That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Cory here. Live rock is an important piece to the reef tank puzzle, without it the aquarium never seems to be complete. It is amazing to see what one can do with some rock and an aquarium. Whether a massive 1000 gallon reef or a 5 gallon nano tank, live rock plays the role of beauty and necessity. When starting a marine aquarium, a quick stop to the local fish store (That Fish Place of course :)) will give a wide selection of live rock types; from the majestic Tonga Fusion to the typical Fiji, live rock is always available in all shapes and sizes.

The luxury of having five or more varieties of live rock any given day may be coming to an end. The creation of cultured live rock in Fiji has led a few to believe that since we can make live rock, we can save the reefs by stopping the collection of “wild” live rock. Cultured Fiji rock is very simply, concrete and sand molded into rocks, placed in the ocean for a couple of years, then harvested as live rock. The idea is to start culturing rock in places like Fiji and Tonga, eliminating the need to harvest rock from the reefs. There are plenty of arguments for and against the creation of cultured rock. The immediate problem is the ban of rock coming into the United States. The rock from Tonga (Fusion, Branch, Slab, etc.) has been banned completely starting this past August 4^th. There are no signs of this ban being lifted. On top of this, the number of pounds of Fiji Rock allowed for importation for 2009, has been decreased substantially from this past year.

The idea to phase out the import of wild live rock within the next 5 years is hard to stomach, but might be well on its way to becoming reality. There is still very little known about the situation as a whole, but what everyone must understand is that with each coming year, live rock may be harder to come by, especially the varieties that everyone is used to. My concern is, with the continued demand for fresh live rock and the available supply diminishing, the price per pound of live rock will begin to rise and continue until it becomes unaffordable. The future of the live rock industry is now in the hands of those with legislative power; hopefully a decision is made with the consumer in mind.

The Fish Room has been buzzing lately with all the talk of the new wizziwigs in stock. We’ve set up a new system for the wizziwigs, every shipment is being scrutinized for wizziwigs and wizziwigs have been a big part of the lunchtime conversations. The past few weeks have been all about the wizziwigs.
By now, you may be asking yourself, “what on earth is a wizziwig?!” You aren’t alone. We’ve gotten some pretty confused looks from anyone who’s overheard these conversations.

“Wizziwig” has become the nickname we’ve affectionately given to our newly revamped “Your Choice – What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)” category. These are special items, corals, frags, fish, and inverts that are set apart from others by showing exceptional color, unusual shape. They may even simply be uncommon offerings in the trade that deserve some special recognition. For example, we’re currently featuring a blue staghorn acro with intense baby blue tips that will really put on a show in a reef display, and a maze brain with neon green valleys and compact maze of sinuous ridges that really draws the eye.

Every one of these items gets its own unique item number and picture on the website so while you are browsing the WYSIWYG section, the picture you see is the exact item you receive. While we do our best across the website to provide pictures that are representative of the fish or coral available, the WYSIWYG pictures represent the specimen you are purchasing.

If you are looking for new, exciting, and collectible pieces for your aquarium, bookmark this page and keep checking in! These pieces are advertised only on our website and are all What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get, so act fast!

Brandon here. Now that pond season is over, lots of aquarists are looking for the opportunity for those aquatic green thumbs to keep busy all winter long. Much of the time planted set-ups are overlooked for the more elaborate (and more expensive) saltwater reef tanks. I personally find a lot of enjoyment in keeping my favorite aquatic plants indoors where I can view them all year long.
This may be old news for some of you, but last month the winners of the 2008 ADA (Aqua Design Amano Co) Aquascaping Contest were announced. These are some serious planted tank people! The tanks are well laid out and must have taken countless hours of planning, planting, and trimming. My personal favorites are second, fourth, and ninth place. Maybe someday I’ll have the time and patience to make my tank look like one of these!
Pictures of the top ten can be viewed at Aquatic Eden, a blog about the planted aquarium. You can also see the top twenty-seven layouts at Aquatic Plant Central, a forum for the planted tank enthusiast. They’re some amazing tanks, so if you have a moment, take a look!http://www.aquatic-eden.com/
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/55958-2008-ada-layout-contest-top-27-a.html

Hey cichlid fans, Jose here. We are going to profile dimidiochromis compressiceps the “Malawi eye biter”. Found throughout Lake Malawi this species inhabits the open water. It is also a large predator. One interesting method of hunting is the way they ambush prey. Dimidiochromis compressiceps uses its compressed body to hide in beds of reeds and vallisneria and when prey (small fish) swim by they tilt their head down at an angle until they are close and then with a burst of speed and a large mouth they dispatch their prey.When choosing an aquarium I would recommend a 75 gallon for a group of 4 to 6 fish due to their adult size of 12 inches. Keep the aquarium lightly decorated due to them being an open water predator.

