Merry Christmas & Happy New 2008!!!!

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a very happy new Year...  2008!!!      

I have been offline again for a while due to personal reasons - I have a trapped nerve in my neck which is just driving me insane ... on top of that I had to have one of my cats put down yesterday as her cancer was spreading too fast. 

Things can only get better so I cannot wait for 2008 and a new year...  a new tank ...  going bigger again - all will be revealed soon.

I wish you all happiness and joy.. speak to you all soon xxxx

Some of my fish from 2007

They all gave me so much joy and laughter unfortunately not all of them are still with me....  some are re-homed and I check on them frequently and some left me to go to fishy heaven but they are not forgotten  xxx

Puff, Puff.. Puffers - A look at the Freshwater Puffers

I believe that there are more freshwater puffers out there than people know as they only come across one or 2 in the shops as mainly brackish puffers are on offer.

A note on all puffers: -

• Puffers are fussy eaters so be prepared to spend a time getting through different foods until you find what they like.
• Their diet MUST include snails or shelled animals to keep their teeth down - a puffers teeth can grow too long from which they die as they are no longer able to eat.   If their teeth still grow too long then you have to be prepared to trim their teeth every 4-6 months which is quite a scary experience for beginning puffer keepers...  especially the Colomesus asellus & Auriglobus modestus have very fast growing teeth - Puffer Dentistry 
• All puffers are sensitive to nitrites and ammonia and should only be introduced into a fully cycled aquarium
• Due to their messy eating habits, over filteration is highly recommended
• These are highly active and intelligent fish. They enjoy a planted tank to explore and engage in - they need some interaction or will become very bored.
• Puffers should only be kept in a species tank. They cannot be trusted in a community tank because they may nip fins and/or attack other fish.
• Don't ever make your puffer puff in fright as it can kill them.

So if you have not been put off by the above or think you can give this kind of care ...  let's get on to the puffers ;)  The listed tank sizes are PER PUFFER ;)

Auriglobus modestus

Common Names:  Bronze Puffer, Golden Puffer, Avocado Puffer
PH   6.0-7.8
Temp: 74-80F (23-26C)
Growth Size:  4 inches (10.6cm)
Lifespan: 10 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive
Tank Minimum:  15 US Gallons
Notes:  very fast growing teeth so needs daily shellfood or snails

Carinotetraodon irrubesco

Common Names:  Red-tailed Red Eye Puffer
PH    6.3-8.0
Temp:  72-84F (22-28C)
Growth Size: 2 inches (4.4cm)
Lifespan:  5 Years
Attitude:  One of the most peaceful ones but can still nip
Tank Minimum:  10 gallons (US)

Carinotetraodon lorteti

               

Common Names:  Red Eye Puffer
PH    6.3-8.0
Temp:  72-84F (22-28C)
Growth Size: 2.4 inches (6cm)
Lifespan:  5 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive little guy
Tank Minimum:  10 gallons (US)

Carinotetraodon travancoricus

      

Common Names:  Pea Puffer, Pygmy Puffer, Dwarf Puffer
PH    7.5-8.3
Temp:  72-84F (22-28C)
Growth Size: 1.5 inches (3.8cm)
Lifespan:  5 Years
Attitude:  When Young mild but as adults very aggressive
Tank Minimum:  5 Gallons(US)

More info:  Dwarf Puffers

Colomesus asellus

Common Names:  Amazon Puffer, Brazilian Puffer, SA Puffer
PH    6.0-7.8
Temp:  74-80F (23-26C)
Growth Size: 3 inches (7.6cm)
Lifespan:  10 Years
Attitude:  One of the most peaceful
Tank Minimum:  20 Gallons(US)
Notes:  Teeth grow very fast so snails are needed daily or shell food.

Tetraodon cochinchinensis

Common Names:  Fang's Puffer, Red Spot Puffer
PH    6.0-7.8
Temp:  74-80F (23-26C)
Growth Size: 3 inches (7.6cm)
Lifespan:  10 Years
Attitude:  Very aggressive will not tolerate other fish or puffers 
Tank Minimum:  10 Gallons(US)

Tetraodon leiurus

Common Names:  Target Puffer
PH    6.6-8.0
Temp:  72-84F (22-28C)
Growth Size: 6 inches (16cm)
Lifespan:  5 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive

Tank Minimum:  30 Gallons (US)

Tetraodon lineatus

Common Names:  Fahaka Puffer, Nile Puffer
PH    6.8-7.8
Temp:  76-82F (24-28C)
Growth Size: 18 inches (45cm)
Lifespan:  10 Years
Attitude:  Extremely Aggressive - will kill anything in the tank 

Tank Minimum:  120 Gallons (US)

Tetraodon miurus

Common Names:  Congo Puffer
PH    6.8-7.6
Temp:  76-84F (24-28C)
Growth Size: 6 inches (15.2cm)
Lifespan:  5 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive  

Tank Minimum:  30 Gallons (US)

