That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hi folks, Brandon here.  I recently re-read my article on the Candiru, and their strange relationship with humans reminded me of another strange relationship between two aquatic creatures.  Some of my favorite marine animals are sea cucumbers, a type of echinoderm related to sea stars and sea urchins.  There are varying types of sea cucumbers, some of which sift through the sand, filtering out organics and leaving sand or silt pellets behind.  Others have fan-like structures that protrude from their mouth that they use to filter small particles out of the water for food.  All sea cucumbers share one characteristic in common; they breathe through their anus using respiratory trees to extract oxygen from the water.  They expand and contract their lower intestinal tract, very similar to how our lungs expand and contract, to take in and expel water.  They can even spray water several feet when exposed to air.   Sea cucumbers are fascinating animals any way you look at them.

Another interesting animal that shares a close bond with certain types of sea cucumbers is the pearlfish.  There are many different species of pearlfish, all of which share the same characteristic long, slender body shape.  Pearlfish seek out shelter from sea cucumbers, but instead of sharing the same hiding place like pistol shrimp and gobies, the pearlfish will actually retreat into the anus of the sea cucumber.  It’s very strange to watch, but amazing nontheless.  The pearlfish will back into the sea cucumbers anus tail first where it is then safe from predators.

It is unclear whether this relationship is commensal or parasitic.  Some pearlfish have been known to nip at the respiratory system of the sea cucumber, but it does not seem to affect the host in any way.  Most sea cucumbers will expel what is known as cuvierian tubes (sections of the respiratory tree) when they are stressed to deter predators from eating the cucumber.  These sections of the respiratory system naturally regenerate over time, so the pearlfish’s nipping does not seem to affect them in any way.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this bizarre but fascinating relationship.

Until next time,

Brandon

Hey cichlid fans, Jose here again. I want to share a little story about the first time I tried to mix Centrals with Africans and Madagascars.  This is just an experience that I had when I was much younger, and I DO NOT condone my actions, nor am I proud of how I handled the situation at the time.  I have learned a lot from my mistakes, and most who have been in the aquarium hobby for as long as I have will have some similar, horrifying experiences to share. Sometimes you get lucky with a mix and sometimes you don’t, so you learn by experience and not necessarily just from the advice of others.

 The tank size was a 75 gallon, and the species were 1 Parapetenia dovii (wolf cichlid), a pair of Dimidiochromis compressiceps (Malawi eye biter) and 1 Paratilapia bleekeri (large spot). I purchased them at the same time, and they were about 3 to 4 inches.  I was told if they grew up together they would get along fine (ha ha ha). Everything seemed to work out fine for about 7 months then the fun began. On a daily basis they would take turns fighting with each other in the tank, even the 12 inch gibbicep pleco got a work out. Then one day I noticed that the compressiceps were preparing to breed (hooray!). The aggression level from the compy pair went up a notch as they both defended their spawning site.

Ok, now here is where the story really gets messed up.

So I went to work, put in my 8 hours and went home.  My girlfriend at the time tells me my fish are acting weird, and I thought it was because they were spawning (boy was I wrong). Upon entering the room, what I saw was a shock. The female compressiceps‘ head was in the dovii‘s mouth, while the bleekeri had the rear half.  There in the middle was her gravid belly. Before I could even reach for a net, they decided it was time to end the game of tug of war.  I tell you it was heartbreaking as what looked like 100 eggs fell to the bottom of the tank.

A lesson in mixing I had to learn the hard way, and a tale I hope that encourages others to research a lot before deciding which fish to house together.

Write in if you have any tank horror stories that you’ve learned from that you’d like to share.

Until next time, have fun with cichlids.       JOSE      

Cory here. Live rock is an important piece to the reef tank puzzle, without it the aquarium never seems to be complete. It is amazing to see what one can do with some rock and an aquarium. Whether a massive 1000 gallon reef or a 5 gallon nano tank, live rock plays the role of beauty and necessity. When starting a marine aquarium, a quick stop to the local fish store (That Fish Place of course :)) will give a wide selection of live rock types; from the majestic Tonga Fusion to the typical Fiji, live rock is always available in all shapes and sizes.

