2018-02-13

Keeping a FLOWERHORN CICHLID

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Photo:  Wikimedia Commons.
Have you ever walked in a shop and wondered why an awkwardly looking fish is staring at you? You might question the aesthetic appreciation of the owner for keeping what seems to be an ugly fish. If you would ask the owner or the keeper of the store, they would tell you that the fish is the bearer of good luck. The strange looking fish is the flowerhorn cichlid. The FLOWERHORN CICHLID has been famous among business owners. Due to their association with bringing great fortune, the Flowerhorn sale has been proliferating mostly in the Asian countries.

The rampant crossbreeding of South American cichlids resulted to the flowerhorn cichlid. The new species of cichlid was developed in the mid 90's in Malaysia. The combination of the species used is still unknown except for those who made them. Both the male and female flowerhorn has the same appearance. One must be very keen to differentiate between the sexes. When the fish is approximately 10-12 centimeters, one can differentiate the male from the female flowerhorn by checking the anal pore. A U shaped anal pore signifies a female flowerhorn, while a V-shaped anal pore is for the male flowerhorn.

The flowerhorn sale is not greatly affected by the sex of the fish. The markings and the huge hump on the head appear both in the male and female flowerhorn. The black markings resemble the Chines characters at times. A fish with a pronounced marking will be considered very special. The hump on the head of the fish is believed to resemble the high- forehead of SHou Xing the Chinese God of Longevity.


The flowerhorn fish is easy to maintain. One must have an aquarium that would have an ample space for the fish to swim in. One to three flowerhorn fish can be kept in a spacious aquarium. If more than one fish is to be kept, however, there should be enough accessories or items that would make the territories of the fish separate and distinct. Small variations in the condition of the water would not bother the resilient fish much. A neutral or alkaline water is best in keeping the fish. Water with a lower pH would fade the color of the fish.

The flowerhorn cichlid is kept because people believe it is lucky or just merely because of its interesting appearance. No matter what the reasons are, flowerhorn cichlids are one of the favorites of an aquarist.

    Quintus Macon is a freelance writer and a budding aquarist who owns a female flowerhorn.
    Article Directory: EzineArticles



2018-02-12

Cheap DISCUS FISH - 3 Important Tips

Discus Fish
If you are planning to have an aquarium in your house then one of the best fishes to consider is cheap discus fish. This type of fish has very attractive outer looks that add beauty to your entire aquarium. However, it is likewise important to observe some maintenance tips when raising this kind of fish to ensure that they survive long enough to breed and reproduce.

This type of fish generally requires close attention to keep them healthy at all times. You may also need to observe proper environmental requirements for its survival to ensure their health and breeding capacity. One of the important things that you need to observe when raising cheap discus fish is to keep the aquarium balance. In other words, you need to create a well-balanced environment for the fish for its optimum health.

One of the things that you must always remember is that this kind of fish requires ample space to swim around. The most ideal space provision is 1 fish per ten gallons of water; hence, if your tank capacity is 40 gallons of water then the ideal maximum number of discus fishes is four. Raising more than this number is already considered as an overcrowded place for them to live healthily. Hence, it is best to observe this rule of thumb.

Another equally important aspect that you should consider is to place the cheap discus fish in tanks that are taller; or in deep aquariums. They prefer to swim around in deeper tanks rather than in longer yet shallow tanks. The ideal depth for these fishes to swim around is 3 feet tall; hence, consider purchasing aquariums with at least 3 feet in water depth. Although, they can swim around in swallow tanks with depths lesser than three feet; however, it may sometimes cause stress among them as they are not able to dive down deeper than what they are used to swim.



Lastly, but definitely not the least among the tips on raising cheap discus fish, is to keep the water clean and well balanced in terms of PH factor. The most ideal PH of aquarium water for this kind of fish should be within the 5 to 6.5 PH range. Similarly, its water temperature should be within the range of 82 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit for its optimum health.

These 3 important tips on how to raise cheap discus fish are useful when planning to raise this type of fish in your aquarium.



2018-02-10

Breeding ZEBRA DANIOS

Danio rerio, better known as the zebrafish
Danio rerio, better known as the zebrafish (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many fishkeepers sometimes get a little embarrassed when they admit that their first fish breeding was a livebearer, feeling that they, as fish keepers, didn't have very much to do with the event. Whilst this may be true to a certain extent, it nevertheless does mean that the fish had been kept in correct conditions and were sufficiently healthy to want to reproduce and this must be a reflection of their owner's skill in maintaining the aquarium over a period of time.

