That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

It is a calm day on the Amazon River. Two men are fishing in their small wooden boat. As one casts his line, he slips and falls into the water. Instantly, the surface of the water begins to roil and boil with action as a school of flesh-eating piranhas begins to do their nastiest work on the unfortunate fisherman. Minutes later, there is nothing left as the piranhas have eaten their fill. That is the myth. Aggressive and voracious schools of shiny silver and red fish with razor sharp teeth ready to devour anything that touches the water. So how true is that myth? We’ll be talking about the common Red-belly today, and some more commonly seen piranha in my next blogs.  Read More »

Hey folks, I wanted to do a real quick entry about a beautiful Lake Victorian cichlid called the Ruby Green (Haplochromis sp. “Ruby Green”). I kept my first pair of Ruby Greens when they first appeared in the hobby, I’m always on the lookout for species that aren’t “mainstream” or kept by a lot of hobbyists. These beauties fit the bill, and with their natural habitat dwindling, it’s a matter of conservation. Serious hobbists play a role in prolonging these and many other species by captive breeding and keeping lines pure. Read More »

About 70% of our planet is covered with water. Since the other 30% is currently fixated on the ongoing World Cup competition in South Africa, why should the piscean players not get involved as well?  It was interesting to me as a fish hobbyist to find the following happenings in media from around the world…check out the links to read/see more!

Looking for some help figuring out your spread and who will win the next bracket? Ask Paul. Paul has gotten his last four predictions right. Paul will never lead you astray. Oh, by the way, Paul is an octopus. The 2-year-old British expatriate most recently predicted that his new German home team will defeat his old English hometeam on Saturday. So, Paul, who’s gonna take the Cup (and what are my lucky lottery numbers)? Read More »

This week I would like to take a look at another annoying pest in the reef tank, the zoanthid eating nudibranch.  The zoanthid eating nudibranch is much like the soft coral eating nudibranch in both body shape and difficulty to find and eliminate.  The zoanthid eaters usually belongs to the famliy Aeolidia.  They are built much the same as the soft coral eating nudibranch, with cerata or finger-like growths that grow on their dorsal side.  These growths allow them to blend with the zoanthids, making them difficult to see as they feed on your polyps.  These nudis are usually small, ranging in size from 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter in length, which also makes them very difficult to detect and remove from polyp colonies.  They tend to hang on to the underside of the polyp and remain hidden.  Read More »

Hello again everyone! Craig here again, and in my last blog I talked about some of the biggest of the freshwater fish to be kept in home aquariums. In this blog, I will go over some of the big saltwater fish found in the hobby. Without a doubt, there are very large fish that call the sea their home. Some of these mammoth fish are being kept by hobbyists. With all the challenges of keeping a marine tank in tip-top condition, adding a giant fish to the mix can present dedicated fish keepers some challenges.

Large fish can be intimidating not only for their size, but their ferocious looks, too. Moray Eels are certainly some of the most intimidating. Their snake-like bodies and gaping mouths often cause people to get squeamish. One species, Gymnothorax favagineus, the Honeycomb Moray, is one of the most beautiful. Also known as the Tessellated Moray, this is one impressive fish. Able to reach a size of over 6 feet in length in the wild, this is definitely a giant. Boasting a beautiful white body with black splotches, there are few morays that are as attractive. In some individuals the dorsal takes on a yellow hue.  Read More »