That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

So there are those of us out there that find ourselves channel surfing on a Sunday night in a desperate attempt to find something worthwhile to watch. I usually turn to the educational /animal/nature side of things, History, Discovery, you know, not just mindless drivel that pollutes the airwaves. A few weeks ago, I came across a fun series on Animal Planet, and as a “fish geek” I became captivated.

The show is called River Monsters, and if you haven’t seen it you may want to check it out. It may not be up the level of Blue Planet or Planet Earth, but it does capture some amazing footage of the host catching and releasing some of the more monsterous (if not in behavior, certainly in size) fish in the world’s rivers and lakes. These are the kind of fish that inspire Sci-fi writers!

Being in the business, I am familiar with most of the species the host, angler Jeremy Wade seeks out, but it is pretty amazing to me to see adult specimens alive and in their native habitat from the comfort of my sofa. Some of these fish are even common imports, and the show is great proof that most home aquariums are not and will never be large enough to accommodate such species comfortably, a whole new meaning to “this fish gets big.” If you’re looking for some entertainment on Sunday night, check it out, or take a look at the site:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/river-monsters/

And check out “Natures Most Amazing Events” on Discovery if you like the Blue Planet and Planet Earth series.

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  Involvement in exciting and important conservation work need not be limited to those select few fortunate enough to have turned their hobbies into careers.  Especially in today’s economy, many vital research and recovery efforts rely heavily upon the work of volunteers.  Getting out in the field (or pond, river and swamp, as the case may be!) is a wonderful way of expanding your fish-keeping horizons.  Today I’d like to focus on fresh water species; I’ll cover marine fishes in the future.

Conserving Desert-Dwelling and other Rare Fishes

The North American Native Fish Association http://www.nanfa.org/ sponsors a number of conservation initiatives, all of which utilize volunteers.  Particularly active in the conservation of desert spring fishes and others in similarly precarious habitats, current initiatives include assisting the US F&W Service in removing introduced plants, fishes, crayfish and bullfrogs from critical Moapa spring fish habitat, training university and government researchers in fish sampling techniques and participating in reintroduction efforts. 

NANFA members also get to indulge their fish-keeping interests, establishing native fish aquariums in schools and nature centers and advising caretakers on husbandry and breeding techniques.

A Wide Range of Field and Captive Care Opportunities

The Native Fish Conservancy maintains an extensive collection of articles on native fishes and fish conservation.  If you are unsure of where to start, a review of these would be invaluable in jump-starting the process and providing numerous options. 

Through their “Adopt-A-Tank” program, NFC members also help schools set up and maintain native fish aquariums and assist students in sampling local fish populations…the best of both worlds!

Native Fresh Water Fishes in the Aquarium

Some of our smaller sunfishes have long been popular with aquarists in Europe, but in the USA native fish-keeping is a lost (or barely developed!) art.  I do not quite understand why, as many are interesting, brilliantly colored and little-studied.  Species diversity here is quite high…even over-crowded New York State boasts nearly 150 freshwater fishes, many of which do quite well in captivity (interesting note: more species of fish have been identified in the Amazon River than in the entire Atlantic Ocean!).

North America is populated by a wide variety of gorgeous sunfishes of all sizes (our massive large-mouth bass is, technically, a sunfish).  With colors rivaling those of any tropical species and providing extensive care to their eggs and young, these are, along with yellow perch (please see photo), long-time aquarium favorites of mine.  Another neglected species, the American eel, lived in my collection for 17 years, and a pair of brown bullheads that I bred in an outdoor pond provided a notebook-full of observations that I treasure to this day (males are unbelievably protective of their tadpole-like fry, herding them about for quite some time).

I’ll cover the care of various native fresh water fishes in future articles.  Until then, please write in with your observations, experiences and questions.  Thanks, Frank Indiviglio.

Further Reading

The US Fish & Wildlife Service currently lists nearly 150 species of native freshwater fishes as threatened or endangered.  Information on each, along with links to recovery plans (some of which encourage volunteer participation), is posted at www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html#Species.

The Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery  http://www.cshfha.org/ houses an extensive collection of fresh water fishes, amphibians and reptiles, and is well-worth a visit by native fish enthusiasts.

Patty here.

It’s inevitable. Just when you think your pond is looking its best and all is right with the world, they invade. Aphids, weevils, moths, beetles and others descend onto those beautiful lilies, floaters, and marginals like a summertime scourge.

So what are some solutions to these nasty little pests? Being that your pond is most likely home to other inhabitants like koi, goldfish, frogs and other desirables, you’ll have to consider safe treatments, and the factor will rule out most chemical solutions.

