Why Would Anyone Lick a BUFO ALVARIUS TOAD?

Sonoran Desert Toad (Bufo alvarius) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you have ever heard of the Psychedelic Toad or about people licking toads to get high, it is most likely they were talking about Bufo Alvarius. Also called the Sonoran Desert toad and the Colorado River toad, Bufo Alvarius is unique because of its venom. These large toads have glands that produce a milky white venom that is composed of as much as fifteen percent the alkaloid 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MEO-DMT). This is a powerful hallucinogen, the mind-altering effects of which were discovered in the late 1950s. 5-MEO-DMT is the active ingredient of hallucinogens used traditionally by several South American tribes.

The fact that a toad secretes a substance that can alter the human mind may lead to speculation about the "Frog Prince" fairy tale. In this folk legend, a woman finds a frog in the wild, kisses it, and it turns into a handsome prince. Could this ancient tale actually be based on fact? After all, if someone were to lick not a frog but the right kind of a toad, perhaps she might experience hallucinations that made her imagine the amphibian was transforming into a handsome prince. This theory is merely speculation, of course. In reality, licking the venom of toads or any other animal may be highly dangerous and is certainly not recommended.

Albert Most, the author of "Bufo Alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran Desert" does not discuss the licking of toad venom in his text. Rather, his information involves drying and then smoking the toad venom in order to achieve what he calls "almost overwhelming psychedelic effects." These effects are evidently not unlike those generated by LSD, in which hallucinations, visual illusions and distortions of the perception occur. The episode is relatively short, however, perhaps as little as fifteen minutes, after which, Most writes, "There is no hangover or harmful effect."

It has been reported that Bufo Alvarius toads have been an element in the rituals of native shamans for hundreds of years. Returning to ancient European folklore, witches are often associated with toads. Toads supposedly give warts to people, and witches were frequently portrayed with large warts. In our more enlightened age, it is now known that so-called witches were more likewise women, possessing useful knowledge about medicinal herbs and plants. Could it be that these wise women were also aware of the powerful effects of toad venom?

Literature published by the California State Department of Fish and Game states that the problem of people trying to become intoxicated from licking the skin of toads or smoking dried toad venom is sufficiently extensive that laws against toad licking have been passed by some states, and that toad venom is currently classified as a controlled substance.

By Robert Scheer - Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

Bring the CLOWN LOACH's Natural Habitat Into Your Aquarium!

Chromobotia macracanthus syn. Botia macracanthus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Clown loach fish are only found in Indonesia (specifically on Borneo and Sumatra). They live in murky backwater rivers where the water may be moving swiftly or standing still. The waters are densely vegetated and there is plenty of food for the feisty bottom-feeding clown loaches. They are omnivorous and often enjoy eating crustaceans in the area or nibble on plants in the water. Borneo and Sumatra both straddle the equator so the temperature is quite high for most of the year. 

The temperature of the waters that the clown loach lives in hovers around 74-85 degrees Fahrenheit (23-29 degrees Celsius). They live in large groups and densely populate the river beds. It is in the clown loaches nature to hide and they love hiding in spaces that they can barely fit into or dig themselves into the river bed with only their head sticking out.

How can you use this basic information in designing a comfortable aquarium for clown loaches to live in?

First and foremost, the clowns love to have places to hide and plenty of vegetation. You can build little caves with rocks or buy cave objects at the store. You can use old plastic piping, or that old model car you use to play with when you were younger. You can use pretty much anything to make a hiding place for a clown loach, but you want to make sure that there are no sharp edges. Since they enjoy squeezing into areas that are probably too small for them to be squeezing into you don't want them to get caught on sharp edges and injure themselves. 

As for the vegetation, pretty much anything will do, but if you want to go all out you can use plants that grow in Borneo's or Sumatra's rivers; for example, Cryptocoryne wendtii, Pista stratiotes, or Nuphar japonicum. The older the clowns become the more they like to nibble on vegetation, so stick to the fast-growing and robust species of plants.

