Who’s Who?: Watching

H

T

E MON

PING MAGAZ EE IN E

RA LY - P CTICA LF TH I ON

YEARS

M

pfkmag.com

June ‘17 Issue 7 £4.40

WHO’S

WATCHING Meet the fish that misses nothing — inside or outside the tank!

BIOTOPE AQUARIUM BE INSPIRED!

IMPROVE YOUR POND

Discover the secret side of Neons

INSIDE:

GO NATIVE!

10

pond plants to p a attract more wildlife

WHO? CAREFREE COMMUNITIES

CHOOSE THE BEST FISH

How to achieve that peaceful tank

O SIX HANG-ON FILTERS ON TEST

O READER’S AMAZING AQUASCAPE O NEW FISH IN THE SHOPS ORATHBUN’S TETRAS O DEAL WITH SULKY CORALS O BUCES FOR YOUR PLANTED SET-UP O CONTROL POND ALGAE O FEED FINICKY MARINES O GUIANACARA CICHLIDS

NNIVE RS AR

Amazing fish and how to keep them

EN A LD GO

50 K SH

2016 PET FIS H

TH

HOW TO SUCCEED WITH GOLD NUGGET PLECS

66 19

O

F

Y

FISH S

900S

1200S

1500S

1800S

3P]LÄZOMVVK We offer a variety of live fish food. Each pack has the product name printed on the front and on the back you will find the EAN barcode for fast, efficient in-store handling. Everything is packed in the Netherlands to ensure fresh, top quality products the whole year round. We can offer the following live products: Enriched Brine shrimp, Copepods, Daphnia, Glassworm, Mysis, Nauplii, Bloodworm large, Bloodworm small, River shrimps and Tubifex. Most of these items are available in BULK too.

HX\H[PJWSHU[Z

KY`MVVK

-YVaLUÄZOMVVK

LHZ`SPMLWYVK\J[Z

175+ different species of plants. Available potted and bunched. Also a range of mosses, plants on bogwood and on coconut!

45 different foods for goldfish, tropicals and marines and turtles. Available in 100ml, 250ml and 1000ml pots.

Award winning 100 gram blisters in 35 different flavours. 500 and 1000 gram packaging also available and in stock!

Distributor of Easy-Life products. Famous for EasyCarbo and ProFito and more plant fertilisers and water treatments.

3P]LÄZOMVVK -YVaLUÄZOMVVK +Y`MVVK 9LW[PSLMVVK (X\H[PJWSHU[Z 7VUKWSHU[Z ,HZ`3PMLWYVK\J[Z

www.aquadip.com ®

Welcome Learn from the best

JEREMY GAY is a former PFK editor and now Evolution Aqua’s business development manager. He spotlights ten wildlife friendly pond plants on page 46.

NATHAN HILL is an aquatic journalist and PFK’s features editor. He explains how to keep Gold nugget plecos the right way, sets up a home from home for Neons, and offers some valuable advice on choosing community fish. Pages 8, 50 and 78.

GABOR HORVATH is a Hungarian aquarist with over 35 years of fishkeeping experience. He puts a range of hang-on filters to the test on page 98.

It’s a fact that by adding water to your garden, whether it’s a full-sized pond, a half barrel filled with water, or even a bird bath, the local wildlife will find it. You’ll be amazed at what turns up — and at how quickly it gets there. We have four ponds of sorts in our garden, none of them very big. Two are for goldies and the others are purely for wildlife. We’ve had toads hopping round our living room, having come in through the patio doors that open out onto the ponds at the back, we’ve seen Grass snakes in one of the ponds, and loads of birds come to drink and bathe. We have bats, hedgehogs, frogs, newts, so many dragonflies and damselflies…you name it. And that’s before you even take a look at what’s actually living in the water. Including plenty of native plants in and around your pond or water feature will also attract pollinating insects and provide cover for fish, amphibians and other visitors. Discover some of the plants to include on page 46. Both you and the local wildlife have so much to gain. On a non-native, but similar theme, check out Nathan Hill’s superb Neon tetra biotope on page 50. I was lucky enough to see this ‘in the flesh’, when it was up and running (and thankfully, well past the stinky stage you’ll read about in his feature). Some of you will hate it, but most (I hope) will love it. The Neons definitely did. It was as though they’d taken an all inclusive package holiday back to Brazil. And like many of us do with such deals, they took full advantage of everything on offer and ended up rather plumper than when they arrived…

46 Attract more wildlife to your garden pond.

68 Discover the topsy turvy world of Upside down cats.

40 Keep and breed the lovely Rathbun’s bloodfin.

Get more PFK! Karen Youngs, editor

TRISTAN LOUGHER works in aquatic retail and has sold marines for 15 years. He has some suggestions to help you get those finicky fish feeding on page 70.