Aphids are one of the most common invaders, sucking the life out of lilies, water lettuce and other soft-leaved aquatic plants. To avoid or minimize their foothold, prevention is the first step. Remove yellowing or damaged leaves from plants, they serve as beacons for the little suckers to home in on. Resist the urge to blast them off of leaves with a hose, as it usually serves more as high speed transport to other plants than as an eradication method. If only a few are present, you may be able to dunk the leaves or pull out putted plants and spray them away from the pond, at least as a temporary fix.
For more serious infestations there are some other methods to consider. You can try natural predator introduction. Ladybugs and green lacewings are natural aphid predators and though you may have a couple of these arrive on their own, you can purchase them online or at many garden centers and introduce them to feast on your pests. Orfes, minnows and guppies may also eat those that you can rinse into the pond. There are increasingly available herbal sprays for pond plants that will not harm fish, but be sure to read labels carefully. These sprays are usually formulated with herbal extracts, so they’re natural and mild, but sometimes too mild to really handle the situation. If you have the means you may even be able to formulate a similar spray by making a strong tea of rosemary, garlic, thyme, chrysanthemum or mint. Some suggest adding a cup of vegetable oil or a dash of dish soap to the mixture as well, but especially in the case of the soap, be sure to spray and rinse the plants well outside of the pond.

Other common pests include mosquitos, Leaf miners, and aquatic moth larvae. Prevention of infestation of these pests consists mainly of good maintenance of the pond and surrounding area, good water movement and the absence of dead leaves and debris in and around the pond. The natural predators mentioned above as well as others like predator wasps and dragonflies that are drawn to flowering plants and water may help, as may the small insect-eating fish mentioned above. Mosquito dunks are effective for the control of many waterborne insects, but they will also affect beneficial water insect larvae, so if you like those dragonflies, they may not be the best option. They are safe for use with fish.
Even though these pests can create a real headache for those of us with a love for aquatic plants, the overall aesthetic and health of a well- planted pond is worth the hassle. If you have any questions about a pest plaguing your water feature or you have a remedy that has worked for you to share, please let us know!

Image referenced from MorgueFile here.

Our customer service department here at That Fish Place/That Pet Place constantly gets calls and questions about products, and from time to time, we like to share some of the most frequent with our readers.

Question: Can I plug up my Hydor Koralia Aquarium Circulation Pump to my wavemaker?

Answer: Yes and No. The original Koralia Circulation Pumps , as well as the Magnum variety, are not designed for use with a wavemaker of any kind. The variable input required for such a function is simply not compatible with their design, and usage as such will ruin the manufacturer warranty (not to mention ruin the pump).

On the other hand, Hydor has created a series of Controllable Koralia wave pumps and controllers for just this purpose. Though the controllers are only compatible with controllable Koralias, they’re still the buy you want if you’re looking for the wavemaking feature over just a circulation pump.

Please let us know if you have any product questions or fish questions: we’re always here to help!

Melissa here.

So, you have figured out by the white spots and scratching that your fish have ich. Now what? Depending on the fish there are different treatments available including Copper, Quick Cure, Kick Ich, and Kent RxP to name a few. There are also other methods besides using chemicals like increasing the temperature and decreasing specific gravity. To figure out what direction to start treating it all depends on what is in the tank and what the water quality is. If the water quality is poor (high levels of ammonia or nitrite) then medications are pretty much useless and will cause more harm than good.

For tetras and other scaleless fish such as catfish, loaches, elephant nose, I usually recommend increasing the temperature and use a product called Quick Cure. The active ingredients in quick cure are malachite green and formalin. Make sure you follow the directions and only use a half dose. When at all possible this treatment should be added to a quarantine tank only.

For other community fish such as mollies, platys, swordtails, rainbows, gouramis, and cichlids I also recommend using quick cure. You can do the full dose with these fish. Copper can also be used but must be used with extreme caution. Copper must be monitored because there is a fine line between killing the parasite and killing the fish being treated. These medications should only be used in a quarantine tank. Medications will kill plants and inverts such as snails and shrimp.

For saltwater fish, again, Quick Cure is my medication of choice if used in a quarantine tank with no inverts. Copper can also be used but some fish are very sensitive to it. Increasing the temperature a few degrees and decreasing the specific gravity to 1.019 over the period of a few days can help speed up the life cycle making the medication more effective.

For a saltwater reef tank or a fish only tank with inverts you can give Kick Ich a try. The active ingredient is 5-nitroimidazoles. This should only be done as a last resort if the fish cannot be taken out of the main tank. I have gotten back mixed results with using this product though. Some people say it works great while others say it did nothing. I am assuming that if it is caught early enough and the fish only have a few spots then the medication is effective and is enough to boost the fish’s immune system enough to fight it off and make a full recovery. However, if the fish is covered with ich the medication is just not strong enough to save the fish. Another product out there is Kent RxP. The active ingredients in this product are Deionized water, natural plant extracts, pepper, stabilized vitamin c, stabilizers.

To prevent ich from entering your main tank it is advised to quarantine all new fish for at least a month. If in that period of time your fish develops some kind of illness it should be treated accordingly and the time clock should start over. Once the fish has been symptom free for a month you can be fairly sure you are not going to introduce a disease into your display tank.

Feel free to email us with any ich questions you may have!