The Truth about Automatic FISH FEEDERS

With the world going after everything automatic, even fishes want to have their utilities to be automatic! And seriously enough, why should the fishes be left behind?

The Problem with Manual Feeding

You can’t really give the same amount of feed every time. Feeding fishes manually has this drawback where the amount of feed given is purely based on approximation. And fishes as we all know are a greedy lot. They do not know when to stop and can go on eating until everything you gave is exhausted; they might even die due to overeating.

In case you’re out for work, who will feed your fishes? You don’t really expect your dog to do the job for you; or do you?

Even when you’re not out for a long period of time, feeding fishes at regular intervals becomes next to impossible especially if you have a job that has no fixed working hours.

Automatic Fish Feeders

Automatic fish feeders are not only for the aquarium but are for the ponds too. Actually, this concept of automatic fish feeding came from the ponds and has been in use for a long time. Only recently, it was inducted for domestic use in aquariums. The advantages of using an automatic fish feeder are many.

Number of Feeds:  Some advanced feeders have the capacity to provide your fish with food up to 8 times a day! Surely, there are fishes which eat less but eat frequently! You can vary the number of feeds depending on the type of fish you have. The bigger number of feeders are suitable for use in ponds and other large areas.

Type of Feed: With greater advancements in technology, the fish feed comes in pellets, flakes, or in the crumbled form. Earlier there was a problem in providing the desired type of feed for the fishes. But now, the dispenser opening comes in a universal size which allows the easy dispensing of almost any size and shape of the feed particle.

Holding Size: You may not require a large holding size of the feed for domestic and small aquariums, but with larger fish breeding water bodies, the holding size also increases. The popular ones can hold weights of 50 grams of food. The hopper is also an integral part of the holder and provides easy feed to the aquarium.

Avoid Moisture: The big problem with fish feed is that if it comes into contact with moisture, it gets spoiled. Modern automatic fish feeders can hold feed in the absence of moisture.

Automatic feeders are the next-gen aquarium utilities that help you administer the right amount of feed for your well-kept fishes. No doubt that these are great investments for your aquarium and the fish. The fishes are no longer crying foul!

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FRONTOSA CICHLID - What You Need to Know About This Species!

Cyphotilapia frontosa with fry in mouth 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Frontosa Cichlid is an incredibly magnificent and docile fish that would swim around the tank peacefully unless intimidated. They have this blue or white body accented with black bands that run vertically along the body. However, frontosa is more copious in blue color. They have the ability to grow quite largely about a foot or so in length when mature and with the right and proper water conditions and care will optimize the life span of 25 years.

So much more this variety is complaisant to other tank mates as long as they are provided with capacious room for all the cichlids to swim but may tend to be territorial and will act aggressively towards any fish that will tempt to enter their domain.

It is also best to take note that this cichlid will grow huge and agile when threatened therefore it is not good to use rocks with sharp edges as aquarium decor or anything that may injure them must be taken out.

An appropriate aquarium size would be 75 to 100 gallons in size though a larger tank is better. Choose a longer tank and not the deep sized aquarium. The substrate may be sand or fine gravel and incorporated with caves that can be used for hiding. The pH level should be kept at 8 and maintained with a consistent temperature of 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Frontosa cichlids feed mainly on small fishes in the wild, so they will definitely thrive with a feeder fish occasionally. Although they can also be fed with live or frozen krill, Mysis, shrimp, and worms. Fry's enjoys pellets and flakes but once they reach about 5 inches in length and as they mature tend to refuse foods like flakes.

They are generally compatible with most other fish variety of the same size and are classified as semi-aggressive cichlid. But be careful not to place them with smaller fish, they are in danger of being eaten. Lake Tanganyikan, Clown loaches, and larger plecos are your best choice.

They are slow-growing fish and will take at least three years for them to fully mature and get ready to breed. His color is the full determinant that your cichlid is ready to breed; they usually exhibit a vividly blue tone color while the female egg tube will start to protrude when she is ready to spawn.

When ready for breeding, the best ratio is to have four females to one male. In this way, it will aid in optimizing the success of breeding. Primarily, the male will choose a location in the tank where he can release his sperm most likely in a cave, and at the same time, the female is right behind him and ready to release her egg into the sperm.