61% SAVE UP TO *

when you subscribe to PFK! e today and benefit from:

Subscrib

O Never missing an issue to your your door or free download digital device and digital you choose the print O Save up to 61% when and pay by direct debit. package option

4 issues for £10 when you pay by recurring payment every 6 months

DIGITAL ONLY

4 issues for £7.75 when you pay by recurring payment every 6 months

PRINT & DIGITAL

4 issues for £11.25 when you pay by recurring payment every 6 months

Fishkeeping remains to uncover how Practical information, Subscribe every month for inspiration, species the definitive one-stop-shop great-looking aquariums. problem solving and

O Free UK delivery to

this fantastic To take advantage of

subscription offer all

you have to do is either:

CALL 01858 43 8884

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Choose PRINT ONLY

from three options:

quote EDAA

payment every 6 months. at the option and pay by recurring subscription will continue This offer print and digital package when you choose the your first 13 issues, your *61% saving applies unless you tell us otherwise. term is 13 issues. After issue. The minimum TERMS & CONDITIONS: will continue to be taken per minute are (approximate) with the next available Recurring payments landlines for 01 numbers Subscriptions will start are notified otherwise. may get free calls other offer. Cost from thereafter unless you location in the UK. You in conjunction with any offer price listed above (Sat). UK depending on the geographical This offer cannot be used (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm 10p to 40p. Costs vary lines open 8am-9.30pm closes on June 6th 2017. For full terms and phone provider. Order mobiles per minute (approximate) for training purposes. 2p to 10p. Cost from – please check with your monitored or recorded part of your call package 438828 for further details. Calls may be to some numbers as ns please phone +44 1858 o.uk/offer-terms-and-conditio orders only. Overseas? http://www.greatmagazines.c conditions please visit

azines.co.uk/PFK or visit www.greatmag

Like us on Facebook.com

SAVE UP TO 61% when you subscribe to PFK!

Follow us @PFKmagazine Watch us on youtube.com/ user/practicalfishkeeping

See page 56 CHAT ROOM

Join us at www.facebook. com/groups/ PracticalFishKeeping/

5

June Cover image: Hristo Hristov.

ON THE COVER

08

PANNING FOR GOLD The Gold nugget is ‘the’ catfish for diehards and amateurs alike. Here’s how to succeed with these magnificent fish...

46

10 POND PLANTS TO ENCOURAGE WILDLIFE

50

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

50

Make your pond more attractive to insects, amphibians and other native wildlife with the plants they’ve evolved to live alongside.

None of our tank set-ups has ever divided opinion like this one, but it was one of the most rewarding in terms of fish behaviour!

58

WHO’S WATCHING WHO? Bold and charismatic, brimming with personality and hardy as they come, a hawkfish could be the ideal showpiece for your marine aquarium.

78

GET THE BEST BEHAVIOUR!

58

Improve your

FISH KEEPING

It’s the ultimate question: which fish go with which?

PROBLEMS SOLVED

89

FISHKEEPING ANSWERS Some of the world’s top aquatic experts answer your questions.

PLUS

56

SUBSCRIBE TO PFK!

114

TAILPIECE

Save up to 61% when you take out a subscription. There’s a bad smell coming from Nathan Hill’s bedroom...

08

6

46

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

FISHKEEPING KNOW-HOW

16

FISH IN THE SHOPS Great fish just keep on coming from Brazil and Peru, with imports of characins and catfish leading the way.

22

78

16

A NEWCOMER’S GUIDE... Our new section for beginners to the world of fishkeeping.

26

A PERFECT BLEND

36

THE FUTURE’S ORANGE

40 64

BORN FREE!

68

A LIFE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

70

FEEDING THE FUSSY FISH

82 84

BEAT YOUR GREENS

When it comes to planting, why restrict yourself to the inside of the tank? We visit one reader who likes to think outside the box. Meet a cichlid that’s easy to keep and breed — and whose unusual brood care will provide you with an unforgettable experience.

26

Keep and breed Rathbun’s beautiful bloodfin.

THE MIGHTY BUCE For such small plants, the buces have made a big impact on the aquascaping scene...

Discover the topsy turvy world of two attractive and easy to keep catfish from Africa.

36

How to deal with some of the most common ‘problem’ marines. Keep that troublesome pond algae at bay.

WHY IS MY CORAL SULKING?

Improve your

FISH KEEPING Improve your

FISH KEEPING

We look at the reasons why corals may shrink or stop expanding their polyps.

YOUR FISH & TANKS

31

TANK COMMUNITY

34

ME AND MY TANK

70

The place to share your fish, tanks and experiences. Chris Jones-Fuller’s shows us his reef aquarium.

NEWS & REVIEWS

14 98 102 106 www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

FISHKEEPING NEWS All the latest from the world of aquatics.

HANG ON FOR A MOMENT!

84

Six hang-on filters on test.

GEAR GUIDE We review the latest fishkeeping products on the shelves.

SHOPTOUR This month takes us to stores in Suffolk and West Yorkshire.

7

Panning for

GOLD The Gold nugget is ‘the’ catfish for diehards and amateurs alike. But what’s the attraction with a fish that’s difficult to keep, spiteful and needs a huge tank? Just take a look at the pictures! Here’s how to succeed with these magnificent fish... WORDS: NATHAN HILL

NEIL HEPWORTH

D

o you have a fish that you’d love to catch in the wild? I don’t mean the kind of fish that would flap and flail on a baited hook, expending unnecessary energy until it’s finally hauled in for a trophy shot with a baseball-capped angler. I want to meet my fish face to face, at its own front door. I dream of dangerous rivers. Hurling long lines from boats and shorelines is not adventurous enough for me; I want to get in the water. I want swirls and eddies that disorient, turning up into down, threatening to carry me to a watery grave. The fish I want to visit most is the Golden nugget, Baryancistrus xanthellus, of South America — ‘Aquatourism’ is a growing area, so one day I might go. The waters they inhabit are hot — water temperatures in excess of 30°C are normal — and fast. Unless you take care to anchor yourself by foot or hand as you hunt, I am told, you will snorkel for a few minutes and pop your head back up far, far away from your starting point. In desirability stakes, the Golden nuggets take second place only to the lighter, scarcer and likely soon to be extinct in the wild, Zebra plec, Hypancistrus zebra. Gold nuggets, Zebras and the slightly less desired Magnum plec all exploded into popularity at around the same time, though it transpired that the Zebra was that shade easier to keep and breed than the others. That’s not to say that Golden

