That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hey folks, I wanted to do a real quick entry about a beautiful Lake Victorian cichlid called the Ruby Green (Haplochromis sp. “Ruby Green”). I kept my first pair of Ruby Greens when they first appeared in the hobby, I’m always on the lookout for species that aren’t “mainstream” or kept by a lot of hobbyists. These beauties fit the bill, and with their natural habitat dwindling, it’s a matter of conservation. Serious hobbists play a role in prolonging these and many other species by captive breeding and keeping lines pure. Read More »

About 70% of our planet is covered with water. Since the other 30% is currently fixated on the ongoing World Cup competition in South Africa, why should the piscean players not get involved as well?  It was interesting to me as a fish hobbyist to find the following happenings in media from around the world…check out the links to read/see more!

Looking for some help figuring out your spread and who will win the next bracket? Ask Paul. Paul has gotten his last four predictions right. Paul will never lead you astray. Oh, by the way, Paul is an octopus. The 2-year-old British expatriate most recently predicted that his new German home team will defeat his old English hometeam on Saturday. So, Paul, who’s gonna take the Cup (and what are my lucky lottery numbers)? Read More »

A few hundred years ago, people in Western cultures like 16th century England often drank very little water. Because of untreated sewage draining into water sources and contamination in rivers, other beverages like beer and wine were actually preferred as safer choices. As technology and our understanding of health and technology advanced, we came up with more ways to purify our water sources. At the start of the start of the 19th century, a scientist named William Cumberland Cruikshank found that chlorine would purify water by killing microbes and bacteria like the notorious E. coli. Chlorine is still used in most developed countries to make drinking water safe and chloramine, a combination of chlorine and ammonia is starting to overtake even this old standard. Read More »

This week I would like to take a look at another annoying pest in the reef tank, the zoanthid eating nudibranch.  The zoanthid eating nudibranch is much like the soft coral eating nudibranch in both body shape and difficulty to find and eliminate.  The zoanthid eaters usually belongs to the famliy Aeolidia.  They are built much the same as the soft coral eating nudibranch, with cerata or finger-like growths that grow on their dorsal side.  These growths allow them to blend with the zoanthids, making them difficult to see as they feed on your polyps.  These nudis are usually small, ranging in size from 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter in length, which also makes them very difficult to detect and remove from polyp colonies.  They tend to hang on to the underside of the polyp and remain hidden.  Read More »

Rules, rules, rules, why do we have to follow rules?  Well, for the most part, because they are for your own good.  Kind of like going to the dentist.   However, some rules should not last forever.  Sometimes they‘re no longer relevant, sometimes a better idea comes along, and sometimes they turn out to be bad ideas to begin with.  This is true in just about any facet of life, and aquarium keeping is no different.  I could rant about several rules that come to mind, but my rule of the moment is the old “Watts per gallon” rule when it comes to choosing lights for your aquarium, particularly live plant and reef aquariums, which require higher intensity lighting. Read More »