That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hello everyone! I often write about odd freshwater fish. This blog I wanted to write about another personal favorite, the Dwarf Malabar Puffer, also called the Pea or Pygmy Puffer.

Dwarf Malabar Puffers, Carinotetraodon travancoricus, are cute little bundles of energy that come from the inland waters of Southern India, where they can be found in slow moving rivers amongst dense vegetation. These pea-sized puffers are a dwarf species that only grow to about 1.25 inches in length. They are colorful little fish with a body that is a deep golden hue. They are splotched with dark blue, black, or green spots. Males will often develop a dark stripe along their belly, especially when they want to show off or court a female.  Read More »

If you have a saltwater tank, there is a good possibility that you’ve had some experience with the pest anemone, Aiptasia. Aiptasia can seem to spring from live rock or new corals from nowhere, quickly becoming an unsightly “weed” all over the tank. But despite their prolific nature and the possibility of damage to coral colonies from their stings, eradication may not be your only solution.

I noticed that around the overflows of some of the holding tanks the Aiptasia anemones seemed to gather. Only a small amount of Aiptasia appeared within the tanks, on walls and rocks. Intrigued, I decided to research this in Anthony Calfo’s book, Book of Coral Propagation. He revealed an interesting use for the pest anemone.   Read More »

Hello, Jason here. Every day I find a customer seeking a colorful fish that they can put in their reef tank. The decision can be difficult because so many of the fish are far from reef safe and many fish will pick at (if not devour) corals. One fish to consider for your reef is the Chalk Bass (Serranus tortugarum). This Caribbean fish occupies rubble and sand bottoms from South Florida to to the Bahamas. Read More »

Hello, Cory here. Almost every day you can find some piece of news involving sharks, and in many cases, the news is another instance of someone, somewhere discovering mutilated shark carcasses or that a commercial fishing boat has been found throwing finless carcasses overboard. Just the idea of shark finning is terrible, I’m not sure how anyone can support and/or participate in the shark fin trade. Shark finning has been banned in many countries such as the US, but remains a problem in European and Asian countries. Despite the concern over shark populations and environmental impacts, shark finning continues, even growing from year to year in popularity, all to cater to a taste for an expensive bowl of soup.  Read More »

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  Many fishes that we tend to think of as “tropical” actually inhabit quite cool waters in the wild, and adapt readily to both heated and unheated aquariums.  The popular Gold Barb (Puntius semifasciolatus), also known as the green or China Barb, for example, is equally at home at 62 or 75 F. Read More »