When the eggs are totally out that is about 50, the female cichlid will then scoop them up into her mouth for incubation. Find out more on how to breed frontosa cichlid, get to see how amazing it is to breed and raise them in as much as keep them in aquariums.

By Lacey Bryant - Article Source: EzineArticles

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Breeding the AFRICAN LONG-FINNED TETRA

"Brycinus longipinnis". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

Sexing

The sexes of the African Long-Finned Tetra () are easy to distinguish. To me, the most obvious difference is in the dorsal fin. In the males, it is longer and more pointed while in females it is shorter and rounded. The males grow a little bigger than the females, and the body of the males tends to be deeper than that of the females. The anal fin of the male tends to be convex and edged in white while that of the females to be straight or concave.

Breeding in the Wild

Some observations suggest that in the wild an African Long-Finned Tetra school may breed over an extended period, laying a few eggs each day over plants. It is a reasonable guess that this versatile fish has several different breeding strategies in the wild adapted to the wide range of habitats it lives in.

Breeding in an Aquarium

The African Long-Finned Tetra can be bred either as a school or in a pair. This is not an easy tetra to breed but people who make a serious attempt may succeed. The parents need to be very well conditioned on high protein foods. The water in the breeding tank should be soft and acid. Plants, preferably fine-leaved ones, need to be present. The fish may not spawn the first day, but with luck will spawn within a few days. As with many fish, the most common time for this fish to spawn is the early morning. The actual spawning may be stimulated by the early morning light. I suggest that the breeding tank be situated to allow this light to fall on the aquarium.

About 200-300 eggs are laid per female. The eggs are 2-2.5 mm in diameter and are orange. The parents have been reported to not eat their own eggs. There have not been enough reports of this to be sure if this is normal. Certainly, if they do not eat their own eggs this is unusual behavior for an egg scattering tetra. The eggs hatch in 4-6 days. The babies are about 7 mm long. This is bigger than the fry of most egg scattering small fish.

Raising the Babies

Despite the large size of the African Long-Finned Tetra babies they have small mouths and need infusoria (protozoa) for the first few days. After this, they can eat newly hatched Brine Shrimp and other tiny live food. The live food of suitable sizes can be supplemented with liquid and dry fry foods.

The fry needs frequent feeding and plenty of space to grow. Great care needs to be taken with the water quality, avoiding any build-up of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. For the early stages, an air operated foam filter may be the safest type to use.

By Steve Challis - Article Source: EzineArticles

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BASSLETS - A Guide For the Marine Aquarium

Black Cap Basslet (Gramma melacara)
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marine basslets are small, meat-eating marine aquarium fish that are very well represented in the hobby. The overwhelming majority of them are somewhere between 2 to four inches in length and appear in a broad assortment of colors. They are all strictly meat-eaters and are typically some of the easiest fish to provide for in the saltwater aquarium. They are located in a variety of depths and are usually connected to habitats that have a lot of caves.

Basslets are found from a selection of families in addition to genera. Some of the more admired basslets in the trade come from the genus Liopropoma, Gramma, and Serranus.

The most popular among them is undoubtedly the Royal Gramma. Not to be mixed up with the bicolor dottyback. Marine basslets from the genus Liopropoma are several of the most sought after marine fishes in the trade and can cost more than $600 for rare deepwater species just like the beautiful candy basslet.

All basslets are considered exceedingly hardy fishes that typically do well in captivity. Owing to their eating habits, small fishes and invertebrates are not safe around them. Crustaceans to avoid are made up of sexy shrimp, small pistol shrimp for example Randall's pistol shrimp as well as any saltwater aquarium fishes that is small enough to put in into their mouths. Even as they can be taught to accept dry foods like pellets or flakes, they have a propensity to accept frozen foods a lot faster. As a result, some of the most popular fish feeds for the basslets consist of staple frozen foods for instance frozen mysis shrimp, krill along with an assortment of seafood mixes such as prime reef.

In their natural habitats, they are caught individually or dwelling in pairs. They are frequently found living in or in the region of live rock that offers them plenty of hiding spaces. Such a rockscape ought to be reflected in captivity if you plan to keep these stunning fish.

