Breeding TETRA FISH

Breeding South American Tetras

There are several hundred species of tetra. Not all of them breed in the same way. A few of them that have different breeding patterns are: the Splashing Tetra which actually lays its eggs out of the water, the Rummy nose tetra which can be made permanently sterile by calcium ions in the water, the Glass Bloodfin tetra which likes harder water than most South American tetras, and the Emperor Tetra which is not a strongly schooling fish. As well as these, the tetras vary enormously in their ease of breeding, and particularly in the necessity of exactly the right sort of water.

Emperor tetra Nematobrycon palmeri  

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, despite these differences between the different species there are some things common to most of the South American Tetras.

The tetras, in general, are egg scatterers. All the tetras I know have external fertilisation so both males and females will need to be in the spawning tank together. They need very soft acidic water. The temperature varies with the different species, but mostly they will be stimulated to breed by a small rise in the water temperature.

A breeding tank set up for tetras will be scrupulously clean. Although in nature, the fish will lay their eggs over plants, many people prefer to use a synthetic spawning medium because it is easier to clean. For breeding, many of the tetras require water that is not only extremely soft, but also very low in total dissolved salts.

Although not all tetras will eat their own eggs the great majority will; sometimes in surprisingly large numbers in the wild. Tetras in general are also cannibalistic to their own babies. Because of these two things it is normal to remove the parents after spawning.

Tetras do not usually produce babies in community aquariums, but I have known several cases where they have done this. Naturally, they have been easily bred ones like the Black Widow Tetra.

By Steve Challis Steve Challis has articles on a diverse range of subjects at http://www.bettatrading.com.au including Fish Fact Sheets at http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Fish-Fact-Sheets-Index.php. Article Source: EzineArticles

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SEAHORSE - Hippocampus

Seahorse - Hippocampus

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How to Keep the COURT JESTER GOBY in Your Fish Tank

Court Jester Goby (Koumansetta rainfordi -  Syn: Amblygobius rainfordi), is also commonly known as Rainford's Goby or Old Glory Goby. The court Jester Goby is one of the best choices of species for starting salt-water aquarists. Its body is colored green and blue, and has horizontal orange stripes that run along its entire body. It has a timid and peaceful temperament that makes it a perfect addition to either reef or fish-only aquarium.

Photo - Meerwasserwiki

This type of fish grows to about 2.5 inches in length, and is not a threat to any invertebrate inhabitants in the tank. Being a meek fish, it would appreciate several hiding spaces found within poly coral colonies.

Initially, Court Jester Gobies would be picky eaters and need to be trained on eating prepared food in the tank. Once introduced to the main tank, however, most Court Jester Gobies will graze on the algae that has formed on rocks, and will start eating prepared foods it is given. To keep its color, a diversified diet of mysid shrimp, brine shrimp, or enriched marine food should be given to the fish daily.

As it feeds on shrimps, you may want to opt out of this fish if you prefer to have a cleaning shrimp inside the tank. It does not do well with other aggressive and larger fish, as well as other Court Jester Gobies in the tank. It needs a tank size of at least 10 gallons to roam freely. It propagates by laying eggs, and will readily spawn in captivity. You can by Court Jester Goby for $25 per fish. Quarantine of 2-3 weeks is a must to prevent contamination of your salt-water aquarium.

By BC Hodges BC is a cichlid enthusiast and wants to inform people of the great joy cichlids are to keep. Article Source: EzineArticles

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Cichlids - Proper Care of Your CONVICT CICHLIDS

Keeping cichlids is an exciting hobby. For beginners, it is great to start off by keeping convict cichlid fishes and taking care of them is relatively easy. Convict cichlid fish is very easy to keep and breed in the aquarium. The Convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) is a type of fish from the family-Cichlidae, native to Central America. These popular aquarium cichlids are also known as the zebra cichlid.

An Amatitlania nigrofasciatus male.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Convict cichlid fish is a hardy species that can easily adapt to almost any water conditions which made them easy to maintain and breed in aquariums. The aquarium for Convict cichlids should be decorated with a few flat stones and rocks and artificial caves for breeding. Plants are not necessary because of most of the plants will be destroyed by the cichlids.

However, if you really want to put some plants, it is better to put some hardier plants such as Amazonian swords plant and java fern to withstand their aggression. Using these plants, it can help to beautify the aquarium and make the cichlids feel more at home. In fact, as long as you avoid putting harmful toxic objects in your aquarium decoration, your fish will make themselves at home.