8

nuggets are neglected — they still rank as one of the most popular ‘novel’ suckermouths, and a must-have staple for the real catfish addict. But for the lay aquarist, they can be an expensive mistake waiting to happen. The Golden nugget is hard to embrace because of its very specific needs; it is high maintenance with demands for hot, impeccable water and it is an awkward feeder. It has thwarted many a fish farmer’s efforts to mass spawn it, meaning that prices have never slumped through a glut of over-availability, even though wild catches are bounteous. The fish you see in stores are wild, large fish hand-plucked

from rock crevices along the Xingu river, while juveniles are chased around the shallows and in to nets. Wild fish in general, unaccustomed to tank life, frequently fare worse in some ways than farmed ones. While far from impossible, they should never be considered easy. While some suckermouths can live and breed in the face of adversity, the Golden nugget is not one of them, and even a community tank can be a poor home. Get them right, however, and you could even attain the coveted title of ‘breeder’ for these magnificent, bright and secretive fish. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish of the month

Golden nugget pleco

What the L? When you see Gold nuggets on sale, or online, you’ll usually see one of a few options — all should come with what’s called an ‘L-number’ (see ‘What is the ‘L’ system?’ over the page for more details). Specifically, there’s L018, L081, L085, L177 and LDA060. A store that simply advertises ‘Gold nugget plec’ on a label is doing itself a disservice of accuracy. You want that L-number to find exactly which kind of nugget you have. To tidy things up, L018, L085, L177 and LDA060 are all Baryancistrus xanthellus, at least at a taxonomic level. L018 and L085 are simply juvenile and www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

adult forms of the same fish, respectively, with a different intensity in colour between the ages. These two L-numbers make up the medium-spotted Gold nuggets and come from a region known as the Volta Grande do Rio Xingu, sited just above the Belo Monte falls — a region not far from Altimara in Para State, Brazil. L177 comes from a different location, hailing from the larger tributaries of the Rio Iriri. That also gives it the alternative common name of ‘Iriri Golden nugget’ (often used where an L-number isn’t given). Though the same species, it’s different at a glance, as it has considerably larger golden spots or nuggets, to be

 Scientific name: Baryancistrus xanthellus (Ba-ree-ann-siss-truss zan-thell-uss).  Size: To about 29cm wild, captive fish often top out around 20cm.  Origin: Xingu river, Brazil.  Habitat: Fast, shallow rivers among huge rocks.  Aquarium size: Minimum 120 x 30cm for a pair.  Water requirements: Soft and acidic to slightly base: 6.0–7.8pH, hardness below 16°H.  Temperature: 27–32°C.  Temperament: Territorial, will go for rival Golden nuggets.  Feeding: Mainly a herbivore, with some insects or invertebrates. Offer plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit and leaves. Use the Repashy gel food featured on page 104 along with occasional offerings of bloodworm and Daphnia.  Availability and price: Varies according to size and L-number. I’ve seen L177 starting around £30 at 6cm, and L18/ L81 of the same size at £50 upwards. Large fish may command hundreds of pounds. Relatively common, however. pH

0

9 8 7 6

0 Temp C

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

108 l+

5

9

poetic), and is considered by most aquarists as the prettiest. Note that the Rio Iriri joins on to the Rio Xingu about 75 miles south of where L018 and L085 are found; geographically we’re not talking about these fish being a short stroll away from each other. LDA060 appears not to be region specific as much as the others, and is rarely seen within the trade. It’s the same fish as the other three ‘xanthellus’, but the visual difference here is that the spots are poorly formed, looking ‘flakier’ than its sister variants. L081 is the wildcard. Known as the small-spotted Golden nugget (it really does look sprinkled rather than spotted), it’s given the honorary title of Baryancistrus cf. xanthellus — a ‘not quite’ Golden

10

Despite being common in their natural habitat, Golden nuggets are never cheap to buy.

Check potential purchases are feeding well before you part with your cash.

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

The L-number system for categorising fish was born out of necessity. When the gold rush of Loricariid imports began around the late ’80s, they were coming out of south America faster than they could be described — fish taxonomy is a long-winded, slow and thankless task. Without scientific names, we’d have to rely on common names to identify fish, and with that comes a real danger. Fish will be given different names pending who’s catching them, and who’s buying them, so while we might say Striped catfish, or Talking catfish, the person catching them might call them a Raphael, while the French, Germans and Japanese all have different names again. It becomes a quagmire, fast. Faced with such confusion, one of Germany’s largest livestock importers teamed up with the German magazine DATZ to create a new system of categorising all of these unnamed fish. This was the L-system: each different fish would be photographed and assigned an L-number, starting at L001, and then recorded in the magazine and later in the Aqualog range of identifying catalogues — everyone could now use the same resource to identify these ‘fish in waiting’. A couple of decades on, L-numbers have become curious, defunct appendages on some fish. As the species in the L-collections were systematically named, the industry and hobby had become so accustomed to the old L-numbers that it chose to keep many of them. So even though fish like Hypancistrus zebra, or Zebra plecs, now have a perfectly functioning scientific (and common) name, most people dealing with them still insist on calling them by the now defunct L46. On the other hand, the system is helpful in categorising the differences found between species, such as in the large and medium spotted variants of Baryancistrus xanthellus, making it less confusing to tell the types apart.