However, with an egg-laying species, the aquarist can have a great deal of control over what fish he wants to breed and, just as importantly, when.

It should be said here, that fish will breed whenever they choose inasmuch that should a ripe male and female encounter each other then they will probably spawn spontaneously in the aquarium anyway. Without the care and attention of the fishkeeper, the eggs from egg-scattering species especially will more likely than not be eaten by the other fish in the tank and no fry will be seen. The fry from egg-depositing fish stands a better chance as first of all their parents will prepare and defend a spawning site prior to spawning and also guard any subsequent fry afterward. Let's suppose you want to try your hand at breeding something deliberately and have taken the advice of many experienced fishkeepers by choosing that popular Cyprinid, the Zebra Danio.

First of all, we must ensure that the fish are 'in the mood' to breed rather than just put a male and female together and hope for the best. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' is one way of putting it but, realistically, separating the would-be parents is based on a practical rather than emotional supposition.

It is possible that should you simply select a male and female and put them together to spawn then one of them might just have spawned without your knowledge; in which case, the attempt to spawn them would be fruitless.

By separating the sexes prior to spawning, you can ensure that they are in the best condition; feeding them copious amounts of quality food (including live food) will make the females fill with eggs. This conditioning process can take a couple of weeks or so. The best way to do it might be to put the female into the breeding tank first before introducing the well-fed male later.

Sexing the fish is fairly straightforward: the male fish is more slender than the female and if you look at a female, even when she is not full of eggs, there is a definite kink in the horizontal stripes along the body just to the rear of the dorsal fin.

Like all Cyprinids, the Zebra Danio is no respecter of new-laid eggs, including its own. There are several ways to prevent egg eating. Any method that separates the adult fish from reaching their newly-laid eggs is acceptable.

One popular method is to cover the bottom of the aquarium with a layer or two of glass marbles (the eggs fall between the marbles beyond the reach of the adults). Alternatively, you can use a bunch or two of dense plants in the spawning area: as the male chases the female into the plants, she releases the eggs which after fertilization fall into the dense plants away from the attention of the adults.

There is no reason why you cannot 'flock spawn' fish. If you have several Zebra Danios then separating all the females from all the males during the conditioning period should give you more Zebra Danio fry than you'd believe possible upon the adults' reunion! But there's still the problem of egg protection.

The answer is to drape a piece of fine netting across the entire water surface area of the spawning tank so that it hangs a few centimeters below the surface; weight the corners down with small pebbles. Now all that is needed is to introduce all the preconditioned fish (both sexes) into the water above the net.

When the males chase the females, any eggs that are released and fertilized then fall through the net into the tank beneath before the adults have time to realize what's going on. The eggs are safe! In order to return the adult fish to their previous aquarium all you do is lift out the net (take the pebbles out first!). The fish are caught all at once with no stress at all.

Meanwhile, the fertilized eggs are quietly hatching and in a few days, you will see what looks like tiny splinters of glass hanging on the sides of the aquarium. These are your new Zebra Danios.

Because they are not exactly sizeable fry, they will require quite small particle-sized food at first. There are preparations of liquid fry food available at your aquatic store and it's a simple task to add a few drops of this at the recommended times to their tank. It may help if you keep a low-level light burning over their tank so that they can feed 24 hours a day.

It is important during these first few days not to over-feed - a difficult task, as you'll never be exactly sure how many baby mouths you've got to feed. Therefore, regular partial water changes are of the highest importance, if water conditions in the nursery tank are not to be compromised.

As the fry grow, then the feeding routine can mirror that outlined earlier for livebearers, with a gradual progression on to larger particle foods. Again, spacing out of fry into larger tanks may be necessary.




2018-02-08

12 Weeks to Your Own CORAL AQUARIUM

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Photo  by xbeta 
Saltwater tanks are sought after by many aquarium enthusiasts, however, they are more tedious to maintain so are not often undertaken. Keeping a saltwater aquarium requires patience, and having live coral in your saltwater tank requires patience and knowledge. Patience, we say because the healthiest and hardiest path to owning a home coral aquarium is to grow your coral.

While it takes more time, growing your own coral makes it much easier to maintain the health of your coral. You must become educated about the requirements for growing coral, and follow very specific procedures, but if you can be patient for approximately 12 weeks, you can grow your own coral for your home saltwater aquarium.

