Better Tropical Fish Tanks» Living With Fish

Now for Something Different: Songs of the Aquarium

Elizabeth — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:26:58 +0000

The Corydoras Catfish

Catfish leaps upward
Hovering in mid-water
Hoping for some food.

The Betta

The betta dances
Before the glass’s mirror
Rival dances back.

The Neon Tetra

Swimming together
To confuse bigger fishes
They sparkle with light.

The Guppy

Tail streaming behind
The small fish wiggles onward
Looking for a mate.

The Goldfish

Slow and yet graceful
They sail on through the water
Each alone yet not.

Note: Next week’s post will be a proper article.

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What Not to Do When Starting a Fish Tank

Elizabeth — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:18:02 +0000

Everyone who keeps tropical fish for longer than a few months makes mistakes early on that they wish they could tell their younger selves to avoid. I was six years old when I started keeping fish, and I made a lot of mistakes. In the hope that you will be able to avoid some of them, I present 10 of my worst mistakes here:

One: Not do research. When I was first starting out, most of my problems stemmed from this.

Two: Not do regular partial water changes. Because I hadn’t done number one, I didn’t realize that I was supposed to do this, or how one should do this.

Three: Put too many fish in the aquarium. This compounded problem two.

Four: Assume fish are short lived. A few fish, like annual killifishes, live only a few months in nature but a Corydoras catfish can live for up to seven years in captivity and a goldfish can reach 20 years of age. If you make this wrong assumption, you may not notice you are doing something wrong.

Five: Buy one of each species. Many fishes are schooling and do not do as well without the company of their own kind.

Six: Keep goldfish in a goldfish bowl. Common goldfish can grow up to 12 inches in length and produce large amounts of waste. They do not belong in goldfish bowls.

Seven: Started with too small a fish tank. A five gallon tank makes a perfectly good aquarium, but water parameters can change quickly and you can’t keep many fish in there.

Eight: Not feed bottom feeders sinking food and depend on one brand of flake food for everything. Corydoras catfish get hungry and don’t feed off the surface. Fish benefit from a varied diet just as we do.

Nine: Keeping a Betta in a community tank without a plan B or enough hiding places for fish to get away. It killed one of my Neon Tetras, so we put the Betta in a breeding trap that wasn’t really big enough for it.

Ten: Put a Pygmy Gourami in with Cherry Shrimp. Pygmy Gouramis may have small mouths, but they regard shrimp as food and that one fish harassed the shrimp unmercifully. If it hadn’t been for the extremely thick live plants I think I would probably have lost all my Cherry Shrimp.

The last one wasn’t all that long ago, so such mistakes aren’t limited to beginners. No matter how much you think you know, do your research! And if you possibly can, keep a spare tank for quarentine, hospital use and unexpected animosities.

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How Big is That Tropical Fish Part 1: Fish Over 16 Inches

Elizabeth — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:49:31 +0000

Many of the tropical fish seen in pet stores are not fully grown. The final size of the fish varies dramatically between species. This is a list of the sizes that individual species are likely to grow to. Only some species are listed here, and adult fish of the same species vary somewhat in size. This is meant as a general guide to avoid buying fishes that will outgrow your tank.

Some of these species are sometimes illegally wild-caught and exported from their countries of origin; just because it is on this list is not a recommendation for keeping it.

Enormous Tropical Aquarium Fishes (Over 16 in.)

Red Tail Catfish: Phractocephalus hemioliopterus
Arapaima, Pirarucu: Arapaima gigas (potentially to 16 ft. usually less)
Arowana: Osteoglossum bicirrosum, Osteoglossum vandelli
Black Arowana: Osteoglossum ferreirai
Asian Arowana/Green Arowana: Scleropages formosus
Australian Arowana: Scleropages jardini
African Arowana: Heterotis niloticus
Tiger Shovelnose Catfish: Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum
Shovelnose Catfish: Sorubim lima
Reticulated Pimelodid: Perrunichthys perruno
Plecostamus, Pleco, Suckermouth Catfish: Hypostomus plecostomus
Snow King Plecostomus: Liposarcus anisitsi
Blue-eyed Panaque, Blue-eyed Plecostamus: Panaque suttoni
Sailfin Plecostamus: Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps
Walking Catfish, Albino clarias: Clarias batrachus
Fire Eel: Mastacembelus erythrotaenia
Ornate bichir: Polypterus ornatipinnis
Knife Fish; Featherback: Notopterus chitala
Mozambique Mouthbrooder: Oreochromis mossambicus
Gourami: Osphronemus goramy
Black Shark: Labeo chrysophekadion

Sources:

Butler, Rhett A. 1999-2008. Mongabay.com – San Francisco, CA

Practical fish keeping http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/home.php

Mills, D. 1987 Illustrated Guide to Aquarium Fishes. Galaxy Press, England

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What to do When Moving House and Unable to Take Your Fish

Elizabeth — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:34:13 +0000

If you have tropical fish you no longer able to keep, there are several options.

1) Tell all your friends and ask them if they would take in your fish. Throwing in the fish-keeping equipment, such as the tank, heater, filter, lighting and so on, may make them willing to do this if they are not otherwise able to.

2) Go to your local petstore and ask them to take back your fish. Some petstores will pay for returned fish, and more will accept free fish so long as they are healthy. I have used the previous two options exclusively in the past when I moved to a new city without a car. If, however, you really find yourself stuck:

3) Put an ad saying “free tropical fish” in the buy-and-sell.

4) Contact an aquarium club and offer your fish there.

5) Some SPCAs may take fish, but not all will have facilities for keeping them.

6) Feed them to your carnivorous pet. Warning: some fish are toxic. You may also not wish to do this to your pet fish.

7) If you really cannot find a home for them, I have been told that a humane way to kill small fish is to put them in a freezer with a very small amount of water, or for larger fish is to sever the backbone just behind the skull.

It is possible to move fish when moving house, or even when moving cities in some cases. As I do not have a car, I have never been able to try this. All the accounts I have found sound quite complicated as the fish must be kept at a reasonable temperature and with sufficient oxygen during the move. The larger the distance they must be transported, the more difficult this gets. Whatever you do, do not release them into the wild. For an explanation as to why they must not be released into the wild, please see the article on invasive species in the fish conservation section of this site.

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