on their own. Micro nutrients are needed in very small amounts. Copper, iron and zinc are among the micro nutrients live plants will need to survive in the aquarium.

Generally, the water and the fish in the tank will provide the nutrients and fertilizers needed for plant growth. It is rare that any supplements will need to be added. One important factor in having healthy plant life is your filtration system. Stay away from under gravel filters because they produce a steady flow of bubbles that disturb the surface. The filter plate on under gravel filters also limit's the composition of the gravel in which the plants are rooted. All other kinds of filtration systems will work well. The only things to be concerned about are if your filter causes too much disruption to the water surface. When this happens, carbon dioxide is lost and plants will suffer. Also make sure the filter creates a current that keeps nutrients moving throughout the tank.

By having a good chemical balance in the aquarium and having an efficient filtering system, you will be sure to have healthy live plant growth. These plants will add to the beauty of the tank and will also keep your fish relaxed because it will be a natural setting for them. If you are considering adding plants for decoration within the aquarium, consider the great benefits of using live plants.

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