ALAMY

What is the ‘L’ system?

nugget, and it’s a lot paler than the other species; side by side with the others, it’ll be obviously washed out. You might see it advertised under the name of a ‘Stardust’ golden nugget, or just L081 sp. ‘Stardust’. This fish is found much further upstream to the ‘true’ B. xanthellus species, but is still a Brazilian, Xingu fish.

Fast flows and nutritious rocks Wild Golden nuggets inhabit fast and shallow waters, and the reason for that is dietary. Pull out the innards of one (actually, don’t) and you’ll find a small stomach and long intestine, maybe 16

times the total length of the fish. Long intestines are the property of herbivores and animals that live in nutrient poor — oligotrophic — regions. Where food is scarce, it is usually also hard to extract nutrients from, requiring long retention periods while every last calorie and vitamin is stripped from it. A long intestine allows for both a high surface area and long holding time to make sure that nothing is wasted. I’m careful to avoid calling them herbivores in the strict sense — cleanse from your mind any fledgling idea that they are going to thrive on your unwanted algae while needing nothing else. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish of the month

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

Those mouthparts are designed for algae eating.

There’s no such thing as a slow-water nugget. They’re all associated with large rocks and high flows. Slow moving waters deposit algae suffocating, light extinguishing sediments that interrupt their food supplies.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

sexual, or formed on the flimsiest sense of truce. Outside of the ‘peaceful catfish’ illusion, Golden nuggets are unashamedly territorial, especially as they age. At the same time, the young fish live downstream, in shallower water and clustered together under flat stones — maybe a degree of protection for the juveniles in numbers. Catching them is relatively easy. Thrust a hand into crevices and you’ll turn up catfish. For smaller fish, a hand net or seine and a little rock lifting will bring a good yield. The problematic part is transporting them.

Because they eat for long periods, grazing on nutrient-poor aufwuchs, they also excrete prodigiously, and from a fish exporter’s point of view, that’s a problem. Waste in bags means pollution, and pollution means dead fish, and so the fish are starved for a few days prior to shipping. From a buyer’s perspective, that means you could be investing in a fish with gut flora problems. Most Golden nuggets directly imported will be hollow-bellied, but this might be hard to spot unless the fish comes to the front glass. A good retailer will get the fish feeding again as soon as it lands, but not all retailers get the

A Gold nugget mooching among the rocks in its natural habitat.

JULIAN DIGNALL

Algae does indeed make up a substantial amount of the gut content of wild caught fish. Specifically, they fill themselves with diatomaceous and chlorophycean (filament) algae, but alongside all that difficult-to-digest greenery you’ll find the occasional bryozoan and midge larvae. There’s a lot of what the Germans call ‘aufwuchs’ — films of algae and tiny organisms — associated with their home rivers. The kind of waterway that promotes such growth is bright and clear, and that almost always translates to being shallow too. Such is the type of river the Golden nugget calls home, and that applies to all the L-variants. There’s no such thing as a slow-water nugget. They’re all associated with large rocks and high flows. Where flow is slow around jutting river islands, or bends, fewer of them are found, and that’s because slow waters deposit sediments — algae suffocating, light extinguishing sediments that interrupt their food supplies. The biggest and best fish are found where large rocks are washed clean of all but tenacious aufwuchs. During the daytime, they stay out of view. The larger adults monopolise on cracks and fissures in rocks — think of rocks the size of car engines upwards, rather than the fist-sized lumps we use in most of our tanks. Because they’re sensitive about their food source, any cohabiting is either

11

importance of this and imagine that a daily feed of some high protein, fish-based tablet food will be enough to bring the fish back up to weight. It won’t, and if you buy a specimen that’s chronically undernourished, you haven’t a catfish in hell’s chance of recovering it. Always closely inspect any fish you’re hoping to take on, paying special attention to the undercarriage. If there’s no plump little tum underneath, you’re in for a feeding slog.

LO18 is the medium-spotted Golden nugget, which is found at a site near the Belo Monte falls in Brazil.

Can they be bred? Short answer: Yes. With difficulty. Long answer: It has definitely happened in aquaria at least once. L177 was successfully spawned around a decade ago by Swiss aquarist Johannes Leuenberger. Unfortunately, even though he documented the whole process at the time, attempts to find his records online now are obstructed by an endless stream of dead ends and discontinued websites. An essential ingredient for a spawn is patience. On one spawning record, the fish were in their tank for over a year, and showed zero interest in spawning until one day when the male decided to start exploring and cleaning up caves. Other factors include very high levels of dissolved oxygen, and a high temperature. In Leuenberger’s case, his tank had powerful currents and was maintained in excess of 30°C. On top of that, he concocted a special diet comprised of vegetables, meat and fish blended together. In part, that conditioned the adults to spawn, while it was also the food offered to the hatching young — successfully! If you want to try spawning them at home, you’d do a lot worse than copying the biotope alluded to in this feature. Big, fast-flowing, clean, hot and heaving with oxygen seems to be the winning formula for offspring.