For the most part, the majority of the frequent basslets have not been bred in captivity. The staple Royal Gramma sees the most attempts but as a result of its low value, such activities have not garnered much interest from private breeders or large scale breeders. The one genera that are worth looking into is Liopropoma as they are normally deep-dwelling fishes that command high prices.

By Indran Manickam - Article Source: EzineArticles

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Cichlid - How to Keep and Breed GOLD SEVERUM CICHLIDS

Photo  by veress_szilard

Gold severum cichlids are a native of South America. They are also known as Hero Cichlids or Banded gold severuCichlids. They are of the larger types of cichlids and can grow up to 20cm in length.

Male and female gold severum cichlids basically have the same color although the females appear to be paler than the males. The only other difference in their color is that the females do not have the same pattern on their heads as the males.

Baby cichlids will have clearer patterns on their bodies. These patterns consist of 7 to 8 stripes on their bodies. By the time these baby cichlids mature, these patterns will not be as visible and my even reach a point where only bar will only be clearly visible.

To make these cichlids happy, you'll need to keep them in a big enough aquarium. To keep gold severum cichlids on a proper diet, make sure you feed them enough vegetables which means sticking to their natural diet as much as possible although this type of cichlid will eat almost anything.

These cichlids are generally mild-mannered and shy and will mix with active fishes of the same size and habits as itself. The water temperature that is right for the cichlids should be kept between 72F to 79F.

Although these cichlids are shy in nature, when it comes to breeding they are pretty aggressive and because of this nature, it is best to set up a separate tank especially for your breeding gold severum cichlids. The initial breeding process will take some time though as these cichlids are known for being picky when it comes to choosing their breeding partners. Gold severum cichlid broods can be as large as containing 1000 eggs at each spawn.

By Taylor Fox - Article Source: EzineArticles

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Simple BEARDED DRAGON Facts

(Original Title: Catapult Your Success With These Simple Bearded Dragon Facts)

Bearded Dragon lizard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Bearded Dragon lizard is capable of living a healthy and active life in captivity.  They do well when they are able to interact with both their owner and other bearded dragons.  Here are some interesting facts that will aid in healthy and happy bearded dragon care.

The bearded dragon lizard originated in Australia.  There are six to seven species of Australian dragons.  The most predominant species in the Pogona vitticeps, also known as Amphibolurus vitticeps.  Virtually all bearded dragons that have been captively bred have come to the United States from Germany.  There have not been any legally exported bearded dragons come from Australia.

The bearded dragon lizard will breed very well in captivity.  With a proper egg nesting area and incubation, the female bearded dragon will produce multiple clutches of eggs per year.  These captive bearded dragons tend to be healthier than the wild-caught bearded dragon lizards and are often free of pesticides.

Birth defects in captive bearded dragons are rare and most populations survive quite well. Bearded dragon breeding has also produced numerous different colours of bearded dragons, although they are still of the same species.

An early sign of inbreeding causing problems in captively bred bearded dragons is that the bearded dragon will not grow to its full adult size.  If you intend to breed your bearded dragons, you should ask your breeder what lines your bearded dragon lizards come from so that you may avoid those lines.  Inbreeding also occurs when bearded dragons are sold to pet stores.  People buy these dragons not realizing that they are related and then breed them.

Bearded dragons are like any other reptile and they may carry Salmonella.  This is a bacterium that causes food poisoning and can sometimes be lethal.  This is especially true for children that have an immuno-compromised condition.  Careful handling of the bearded dragon lizard will ensure that you remain healthy along with your bearded dragon pet.

Bearded dragons require regular vet checkups as well as.  Check with local veterinarians to see if they are familiar with reptiles.  If your vet is not, ask him if he can refer to you one that is.  You may also check with the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Vets for recommending reptile veterinarians near you.

Bearded dragons will go through a moulting process like other reptiles.  The bearded dragon lizard adult may exhibit signs of depression during this phase.  They will enjoy a warm bath to help remove their shedding skin.

A warm bath is also another way to make your bearded dragon eliminate before handling him or her.  There is nothing worse than having a bearded dragon eliminate in your lap.  Before handling, place the bearded dragon in warm water.  The warm water will make it eliminate and you will feel safer with your bearded dragon in your lap.

