That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Damselfishes and Clownfishes are closely related, with all 325+ species being classified in the Family Pomacentridae. Among the most numerous and conspicuous fish on tropical coral reefs, a number make hardy marine aquarium inhabitants.

Range and Habitat

Damselfishes and Clownfishes are found throughout the world’s tropical and semitropical seas, with the greatest diversity occurring in the Indo-Pacific Region, especially off Australia; relatively few occur in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans. They occupy a startling variety of habitats, with many species restricted to specific depths or specific areas of wave action. Several species can even enter brackish waters.

Identification in both the wild and pet trade is sometimes difficult, as their colors often vary from individual to individual; different populations of the same species may also exhibit unique color patterns.

Clownfishes and Sea Anemones

Clownfishes (aka anemonefishes) are well-known for their habit of living in close association with an invertebrate that is also an aquarium favorite, the sea anemone. Usually home to just one pair of clown fish, the host anemone forms the basis of their territory, and they rarely stray far from it.

Surviving Among Deadly Tentacles

Clownfishes were long thought to be immune to the anemone’s stinging tentacles, as they shelter right among them without being harmed (other small fishes would be killed if they attempted to do this). We now know, however, that the clownfish’s secret is not immunity at all, but an even more amazing adaptation.

Anemone tentacles fire their sting-bearing cells (nematocysts) upon contact with any organism that they come in contact with. The tentacles are coated with mucus which inhibits them from stinging one another. It seems that the clownfish secretes mucus which mimics that covering the tentacles of the anemone. Therefore, the anemone simply does not recognize the clownfish as prey, or even as a distinct organism!

In return for the protection offered by its host, the clownfish consumes parasites that might harm the anemone. By swimming about and fanning its fins, the clownfish may also increase the flow of oxygenated water through the anemone’s tentacles and about its base.

Do Anemones and Clownfishes “Need” One Another?

Aquarists often question whether clownfishes and anemones can survive without one other. It appears that the relationship might the best be described as “commensal”. By this we mean that each derives benefits from living in close association with the other, but they are not strictly limited to that situation.

The vast majority of anemones live without clownfishes. Clownfishes, however, seem somewhat more dependent upon the relationship. While they will live quite well “on their own” in the aquarium, experiments in the wild have shown that clownfishes without anemone hosts are quickly eaten by larger fishes.

Further Reading

The Florida Museum of Natural History has posted an interesting article and video on clownfishes here.

Next time we’ll take a closer look at the damselfishes and a favorite aquarium clownfish.

Please write in with your questions and comments.

Thanks, until next time,

Frank Indiviglio

Amphiprion sandaracinos image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by Bricktop

Living in the Edge is actually more like it, with Hagen’s new aquarium the Fluval Edge.  Unlike many of the other new nano or desktop aquariums that have come out in the last few years, the Edge is something different.  Difficult to describe, and easy on the eyes, this cool little 6 gallon aquarium gives the small aquarium a twist in design.

The tank is made of glass, and is filtered by Hagen’s proven Aquaclear filter technology.  The unique design of the aquarium has it “hanging”out in space around its base and top.  The top conceals an access opening for cleaning, feeding, and filter access.  It looks like it jumped out of a sketch book of Frank Lloyd Wright designs.  The Edge comes in 3 colors so that you can fit it in with whatever your décor or taste may be.  Check it out, I think you will find it really interesting.

We couldn’t resist setting one of these little wonders up on display, if you visit the store find the display on the info desk on the sales floor.

Thanks, Until the next blog,

Dave

Well, MACNA XXI is in the rearview mirror, along with all the traffic on the Atlantic City expressway.  This years MACNA was number six for both myself and That Fish Place, and I must give my complements to the New Jersey Reefers Club and MASNA for a very well organized and well run show.  What a great bunch of folks, I lost count of how many times someone from the club stopped me to make sure we did not need anything, or just to ask how things were going.

I would also like to thank all the attendees that stopped by our booth.  It is great to meet people who know us as a mail order company, but never get to meet us, or visit our retail store.  Lots of familiar faces as well, we really enjoy the interaction at events such as this.

With the venue in Atlantic City this year, we (along with several other vendors) put an element of gambling into our booth with a Plinko game.  Wow, was that a popular idea! We even had other vendors coming over to play.  We had some great prizes to win in the game, everyone won something, it was a lot of fun.  We had some special T-Shirts made up for the show, they were by far the most popular prize in the game, I think that you will see them make an appearance in our store in the near future.

One of the things that the New Jersey Reefers did with this particular show was set the workshop demonstrations up in multiple locations within the exhibit hall, a great idea.  With the video system they used, it allowed far more people to see the Demos.  Especially for the folks who only attended the show for one day, I think that it let them get more done in a short period of time than at past shows.   They had three demo areas running at once, for an hour each.  Each demo lasted 15 minutes, then repeated, this allowed you to see all three demos within the hour, without having to move from room to room.   I sat in on a couple of the demonstrations, one by Justin Credabel (great name, I think I need a new one) and Kelly Jedlicki, both were very interesting, short, and too the point.  I will post a follow up blog about the topics that they discussed.

The speaker hall was in a nice sized room, a short walk from the exhibit hall, and again very well organized with video systems so that no matter where you were sitting, you had a good view of what was going on with video screens and monitors throughout the hall.  Unfortunately, time did not allow me to get away from the exhibit hall to see most of the speakers, but Cory and I did get a chance to see a few. We will also post some blogs about the topics of discussion in the near future.