12

loses its ability to retain dissolved oxygen, so to counter that you want plenty of turnover and a churning surface, just like the nuggets’ wild homes. A Gyre system will be good for those who can afford them. Gigantic marine circulation pumps for reefs, appropriated for freshwater use along with a wavemaker are a good option. Direct the most powerful flows over the open flats of large rocks to keep them free of debris. See if you can’t replicate the aufwuchs growth of the Xingu shallows. For the frugal aquarist, make up a river manifold with piping underneath the substrate and blast water down the length with large powerheads. On this last option, make use of the Venturi features to blast fine bubbles into the churning broth. Golden nuggets will not tolerate ammonia or nitrite, so filtration needs to be completely on point. Most keepers favour large external canisters, sagging under the weight of heaps of biomedia. Knowing how susceptible they can be to extraneous chemicals like air fresheners and nicotine, I’d also be inclined to get a Polyfilter and even activated carbon in there, too. Despite that, water chemistry can be a little less extreme than you might be used to for South American fish. In the oxygen heavy, rocky rivers of the Xingu, the pH

can be anywhere between 6.0 and 7.8, while hardness can be as high as 16-18°H. Personally I’d aim for somewhere around neutral, 7.0pH, and a hardness of maybe 10°H. Bump up the lighting — T5 tubes or high intensity LEDs may seem a paradox where light-avoiding catfish are concerned, but you want it to promote thick algae growths on rock surfaces. Ten hours a day at high power will approximate what these fish experience in the wild.

Food matters The trickiest area you’ll encounter with them is feeding. If you offer excessively rich foods — and many prepared foods are made primarily of fish, fishmeal or insect meal — they’ll be unable to process it. Vegetables should make up the bulk of the diet. Courgettes, spinach, dandelion, squashed peas and carrots are all on the menu. A bit of apple often goes down nicely too. Some aquarists make up their own diets, using a blend of vegetables, invertebrates and gelatine, and then freezing it. I’ve yet to hear a single bad word about Repashy’s ‘Soilent Green’ gel mix (see page 104), that you buy in powdered form and make at home. At a recent fishkeeping event, I was PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

If we’ve read the cues from the habitat correctly, the kind of tank we should be making for them is fast, rocky and hot. Start with a suitable sized tank. At full tilt, an adult nugget can hit almost 30cm, so that needs a big footprint. Admittedly, because of feeding complications, it can be hard to get them that big, so 15-20cm is realistic, but still aim for a tank in the 120 x 45cm region. Depth isn’t essential, so even something of 30cm will suffice. Next up, ensure rocks. Big, rounded rocks will look the part, and if the surfaces are smooth, they’ll become coated with aufwuchs. You want to ensure nuggetsized gaps between the rocks, and if you’re strategic enough you might consider angling them so you can still see your fish even when they’re hiding. With that covered, up the flow. You’ll be running this tank hot, at 28 to 32°C or so, and that has implications for oxygen levels. As water gets progressively warmer, it

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

Making a home

Fish of the month What about tank mates?

NEIL HEPWORTH

Headstander, Anostomus ternetzi.

Tank mates can tricky. I’d purge any ideas of setting up a traditional community and slipping nuggets in to the mix. Their high temperature needs will exclude many traditional tank fillers, while the extreme flow rates required will exhaust any fish not used to torrential habitats. Plus, Baryancistrus can be territorial when the mood takes them. Because they value their scant food resources in the wild, they have evolved a certain sense of non-cooperation. They do not like to share. Males are the worst, and can openly go for each other like angry dogs when they see rivals. Females are tolerated, and they tolerate each other a bit better, but hostility is still known. Other plecs are tolerated to varying degrees, with the general caveat that the less it looks like a Golden nugget, the likelier it is to be left alone. If you can source them, a communitope of river dwelling Moenkhausia species, and rheophilic cichlids can work well. I recently saw a tank that was almost entirely comprised of just Golden nuggets and Anostomus, and it looked awesome. Remember, as unappetising as they look, big fish will still scoff Baryancistrus down. If you’ve a tankbuster set-up, a Golden nugget might not be the fish you want to finish it off.

Cleanse from your mind any fledgling idea that these fish are going to thrive on your unwanted algae while needing nothing else.

Water quality needs to be impeccable for success with these fish.

Try fast water cichlids like Retroculus as tank mates.

the screen, to be promptly snatched by a large Pike cichlid. Grainy underwater footage, and the untimely eating of the subject means I’ll never be certain what that fish was. In the wild, Baryancistrus often end up as food — for fish and people. RADEK BEDNARCZUK

shown a video of two men in nugget territory, snorkelling through a shoal of rambunctious characins and cichlids. As the men lifted rocks to explore beneath, for just a few seconds a small, distinctly squat, gold-speckled ‘plec’ shape lurched out onto

Crazy about caves! There’s nothing Golden nuggets like more than caves, so hollows, crevices and hidey holes need to feature large in their tank. With the wealth of bespoke catfish caves out there, there’s no excuse for not providing these. If you can’t afford them, you probably won’t be buying nuggets in the first place…

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

13

FISHKEEPING NEWS Latest news and events from the world of aquatics. RS RECORD BREAKE

WEIRD NEWS

ALAMY ALAMY

H.I.S. president Hideo Sawada with one of the fish robots.

These fish never need feeding...

Want to sell PFK in your shop? If you’d like to find out how you can stock Practical Fishkeeping in your aquatic store, please contact Martin Lavell Specialist Distribution on 0845 123 8433.

14

Rocky is a heavyweight goldie at 2lb 10oz.

