That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Eileen here.

The poetic tranquility of water. The bliss of a flowing stream. The subtle euphoria of the aquatic world. We marine biologists know it well. But, as German researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology have found in recent research, it truly may not be a feeling of completeness and belonging imposed from finding our place in the aquatic world and sensing that special oneness with nature and all things hydrologic.

Nope. Turns out its just some little critters in the mud emitting laughing gas. Go figure.

Laughing gas, otherwise known as Nitrous oxide and one of the most notorious “greenhouse gases” is released by animals that feed by eating and sifting through sediments. According to the study, animals  that dig through the mud also end up eating nitrogen-converting bacteria which then in turn causes the animal to release the Nitrous oxide byproduct as they digest their food. While the researchers don’t feel that we have anything to worry about with the amounts of nitrous oxide produced, they do feel that the amounts could significantly increase if the amount of polluted water entering the streams rise. Looks like we’ll have to keep enjoying bodies of water the old-fashioned way – by boring our friends and loved ones to tears while we try to scientifically identify everything we see.

You can read the full article on LiveScience.com. 

Melissa here. Well, summer is just ahead and I was thinking about what I had done past summers for amusement. One particular mini-vacation popped into my mind. I found myself in Emerald Island, North Carolina after a summer class had ended. When my parents and I arrived at the beach I walked up and down the beach for hours identifying things I remembered seeing in my class. I found one particularly unusual jellyfish. Looking at the jellyfish laying on the sand the bright blue with purple caught my eye. Definitely didn’t remember seeing any of those. I thought it was cool so I scooped it up in the bucket I had been carrying. I wanted to take it back to my car to identify what kind of jellyfish I had found. Before identifying it i wanted to clean off some of the sand. I assumed that it had been on the beach for a while and was probably dead. I was trying to be careful since I knew most jellyfish could still sting many hours after they washed up on the beach. As I was attempting to wash the sand off a few of the tentacles must have sneaked out of the bucket and brushed up against my foot and across my hand. I didn’t feel anything right away. When I started walking back to the car I felt something burning across my foot and hand. Sure enough, when I looked down there were bright red streak marks becoming visible. Once I got back to the car my hand and foot felt like they were on fire. I got my field guide and was shocked to see that I had found a Portuguese Man O’ War. In big bold letters under the name it said, “DO NOT TOUCH, DO NOT COLLECT”. Immediately I thought, “O crap, what have I gotten myself into?” I knew I had to tell my parents in case it got worse and they have to find me a hospital. I grabbed a bottle if ice from the cooler in the car and headed back to find mom to let her know I had a slight little problem. When I told her what had happened and showed her the red streaks, lets just say she was less than thrilled. She told me that we were keeping the “creature” in case I had to go to the hospital. I guess she wanted the blob as proof of what stung me since she had no idea what it was. After 4 hours or so it still stung and burned. By this point there was also some minor swelling. The only thing that helped a little was keeping my foot and hand iced. Around noon the next day the red streaks were still visible but it didn’t hurt anymore. I guess I was lucky that is all the reaction I got since I am allergic to bee stings.

If anyone else has any interesting beach encounters I would love to hear about them!

Image referenced from Wikipedia commons.

Hello, Dave here.

When most people think of giant fish, they imagine some behemoth dwelling at the bottom of the ocean. While the world’s oceans certainly have their share of massive fishes, most people are probably unaware of what may be lurking in the freshwater lakes and rivers of the world, some of them right here in the U.S.

What brought this blog to mind was a recent article that I came across that chronicled the recent capture and tagging of a Giant Freshwater Stingray by British Angler and Scientist, Ian Welch. The Stingray that Ian Caught is thought to be one of the largest fish ever caught of rod and reel. The Giant Freshwater Stingray (Himantura chaophraya) was caught in Thailand’s Maeklong River while on a research expedition. This stingray was estimated to be over 265kg (584lbs) and over 3.5m long. Some reports exist of these giants reaching sizes of 16.5 feet (5 meters) long and weighing up to 1,320 pounds (600kg). That is a big fish!

Not to be outdone is another giant native of Thailand, the Mekong River’s Giant Catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), which can reach lengths over ten feet and 650 lbs pounds. Both of these Thai giants are endangered species, and have been overfished for many years.

China has its share of freshwater giants also. One of the most bizarre giant freshwater fish of the world is the Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius). This giant has been said to reach an amazing 23 feet (7 meters) in length and weigh up to half a ton (450kg). Another Chinese monster fish is the Giant White Sturgeon. The Giant White Sturgeon, who along with the Paddle fish is native to the Yangtze River, reaches 12 feet and weighs more than 950 pounds. Sadly, both of these fish are on the brink of extinction in China due to overfishing, pollution, and loss of habitat.

