Saturday, January 31, 2009

Zebra Danio

Zebra Danio
"Brachydanio rerio"

Zebra Danio is a very suitable tropical fish for any beginner. You can see a long fin variant in this video



Original Habitat:
India, mainly in the east
Sex:
Male fish are thinner, more elongated and more intensely coloured.
Max Length:
5 cm.
Temperature:
18 to 24 degrees Celsius.
Water:
Soft to Medium (6-15 gH) with ph7 (Neutral).
Accommodation:
A wide open space is necessary as these tropical fish a very fast and tireless swimmer. A cover is also a must if you don't want this tropical fish jump out from your aquarium. The also enjoy playing with the bubble that came out from the airstone in the aquarium.
Characteristics:
This tropical fish species is a shoaling type. A good shoal should consist at least 5 specimens. They are very lively and tend to occupy middle and top zone. Due to their active nature, Zebra Danio might not be suitable in a community tank with shy or calm inhabitants. However, they are always extremely peaceful towards other tropical fish species.
Food:
Zebra Danio is an omnivore type of tropical fish. The can live on with almost all diet ranging from live food (tubifex, water flea, mosquito larvae), varied dry food and even vegetables.
Breeding:
Zebra Danio is a free layer and like many other free layer tropical fish, they tend to eat their eggs. Therefore, in order to increase the chances of fry's survival, the parents fish is separated into a separate tank with similar water composition. It is best if the breeding tank is provided with dense leathery leafed vegetation and substrate spawner. Remove the parents as quickly as possible after they finish the spawning process. The fry can be reared with fine powdered food.
Variants:
Leopard Danio "Brachydanio "Frankei"" and long finned variants.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Spotted Danio

Spotted Danio
"Brachydanio albinoleatus"

Original Habitat:
Southeast Asia
Sex:
Males are thinner with more intense colouring.
Max Length:
6 cm
Temperature:
21 to 24 degrees Celsius.
Water:
Suitable for most water composition. Not doing well in hard water.
Accommodation:
This tropical fish need a large space for swimming, dense vegetation and powerful aeration. A cover is necessary as they tend to jump often.
Characteristics:
Shoaling tropical fish. They are very friendly and leave other species at peace. Very lively shoal, they usually occupy middle and top zone. The shoal must consist at least 7 specimens.
Food:
They are not picky when it come to feeding time. Eats both dry and live food as well as vegetable food.



Breeding:
Isolate 3 males and 1 female in a separate breeding tanks with dense feathery leafed vegetation. Gradually increase the temperature to 26 to 27 degrees Celsius. Spotted Danio are free layers. Therefore it should be removed as soon as the spawning process is finished. The fry can be treated with fine powder food.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Mosquito Fish

Mosquito Fish
"Gambusia affinis holbrooki"

This tiny tropical fish is named after the dreaded insect for its purpose to combat them (especially malaria). So if you are able to get your hand on this species, please be cautios coz you're actually handling some kind of biological weapon in your aquarium (just joking okay?)

Original Habitat
:
Southern part of North America, Mexico.
Sex:
Male are smaller, with black spot and gonopodium. Most of the female are colourless.
Max Length:
Male - 3 cm to 3.5 cm
Female - 6 cm to 7 cm.
Temperature:
15 to 30 degrees Celcius. Best at 20 degrees Celcius.
Water:
This are truly hardy and tough tropical fish. Even more adaptable than the wild guppies (Poecilia reticulata). They do well in almost any water type and even breed there. They may survive in a cold water (as low as 10 degrees Celcius) and even in brackish water type.
Accommodation:
May fit in any small sized to medium sized aquarium. They are not demanding but prefer dense, feathery leafed vegetation surrounding.
Characteristics:
Very friendly towards each other. It may became aggressive towards other species though. It is very suitable to keep 1 male with 2 or 3 female as they mate very frequently. They use the whole aquarium as their playground but prefer the top zone most of the time for feeding.