NEW SPECIES

Noisy shrimp named after Pink Floyd Scientists with a love of rock music have named a new species of pistol shrimp after British rock legends Pink Floyd. Synalpheus pinkfloydi has an oversized pink claw, which is so bright that it almost seems to glow. It can close this claw at rapid speed to generate sonic energy — this creates a noise loud enough to kill small fish. Sammy De Grave, of Oxford University Museum of National History, says he has been a fan of Pink Floyd since the band released its acclaimed album The Wall back in 1979, when he was just 14. Synalpheus pinkfloydi is found off the Pacific coast of Panama.

Take a look at that bright pink claw!

SAMMY DE GRAVE

Now that’s strange... They may look rather like garishly dyed or tattooed fish, but in fact the specimens swimming about in this aquarium are all robots. These incredibly lifelike fish are on display in the the entrance hall of the newly-opened Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay in Japan — which is completely staffed by robots. Henn na Hotel means ‘strange hotel’ in Japanese. This is the second robot-staffed hotel operated by H.I.S. Co. to be opened in Japan.

Scientists who discovered the new shrimp have named it after their favourite rock band.

ALAMY

ALAMY

Fish at the Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay in Japan.

Rocky the red Oranda is a big girl. She weighs in at 2lbs 10oz and is nearly a foot in length. Her owner, Andy Green, of Star Fisheries in Surrey, reckons she could be the largest goldfish in the country and she’s certainly the largest Oranda ever imported into the UK. Three-year-old Rocky came from China after Andy spent months trying to talk the breeder into selling her to him. Star Fisheries specialises in top quality fancy goldfish and Rocky is a prime specimen of an Oranda. Andy says he wouldn’t accept less than £4,500 for her now. And if that sounds a little on the expensive side for a goldfish — even one the size of Rocky — Andy adds that a panda Oranda was sold by Star Fisheries a couple of years ago for £6,500. If you have a goldie to top Rocky in the size department, we want to hear from you!

STAR FISHERIES

Is this Britain’s biggest goldfish?

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

DIARY DATES

Great day out for pleco fans in Wiltshire Mad about plecos? Get over to Wiltshire on May 20!

NEIL HEPWORTH

Have a passion for plecos? Suckermouth catfish fans in the south-west of England have a real treat in store on Saturday, May 20, as Wiltshsire Plecos and the Catfish Study Group join forces to present a special event, to be held at Maidenhead Aquatics @ Melksham. There will be a talk by catfish expert Julian Dignall — the man behind the fabulous Planet Catfish website — entitled: Rio Xingu: ‘last chance to see’. In addition, Mark Walters, who was featured with his amazing fish house in the Spring issue of Practical Fishkeeping, will be giving a talk on his experiences with breeding suckermouth catfish. Doors open at 10am with the first talk at 12 noon and the second at 2pm, with a break for lunch between the two. There will also be experts from some of the leading aquatic companies on hand on the day, plus a raffle with some great prizes to be won. The event is open to everyone of all ages, so why not pop along and have a great day out? Maidenhead Aquatics @ Melksham is located within Leekes department store on the A350, close to Melksham town centre. You can find it at Leekes, Beanacre Road, Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 8AG. More info: https://www.facebook.com/Wpmeets/

Don’t miss the brand new Cory-Vention!

NEIL HEPWORTH

Join some of the world’s top experts for a celebration of all things cory.

See the cream of the Koi in June

NEW SPECIES

Hyphessobrycon klausanni comes from the Orinoco River basin.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

GARCÍA-ALZATE CA, URBANO-BONILLA A, TAPHORN DC

Feast your eyes on some first class fish at the National Koi Show.

NEIL HEPWORTH

The British Koi Keepers Society will be holding the National Koi Show at The Heart of England Conference and Events Centre, near Meriden in Warwickshire, over the weekend of June 24–25. This event offers visitors the opportunity to see some of the finest Koi on display, along with the chance to buy some superb fish and products from exhibitors. There’s also a Koi auction, seminars, a raffle and even a show party (tickets for the party cost £35). Entry to the show costs £8 for adults each day (£4 if you’re a BKKS member); a weekend pass is £12. The show is open from 10am–5pm both days. More info: www.thenationalkoishow.co.uk

The first Corydoras World Cory-Vention takes place in Wigan, Lancashire, from June 9–11. Some of the world’s top Corydoras experts will be speaking at the event including Luis Tencatt from Brazil, Hans-Georg Evers from Germany, Isaäc Isbrücker from Holland and the UK’s own Ian Fuller — breeder of more than 140 Corydoras species. The event takes place at the Britannia Hotel, Standish, Wigan. Day tickets are available for the Saturday and Sunday at £25 each or £45 for both days. In addition, there will be trade and specialist display stands, raffles on both days, and refreshments will be provided. More info: www.corydorasworld.com

New tetra from Colombia A lovely new species of Hyphessobrycon has been described from the Orinoco River basin in Colombia. Hyphessobrycon klausanni was discovered in the upper Guaviare River drainage. It was found living in shallow, well-oxygenated streams with clear water flowing over various substrates including rock, sand, gravel and leaf litter, and among aquatic vegetation, tree roots and logs. Temperature was 25.5–26°C, but the pH varied from 6.47–8.7. Hyphessobrycon klausanni measures 2.3cm (SL). Research leading to the discovery of this new species was partially funded by Mr. Klaus-Peter Lang from Oberhausen, Germany, and the species name is dedicated to and named for his father, Klaus and his mother, Anni.