The basic set-up of a saltwater aquarium is the same as a freshwater tank. You purchase a tank and filter and then select the best location for your aquarium. Once the tank is ready for water, there are several steps to follow:

1. Fill the bottom of the tank with sand.
2. Now it is time to add the water. Your aquarium water must be de-chlorinated.
3. Next add the salt, making sure to mix it so the gravity measures exactly 1.205.
4. Arrange any live rocks and plants you would like to include in the tank.
5. Finally install the water heater and place the hood on top of the aquarium.
6. And now you wait. About 4 weeks to be exact before moving on.

Patience. Remember? The fours weeks will go by quickly, and in no time your saltwater aquarium will come to life before your eyes. The reason you don't add anything to your tank for a month is to allow plenty of time for the salt levels to balance out. At this stage, you have to install a protein skimmer, and then you can go ahead and add some snails to the tank, or perhaps even a crab or two. During the next couple of weeks, you want to make sure that the filters perform correctly. Also, use this time to adjust the lighting. It is recommended that you don't keep the light on for more than 12 hours per day because too much light can lead to algae problems.

When you reach the six-week mark, you can finally begin to add some coral. There is a wide variety of coral available for saltwater aquariums, and the most popular include Bull's-eye Mushroom Coral, Button Polyp Coral, Hairy Mushroom Coral and Yellow Mushroom Coral. When you place the coral into your tank, attach it to the live rock that you placed at the bottom when you initially set up your aquarium. And now we wait again; just two more weeks.


After eight weeks, you can add more coral, this time aquacultured coral like Leather Coral, Pumping Xenia Coral, Spaghetti Finger Coral, and Starburst Polyps. This coral should be placed into the live rock just as before.

After another two to four weeks, you can begin adding some fish to your home saltwater aquarium. In the realm of things, 12 weeks really isn't that long, and the end result will be more than worth the wait. Because a saltwater environment is so fragile, it is vital that you give this watery realm all of the time it needs to gain balance and begin living harmoniously. The healthy saltwater aquarium that results is a wonderful accomplishment after just 12 short weeks of patience and care.




2018-02-07

How to Fight the Winter Blues by Raising and Keeping a TOAD As a Pet

English: Front view of Eastern American Toad. ...
Front view of Eastern American Toad. Photographed in Berks County, Pennsylvania
(Photo credit: 
Wikipedia)
Why do so many people dislike toads? I think it's that old misconception that if you touch one, you will get warts. I mean who wants a wart, I don't know anyone that wants one. I have loved toads since I was a child, maybe because we are both outcasts in society, I am not sure. All I know is that I would rather have a toad around me most of the time, then I would a person. At least you can understand a toad and trust them, where a human can turn on you in a second. Also, maybe it's my feelings of why do so many dislike the poor toads, just because they are toads.

Think about witches casting a spell on someone, what do they often turn a person into, a toad. They are not the prettiest of all the creatures for sure, all bumpy and warty, and to call someone a toad is not meant to be anything nice, but whenever I am called a toad, I feel as happy as can be, and take it as a compliment.

So you're interested in having a toad as a pet, and I think you have made a great choice. Everyone has cats, dogs, fish and some people even have mice, gerbils, and birds as pets, but who do you know that has a pet toad? Now, some toads are poisonous to people and other animals, so I am talking about the common American Toad, in this article, and his scientific name is; 'Bufo americanus.' Before you find yourself a toad, the first thing you will need is a home for him or her. A 10-gallon aquarium that is not being used for fish, makes a perfect dwelling place for your toad to live. Make sure you have a secured, screen lid, or your toad may hop out and escape.

The first thing you will need is the ground cover or stuff for your toad to dig in when it wishes to do so. One of the best bedding or ground cover you can fill a couple inches of the bottom of the aquarium with is called; ' Eco Earth '. It is made from coconut fiber, and it makes a perfect bedding for your toad to dig into and hop around on. Also when the toad urinates and poops, the Eco Earth absorbs and destroys odor and waste products. Although toads don't live in water like frogs mostly do, toads do love water. Your toad will need a water dish that he can climb into and sit if he feels dry, and he will also drink out of this container, just make sure your water dish is not so deep that the toad can fall in and not get out, or he will drown, and you will end up with a pet ghost toad. Some pet stores and places online have water dishes that have both a shallow and deep end, which is perfect for your toad.

