Tips on LIONFISH Care

Lionfish or volitans are venomous fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae whose literal translation means scorpion fish. There are five genera and 16 individual species commonly referred to as lionfish. Their natural habitant is among the reefs and rocky crevices of the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea. This species is not native to warmer tropical regions of the world. Recently established populations are present in the Eastern Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Seas.

Lion Fish (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They are becoming more and more common place off the Florida coastline. Scientists speculate that these species were first introduced when a public aquarium was destroyed in southern Florida by Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 hurricane in 1992. DNA analysis from captured fish supports this theory. All newly established populations originated from the same seven fish. The continued non-indigenous prorogation of this species has created concern among ecologists. It is yet to be determined what kind of human and environmental dangers these creatures will pose in their new breeding grounds.

The lionfish is inarguably one of the more exotic creatures you will ever see in a home aquarium. They are one of the most prized fish in the aquarium trade. There are 11 species from two distinct genera (Pterois and Dendrochris) readily available to home aquarists. The Dendriochirus lionfish's fins form a solid fan with individual fin rays held together by a connective membrane. Pterois lionfish have long flowing fin rays that are individually sheathed by the membrane.

The fins on a Pterois extend well past their tail. There is one species of lionfish, the Pterois sphex, which resides only in the waters off the shorelines of the Hawaiian Islands. Regardless of the species everything about these fish, from its regal fanned main to its cantankerous demeanor, says, "You don't want to mess with me." This fish is also marketed under the aquarium trade names turkey fish, dragon fish, scorpion and fire fish.

All lionfish have distinctive fins as well as fin and body striping. Color palettes and size are particular to species. Dwarf lion fish only reach an adult length of 5-6 inches and can be kept in an aquarium as small as 30 gallons. Other species can grow to in excess of 15 inches and will require a 75-100 gallon tank. These are among the most poisonous creatures found in the ocean and should only be kept by expert aquarists.

Lionfish are voracious predators. There are very few species in the wild that would even consider harassing one more or less attempting to eat it. Strangely enough, their venomous fins are not used for the purpose of predation. They rely on their natural camouflaging and split-second reflexes for hunting. Lionfish capture their prey by boxing it in with their large fins and then swallowing it whole. Their venom is used strictly as a means of defense. When threatened the lionfish will lunge at its opponent with its up to 18 needle-like dorsal spines erect and ready to neutralize the aggressor.

Due to its predatory and venomous nature lionfish are best suited for a mono-species or multiple lionfish species tank. You can keep more than one in an aquarium. You will want to take the fish's current and potential adult size into consideration. Lionfish have been known to prey on one another.

Lion fish are carnivorous. Smaller fish can be fed frozen carnivorous marine food products. They will also readily eat brine shrimp. Larger fish should be fed feeder shrimp or small fish. Although not generally marketed for consumption, lionfish are considered a culinary delicacy in some regions of the world.

By Stephen J Broy Technological advancements in the aquarium industry continually redefine the concept of "home aquarium ownership." Just twenty years ago not even the biggest public aquarium was capable of keeping jellyfish alive in captivity. Now they make desktop Jellyfish Fish Tank Aquariums. And why would you want a jellyfish tank? Perhaps you should check out what the translucent bodies of Pet Moon Jellyfish look like under LED lighting. Pet Jellyfish give a whole new meaning to the term exotic pets. Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

How to Breed RED DEVIL CICHLIDS

Red Devil cichlids are beautiful fish but they are kept alone because of their very aggressive nature. For aquarists who have previous experience in breeding cichlids, they will find that breeding Red Devil cichlids is no big deal. To prepare for the breeding process, it is best to keep your Red Devil cichlids in a large and decorated aquarium with the ideal water conditions, and feed them with suitable food. One great method to induce spawning in Red Devil cichlids is to increase your aquarium temperature to 24-28°C (75-82°F).

"Amphilophus labiatum, weiblich" by AtelierMonpli

Licensed  via Commons.