15

South America shares its secrets Great fish just keep on coming from places like Brazil and Peru! Imports of characins and catfish lead the way as we come to the close of the wet season. WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: NATHAN HILL

Lipstick tetra It’s all about fish I’ve not seen before this month! At first glance, I had this one down as a new Chalceus species, or maybe something out of Africa. But no, it turns out it’s a Moenkhausia — Moenkhausia cosmops to be exact, and it’s South American. It looks like it has the potential to grow large, but the indication at this stage is that it’ll reach around 6cm. It’s related to other, smallish Moenkhausia like the classic Red-eye tetra. Wild fish come from sandy, whitewater biotopes, living near the margins around fallen wood and

16

plants. Stomach content analyses reveal an omnivore that favours ants, algae and plants. For some reason, my photo hasn’t done justice to the intense upper lip marking, but combined with the intense blue eye, it adds up to a startlingly pretty fish. I have it down as a potential jumper, so go for a well-covered tank, with plenty of plants (some of which may get nibbled, but hey), a sandy base, and a lack of anything with long, trailing fins — I’ve seen what can happen when a Moenkhausia ‘turns bad’ and it isn’t worth the risk.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish in the shops Blue-eyed Brazilian beauty

OScientific name: Moenkhausia cosmops (that isn’t a typo!) OSize: Suggested to around 6cm. OOrigin: Rio Paraguay and Rio Tapajos, Brazil. OHabitat: Sandy-bottomed whitewaters near wood and plants. OTank size: Minimum 75 x 30cm footprint for a shoal. OWater requirements: Slightly soft and acidic to neutral: 5.8–7.0pH,

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

hardness below 10°H. OTemperature: 24–26°C. OTemperament: Expect a little nipping — there was a definite hierarchy as I watched them. OFeeding: Flakes, pellets, Daphnia, Cyclops, bloodworm, Artemia, Mysis. OAvailability and price: Very rarely seen, with a price tag to match — these were offered at £22 each.

0

pH

Temp C 9 8 7 6

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

67 l+

5

17

‘Yellow catfish’ Combined with its lean body shape, you’ll need to take care not to house it with cichlids that might eventually consider it a snack — a more common problem than you might think. Currently this is coming in as an infrequent Peruvian import, but my guess is that something this pretty will be getting farmed at some stage. Here’s hoping that it doesn’t get weakened and diluted down after a few generations.

Colourful community catfish

PHOTOGRAPHY: NATHAN HILL

Yellow in a Corydoras? There’s something you don’t see often. Think about it, there are plenty of those cats with gold bits, like C. sterbai. Then there are the forced whitish-yellows of albino corys. But one with actual yellow on it? That’s novel. This is another Corydoras without a name. For now, we can classify it as C123, until it gets a better description. It’s very similar looking to Corydoras elegans, and is quite small as corys go, reaching about 4cm.

18

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish in the shops A big cory with a big price tag!

Green snout Corydoras You’d have thought that Peru would have given up all its Corydoras secrets by now, but it just keeps on tossing out more unseen species. This magnificent fish is one of those still in the ‘C-number’ world — a system of categorisation to help us identify fish until they get a formal description. The Green snout, C115, is long, saddlesnouted, and intensely pretty close up. A similar fish, C116, also used to be available, but it’s now thought to be the same thing. Au revoir, C116!

It comes from the Peruvian segment of the Rio Madre de Dios. As Corydoras go, this is quite a tank of a thing, reaching around the 7cm mark fully grown. In the usual cory style, females get bigger and plumper, while males retain a degree of torpedo shape about them. Reportedly, the markings on it (especially towards the rear) can vary widely, but as I’ve only ever seen the one batch, I cannot comment.

0 pH Temp C OScientific name: Corydoras C115. 9 OSize: Males to 6cm, females to 7cm. 30 28 OOrigin: Peru. 8 26 OHabitat: Clear or slightly turbid water over 24 7 sand and gravel. 22 20 OTank size: Minimum 75 x 30cm footprint for 18 6 a small shoal. OWater requirements: Slightly acidic to 5 neutral: 6.0–7.0pH, hardness 2–10°H. OTemperature: 22–28°C. OTemperament: Peaceful but gregarious, keep in shoals. OFeeding: Sinking pellets and granules, bloodworm, Daphnia. OAvailability and price: The big downside — they are rare and pricey. At £32 each, a shoal is a big commitment.

67 l+

OScientific name: Corydoras C123. 0 pH Temp C OSize: To around 4.5cm for females. 9 30 OOrigin: Rio Nanay, Peru. 28 8 OHabitat: Sandy, slow rivers and streams 26 24 with overhanging canopies. 7 22 OTank size: Minimum 60 x 30cm for a 20 small shoal. 18 6 OWater requirements: Slightly acidic to 5 neutral: 6.0–7.2pH, hardness 2–10°H. OTemperature: 22–26°C. OTemperament: Entirely peaceful, gregarious. OFeeding: Small sinking pellets and granules, Daphnia, Cyclops, bloodworm. OAvailability and price: Pretty rare in the hobby, and only found in specialist stores, priced from £12.50 each.

54 l+

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

19

Slate catfish There’s no other Corydoras quite like C. concolor. It’s heavyset, like the bouncer of the cory world. At a glance, it looks sort of grey, but get closer and there’s a curious gunmetal, bronze-green medley, with copper fins. Side on, it looks like one of those old Messerschmitt cars, and probably weighs about the same. It’s a bruiser, for sure. Small examples are pretty, but usually have a price that’s right on the border of acceptable for most — I’ve seen them at the 3cm mark with asking prices of £15 a head. They’re striking enough to make a centrepiece in a tank, rather than ‘just another catfish’ on the bottom. Go for a long, wide tank with silver sand on the base and a couple of big pieces of wood, and you’ll have a spectacular effect. On the downside, a decent sized shoal of fish at this size is going to cost several hundred pounds.