The luxury of having five or more varieties of live rock any given day may be coming to an end. The creation of cultured live rock in Fiji has led a few to believe that since we can make live rock, we can save the reefs by stopping the collection of “wild” live rock. Cultured Fiji rock is very simply, concrete and sand molded into rocks, placed in the ocean for a couple of years, then harvested as live rock. The idea is to start culturing rock in places like Fiji and Tonga, eliminating the need to harvest rock from the reefs. There are plenty of arguments for and against the creation of cultured rock. The immediate problem is the ban of rock coming into the United States. The rock from Tonga (Fusion, Branch, Slab, etc.) has been banned completely starting this past August 4^th. There are no signs of this ban being lifted. On top of this, the number of pounds of Fiji Rock allowed for importation for 2009, has been decreased substantially from this past year.

The idea to phase out the import of wild live rock within the next 5 years is hard to stomach, but might be well on its way to becoming reality. There is still very little known about the situation as a whole, but what everyone must understand is that with each coming year, live rock may be harder to come by, especially the varieties that everyone is used to. My concern is, with the continued demand for fresh live rock and the available supply diminishing, the price per pound of live rock will begin to rise and continue until it becomes unaffordable. The future of the live rock industry is now in the hands of those with legislative power; hopefully a decision is made with the consumer in mind.

The Fish Room has been buzzing lately with all the talk of the new wizziwigs in stock. We’ve set up a new system for the wizziwigs, every shipment is being scrutinized for wizziwigs and wizziwigs have been a big part of the lunchtime conversations. The past few weeks have been all about the wizziwigs.
By now, you may be asking yourself, “what on earth is a wizziwig?!” You aren’t alone. We’ve gotten some pretty confused looks from anyone who’s overheard these conversations.

“Wizziwig” has become the nickname we’ve affectionately given to our newly revamped “Your Choice – What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)” category. These are special items, corals, frags, fish, and inverts that are set apart from others by showing exceptional color, unusual shape. They may even simply be uncommon offerings in the trade that deserve some special recognition. For example, we’re currently featuring a blue staghorn acro with intense baby blue tips that will really put on a show in a reef display, and a maze brain with neon green valleys and compact maze of sinuous ridges that really draws the eye.

Every one of these items gets its own unique item number and picture on the website so while you are browsing the WYSIWYG section, the picture you see is the exact item you receive. While we do our best across the website to provide pictures that are representative of the fish or coral available, the WYSIWYG pictures represent the specimen you are purchasing.

If you are looking for new, exciting, and collectible pieces for your aquarium, bookmark this page and keep checking in! These pieces are advertised only on our website and are all What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get, so act fast!

Hey cichlid fans, Jose here. We are going to profile dimidiochromis compressiceps the “Malawi eye biter”. Found throughout Lake Malawi this species inhabits the open water. It is also a large predator. One interesting method of hunting is the way they ambush prey. Dimidiochromis compressiceps uses its compressed body to hide in beds of reeds and vallisneria and when prey (small fish) swim by they tilt their head down at an angle until they are close and then with a burst of speed and a large mouth they dispatch their prey.When choosing an aquarium I would recommend a 75 gallon for a group of 4 to 6 fish due to their adult size of 12 inches. Keep the aquarium lightly decorated due to them being an open water predator.

Malawi Eye Biters like to hang close to the surface or in plants. They are not very territorial unless they are breeding.

Be careful with tank mates that may fit in their mouth, and if your going to feed them feeder fish know that it may make them more aggressive: especially towards tankmates.

This is an awesome looking fish that in my opinion is better looking than the electric blue ahli, when young. Males and females are a whitish silver with a single brown horizontal stripe. At 4 to 5 inches the male should start turning metallic blue with red and orange in his dorsal and anal fin. An adult male in breeding dress is a sight to behold. There is a gold version of this fish that although not as stunning it’s still an awesome fish to own.

Keep on keeping Cichlids,

Jose