We had a great time at the show, and from what we saw, so did most everyone else.  For those of you who have never attended a MACNA show, I would very much encourage you to do so.  There is so much to see and do, and everyone is there to have a good time.  Hopefully, we will see you in Orlando next year for MACNA XXII.

Dave

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Sticklebacks hold a special place in fish-keeping history – their fascinating breeding habits are credited with inspiring the development of the aquarium hobby in Europe in the 1700s.  The Sea Stickleback (Spinachia spinachia) is one of the group’s few marine representatives, and a good candidate for one of the most fascinating fish breeding experiences imaginable.

The Sea Stickleback is native to the cool waters of the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of Northwestern Europe.  One of the larger sticklebacks, it attains a length of 8 inches or so and is quite hardy in the aquarium. It stays along the coast, rarely straying into depths exceeding 15 feet.

Underwater “Bird Nests”

Male sticklebacks construct tiny nests consisting of plant material held together by secretions from the kidneys.  Clad in vibrant breeding colors (sea sticklebacks sport bronze and silvery bars and silver-yellow abdomens) they then display for the females, who lay their eggs within the nests.  Females have been shown to preferentially choose water flowing from nests of unmated males, even when kept out of sight of the nests.

The brooding male guards the nest from any and all intruders, exhibiting aggressiveness that is far out of proportion to their size.  I once observed a male three spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) chase off a cunner that outweighed him a hundred fold.

Diet

In common with their relatives the seahorses, sticklebacks prefer live foods such as brine shrimp, blackworms, Mysids and Daphnia.  I’ve had some individuals take frozen foods, but such is by no means a certainty for all. I’ve found that sticklebacks seem to require quite comparatively large amounts of food, and lose condition rapidly if not fed adequately. 

Sticklebacks are fairly slow feeders, and will be out-competed by active species.  They are also quite pugnacious and prone to “fin nipping” their less agile neighbors.  Marine species get along well with spider and hermit crabs, small puffers and sea stars. 

Spawning Sticklebacks in the Aquarium

We are indeed fortunate that such unusual fishes are rather easy to breed…watching them do so is a treat rarely afforded those who study marine fish.  Although quite territorial, small groups will co-exist if enough nest sites are available.  Be sure to provide widely spaced groups of sticks and plants so that nesting pairs may have the privacy they require. 

Several species will come into breeding condition if their water temperatures are allowed to fluctuate with the seasons, i.e. by keeping them in an unheated tank in a room that experiences seasonal temperature variations.  You should also seek to provide a light cycle tuned to that they experience in nature.  

Native Sticklebacks

Unfortunately, like many temperate species, Sticklebacks get very little attention from aquarists these days. 

The Sea Stickleback is not readily available in the USA, but a number of other species can be collected here and kept in a similar manner.  I have had good luck in breeding the Three-spine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in a densely planted marine aquarium.  This species is usually described as a brackish water fish, but those I collected from the Great South Bay on Long Island, NY thrived under typical marine aquarium conditions.

Further Reading

An informative account of stickleback collecting and breeding is posted at www.glaucus.org.uk.

Please write in with your questions and comments. 

Thanks, until next time,

Frank Indiviglio.

Ninespine Stickleback image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by Dryke.
Sea stickleback image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by Visviva.
 

Greetings! The big news this week? MACNA!! Our team is on location in Atlantic City for this year’s main event, and Dave will be tweeting on all the cool stuff going on there. I’m sure we can also look forward to a blog recap highlighting the showstoppers.

In the news this week: more new species. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the diversity we find on this little blue planet blows my mind. This time the newly discovered critters were found at around 500 meters depth near the Canary Islands. Don’t be expecting to see these deep water oddities in your local aquarium store, but take a look anyway because they’re just cool.

There was also this article on a risque new Chimera or Ghost Shark species discovered off the Southern California coast!

As if there wasn’t enough at the beach to look out for as a hazard, people in New Zealand now have to be aware of puffers and puffer toxin when they’re frolicking on those beautiful coasts. This piece should hit home with aquarists, too, as fun and adorable as puffers are there is a risk involved in keeping them in aquariums that has to be kept in mind, as the toxin has the potential inflict some serious damage. Read more on puffer toxin in Eileen’s blog about toxins.

And now for a look at the future of the aquarium hobby! We all know that leaving our precious aquariums home alone for extended periods of time can be stressful, and many of us can relate to the horror of tank disasters that can occur while we’re on vacation or working long hours. Why not construct your own robot to monitor your tank? Seems like an impossibility? Not when it comes with the help of the braniacs at Erector! The Spykee Robot may be the key to giving you a little piece of mind.

This week we got some pretty cool stuff in the fish room in addition to all the favorites. Here are the highlights:

I’m a fan of Possum Wrasses. Also known as Arrowhead Wrasses and Pygmy Wrasses, these little beauties are fun to watch, s and they’re reef safe. Their small size makes them suitable for even smaller tanks. The Tanaka Possum Wrasse is the newest arrival!

We also received a lovely little Polleni Grouper. Only about 3-4″ and very pretty! Of course, I’ve never seen an ugly Polleni.

On the fresh side, the Zebra Loaches that arrived this week are looking particularly robust and active. Those attractive stripes would complement any community tank. The new Bug-eye Squeaker Cats, Synodontis contractus, also caught my eye. Synos are interesting looking cats in general, but the patterns on these are very attractive and the current stock is fat and happy. If you’re on the market for African Cichlids, I recommend the adult Pseudotropheus acei with their spectacular blue color.

Until next time, Patty

Pufferfish image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by Mbz1