Bearded dragons should have a wide variety of choices in their diet.  The bearded dragon should not, however, be fed meat such as beef or chicken.  Meat contains too much protein and the bearded dragon will suffer from kidney problems or failures.

Avoid feeding crickets that are too large.  Crickets should be no larger than the distance between the eyes of your bearded dragon.  Baby bearded dragons should be fed one quarter inch crickets and juvenile bearded dragons may be fed half-inch crickets.  These crickets are generally around two-weeks old.  Babies will be eager to eat larger crickets but they are unable to digest these and may die from impactions.

Crickets can be tricky to manoeuvre from their box to a cricket holding tank.  One method is to place the cricket box in a plastic bag.  Open the box in the bag and shake the crickets out into the bottom of the bag.  Remove the box and then place the bag in the tank.  The crickets should slide easily out of the bag as there is nothing for them to grip onto. This is also a good way to feed crickets to your bearded dragons.

Bearded dragons will change their feeding patterns with age.  A young bearded dragon will be ready to eat on a moments notice while the adult bearded dragon may eat one day but not the next.  This is especially true during the winter months.

The bearded dragon will be tempted to munch on your houseplants.  There are a few houseplants that are okay for the bearded dragon to eat.  Plants such as ficus, geraniums, hibiscus, petunias, pothos and violets.  There are some houseplants that are treated with systemic pesticides, this means that the plant has taken the pesticide into its system and it will have to grow out to remove the pesticide.  This will generally take six to twelve weeks.

These bearded dragon facts should aid you in the care of your bearded dragon.  The bearded dragon will live a healthy and long life if it receives proper care and nutrition.

By Nigel Titley - Article Source: EzineArticles

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ANEMONES - What You Should Know

Plate V in "British Sea-Anemone and Corals" by Philip Henry Gosse, Van voorst, Paternoster Row, London, 1860. 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever been to a pet store and as you looked at the fish tanks you noticed something kind of weird? You began to observe it and after a while, it looked kind of neat. You read the label and you see that this weird, neat thing is called an anemone. Your mind immediately begins to race as you think of how cool it would look in your tank. Well, the truth is that it would look cool.

However, you should understand a couple of things about the anemone first. So let's take a brief look at a few common facts you should know. First, let's look at how to pick out the right anemone. Try to figure out something about your desired anemone ahead of time. This will make it much easier to tell if something is wrong. If you see an anemone with short tentacles that should have long ones then that might mean this particular one is not healthy.

Also look for spots on it that may be torn, especially near the bottom. If this is torn then it may not be able to attach to anything. Proper color should also be something to look for in judging its health. Now that you know a few tips for picking out your anemone let's look at some guidelines for keeping your anemone. For one, there should be no possible way for it to get sucked into the filtration on your tank. A good way to prevent this is to cut the end off of some tights and place it over the filtration. Also, good water quality is a must. Anemones can be sensitive to the water in which it is placed and therefore water quality must be good at all times.

Lighting should be of high quality as well. Anemones thrive with a high light source and metal halides are recommended. Feeding can be different for every particular anemone. Test it out to see how yours does with different techniques. Usually feeding a couple times a week using frozen brine shrimp is adequate and the use of various minerals will also help. If the anemone continues to look healthy this is a sign that it is being fed properly. If it is not then try feeding more often with various types of food. Last, let's look at keeping an anemone with coral. This can be a little tricky because some anemones like to travel around the tank at times.

This may not be good, because this means it has not found a good place in which it is comfortable. If this is the case then you might want to consider waiting until it has found its "comfort zone" before adding any coral. When placing coral with an anemone make sure there is plenty of room between it and the coral. If they touch one another it could cause death for both since many corals sting as well as anemones. Plan things out before you consider keeping both.

So now you know a couple of things relating to the anemone. Once you get the hang of keeping one, it is safe to say that there is nothing really quite like it. To see an anemone flowing to the current in your tank and the possible clownish or two making it their host is simply amazing. Good luck on this marvelous journey and I hope you have great success with your new anemone!

By Stephen Tolbert - Article Source: EzineArticles

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