Taking Care of a Molting HERMIT CRAB

Blackeyed hermit crab (Pagurus armatus, armed hermit crab), taken in Victoria, BC, Canada
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Molting is the natural process of growing for a hermit crab. During this time, it sheds its exoskeleton and forms a new one. During the molting process, a hermit crab is very defenseless. A molting crab is under a lot of stress and extra care is required during this vulnerable time. The frequency of molting depends on the size and growth rate of each individual crab. Smaller crabs, that grow much faster may molt every 3-4 months. Larger crabs that grow much more slowly may only molt once per year.

The first thing to remember is that when molting, a crab will bury him or herself; do not move him or her! As hard as it is not to pick him up and look to see if he’s ok, you must be brave and let him do his thing. Molting may take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks for the averagely sized crab. Smaller crabs may take a shorter time; larger crabs may take longer. They may stay buried the entire time. Another important thing to remember is that molting crabs are in danger from other crabs while they are molting. Other crabs may attack the molting crab while it is vulnerable. Always keep the molting crab in an isolation tank. Most pet stores have dividers available to section off one part of an aquarium from another.

Once the process is complete, the crab should not just be put back into the main tank, as it takes awhile for the new exoskeleton to harden. The real way to tell if the crab is ready to be back in with the other crabs you may own is when they are active and appear healthy again. This process can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. Be patient and let your friend heal.

A question you may have about molting is how you will know when your crab is going to molt. There are usually pretty obvious signs. Your hermit crab will most likely start to act a bit differently and look a bit different just before molting. However, though there are crabs who exhibit obvious signs, always be prepared for molting as some hermit crabs may surprise you by molting when you least expect it. Keep a close eye out for the following signs and be prepared to support your molting hermit crab through this stressful and vulnerable time. Once you see these signs, you should consider isolating the hermit crab from the other crabs right away.

- Sluggishness or relative inactivity.
- Ashy body color.
- A crab might dig more than usual. (Always check tank conditions as this can also be a sign of temperature and humidity problems.)
- Eating and drinking significantly more. The crab may stop eating completely just before a molt.
- Spends lots of time around water.
- A molt sac, or water sac under the abdomen, may form.
- Missing limbs may occur.
- Whitish color on legs and claws.
- Cloudy, whitish color to the eyes Legs may seem weak.
- Eye stalks may face away from each other.

Observe carefully for these signs of molting and offer your hermit crab support. Remember, isolate him, and leave him alone. These are the best things you can do for your crabby.

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GIANT SNAKEHEAD Care - How to Raise an Aggressive Fish

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some people keep fish for their beauty. Some people keep fish for the relaxation the hobby brings. Then there are those that keep fish so they can see them eat other fish. Those would be who own predatory fish, such as the Piranha, the Cichlid and most importantly (at least for this article), the Giant Snakehead.

I have in the past been an owner of several varieties of the above-mentioned breeds and can say that the most aggressive was the Giant Snakehead. On top of being strong, hardy and highly aggressive, the Giant Snakehead fish is an eating machine. If you do not believe this, then the (unjust) nationwide ban across the USA done for fear of the Giant Snakeheads potential environmental damage should be enough. With that said it is important to remember that even a naturally aggressive still need some intervention by their owners to bring out their true potential.

We are going to look at the approach I have used in the past to raise the aggression levels in my Giant Snakehead from its youth to adulthood. The basic idea behind my approach is live food as early on in life as possible, with live food as the Giant Snakeheads primary food source. There have been many arguments against the use of live feeder fish due to health concerns, but I can honestly say that it is all my Giant Snakeheads have ever eaten and I each have lived very long happy lives.

In their infancy stages, I do not recommend live feed as the Giant Snakehead will not be fast enough, nor big enough to catch and eat his prey. Bloodworms and bits of Nightcrawlers are both solid choices until your Giant Snakehead reaches about 4 to 6 inches long. Follow that I would slowly introduce him to live feed. Give him a single feeder fish at a time and watch to see if he begins actively hunting it. If he does not eat it, remove it from the tank and try again later. If he does eat his first I would suggest one live fish a day for a week, while he learns to become a more effective hunter.

