Keeping Betta rutilans – the Dwarf Fighter

Blackwater StreamHaving always kept saltwater tanks, I recently decided to try my hand at a freshwater planted tank.  Not having a lot of room to work with, I decided to set up a small, 2.5 gallon tank.  With such a small volume of water, I was limited in the fishthat I could keep, but I found a perfect fit for my new tank.

Dwarf Fighters (Betta rutilans) would be my new endeavor.  I researched the fish and took a look at the conditions of their native habitat in to get a better idea about how to furnish the tank. Betta rutilans comes from drainage basins in the Indonesian region and Borneo. They live in blackwater environments, where the water stays soft and acidic. These little guys only grow to a little over an inch in length, and they’re usually solid red or red with some green on their sides.  They have a longer and narrower body than Betta plendens, and have short, rounded fins like B. albimarginata. They can be housed with others of their kind. I’m hoping to see these fish spawn in the tank and I chose 1 male and 3 females to see how they get along.   Read More »

Keeping the “Prehistoric” Monster Fish

Prehistoric monster fishHello everyone, some of our previous blogs have certainly talked about some scary-looking and bizarre fish! I thought I would add one more to the list -the Prehistoric Monster Fish, Thalassophryne amazonica.

The Prehistoric Monster Fish has a bizarre appearance that may make you wonder exactly what it is you are looking at. It comes from the Amazon River, where it lurks on the bottom waiting for unsuspecting prey. Its tan and brown coloration allows it to blend in with its sandy environment where it often buries itself, making it nearly invisible to other fish. At barely 6 inches long, this fish boasts a wide mouth that can easily swallow large prey.  Its eyes are situated on the top of its head to allow for a perfect view while it’s buried. To make it a bit more frightening, the Monster Fish has a venomous spine on each of its gill coverings and two in its dorsal fin. Monster Fish can inflict a painful sting, and while the venom is not terribly potent, it’s best not to handle them to avoid incident. Read More »

The Natural History and Captive Care of the Big-Bellied Seahorse

Big bellied SeahorseHello, Frank Indiviglio here.  Seahorse identification is a tricky prospect, as most species can change color, and many even periodically grow and discard fleshy appendages known as cirri.  However, the husbandry needs of each species varies, so a proper ID is critical.  Fortunately, the Big-Bellied or Pot-Bellied Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) is very distinct in appearance.

Description

At 12.5 inches in length, the Big-Bellied Seahorse is one of the largest (perhaps the largest) of the world’s 120+ seahorse species.  The body is noticeably deeper than that of other seahorses.  Males possess a huge brood pouch, which is usually white in color and bordered with yellow at the top.  Other distinguishing features are the number of dorsal fin rays (26-29), trunk rings (12-13) and tail rings (45-48), all of which exceed those of most other species. Read More »

Breeding the T-bar Cichlid – Cryptoheros sajica

Sajica eggsCryptoheros sajica, formerly known as Archocentrus sajica, hails from Central America and belongs in the same family as the popular Convict Cichlid. I first came across this particular species of fish at an auction in Cleveland, where I picked up a bag for about five bucks. In the bag were 8 fish, each about a half inch in length.  At the time I was living in Cleveland, and they all went into a 30 gallon tank. They shared the tank with a 5 inch royal pleco and some neon tetras and rummynoses. I kept the water chemistry stable with a ph of around 7.6 and a general hardness of 6 degrees. The temperature was set at 78 degrees (F). The tank was furnished with live plants, driftwood and clay flower pots. I also added some flat stones, in hopes the new additions would eventually spawn on them.

They grew pretty quickly.  I fed them twice a day, and feeding was very easy. They pretty much ate anything that fell in front of their face. Every other day I performed water changes of about ten percent to keep the chemistry up to par.  By the end of the first year they were each about 3 inches long.

Finally, one day I had noticed that two had paired off.  They had all the others pinned in corners and fearing for their lives, so the following day I baged up the dominated fish, and traded them in for some baby brine and earthworm flakes before they met an untimely death by the newly territorial and greedy pair. Within days I noticed the couple cleaning one of the flat stones. I also noticed that the female’s breeding tube was visible, a sign that eggs are soon to come. She laid about 100 small. tan-colored eggs the following day. It happened to be my day off, and I was excited that she had laid her first batch of eggs, Little did I know that the pleco decided he had an appetite for caviar. The inexperienced soon-to-be parents tried to keep the intruder away, but the pleco was determined to have his fancy meal. The damage done, I relocated the pleco to my African cichlid tank.

Sajica eggsShe had another batch of eggs 3 weeks later. This time they were better prepared, and with no armored, sucker-mouthed egg eaters in their tank, they were on the road to success. These fish are very good parents once they get the hang of it! They guarded their offspring ferociously, even attacking the gravel tube as I tried to clean the substrate. When they were big enough, I moved the fry I could catch to a seperate 20 high. About 50 fry made it to be traded and sold from that batch.

I don’t consider sajicas a very vibrant species, though they are attractive in their own way. They remind me a lot of the A. spilurus, with their shimmering blue eyes. Maybe their most striking feature is the blue throat developed by both males and females as they mature. Males attain an adult size of 5 inches and females about 3.5 to 4 inches. With caution they may be kept with community fish, but they are almost always aggressive towards others of their own kind. I would say the minimum tank size for an adult pair would be a 29 gallon. I would highly recommend this species to someone who would like to try something other than a Convict Cichlid. They breed easily and are really fun to watch as they spawn and raise their fry. If you have any questions about them, please let me know in the comments section!

Jose

Corals in Distress – Mass Bleaching Events

Healthy red and green CoralMany stories have come to light through recent years discussing the plight of coral reefs around the world; overfishing, destructive collecting methods, pollution, and ship traffic damage have taken a serious toll.  A number of new studies show that an even greater threat has emerged in 2010, extreme water temperatures.

Earlier this year, the region of Indo-pacific reefs known as the Coral Triangle (a roughly triangular area that encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste) endured record surface water temperatures. These extreme water temperatures caused a mass coral bleaching event that may prove to be the worst on record. Read More »