They accept a very wide temperature range and pH level range as long as it keep relatively stable but is best kept in 20-28C/ 68-82F and pH 6-8. Convict cichlids are unfussy omnivore and eat most types of prepare fish foods such as flake food and pellets. They also eat aquarium plants. By nature, Convict cichlids are aggressive towards other fish. This is more obvious during their breeding period. It is best to keep Convict cichlids in a separate tank for breeding.

In fact, Convict cichlids are one of the easiest fish in the world to breed. They can start spawning as young as 16 weeks of age. It is common to find a pair of Convict cichlids under a flat stone which the male Convict cichlid could have dug a cave under it earlier and they breed there.

Both cichlids parents will guard both the eggs and the fry. As good and protective parents, they can become very aggressive towards other fish that enters their breeding territory. The fry can be feed crushed flake food and newly hatched brine shrimp.

Because of its relativity small size along with ease for keeping and breeding, Convict cichlid fish is a great cichlid for beginners and aquarists who are interested in observing paid bonding and brood care.

In conclusion, keeping and breeding cichlids is a very satisfying and challenging hobby. Thus, it is very important that you know the secrets of taking care of your cichlids.

By Taylor Fox Article Source: EzineArticles

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Tips For Buying A PET SNAKE

Buying a snake can be a sizable investment. Getting a snake requires making a commitment to the pet's care and well-being. It is important to do your research so you know that the particular species or breed is something you will enjoy owning in the years to come. Find out how difficult they are to feed and house before you buy. Also find out about the snake's temperament.

Remember that some snakes get extremely large, can be dangerous, and live a long time. Lifespans of over twenty years are not uncommon. Don't assume getting rid of that unwanted reptile will be a piece of cake either.

Negev Zoo snake
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another thing to check out before buying is the laws of your particular city. In many places, snakes of certain varieties are restricted as pets.

That being said, it's a good idea to get the enclosure, or vivarium, ready for the snake to move in before buying one. Different species have different requirements in heat, humidity, and size of enclosure, so again, do your homework.

Before buying, look your snake over for indicators of poor health. It's a good idea to hang around the pet store or breeders' for a while, just watching the snakes for clues to individual snakes' personalities. The eyes should be bright and shiny. If they appear dull, it's a sign that the snake is about to shed its skin. Wait until it has shed so you can get a better idea of how it looks.

It is important to get a snake that has been hatched or birthed by a reputable breeder. Make sure the snake is accustomed to eating pre-killed food before you buy it.

The best place to go to find a reputable breeder is your local herpetological society. Most areas have herp clubs for people who are into reptiles. If you're lucky, you might get to attend a herp show in your area. Breeders attend these gatherings and show off their stock. Search online for information about herp shows you could attend. (Herpetology is the branch of biology that studies reptiles and amphibians. "Herp" is a common nickname for these animals.)

When studying the choices of pet snake species, get to know the Latin names. Common names vary with pet stores and with regions. By knowing exactly what species of snake you want, you can save yourself a lot of trouble. Different species of similar snakes, such as boas or pythons, have different temperaments and grow to different sizes. Just knowing it is a boa or a python is not specific enough to know for sure what you are getting.

Finally, there are some people who just should not own pet snakes. These include homes with children under five and anyone with a compromised immune system, because there is a small possibility of a snake carrying salmonella. The large pythons and constrictors can be a danger to young children, too. (And to everyone else, too! Be extremely careful, and know what you're getting into.)

Educate yourself before you start shopping for that cool looking snake. If it’s your first snake, consider getting a And prepare to be in it for the long haul.

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CORALS and its habitat

Corals are a beautiful addition to any saltwater aquarium and they can also have beneficial effects on the miniature semi-ecosystem that exists in a well functioning aquarium.

Soft corals from Komodo National Park
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Corals are living animals that are commonly called sessile invertebrates. What this means is that they are animals that don't have a backbone (like vertebrates do) and that they are generally stuck in one spot and can't move around like most animals can. Corals are usually attached to a rock. Corals consist of many individual polyps. The polyps may have an internal or an external skeleton that is made of calcium carbonate. Each polyp has an oral opening that leads to a gastrovascular tube. There is a lot of variety in the types of food eaten by coral polyps. For example, some corals feed by using their stinging tentacles to catch small fish. Other corals eat microscopic organisms, where as some coral polyps don't feed at all, and obtain all their nutrition from zooxanthellae  (a single-celled algae that lives within the coral).