Food:
This tropical fish is a gluttonous type which are happy to accept any kind of food. It will be very happy if provided with live mosquito larvae.
Breeding:
This tropical fish is ovoviparous type - they gives birth to their young. Once a female is observed as pregnant (watch out for her plumpy belly and a dark spot in front of her anal fin) it is best to transfer her to a solitary tank. The breeding tank should be accomodated with plenty of feathery leafed plants. Remove the mother once you are sure all the fry was born. This step is very necessary as the parents will surely eat all the fry should they are in the same tank. Mosquito fish are very adaptable and productive that it may be found throughout the world aside their original habitat.

Black Skirt Tetra

Black Skirt Tetra a.k.a Black Tetra a.k.a Black Phantom Tetra
"gymnocorymbus ternetzi"

A very peaceful and fun loving tropical fish. One of my favorite species. They are usually darker in their young but will turn grey as they grow older.




Original Habitat:
Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia.
Sex:
Male are thinner with narrower dorsal fin.
Max Length:
6 cm at most.
Temperature:
21 to 25 degrees Celcius.
Water:
They strive well in wide range of water types.
Social Characteristics:
They will be very happy when in school of five specimens. A larger shoal is preferred though. The young are very peaceful and tolerant but some of them might develop a selfish behavioral problem as they grew. This fishes mainly stay in the middle zone of your aquarium.
Accommodation:
Black tetra as its name imply, love to be in an aquarium with dark substrate. In a dark bottom aquarium, they'll feel happier which will bring out their colour better. It is advisable to put in some peripheral vegetation, at the same time maintain a spacious open space for them.
Food:
This hardy, tropical fish are omnivores. They may eat a wide variety of food range. Putting in some life vegetation in your aquarium will be seen as a supplement food.
Breeding:
They are free layers and given ideal condition (which is similar to their original accommodation) this fishes may start laying eggs. They also sees the eggs as part of their diet so it is the best if your remove the parents after spawning take place.
Special Remarks:
Even though this fish originated from South American area, due to its adaptability and hardiness they can be easily breed. Most of this tropical beauty that are sold in Malaysia are locally breed. It is very easy to see if they are happy or not as theit colour waned should they are unhappy.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Red Gourami (Three Spot Gourami)

Three Spot Gourami
Trichogaster trichopterus

Habitat:
Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia.
Sex:
Male do have more pointed dorsal fin.
Max Length:
11 cm.
Temperature:
26 to 28 degrees Celsius.
Water Condition:
This hardy yet gentle fish strive well in many water condition.
Characteristic:
This gourami are very gentle to any other species. But the male may be intolerant towards his own kind. Better keep in pair. It is very advisable not to keep these gentle fish with any active species especially the tiger barbs as the later tend to nip their long antennae.
Accommodation:
Gourami prefer dark substrate with shadowy, dim environment.
Food:
They will happily accept any kind of food. Varied from assorted dry food to live food such as the water fleas or mosquito larvae.
Breeding:
This species is very shy and rarely mate should there is any other species. Transfer the ideal pair to a separate tank with floating plant and water about 20 cm deep. You may then slowly increase the water temperature towards 29-30 degress Celcius (though it is unnecessary if you are in tropical climate country, just to make sure they get the right mood). Like betta fishes, the male will build a foamy nest on the water surface. Usually it'll attached to the floating plant. It is best to remove the female after the mating process as the male will chase her away and take care of the young until they are independent enough.
The young should be treated with recently hatched brine shrimp, fine powder food or small live food.



Special remarks:

In my home country (Malaysia of course) the gourami are better known as "Sepat" in our mother language. There are also other variants of three spot gourami which came in either blueish, greenish or gold colour.

Algae eater

SIAMESE ALGAE EATER A.K.A INDIAN ALGAE EATER
"Gyrinocheilus aynomieri"

Habitat:
Thailand fast flowing stream.
Sex:
Female always larger and plumper. Some with bulges on the mouth.
Max Length:
15 cm to 22 cm.
Temperature:
20 to 27 degress celcius.
Water:
This is a very undemanding fish. They strive well in almost any type of water.
Characteristics:
A young algae eater won't bother any other species but it tend to be territorial once they matured. They are bottom dweller which will happily clean the bottom part of your tropical aquarium.
Food:
They mainly feed on algae but will also happily accept any food especially food tablet for bottom dwellers.