After the first week, you can begin to give your Giant Snakehead two to three live fish a day for the next several weeks, while slowly weaning him off his non-living feed. As he gets larger you will want to increase his feedings. Once every two weeks, I would gorge him in a large amount of live feeder fish, giving him three to four times his usual daily allowance. Doing this will not only help his growth but also increase his aggression as your Snakehead will go into something of a feeding frenzy.

If all goes well in two years time your Giant Snakehead should be reaching nearly two feet in length and you can begin considering feeding him live rodents and frogs on the extremely rare occasion. I say this because in my research I have found it can make your Giant Snakehead very stressed as it will be a very foreign food object entering his tank. On the several occasions that I fed him rodents, he becomes violent and erratic in his tank.

On a final note, you should exercise caution when taking this approach at raising your Giant Snakehead. In his later years, the Giant Snakehead will get very large, very strong and lightning fast. An adult Giant Snakehead could easily leave with you a very nasty bite and could possibly remove meat.

By Brad Betts - Article Source: EzineArticles

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LESSER JOYWEED - Alternathera denticulata

Lesser Joyweed - Alternathera denticulata

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MBUNA CICHLID Breeding - Step by Step Guide To Avoid Common Mistakes!

Different Mbuna from Lake Malawi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Breeding Mbuna cichlid fish is facile. To get them to spawn is to provide them with the same care and conditions as with the non-breeding Mbuna's.

Place the breeding mbuna's in a tank approximately one male to 2 - 3 female ratios. The aquarium in which they are kept must be well stocked and adding extra aeration and filtration is important as well as a frequent water change. Remember that Lake Malawi has a stable environment thus Mbuna does not appreciate rapid changes in water quality and will not breed with unstable water conditions. Keep Mbuna's in an aquarium with a pH of 7.5 - 8.5 water range and a KH/GH of 12. There should be zero contents for ammonia and nitrite and nitrate of no more than 15 ppm. More so keep the temperature at 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the breeding to be successful it is relevant not to overfeed your mbuna. Keep in mind that they tend to utterly eat anything and everything give to them and may easily lead to obesity which is bad for its health. Furthermore, larger mbuna's would mean fewer fishes in your aquarium plus the fact that its aggressiveness may also increase. As a result of its violence stress is manifest in your fishes hence making them less capable to breed. Not only will that, but overcrowding the aquarium may also hamper breeding as well.

Mbuna cichlid natural diet includes algae and insects. But if they are fed with prepared foods, make sure that vegetable and algae matter like Spirulina is always included.

Another important factor that mbuna's are rock dwellers, thus it is apparent that they prefer to spawn in rocks, crevices, or caves. Needless to say, when keeping and breeding mbuna's it is vital that the breeder must provide a substantial amount of hiding place with the use of rocks or caves.

Initially, breeding is noticeable when the male will start claiming a small territory which he thinks is suitable for the spawning process. It is quite obvious that the male mbuna will show himself in front of the female mbuna and starts dancing usually by causing its whole body to vibrate and its fins will start to erect.

Moreover, its color will exude more brightness than normal. If the female is also in a spawning condition, then she will willingly go with the male to its spawning site. Both the female and the male cichlid will now start to swim closely to each other in a circular motion and amazingly the female will now start depositing the eggs in the spawning location. She will then pick the eggs and put it in her mouth for guarding and at the same time receives a mouthful of sperms to fertilize the eggs.

She will continue depositing eggs in the site and the process will follow the same cycle until all the eggs are fertilized and inside her mouth. When the eggs are all kept in her mouth the male mbuna will drive away the female in its territory. The female will try to hide the fry on hiding places provided for during the aquarium set-up. Even with the meticulous caution, some of the offspring may still be eaten but at least there are also a relative amount of babies saved. Female Mbuna cichlid fish may be moved to another aquarium to increase the rate of survival of its fry.