Corals are more complicated to keep than many saltwater fish species, and can for instance require more intricate currents, powerful lighting and supreme water quality. Keeping the water temperature in the ideal range is therefore imperative when you keep corals in you aquarium. Reef building corals prefer quite shallow depths where the light penetration is good and will therefore usually grow at depths of less than 46 metres / 150 feet. The reef building corals require plenty of strong light since they form symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae. Other coral species can however survive without direct sunlight and live much deeper down in the ocean.

Corals should be thoroughly researched beforehand because of their often hefty price tag and demanding water, lighting and feeding requirements. The great part about live rock, aside from the biological importance of using it, is that you can use aquarium silicon sealant to shape the rocks into any type of design you desire. We now have a new term - "rockscaping". You can also use a drill to create small holes in the rock and use pvc pipes to hold them together to make columns or archways. The rockscaping possibilities are endless. Another thing you'll probably need to do is place the rock directly on the tank bottom and not on top of the sand. Sand burrowing species could get injured or worse if you place the rock on top of the sand.

Corals are very popular with aquarium enthusiasts.  Some of the most common corals are now being successfully kept and grown in a rapidly growing number of home aquariums. There are hundreds of species including soft corals, corallimorpharians (mushroom corals), gorgonians, zoanthids, large-polyp stony corals, and small-polyp stony corals.

For the beginner reef aquarium, there are a number of soft corals, that require less light and less than perfect water quality standards, than their hard coral cousins. These soft corals are the better candidates for converting to a fish only, or fish only with live rock aquarium tank to a reef tank with corals.

You can have coral in any sort of aquarium/fish tank i.e. fish only tanks, fish only with live rock tanks to a full reef tank.

Moving smoothly from tank to tank isn't really all that difficult. You need to move coral because believe it or not there can be turf wars in coral reef tanks. Corals on the reef compete for space. So do the corals in your aquarium. Corals are still deemed difficult for the average reef tank hobbyist but in my experience I have not found this to be true.

Corals are found all over the world, even around the poles. Reef building corals are however only found in warm subtropical and tropical waters. Reef building corals are present in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Western Atlantic. Their habitat is generally limited to the region between 30 degrees N and 30 degrees S latitudes. In the Indo-Pacific Ocean you will find reef building corals from the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and eastwards in the Indian and Pacific Oceans all the way over to Panama and a few places in the Gulf of California. 

In the Western Atlantic corals are living outside Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Belize and around the Caribbean Islands, Bermuda and Bahamas. Reef building corals will only live where the water temperature is warm enough; 20-28 degrees celsius / 68-82 degrees fahrenheit.

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How to Safely Change the Water in Your SALTWATER Aquarium

As with people fish thrive when kept in an environment as close to their own as possible. For this reason aquariums should be carefully structured to imitate the natural environments of the species it is home to as closely as possible. Even if it is not possible to duplicate exactly the living conditions found in the deep blue the fish will benefit from the effort.

This is a Ptereleotris zebra fish from my marine aquarium. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fish are also very adaptable creatures. It is what allows them to live and thrive in captivity when many other marine animals are unable to make the change. The fish will adapt to the environment around them and learn to live in the conditions of their tank. It is important that these conditions remain as constant as possible. As in nature a tip in the balance of the elements in an aquarium can bring with it devastating consequences. It is important that changes in the aquarium environment be few and far between.

This is generally a very simple matter until the time comes for the water in the tank to be changed. In nature the water in the ocean is constantly cycling; therefore, the water never has the opportunity to become stale and overloaded with elements that will have a negative impact on the well being of your aquatic friends. Since this is not the case in an aquarium even with an excellent artificial filtering system and organic filtering methods combined it will still be necessary on occasion to manually clean the tank.

The water with which you replace the dirty water in the aquarium should be as close as possible to the water that was originally filling the tank. What this means is that if you opted to buy a pre-made saltwater mix when you started your tank you should continue to use that same pre-made saltwater mix. If you made your own saltwater you should use the same type of sea salt in the same proportions that you used in the beginning. If you opted to transplant ocean water or purchased filtered ocean water you are going to want to use that same type of water when you make the change.

Water in aquariums should be changed every couple of months, more if you happen to notice that wastes are beginning to build up. This will be evident by the hazy look the previously clear water will take on and the obvious accumulation of waste at the bottom of the tank. Be sure when you change the water you also clean the components of the tank and the inside of the glass itself. Putting clean water into an empty tank is along the same lines as putting clean clothes on a dirty body-there is little point.

By keeping your tank clean and the conditions as constant as possible you are giving your fish the best possible chance to thrive in their artificial environment, guaranteeing that you will be able to enjoy their beauty for a very long time.