Creating a spawning environment for the cichlids is the first important part of the breeding process. What happens in the wild is that the Red Devil cichlids will choose rocks, logs or the ceiling of a cave as the breeding site, and thus, it is good to include such objects in the cichlid aquarium.

So, how do you differentiate between the male and female cichlid? You will find that the adult male cichlid has a very obvious bump on his forehead and also a pointy genital papilla. In addition, the male Red Devil cichlid is normally bigger than the female. The cichlids form one-male and one-female pairs and both parents always participate in taking care of their babies.

Before any spawning takes place, the male can become more aggressive towards the female. Therefore, it is important for the female cichlids to find many suitable hiding spots in the aquarium to hide from the male cichlid. So to help her with this, you can put a net in the fish tank with an opening that is too small for the male Red Devil cichlid to swim through. This allows the female to escape to a safe place in the aquarium. If not, she may die of injury or become very ill due to the stress caused by the male cichlid.

On the other hand, once a bond is formed for a pair of Red Devil cichlids, they are to be moved to the breeding tank. The parents will dig a pit together. After the female lays the eggs which is about 600 to 800 eggs, the male will fertilized the eggs. Once the eggs are been fertilized, both parents will participate in rearing of their young ones.

At this time, it is best to leave the family alone. Red Devil cichlids are famous for their aggressiveness in attacking anything which enter their territory especially during this breeding period. The male will guard the territory and the female will tend to the eggs. The eggs will hatch in about 3-5 days.

The cichlid parents will quickly move their fry to various pits which they have dug around the tank. These newly-born babies cichlids feed on mucus that are extracted through the skin of the adult fish. Five days later, the fry has grown big enough to swim around the aquarium. Now, you can feed these baby cichlids with small live food.

By Taylor Fox Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

Top 3: Types of LIZARD PETS

There are several types of lizard pets available for sale at most pet stores which can make deciding which is the best for you a difficult decision. You will need to keep in mind how much money you have to spend, how much room you have available, and how long you are willing to care for the pet. Of the several species available, I have chosen my three personal favorites which are easy to care for, enjoy being handled, and have affordable starter and upkeep costs.

Bearded Dragon

Photo by Tambako the Jaguar

Native to: Most regions of Australia

Size: Adults can grow to around 24″

Diet: Omnivore

Habitat: Dry, Hot Desert Conditions

Cost: Varies from around $ 40 for regulars, to over $ 200 for special morphs

Life Span: Around 10 years on average

Pros: Beardies are a very hardy and well-tempered lizard that grows to a comfortable handling size. The desert environment they need to survive is fairly easy to create and maintain when compared to other lizards who require moist conditions.

Cons: As juveniles, this lizard’s appetite can get quite expensive, as they need insects to be offered daily. UV lighting is required and bulbs need to be replaced a couple times a year, adding to costs. Beardies also require a 55 gallon enclosure at minimum to live happily, which takes up a lot of space.

Leopard Gecko

Photo by simply.jessi

Native to: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Northwestern India

Size: Adults grow to around 8-10″

Diet: Insectivores

Habitat: Warm, dry desert conditions

Cost: Varies from $ 20 to $ 400 or more

Life Span: Up to 20 years

Pros: Geckos can be housed comfortably in a 20 gallon tank, requiring little space and expense.

They don’t need UV lighting and require less heat than a beardie or uromastyx. They only eat insects so you wont need to fuss with cutting vegetables daily and save a bit on the food bill.

Cons: Geckos have very few cons, but they are nocturnal, so they aren’t very active during the day. They are also fairly small and squirmy compared to a larger lizard, so handling can be risky.

Mali Uromastyx

Photo by hj_west 

Native to: North Africa, Middle East, South Asia to India

Size: Around 16″ for an adult male

Diet: Omnivore

Habitat: Dry/Very Hot Desert Conditions

Cost: $ 40 to over $ 200 depending on size

Life Span: Up to 30 years

Pros: Uro’s are very docile lizards that are very similar to bearded dragons. They seem to enjoy human interaction and are fairly hardy. These critters are very active during the daytime, often throwing their veggies around to make a nice mess for us.

