That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hello everyone, Craig here again. If you have read some of my previous blogs, you know that I am a catfish fan. If it is weird and ugly, has whiskers and swims, I probably think it is one of the coolest things ever! Last night I was watching River Monsters. One of the trivia questions posed during a commercial break asked the show’s host what fish had given him his most painful injury. Though answer choices ranged included piranhas, catfish and others, and it was indeed the catfish that host Jeremy Wade said had given him his most painful injury. Apparently, one of the 8 inch barbs from an African species of catfish had run through the length of his finger. Having been stuck by my fair share of catfish (though much smaller species), I can say that a catfish spine can be an extremely painful injury with long-lasting effects. Read More »

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  It seems to me that we sometimes take common aquarium fishes for granted, and overlook the fact that all are uniquely adapted to life in wild.  The Freshwater Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), is a case in point. Read More »

When you look at the hobby today, one can see that the popularity of freshwater planted aquaria has really taken off. With the cost of lighting and CO2 systems becoming more reasonable, it is becoming easier to keep a lushly planted aquarium than ever before. Not only has cost of equipment become more reasonable, but the selection of plants available at most hobby stores has certainly grown.

All kinds of plants are being cultivated for the aquarium hobby now. Everything from standard Amazon swords (Echinodorus bleheri) to new strains of Cryptocoryne that produce orange and pink and green leaves. Some plants available are certainly challenging, while other plants are virtually maintenance free. All plants that have needs, and when those needs are met they flourish and can become real centerpieces for your aquarium. One perfect example is the African Tiger Lotus – Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri). Read More »

So this is the final part of this long blog series highlighting my favorites…here are my final five:

Paretroplus tsimoly, for all purposes, looks and behaves like P. nourissati. The main difference in appearance is that the area along its throat and its bottom lip is blue (or sometimes black), depending on its mood. This particular species is vulnerable in the wild due to habitat loss.
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Spring is upon us and with the air of the Easter season lingering, many of us are still thinking about cute little bunnies. It seemed obvious (ok, not really obvious) that I should write about the snails from the genus Tylomenia. Why write about them? Because they are known in the hobby as Rabbit snails!

When I first saw these snails on a website, I was pretty intrigued. Tylomenia snails are from the rugged mountain lakes of Sulawesi. Sulawesi is one of the larger Indonesian islands and, because of its topography, boasts some very beautiful shrimp and snails that are known only to live on that island. Rabbit snails come in a pretty amazing spectrum of colors and patterns. Some are orange, some are canary yellow, and some are black, while others are black with tiny white speckles.  They have long cone-shaped shells that vary in coloration and pattern from species to species. Some are black and heavily textured, while others are more smooth and have a rich golden or brown coloration. One thing that all of the Tylomenia snails have in common is that they have one of the most oddly shaped “heads” of any snail I have seen. With long drooping antennae and a long thick mouth, they certainly have one of the most original and distinctive looks of any snail.   Read More »