Fish

It might seem surprising, but parasites exist in most aquariums and can even be found on healthy fish.   It’s generally only when pet fish get stressed out or are dealing with poor water quality in their tank that parasitic infestations become problematic. Here’s how to keep your fish in top shape.  

We live in a turbulent world in which dangerous weather (floods, rainstorms, windstorms, snow and ice storms, etc.) seems to be occurring more often and getting worse. Major storms can have devastating effects on property — including your aquarium.

(Dactylogyrus And Gyrodactylus ) There are many types of parasites that can infect a fish’s skin. Two such microscopic parasites are Dactylogyrus and Gyrodactylus. These are tiny flatworms, which infect goldfish, koi and other types of fish. Symptoms and Types Fishes infected with these parasites will display sores and ulcers on the skin and gills, have a pale skin color, and be covered with small hemorrhages. Dactylogyrus and Gyrodactylus infections should be diagnosed and treated quickly because they can become fatal for your fish.

Fact #6: Watch Out! Guppies Eat Their Own Young To stop their habitat from becoming overcrowded, guppies have evolved to eat their young, Williamson said. While some recommend separating parents from offspring, Williamson said that this may not be the best option, as it can be very stressful for the parents. Instead, he recommends filling the tank with plant materials to give the fry (baby) a chance to hide from its parents.,Fact #7: Guppies Have Been Used to Fight Malaria Guppies have been deliberately set free in Asian waters to fight the spread of malaria. In 2014, an anti-malaria “guppy movement” in a city of southern India aimed to control malaria using the fish, who feed on mosquito larvae.,By Vanessa Voltolina Searching for your next finned pet? Guppies are a common and easy-to-care-for option. In fact, guppies make great pets and can be excellent additions to the tanks of both experienced fish owners and aquatic pet newbies, said Sam Williamson, former marine biologist and fish expert of more than 20 years. However, many fish owners and prospective buyers may not know much about guppies and can benefit from learning about this type of fish. “Guppies are an extremely misunderstood breed of fish,” Williamson said. “With so many different fish to choose from, it’s easy to dismiss them as boring and too commonplace.” Here, discover a handful of our favorite — and fun! — facts about guppies: Fact #1: Guppies are a Namesake The guppy is named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy, a researcher and geologist with, interestingly, no formal scientific training. Guppy was credited with discovering the fish in Trinidad in 1866, according to the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology. Prior to Guppy, W.C.H. Peters originally discovered the fish in Berlin, where it was overlooked.

A saltwater tank is a self-contained ecosystem. It needs to be outfitted with certain equipment to keep the water clean and to maintain optimal conditions for your tank inhabitants. Tank and stand Filtration equipment Heater and thermometer Lighting Protein skimmer Substrate Decor Salt mix Hydrometer or refractometer Bacteria additive Maintenance supplies Saltwater aquarium test kit Water conditioner Basic fish medications,Jump to section New Saltwater Tank Checklist How To Set up Your Saltwater Fish Tank How To Clean Your Saltwater Fish Tank FAQs About Saltwater Tank Setup

Dividing the Day Whether over a desktop nano-reef or a 6,000-gallon public exhibit, well-simulated moonlight can add an entirely new dimension to the aquarium habitat. For sure, once you’ve installed a good moonlight, nocturnal fishes (such as cardinal fish) that once seemed boring will now have a certain appeal. So, that part about timing your tank lights to match the natural photoperiod? While good for the animals, it does pose one problem for those who work into the evening; the keeper hardly ever gets to see the tank with the lights on! Overall, moonlights add some interest to the nighttime aquascape and truly give the hardworking aquarium keeper a little something to come home to.,Image via iStock.com/greenp By Kenneth Wingerter Lighting is one of the most important components in a saltwater fish aquarium system. This is particularly so if you keep photosynthetic organisms such as corals, macroalgae and tridacnid clams. The most effective marine aquarium lighting system is the one that is most controlled. Reef Tank Lighting Schedule One of the major lighting parameters that is most commonly controlled is photoperiod. Put most simply, in the context of an artificial environment, photoperiod is the tank’s lighting schedule. Aquarium photoperiod is controlled by timers (ranging from cheap household plug-in units to highly capable hardware/software located either in the unit or in “the cloud”). Generally, timers are set to operate the lighting at its highest intensity during midday when ambient light (light pollution from the room) is strongest. With your aquarium lights timed to match the ambient photoperiod, strong light pollution won’t inhibit the normal nighttime activities of the nocturnal creatures nor the rest of the diurnal (i.e., daytime active) creatures. But sunlight is not the only source of illumination in nature. Moonlight, too, has a huge influence on a coral reef. True, it is tens of thousands of times weaker than sunlight. It is indeed far too weak to support photosynthesis, for example. Still, it is just bright enough to guide reticent night dwellers from shadow to shadow. It even keeps sleepy diurnal fish from getting spooked out in the dark. And, perhaps most importantly, it widely serves as a major environmental cue—a signal. It seems a little light is better than none at all.