Cons: Much like the beardie, uro’s need a large enclosure and UV lighting. Mali uromastyx also need extremely high temperatures around 120F. These lizards can live up to 30 years, so be ready for a long-term commitment if you decide a mali uro is for you.

All three of these types of lizard pets are great for beginners. Which suits you best will mostly depend on how much room you have available, and how much money you are willing to invest. Beardies and Uro’s are the best for handling, but cost more than a gecko to start-up and maintain. Gecko’s and bearded dragons live around 10 years, whereas a mali uromastyx can live up to 30. This could make them a poor choice for a child who will  most likely be moving from Mom and Dad’s to go to college or start their own family in the near future. Keep these things in mind so that you don’t regret your purchase, or end up having to give your pet away because they cost too much, or because they don’t fit in with your lifestyle.

Author: Joselyn

---

---

Skin and GILL FLUKES in Tropical Fish

While parasites of various types are often responsible for fish rubbing themselves against objects in the tank, sometimes to the point of causing raw skin, it can be difficult to identify which parasite it is, unless you have a very good visual of it.

In the case of skin fluke, which is a parasitic flatworm, they are unlikely to show themselves to the extent where you would be able to remove them manually as you can with leeches or fish lice.  One of the common denominators they have with other parasite infections, is they can cause redness of skin, but so can rubbing against stones and wood.  However, skin fluke also causes a fading of color, and because the treatment is common to other types of parasites, you are best to go with a general medication, such as Droncit or formalin baths, when unsure whether it is skin fluke or not. Remove severely affected fish to a hospital tank.

The standard treatments of adding 1 tbs. of aquarium salt to a daily change of water in the home aquarium, and raising the tank temperature by four degrees also applies.  This is used for most parasites, including gill fluke, which has more obvious and visual symptoms.

Gill fluke is a worm that specifically attacks the gill membranes, causing them to turn red and acquire a coating of slime that makes it difficult to breathe.  Fish will hang at the water's surface, gasp, and lose weight rapidly.  The same tank treatments as skin fluke can be used, but with gill fluke, removing to a hospital tank and adding short baths in either formalin, salt or ammonium hydroxide to the regimen will help kill what is on the fish, and you can then treat their environment.

Love Tropical Fish? Find out how to create a beautiful, low-cost tropical fish aquarium with complimentary tips at http://www.TropicalFishIsland.com Article Directory: EzineArticles

---

---

LACED MORAY - Gymnothorax favagineus

Laced Moray (Tesselate moray, Honeycomb moray) - Photo: Krips Wikimedia

---

---

The Slow and Steady Reptile: the TURTLE

Of all the reptiles that can be found in an average neighborhood, turtles are probably the easiest to catch.  Let's take a tour of a turtle and see what we can learn from it.   One of the most interesting parts of the turtle is the most obvious, its shell.  The back of a turtle shell is formed from bones that have fused together into a hard structure.  On top of the bone layer are large scales that cover and protect the surface of the bone, and give the turtle its distinctive color. 

A female North American three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some sea turtles have shells with bones that are separated, and the leatherback turtle has no scales at all, just leathery skin with little bony plates distributed in its skin.   The shells of land turtles are typically quite high and round, in order to discourage predators from attempting to crush the shells in their mouths.

Water turtles generally have much flatter shells, in order to allow for faster swimming. The bottom of the shell, called the plastron, is also fused bone, but it is covered with a different kind of scale, in order for the turtle to move easily over its territory.  A few turtles, such as the American box turtle, have hinges on the bottom of its shell.  The box shell turtle can withdraw into the shell and then close the hinges, so that no predator can reach any of the turtle within.   These hinges also protect against moisture loss on particularly dry days.