The Americas have their share of freshwater giants as well. Native to the Amazon River basin in South America, the Arapaima (Arapaima gigas), can reach lengths of 10 feet and weighing as much as 400 pounds or more.

North America has a few noteworthy big fish, too. The Alligator Gar can weight up to 300 pounds and is commonly found along the Mississippi River basin, as well as many other southern states. They are very common to Florida’s Everglades. The Alligator Gar can reach up to 10 feet, and some historical accounts have them even larger than that!

North America also has some large sturgeon species native to its waters. The White Sturgeon can be found in the rivers and estuaries of western Canada, and Northwest United States. I am not sure if this is the same species that is found in China, but in 2005 an 11 foot, 1000lb specimen was caught in British Columbia’s Frazier River.

Lake sturgeons (Acipenser fulvescens) are common to the great lakes, and many other large cold water lakes in northern states, These fish have many accounts of specimens topping six feet (two meters) long and weighing over 200 pounds (90 kilograms).

So as you can see, there are quite a few large freshwater fish, you don’t need to explore the far reaches of the ocean to find them, some may be in your neck of the woods.

One thing that I must also mention is that some of these fish are sometimes seen for sale as aquarium fish. Obviously, none of them are suitable for aquariums and should not be kept as such.

Until next time,
Dave

Giant stingray image: guardian.co.uk
Arapaima Image: Wikipedia

The big event this weekend was a blast for everyone involved, the crowd was energized, the officials had their work cut out for them, security was on their toes, the half time show was on the big screen, the stars showed up and did their thing when the pressure was on, and I think there was some kind of football game on the next day as well.

Of course I am talking about the first TFP/NCPARS winter coral frag extravaganza (or whatever it was called) this past weekend here at TFP.  Turnout for the event was great, I think we ended up with about 350 guests, as well as quite a few vendors, and some great guest speakers.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved, for making this a successful event.  Even through the crowds, the lines, and the noise, everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and take something out of the experience.  Through the generosity of our attending manufacturers, some guests got the chance to win and take home some great raffle prizes.  Frag traders had smiles on their faces, as hundreds of frags changed hands.  Many people took advantage of our guest speakers, and got some great information on a wide range of topics.  Special Thanks to Anthony Calfo, Steven Pro, Dave Troop, Ike Eigenbrode, and Randy Reed for speaking to the group.

This was the first event of this kind that we have hosted here at TFP, and we really were not sure what to expect heading into things on Saturday Morning.  For those of you who frequent our store, you know how busy things can get in the fishroom on a “normal” Saturday, throwing a few hundred more people into things was a bit of an intimidating proposition. The great turnout was a little much for our miniscule sound system, but we’ll definitely have that remedied next time. Everyone involved showed a great deal of patience, and our staff put in the extra effort that was required to really pull things off, Great Job to all, I think we can look forward to more events of this kind in the future.

In addition to the photos I’ve posted here, you can check out the whole lot of them at our Facebook page: That Fish Place/That Pet Place on Facebook. Please let us know how you felt about the event, or anything you think could be done better too.

Happy Reefing, Dave

Hi folks,

Desiree’s blog about fish nerd vacations brought back memories of a trip I’ve taken recently. In October of last year I was fortunate enough to find myself in our neighboring country to the north. On our way to Montreal to visit a friend, my girlfriend and I stopped at the Toronto Zoo that we have read so much about. We knew that it was the largest zoo registered with the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and one of only five accredited zoos in Canada, but we still couldn’t contain our amazement once we arrived.

Fish and aquarium enthusiasts will be pleased with the zoo. A new exhibit in the Australia region of the zoo features several different aquariums representing the reefs bordering the continent. One of these contains live soft and stony corals, another is home to species of fish not considered reef safe (angels, butterflies, etc), and one contains several dozen moon jellyfish. They even have several aquariums dedicated to freshwater crayfish (the really cool ones from Australia). Other aquariums around the zoo include an enormous Lake Malawi exhibit, South and Central American biotopes, and one with endangered cichlids from Madagascar.

The entire zoo sits on 710 acres of land. There are over six miles of walking trails, and we walked almost all of them in a single day, which unfortunately did not leave us much time to sit and enjoy any single exhibit. The zoo has everything for animal lovers. There are over 5,000 animals at the zoo from almost every corner of the world. Herp lovers will enjoy the many species of snakes, lizards, and amphibians that the zoo has on display.

So if you ever find yourself in the Toronto area, take a day to check out the zoo. You will not be disappointed.

Until next time,
Brandon