You do not really need a separate dish for your toad's food unless you want to place one in its home. Your toad can eat any live insects such as house flies, small crickets, and grasshoppers, some people even like dropping a live worm or mealworms in the aquarium for their toad. You will need a supply of live insects or worms through the cold, winter season, and most live fish bait shops and pet shops have all the insects and worms you need.

Your toad will like a little place to hide in where he can comfortably seek shelter, or sit in silence while he meditates or takes a nap. Some great shelters are made by using a piece of a log that's been hollowed out and turned over, which resembles a cave. Also, you can even use a ceramic flower pot that is turned over, with a hole or piece knocked out of it, for your toad to enter easily. Again, if you cannot make a shelter for your toad, you can purchase them at pet stores and online. You can decorate your toads home with some plastic plants, or even some real ones, and add a couple nice size rocks for him to climb and set on if he wishes. In other words, make your toads home, as close as you can to resemble the natural world where he would live.



Now to find yourself a toad to use a pet, get a smaller size one, not one of the little babies that you often see, but a medium-sized toad. You want one that's big enough to eat the live insects and other things that you will feed it. One of the easiest methods to find a toad, is right after a rainstorm, go outside at night, with a flashlight and walk around near the house. Toads also love to hang around the front door at night, or someplace where there is a light, that attracts insects. Raising a toad as a pet can give you such great joy, you will wonder why you didn't have one year before, anyway it will give you something to do during the long, cold winter months, and it will help you to fight the winter blues.




2018-02-06

Gulf KILLIFISH - Fundulus grandis

Gulf Killifish - Fundulus grandis




2018-02-05

4 Popular CATFISH - Great Tips On Catfish Care

Corydoras paleatus
Corydoras paleatus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Catfish are popular animals for keeping and eating. But, if you are looking for tips on great recipes, you're looking in the wrong place. This is where you are going to learn how to keep and maintain catfish as pets. One of the reasons people enjoy catfish is because they are very self-sufficient. Catfish clean up algae and other organisms from tanks making cleaning easier for the fish owner. Catfish get their name from the cat-like whiskers on their face.

There are so many different types of catfish and they range in sizes and shapes. There are the Mekong giant catfish that grows to six feet long. This is obviously a fish you aren't going to own. There are catfish that are easier to keep than others. The catfish in this article include the Black Spotted Corydoras, Peppered Corydoras, Leopard Corydoras and Loricariidae.

1. Black Spotted Corydoras: This catfish comes from Venezuela and Guiana and can grow to a little over two inches in length. The reason for the name is pretty obvious when you see it. It's silver with black spots. Black Spotted catfish make good pets. They aren't aggressive and are peaceful animals. They prefer to eat white worms or tubifex but will eat fish flakes.

2. Peppered Corydoras: The brown colored fish hails from Brazil. It also has spots on it but not as prominent as other catfish. Like other catfish, it handles communal tanks and cleans the tank well. It feeds on white worms, Tubifex, and flakes. The Peppered catfish enjoys the slightly acidic water, so check the pH level. It enjoys swimming in hard water.

3. Leopard Corydoras: The Leopard catfish is from the lower Amazon. The reason for the name is the dark spots over the silvery body that tends to form lines near the tail. The Leopard catfish is an easy fish to own. It's calm with other fish and doesn't act aggressively. It enjoys similar water conditions to the Peppered catfish and eats the same items. These fish usually swim around the bottom of the tank looking for food that the others have missed.

4. Loricariidae: These fish are covered in bony plates and are a hit with fish lovers. They have a suckermouth and clean up tanks as good as a vacuum. They love eating the algae and other tiny organisms, which makes cleaning the tank easier. These fish shouldn't be used as a substitute for cleaning. Cleaning must still be maintained. Most species of this catfish are nocturnal so you might not see them out during the day. They prefer slightly acidic water (6.0 - 7.5 pH) and a temperature between 72-82 degrees Fahrenheit. They are good in tanks with other fish but might fight with fish of their own species. These fish enjoy worms, insect larvae, and algae. They should be fed in the evening. Many of these fish are sold just for their algae eating purposes. Some of them can grow to be large fish, but many stay relatively small, sucking up the algae at night. There are some of these that are bred in captivity because they are such a popular fish.

Catfish are a great fish to have in your aquarium. Besides eating the algae and making your cleaning duties easier, they get along well with other fish. This is important because, with territorial fish, you can spend time trying to find the right combination of fish to put in your tank without them killing each other. Catfish come in many colors and varieties. Find the one you like best and enjoy the peaceful nature and low maintenance it brings to the tank.