Clown loaches sometimes dig themselves into the substrate of an aquarium, so make sure there is nothing sharp in the substrate since it may do them harm. It is also a good idea to create a current in the aquarium that the clown loaches can swim against. They are fast swimmers and they can grow to be quite large (up to 12 inches or 30 centimeters). That being said, you may have to upgrade to a larger aquarium. For full-grown clown loaches, a 125 gallon (540 Litre) tank is recommended. This is one of the reasons that buying a clown loach is a long-term commitment. They can live to be more than 10 years old!

After the setup and organization of the clownfish tank, there is still the problem of water quality. They are very sensitive to the water quality and they become sick much more easily than most other aquarium fish. Their natural waters have a pH that tends to be acidic (pH = 5-7) and water hardness between 7 and 12. After achieving those properties in your tank and keeping the water temperature between about 74-85F (23-28C) your clown loaches should be pretty happy.

Don't forget that clown loaches get lonely really easily and when they're lonely they get stressed, their growth may stunt, their colors may fade (don't confuse this is with the 'graying out' of their colors with age) and they may die young. So, always keep your clowns in a group of at least 5 and they should be as happy as peas in a pod.

The process of analyzing a fish's natural habitat and then trying to mimic it in an aquarium is known as biotyping. It is an idea that is recommended by many aquarists.

By Bjorn Allpas - Article Source: EzineArticles

---

---

Five Ways to Help Your AQUARIUM PLANT Survive

Bacopa monnieri

Live aquarium plants can be a beautiful addition to an aquarium, whether you have it stocked with fish or not. But many aquarium owners who have trouble keeping their plants alive finally give up populate their aquarium with artificial plants. But keeping your plants alive and healthy is not really that difficult if you know what they like and need. Here are some of the main reasons that aquarium plants end up dying or not thriving well.

Failing to provide enough light for your plant. Light is extremely important for a plant. You can provide a plant with buckets of food and nutrients, but if you don't give it enough light, it won't last long. Now these days, most of the tanks that you find will come with a light attached to the tank top. Alternatively, it will come with pre-drilled holes that have been set up to allow you to install a light relatively easily. Lacking that, many acrylic tanks will let you drill your own holes so that you can install the lighting yourself. On the other hand, another absolutely acceptable choice is to simply place your aquarium on the south side of your apartment or house, near a window where it will be sure to get plenty of light.

Failure to secure the plant roots. If your plant has been doing well for a while and all of a sudden the leaves begin to turn brown and fall off, it may be a simple matter of the roots having come loose. Roots often come loose in aquariums, especially if you have rowdy fish that love to dig. In this case, simply replant or reposition the plant making sure that the roots are well covered and secure. If the plant is new, however, the browning leaves may simply be the plant adjusting to its new home. Most plants experience "environmental shock" when being transplanted from one place to a brand new place. Simply give it time to adjust and it should be fine.

Plant crowding. Plants need room to grow. In a crowded aquarium, you have too many plants fighting for too few resources. Give your plants plenty of room to grow by providing it with a large enough aquarium to accommodate it's future growth spurts. If it starts to get a bit unwieldy, it also helps to trim it every once in a while to control it's growth.

The wrong plant in the wrong environment. Plants are living things. And like all living things they do better in some environments than in others. You may have fallen in love with the most perfect, beautiful tropical plant to your eyes. But, if you live in the northern part of Alaska, chances are your plant is not going to survive. Many times the cause of a dying plant can be traced directly back to it not being right for the environment it has been moved to.

Many times the fault lies with the purchasing. Not all animal stores or fish stores are set up to deal with plants. To most of them, plants are just a sideline. One red flag is the number of plants that the store has for sale. If they have just a few types of plants and rather small stock, odds are that they aren't very knowledgeable about the types of plants that you may need. If any of the plants that a store has are yellowing or brown, or if the plants seem to be loosely planted and not well cared for, it's probably best to look elsewhere. The last thing that you want to do is to introduce a diseased plant into your aquarium.

Jim F. Johnson - Article Directory: Article Dashboard

---

---

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!

Article Directory: Article Dashboard

---

---

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

---

---

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

---

---

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

---

---