Whether you are new to cichlids or are an old pro at the fish keeping hobby and are looking for a small, personality packed fish to liven things up, then consider this little African gem from Lake Tanganyika!:) Lake Tanganyika Temperament Tank set-up Water Food Filtration Compatible tankmates Spawning Rearing Lake Tanganyika The natural environment that … [Read more...] about The Dwarf Shell-Dwelling Cichlid from Lake Tanganyika
Moving a Fishroom
In April of last year my girlfriend and I bought a house together and were very excited to move in at the beginning of July. The move itself went very well thanks to the help of a good moving company, some great family and friends, and especially the hard work and planning of my girlfriend Sue. The point of interest for this article (hopefully) was moving my fishroom, all 2000 … [Read more...] about Moving a Fishroom
Diamonds are Forever (Moenkhausia pittieri)
Last year I purchased 10 Diamond Tetras at a monthly DSAS auction. Joe Kaznica who had bred them had offered them at auction. Joe has a great knack breeding tetras and I know all his fish are well maintained. The sparkling appearance of these fish is what caught my eye and so I bid on them, but was not really prepared to house them when I got home. I had a 20-gallon long tank … [Read more...] about Diamonds are Forever (Moenkhausia pittieri)
The Columbian Tetra
The Columbian Tetra or Blue-Red Columbian Tetra is a fish with a very chequered past, considering its relatively short life within the hobby. Only available for the past few years, the fish was first collected in a small stream upstream from Acandi, in the Rio Acandi drainage system near the Atlantic coast of Colombia. It was described as being "close to" Hyphessobrycon … [Read more...] about The Columbian Tetra
Betta Chocolates
"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" ~ Forest Gump Forest Gump was right... How many of us have brought home a betta from the pet store and he/she looks a bit different when we get home? Reason I bring this up, is because that is what happened when I brought home Manix from the pet store. I was pretty sure that I was going to find a … [Read more...] about Betta Chocolates
My experiences with Swordtail Characins
On a visit to one of our local pet shops last spring, I discovered a fish I could not remember having seen before. It was small, about one inch in overall length, and a very active swimmer with a generally silver colouring. The fish I took to be a male had a number of elongated yellow rays in his lower caudal fin as well as a dark spot near the centre of his body above the anal … [Read more...] about My experiences with Swordtail Characins
An Excess Of Astyanax
Do you want to spawn and raise a few characins? There's a simple recipe. First buy a trio of Astyanax bimaculatus. Then set up five or six fifty gallon tanks. But wait a minute - we're a little ahead of ourselves. What the heck is an Astyanax anyway? The genus Astyanax consists of a large number of species of new world characins. They are to be found almost everywhere in … [Read more...] about An Excess Of Astyanax
Breeding Whiptails
Rineloricaria hasemani: Location: Brazil Para, Maguary near Belem in forest streams that empty into Rio Guama. Rineloricaria microlepdogaster: Location: Brazil Rio Grande Do Sul, South East Brazil. These are very peaceful sucker mouth catfish living in fast flowing oxygen rich water. They grow to about 150 to 200 mm. The males are easily sexed as they have whiskers on … [Read more...] about Breeding Whiptails
Brackish Water Preparation
Here is what you will need: Salt: You must use marine salt and not regular aquarium salt. Water: Use your usual conditioned source water. Hydrometer: To measure specific gravity (s.g.) - salinity. I find the simple plastic type with the swinging arm to be best. It must measure at least as low as 1.010 on the scale and the more detailed the measurements are on the … [Read more...] about Brackish Water Preparation
Panaque species ‘Bruno’
In 1988 authors working for the much respected German language magazine Datz launched the 'L' numbers scheme in order to form a universally recognised identification system for new loricarins arriving in the aquarium hobby from South America. In the early 1990's L77 became one of the first L numbered loricarins to appear in the U.K. At this time these fish were sold under … [Read more...] about Panaque species ‘Bruno’