By Lacey Bryant Lacey Bryant is a cichlid enthusiast and author, who has been caring for cichlids for over 15 years. She has been breeding Cichlids for years and it has become her passion to share her knowledge about their proper care. Article Source: EzineArticles

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Pet JELLYFISH Facts: What Are Jellyfish?

Flower Hat Jellyfish (Olindias formosa), Monterey Bay Aquarium, California.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jellyfish are gelatinous zooplankton from the Phylum Cnidaria. From an anatomical standpoint, they are little more than a sac within a sac. Their body composition is 95% water. They do not have a brain or even a central nervous system. They lack anything that remotely resembles a skeletal system. Most jellyfish do not even have eyes. Aside from eating, their only interaction with their immediate surroundings is the ability to distinguish between up and down, light from dark, or physical contact. Yet somehow their light sensory abilities allow them to perceive and maneuver around foreign objects.

Jellyfish are one of the oldest non-extinct life forms in existence. This should come as little surprise considering they are just one step up the evolutionary ladder from single cell organisms. Jellyfish fossils have been unearthed dating as far back as the Cambrian Period some 600 million years ago. The Cambrian Period predates not only the extinction of dinosaurs but their existence itself. These mysterious creatures will probably be swimming the Earth's oceans long after mankind is gone.

The largest known jellyfish species is the Arctic lion's main jellyfish followed closely by Nomura's jellyfish off the coasts of China and Japan. The largest lion's mane ever officially documented washed up on the shoreline of Massachusetts Bay in 1870. Its bell measured 7.5 feet (2.28 meters) in diameter and its tentacles stretched to a length of 120 feet (36.5 meters). There have been claims of larger jellyfish being discovered since then but none have been officially documented.

Can Keep Pet Jellyfish be Kept in an Aquarium?

Most people don't realize this, but until just a few short decades ago scientist did not possess the technological know-how to keep jellyfish alive in captivity. Jellyfish are 95% water. They would be liquefied instantly if sucked into a conventional water filtration system. Jellyfish cannot be housed in a typical square aquarium. They will get stuck in the corners and lack the higher brain functioning ability to get out. If there is not a flow of turbulence in the water, they are reduced to the equivalent of a bowl of jello. Keeping a jellyfish in a home aquarium was unthinkable. There was not a single jellyfish exhibit in a public aquarium anywhere in the world.

Jellyfish were first displayed in a public aquarium just over twenty years ago in Monterey California. This feat was made possible by the pioneering work of German Oceanographer, Dr. Wolf Greve.

Dr. Greve invented a circular aquarium that circulated water in a horizontal circular pattern. He dubbed his invention the Kreisel (German for carousel) tank. This revolutionary aquarium was originally designed for the study of arctic plankton. The tank's circular design and water flow gently pushed the plankton away from the aquarium's outer perimeter and toward the center of the tank. This technological breakthrough was essential in keeping jellyfish alive in a man-made environment.

By Stephen J Broy The jellyfish home aquarium industry is still in its infancy. The industry itself is less than a decade old. To date, there are only two manufacturers of Jellyfish Aquarium Fish Tank systems in the world. Moon jellies are by far the most easily obtainable jellyfish on the market. Moon jellyfish are even being tank raised to supply the recent demand of home aquarium owners. Learn more about Moon Jellyfish and other Pet Jellies. Article Source: EzineArticles

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Caring For OSCAR Fish

This is a picture of two Oscar Fish in a Fish Tank (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oscar fish are some of the most beautiful and hardy fish you can keep in an aquarium, but require special care and aquarium conditions to flourish. These fish can grow up to fourteen inches long, which makes them a handful for novice aquarium keepers -- they're definitely not starter fish. If you'd like to experience the special challenge of raising Oscar fish, then keep these tips in mind.

#1 - Oscar fish only like other Oscars.

Oscars are schooling fish, and they only like being with their own kind. They won't appreciate it when mixed in with different species and are known to attack other fish.