Like many other reptiles, turtles lay their eggs on land.  Baby turtles generally grow rapidly until they reach young adulthood, and then the rate of growth slows.  Large turtles often keep growing at a slow rate for their entire life.  The shells of most turtles grow to at least five inches in diameter, and the monster of the turtle family is the Leatherback, which can have a shell six feet long and weigh up to fifteen hundred pounds.   One of the larger common American turtles is the Alligator snapping turtle, which can have a shell of over two feet in length and weigh up to two hundred pounds.  It is easier to tell the age of turtles than most other reptiles because the plates on their back often have growth rings, similar to trees.  Each time a turtle stops growing it creates a depression in each scale, and so these can be counted to determine the age of the turtle.

A number of turtles have lived for more than one hundred years, and turtles might be the longest-lived vertebrates, up to two hundred years old.  Some American families carved their names and dates into box turtle shells, and these markers indicate that even local turtles can live to be more than one hundred years old.

Next time you see a turtle, check it out carefully.  Watch how slowly it walks (generally at about one third of a mile an hour), and look carefully at the markings on its shell.  Turn it over to see the underside of the shell, and how the two connect.  See if you can see any markings on the shell to count how old it is.  Check out other interesting facts and behaviors about the turtles in your area at your local library or bookstore.

---

---

Saltwater Aquarium Stories - My CARPET ANEMONE

Saying Goodbye to my Carpet Anemone!

I purchased the carpet anemone secondhand with my aquarium and it came with 3 clown fish that were hosting in it, it quickly became the prize of my saltwater aquarium. In the first month I found that the anemone would move around the aquarium until it found a comfortable position. This proved to be a nuisance as it would knock over various corals and in some cases sting some of my corals. I found myself repositioning corals on a weekly basis. I decided to not to add any new live stock until the anemone appeared to remain in the one location.

Clown fish taking safety in a Sea Anenome.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the first 6 months I noticed the carpet anemone growing further in size and although this looked amazing, it was quickly becoming a problem. Carpet anemones have a powerful sting (as I experienced first hand) and they are also very sticky. I am certain I lost a blue tang because it accidentally swam into the anemone. Most other variety of anemones such as the regular bubble tip to do not have the same level of stickiness as a carpet anemone which means fish can accidentally get stung however can quickly escape, unlike with the carpet anemone.

I made an executive decision to remove the anemone from my saltwater aquarium. This was difficult as it was the home for 3 clown fish and having this relationship between fish and anemone is never guaranteed. Nonetheless I wanted a coral rich saltwater aquarium which I just couldn't have with the carpet anemone. I would suggest that if you are thinking of keeping a carpet anemone that you base your saltwater aquarium around the anemone, this will provide a less stressful experience. They are truly remarkable creatures. In terms of feeding your carpet anemone, they eat almost anything you feed your fish. I would use a turkey baster to feed my fish brine shrimp and I would just squirt some towards the mouth of the anemone. Otherwise I know of people who have cut up some cooked prawns and used that. Just remember if you have clown fish that host in the carpet anemone, they actually provide food and you will find the anemone to be relatively self sufficient.

If you had the same problem as me and needed to remove the carpet anemone from your saltwater aquarium there are various methods. If it is stuck to the glass on the side or bottom of your aquarium, you are in luck. Put a non toxic plastic glove on and grab a credit card. Use the credit card to slide behind the base of the anemone's stem to remove it from the surface. If it is attached to a rock, you can try removing using the same method, however I found it much easier to just sacrifice the rock and try and replace it with another piece of live rock. My local fish store gave me $200 credit for the anemone above however if I wasn't as desperate to remove it from my saltwater aquarium as quickly as possible, I could have sold it privately with the clown fish for probably $500. I kept the clown fish and after a couple of weeks their stress levels decreased and they made a new home within the several caves and tunnels in my saltwater aquarium.

Later on I will discuss what happened with my bubble tip anemone's!

By Cameron Porter Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---