If you’ve ever gone on vacation and wondered what to do with your fish, you may have wondered how long they can go without food.   Here are some simple tips to keep your fish healthy while you’re away. 

As soon as a pathogen is detected, the fish’s body coordinates efforts to resist: firstly, the entry point is sealed off to correct any osmoregulatory problems and hamper the foreign body’s progression. Histamines and other products are produced by damaged cells at the entry point to cause inflammation and make the blood cells close up. Fibrinogen (a blood protein) and clotting factors create a barrier of fibrin to build a physical barrier at the same time. White blood cells are attracted to the same area and pick up the foreign bodies, taking them away to the spleen and kidney for handling.,All fish have an immune system to fight diseases, although the system is by no means as advanced as the ones found in mammals. The system breaks down into two main parts: protection from physical invasion and internal pathogen handling.

An ecological concept called “The Pyramid of Numbers” shows the relative abundance of the various organisms that form a food chain. The organisms that far outstrip all the others in terms of total weight (biomass) are the green plants, which form the base of the pyramid. They are known as “producers,” reflecting the fact that they constitute the first and most significant component on which all the other members of the pyramid depend, either directly or indirectly. Without green plants, there would be no life on earth. Plants are so important because they “capture” the sunlight’s energy and photosynthesize it by binding carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates, one of the basic foods that all living things require. Although animals must obtain carbohydrates, they cannot produce it as plants and some bacteria do. Lacking the ability to photosynthesize, animals must hence become consumers. Herbivores obtain carbohydrates by consuming plants directly. Carnivores and piscivores consume other animals, including some that consume plants. And so it goes on up the pyramid, with each level generally being represented by a progressively lower number of consumers. A typical example from the fish world would be as follows. Free-floating green algae (a producer) could be eaten by a water flea (Daphnia). Thus, the Daphnia becomes the primary consumer (the first to eat the producer). If a small fish eats the Daphnia, the fish is a secondary consumer (it consumes the producer’s nutrients through a primary consumer). That fish could later be eaten by a tertiary consumer, such as a pike. The pike, if small, could be consumed by a heron, or if large, could be fished by an angler and later eaten — and so on. Clearly, it takes numerous free-floating algae to sustain a single Daphnia. Fewer (but still quite numerous) Daphnia would be required by a mosquitofish. It would take even fewer mosquitofish to feed a pike, etc. It is this relationship that gives the Pyramid of Numbers its characteristic shape, particularly when biomass is substituted for actual numbers; for example, a single Daphnia weighs less (has a lower biomass) than the total number of algae it eats over a lifetime. We are all part of this intricate relationship.

A fish swimming upside down normally indicates a serious ailment and a near-term appointment with the Great Aquatic Paradise. But one unusual fish, the upside-down catfish (Synodontis nigriventris), is quite adept at gracefully gliding upside down with the greatest of ease. Due to a remarkable physiology, the seemingly bizarre swimming habits of this fish are actually quite normal, rather than being an indicator of a life-threatening illness. These fish are able to perform underwater acrobatics, including knife edges, barrel rolls and their extended namesake posture. In a still fish aquarium, these fish are able to remain motionless in an upside-down position for what seems to be an indefinite period of time. Synodontis nigriventris received its Greek and Latin binomial names from its tooth and jaw formation, and unusual dark belly coloration. The genus name Synodontis means “together teeth,” and the species name nigriventris means “dark abdomen.” Normally, the dorsal pigmentation of a fish is darker than the ventral side, and it is speculated that this is to provide visual obscuration from predators. But the ventral side of the upside-down catfish is dark, indicating this fish has chromatically adapted camouflage for extended upside-down swimming near the water’s surface. The upside-down catfish is a peaceful, schooling fish that grows to about 4 inches in length and is ideally suited for a community tank with other species of a similar temperament. Of the six S. nigriventris in my collection, slight coloration differences (white or yellowish base color mixed with dark brown and black marbling) are observable under bright lighting. Random white dots create a stunning sparkling effect on this beautiful fish. Reference material and hobbyist reports indicate these fish are tolerant of a wide range of water conditions (pH 6.0 to 7.5) and temperatures ranging from 71 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Synodontis nigriventris is of the order Siluriformes and part of the Mochokidae family. It shares the order Siluriformes with the popular Corydoras, having distinctive ray finnage, cat-whiskerlike barbels and a scaleless body. Synodontis nigriventris has been collected from Malebo Pool in the Congo River Basin and in many tributaries, such as the Lekenie River in the Odzala National Park in the Republic of the Congo. The Lekenie River is a clear to tea-colored waterway with a sand and fine quartz gravel substrate.