Oscars would love it if they schooled with a few other of their own kind in the fish tank. Remember that these fish can grow to be pretty big, so make sure to give at least 30 gallons of swimming space for them. If you take care of your Oscars well, they can live up to fifteen years.

#2 - Oscar can spawn with the best of them.

There are many Oscar species out there, and some of them change colours when they're ready to mate. If you have a male and a female Oscar in the same tank, they might spawn thousands of eggs at once. If you don't want to deal with a fish tank full of Oscars, then it might be a good idea to put one Oscar in a different location until its color changes back to its original color.

#3 - Oscars need specific conditions to survive.

Aside from a big enough tank, the usual filters, aerators, and lighting, Oscars thrive in clean, clear water with temperatures around 28 degrees Celsius. For some reason, they also prefer sandy bottoms to gravel. They feed on carnivorous fish food -- you can check with your local pet store if they have any fish food that's specifically for Oscars.

Surprisingly, Oscars can also eat food scraps such as shrimp, worms, and vegetables. Oscars only need to be fed once a day, and make sure you only give so much food that they can consume everything in three minutes.

Oscars are great pets to have, and it's always a temptation to add another one to the fish tank. Remember, though, that it's best to add an Oscar that's around the same size as the Oscars already in the tank. This will make sure that they'll get along swimmingly.

By David Yearwood - Article Source: EzineArticles

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All About CHAMELEONS

Chameleon - Photo: Pixabay

Chameleons are lizards with many fascinating features. There are several different types of Chameleons. By current classification, there are over 160 different species of Chameleons. Most Chameleons are native to Africa and a small island off the coast of Africa called Madagascar. There are also a few Chameleons native to Europe, such as Spain and Portugal, and some regions of Asia. 

They have also been introduced to Hawaii. They tend to live in warm climates from rain forests to deserts. Chameleons are truly unique creatures. Through evolution, they have developed many interesting features.

One of those features is the ability to move their eyes independent of one another. One eye can look beside or behind them while the other eye looks in front of them. This feature gives Chameleons the ability to have a 360-degree view around them. Contrary to the belief, Chameleons do not change their color to blend in with their background. They are naturally camouflaged because of their colors. Usually green to match the treetops.

They do however change their color by brightening or darkening their skin, but this is based on temperature regulation or emotional changes like stress or frightening. Chameleons are arboreal, which means they stay in trees most of their life. They have strong feet that grip like vices. 

Chameleons are didactyl. They have five toes on each foot, but they are connected together into a group of two and a group of three. This makes their feet appear to look like tongs. Each toe has a sharp claw.

They also use their long tail to help with balance and with climbing. Chameleons have a quite extraordinary tongue. Their tongues are made up of bone, muscle, and sinew. Most Chameleons can stick out their tongue one and a half times its body. They use this feature for food. They can shoot out their tongue in just a fraction of a second to catch their food. The tip of their tongue is also very sticky. Chameleons vary greatly in their sizes.

The smallest Chameleon is about 1.3 inches and the largest at 27 inches. Many Chameleons show some time of head or facial ornamentation, such as nasal protrusions, or horn-like projections or large crests on top of their heads. Like snakes, they do not have a middle or outer ear. This might suggest that Chameleons may be deaf. Most Chameleons are oviparous (egg-laying) and others are ovoviviparous (live birth). After about 3 to 6 weeks, oviparous Chameleons will climb down from the branches and dig a hole to lay the eggs in. Eggs will hatch between 4 to 12 months depending on the species. Ovoviviparous Chameleons will give birth between 5 to 6 months.

Chameleons mainly eat insects, such as locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, roaches, and mantis. Some larger Chameleons have been known to eat small birds and other lizards. Chameleons do not seem to recognize standing water so they tend to drink water from leaves. Chameleons are truly beautiful creatures with many interesting features. Chameleons continue to be one of the most fascinating lizards in the world.

By Chrisw W - Article Source: EzineArticles

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