Tetraodon palembangensis

Common Names:  Humpback Puffer, Dragon Puffer, Palembang
PH    6.8-7.6
Temp:  76-84F (24-28C)
Growth Size: 8 inches (20cm)
Lifespan:  10 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive  

Tank Minimum:  30 Gallons (US)

Tetraodon suvattii

Common Names:  Arrowhead Puffer, Pig-Nose Puffer
PH    6.8-7.6
Temp:  76-84F (24-28C)
Growth Size: 8 inches (20cm)
Lifespan:  10 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive  

Tank Minimum:  30 Gallons (US)

Tetraodon turgidus

Common Names:  Common Puffer
PH    6.8-7.6
Temp:  74-80F (23-26C)
Growth Size: 6 inches (15cm)
Lifespan:  10 Years
Attitude:  Aggressive will not tolerate tank mates
Tank Minimum:  20 Gallons (US)

 

There is also the Mbu Puffer but seeing it grows to 30 inches (76cm) not very suitable for an aquarium.

And to finish off a controversial one...  the long lasting argument on whether it is a brackish or freshwater puffer will never end...  I know people who keep them in both and breed them also in both.  Fishbase.org has them listed as freshwater so I am adding them here:

Tetraodon biocellatus

Common Names:  Figure Eight Puffer
PH    7.8-8.2
Temp:  74-80F (23-26C)
Growth Size: 6 inches (15cm)
Lifespan:  15 Years
Attitude:  Can be a fin nipper or fine
Tank Minimum:  15 Gallons (US)

 

Thanks to Ingo Seidel & Pufferlist x

Why have One Aqua when you can have...

With fishkeeping becoming more and more popular of course the arty & architectural people cannot be left behind ...  and no way would they have just any old plain square tank in their house..

Enter the Octopus Tank - Octopustank

Enclosed Volume: 2.0 m3
Height: 1.4m Width: 1.3m Depth: 1.1m
Water Volume: 230 Litres

The Silverfish Aquarium is a complete tropical aquarium system- it includes all the parts required for a fully functioning showpiece aquarium.
Specifically this includes:
              The Aquarium Structure
              The Aquarium Stand
              Filtration & Heating Parts
                          Eheim Professional2 external filter & filterset 
                          Undergravel filter plates x3
                          Hydor external heater
                          Filter tubing
                          Inlet strainer
                          All taps/clips/suckers required for assembly
              Lighting Parts
                          Light controllers x3
                          Circular fluorescent daylight lamps x3
                          Lighting covers x3
              Aeration Parts
                          Eheim 400 air pump
                          Air line
                          Air stones x3
                          All taps/clips/suckers required for assembly
              Decoration
                          Highest quality silk plants
              Cleaning Equipment
                          Gravel vacuum
                          Magnetic surface cleaner
                          Siphon tubing and taps
                          Filter tubing brush
                          Net
                          Tongs
              Assembly and set-up instructions
              Maintenance instructions

The whole complete set will set you back 2200 Euro's I believe...

Whatever next..?

Voyeurism is a turn off for fish

Mating fish don't like an audience, it seems. When another male spies on them they change their mind about which female they prefer. The findings may alter the way we think about mate choice driving evolution, researchers say.

Male molly fish of the species Poecilia Mexicana normally prefer to mate with large females who produce more eggs. In mate choice experiments, a male will spend 80% of its time near large females and only 20% near smaller ones.

                               Poecilia Mexicana

But when Martin Plath at the University of Potsdam in Germany and colleagues stuck a glass container holding another male into the tank to let him watch the show, the first molly changed his mind. Under the gaze of the intruder, he began to pay equal attention to both large and small females.

Being watched by a green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii), on the other hand, did not faze the mollies at all – they only slightly reduced their preference for large females.

"We think that the molly does this to avoid sperm competition," Plath told New Scientist. "It's likely that the other male will share the preference for large females, so it makes sense for the molly to not invest all his sperm into one female."

Evolutionary driver

Another possible explanation would be that the desire to fight a competitor distracts the very aggressive mollies from their true mate preference, although Plath considers this less likely. "We have just repeated the experiment with a completely non-aggressive group of fish and got the same results," he says.

Peter McGregor at Cornwall College in the UK, who studies communication networks in animals, says the results highlight how sensitive mate choice can be to even subtle interactions between individuals.

"The other male cannot get actively involved and still his passive presence has this dramatic effect", he says.

Previous studies have shown that female guppies – and humans – prefer males that are popular with other females, and that human males adjust their sperm production to perceived competition, but this is the first direct evidence that mate choice can be reversed by an observer.

"Mate preferences are often seen as drivers of evolutionary change," says Plath. "These results show how important it is to consider them in the appropriate social context."

Source: NewScientist.com

Sick Fish Tank

What would a day of fish news be without coming across some kind of cruelty?  <sighs>   This time it is a fish tank in the foyer of a Beijing Hotel - news is that the fish only live for about 6 days in this thing and that they add fresh stock weekly

I know what I would say if I walked in there and saw it.....

A mall in Beijing however shows how it SHOULD be done...