Malawi Eye Biters like to hang close to the surface or in plants. They are not very territorial unless they are breeding.

Be careful with tank mates that may fit in their mouth, and if your going to feed them feeder fish know that it may make them more aggressive: especially towards tankmates.

This is an awesome looking fish that in my opinion is better looking than the electric blue ahli, when young. Males and females are a whitish silver with a single brown horizontal stripe. At 4 to 5 inches the male should start turning metallic blue with red and orange in his dorsal and anal fin. An adult male in breeding dress is a sight to behold. There is a gold version of this fish that although not as stunning it’s still an awesome fish to own.

Keep on keeping Cichlids,

Jose

Click: Introducing a Catfish Fancier’s Dream: the Frog Mouth or Angler Catfish, Chaca bankanensis – Part 1, to read the first part of this article.

The Natural Habitat
The waters in which the frog mouth naturally dwells are almost always located within rainforests, and are quite acidic and soft (“black water”, in the trade). This habitat supports far fewer species of bacteria than most, a fact that may explain this fish’s susceptibility to bacterial and other infections in captivity.Animals hailing from low-bacteria environments lack immunities to micro-organisms that are commonly encountered outside of their natural habitats. I have faced similar problems when rearing other animals from unique habitats – desert-adapted tortoises and penguins are both very delicate in this regard.

Establishing the Frog Mouth Catfish in the Aquarium
I strongly recommend using Marc Weiss Co. Keta-Peat Nuggets in the frog mouth aquarium. Added to the filter, this product will help soften the water, reduce bacterial and algal growth, and create a “black water” environment for your fish. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals pH Down will help to maintain an acidic environment. The waters from which this species originates average 3-4 in pH, but a pH of 6 works well in captivity.

Light and Shelter
The aquarium should be dimly lit, as the frog mouth naturally inhabits muddy waters and is uncomfortable in bright light.

A bed of oak leaves thick enough to hide the catfish is essential if it is to adapt and behave normally. The leaves mimic the cover under which this fish spends most of its time, and will also assist in maintaining a low pH. The frog mouth catfish is most comfortable at temperatures of approximately 77°F.

Filtration
The frog mouth is a sizable fish that consumes large prey, and so likely produces a good deal of nitrogenous waste. Careful attention should be paid to filtration – the fact that it inhabits muddy waters does not indicate a tolerance for poor water quality. However, the filter’s outflow should be slow, as these fish are not strong swimmers and are native to still and slow- moving waters.

Diet
In terms of diet, the frog mouth is a fish specialist, although it has been reported to feed upon earthworms and tadpoles as well. Neither I nor those I have spoken with could induce it to accept earthworms, but an aquarist in Japan reported that her frog mouth fed readily upon freshwater shrimp.

As this fish is still considered a delicate captive, and rarely if ever spawned in captivity (the related Chaca chaca has occasionally been bred), you might consider adding aquarium fishes hailing from Southeast Asia to the diet, along with guppies, minnows, goldfish, platies, mollies and other easily bred species. Until we learn more about its needs, dietary variety will remain an important key in maintaining this fish in captivity.

Due to this specie’s extreme sensitivity to diseases and pathogens that might be carried, unnoticed, by other fishes, I pre-treat all feeder fish with Methylene Blue.

Research Needed
It has been reported, anecdotally, that the frog mouth catfish wiggles the barbels near its mouth in order to lure fish within striking range. Certainly the barbels do move about, but to my eye this seems to be a sensory rather than food-luring behavior. Documenting true luring, as in the manner of a marine anglerfish, would be an interesting project for the aquarist fortunate enough to acquire one of these fascinating animals.

The Standard Catfish Warning!
Please be aware that the spine next to the dorsal fin can inflict a painful wound.

We have a great deal to learn about this fascinating catfish and its relatives…please write in with any observations or questions you may have. Thanks, until next time, Frank Indiviglio.

You can read more about the natural history of this fish and view a picture at:
http://www.fishbase.com/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=12013