They constructed the worlds largest fake aqaurium into the roof of the mall...

A 250m by 30m LED screen has been installed in the ceiling of a new mall in Beijing. That’s an impressive 7,500 square meters of viewable area, and comes with an impressive $32 million price tag to match. It hangs 80 feet in the air, and is actually five screens combined.

Forget shopping with that!!  Just give me a comfy chair and I am set for the day ;)

57 New Freshwater Fish Species Found in Europe

Europe's rivers and lakes boast at least 57 more freshwater fish species than previously thought, scientists have announced.

The new species were discovered during a seven-year assessment of the conservation status of freshwater fish in Europe that was conducted in collaboration with the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

The findings lengthen Europe's list of freshwater fish to 522 species.

And the study authors say many more undescribed fish have been found or are suspected to exist, potentially taking the total number of confirmed species to 600 or higher.

"The new species come from all over" Europe, said co-author Jörg Freyhof of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin, Germany.

Freyhof and co-author Maurice Kottelat from Cornol, Switzerland, present their data in the Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes.

To read the full article see National Geographic

Snail Eating... wait for it... Snail!!

This little beauty may just be the answer to all snail plagues... fight snails with snails.

                             The Anetome Helena

        

Not only is it extremely pretty but it will devour all other snail in your aqua including the Malaysian trumpet snail which even puffers can have a hard time getting through.

I have heard reports of it getting rid of a snail plague after a week and you are left with a really pretty snail in the end that will keep other snails at bay and also not touch your plants.  Once all the snails are eaten they will keep the aqua clean by eating dying plant matter and leftover fish food.

Amazingly they do not eat their own eggs or young but there is no worry of a sudden plague of them as they do not breed as readily as other snails.

They are an ideal solution for the lazy peeps who can't be bothered picking snails out by hand or for peeps that are tempted to buy a puffer or botia purely to get rid of the snails and are then left with a fish that is either incompatible or it is not taken care of properly as the tank dimensions are too small.

I reckon this snail is going to take off in a big way so if you are clever you will get some now before the hype starts and the prices rocket.

Temp:  22 - 30 C

Size: 2-3 cm

How many?  You can keep one snail per 10 liters they are fine with community fish and shrimp just obviously not with snail eating fish ;)

Mussels in the Aquarium

They are pretty..very non aggressive and they help filter your water biologically.   Each Mussel will filter around 25-40 Liters an hour in your aqua and of course there is a nice little range of mussel to pick from for every size of Aqua.  They will keep your water completely crystal clear.

                                    Hyriopsis bialatus

       
                                Temp:  20 - 28C

                                Size: Upto 15cm

                       Aqua size:  from 54 Liters 

                                   Anodonta sp.

       

                             Temp:  20 - 28C
                          Size:  Upto 6cm
                   Aqua Size: from 54 Liters

 

                                Scabies Crispata

    

                           Temp:  20 - 28C
                          Size:  Upto 6cm
                   Aqua Size: from 54 Liters

                          Pilsbryoconcha exi

  

                          Temp:  20 - 28C
                          Size:  Upto 20 cm
                   Aqua Size: from 54 Liters

   Anodonta sp. and Anodonta sp. Gold (dwarf mussels)

   

   

                                  Temp:  20 - 28C
                                  Size:  Upto 4 cm
                          Aqua Size: from 20 Liters

All mussels must be placed in well established and cycled tanks.  They prefer sand or fine gravel so they can dig themselves into the substrate a little bit.

I myself have 4 x Pilsbryoconcha exi and really enjoy them (even though they hardly move) I find them very pretty and definite conversation pieces

Mussels are excellent indicators of water quality - if a mussel moves constantly around then you know something is not right.  Since placing them in one of my aquariums only one has moved the rest have happily stayed where they were placed.

A lot of people worrying about them dying and polluting the water - the pollution would not be any more than with a dead fish and it is very easy to spot a dead mussel as they are wide open...  usually by the time you have found a wide open dead mussel the fish have had a gourmet dinner and are happily swimming around with a full belly ;)

Cute Fish Film

A fish with a Smile

Man finds £200 inside fish

A Chinese man found £200 in the belly of a rotten fish his dog had found in the rubbish. Mr Wang, of Huichun city, says he noticed his dog enjoying a fish, and, curious, decided to check it out. “I lifted the fish, and saw it was already rotting. But then a package wrapped in oily paper dropped out,” he told.
“I used a stick to poke the package to make sure it wasn’t a prank or something.” Wang says that when he saw money inside, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The money came to 3,000 yuan, nearly £200.
“The fish must have been given to someone as a present. But I guess they didn’t know about the money,” he added. Wang says he will return the money if anyone can correctly identify the colour and other characteristics of the package.

From the Daily Times

Apologies - AWOL

I just want to apologize to my regular readers for not having posted in a while.   My personal life has been a bit of a rollercoaster so unfortunately I have not had a lot of time for writing.

I am still here though and have some nice little titbits from the aqua world to share...

Here goes...