Striking centrepiece choice

OScientific name: Corydoras concolor. OSize: To around 7.5cm, and heavyset with it! OOrigin: Orinoco River, Venezuela. OHabitat: Sandy rivers and streams, with some vegetation and overhanging canopies. OTank size: Minimum 80 x 30cm footprint for a shoal. OWater requirements: Acidic to neutral, soft water: 5.5–7.2pH, hardness 1-8°H. OTemperature: 20–26°C. OTemperament: Peaceful, almost indifferent to each other at times. OFeeding: Sinking 0 pH Temp C pellets and granules, 9 30 bloodworm, Daphnia. 28 8 OAvailability and price: 26 24 Not uncommon, but 7 22 specimens this 20 striking are scant. 18 6 These giants were 5 priced at £50 a pair.

72 l+

20

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish in the shops Clearly a fish that doesn’t like sharing!

Golden line glass characin Okay, so this one totally threw me. At first I thought it was a glass catfish, a-la Kryptopterus, but it had no whiskers. What can I tell you about it? Very little, I’m afraid. It’s South American, around 6cm long, and despite most online literature suggesting it’s a shoaling species, I was duly informed that it had to be kept isolated as it was so intent on battering others of its own kind — and then battering other species too. It seems to be hardwired to be nasty, pecking at smaller fish until they keel over. If you can get over the aggression hurdle, then it’s not too hard to keep and it seems to do pretty well in a range of water conditions. It makes for a fascinating characin, and is the only member of its own genus. If you ever try some, and house them successfully with others, we’d be really keen to hear what they’re compatible with. OScientific name: Xenagoniates bondi. OSize: Likely gets bigger than the standard length of 6cm. OOrigin: Venezuela and Colombia. OHabitat: Rivers and drainages, associated with marginal plant growth. OTank size: Minimum 120 x 30cm footprint if housing more than one (not recommended based on what we’ve been told). OWater requirements: 6.0–8.0pH, 0 hardness 4–20°H. pH Temp C 9 OTemperature: 20–26°C. 30 28 OTemperament: Aggressive, 8 26 apparently to almost anything, 24 but especially its own species. 7 22 20 OFeeding: Flakes, Daphnia, 18 6 Cyclops and bloodworm. May be reluctant at first. 5 OAvailability and price: Not common; these were £8 each.

108 l

All the fish shown here were seen at Pier Aquatics in Wigan. For more details, contact the store on 01942 236661, or visit the website at www.pieraquatics.com

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

21

Wet behind the ears?

A NEWCOMER’S GUIDE TO Month by month, we’ll offer new fishkeepers an insight into what can sometimes be confusing terms and technology. Fear not! We’re here to help.



WORDS: BOB MEHEN

Get the

Do I need a filter?

22

kit

External filter.

Internal filter.

The more you read about keeping fish, the more you’ll hear about ‘beneficial bacteria’. While not quite the same as the ones contained in those healthy yoghurt drinks, the bacteria we want in our aquariums are similarly ‘friendly’, if not available in strawberry flavour! The bulk of the work carried out to keep our water clean and safe for fish is done by a huge, but largely invisible army of beneficial bacteria, that live all over your tank, but mostly inside the filter. They feed on your fish’s waste, particularly the invisible but highly toxic ammonia and in doing so keep the water clean and safe.

What is filter media? While it sounds like something to do with TV or radio censorship, media, when associated with filters refers to something far less glamorous, but very important. A filter without media is just a pump that will circulate water — it’s the media and the bacteria it hosts that do the real work. The most common type of media is filter foam which can act as both a physical and biological media — trapping floating particles while at the same time acting as a home for beneficial bacteria that feed on fish waste. Other common media includes filter wool, a fine plastic thread that is great for catching debris but

Hang on back filter.

TOP TIP

What is beneficial bacteria?

One of the most common mistakes new fishkeepers make is cleaning their filter media in tapwater. Tapwater is treated with chlorine to keep it safe for us to drink by killing bacteria. Biological filter media is a home to all the lovely beneficial bacteria that keep the fish tank water clean and safe for your fish, and dunking biological media in tapwater will kill off many of these helpful microbes.

needs replacing regularly to stop it clogging and ceramic and sintered glass (often in the form of small tubes or gravel-like

Ceramic, plastic and sintered glass.

GABOR HORVATH

Internal or external? Most tanks now use a ‘power filter’, and these are usually either ‘internal’ or ‘external’. Internal power filters tend to be used in smaller tanks, and are often little more than a pump pulling water through some foam. They can do a great job but do take up space in the tank, often look ugly and you can end up disturbing the fish and plants when you need to remove the filter for cleaning. External filters, as their name suggests, typically sit under the tank, pumping water in and out via pipes. They can offer far greater capacity, so are popular for larger tanks. They also mean less clutter in the aquarium, but if installed incorrectly can empty the tank over the floor so follow the instructions closely! A middle ground between the two types that has been gaining popularity recently is the ‘hang on back’ (HOB) filter, which unsurprisingly hangs on the back of the aquarium. It doesn’t clutter the tank like an internal, and doesn’t take up space beneath or involve the pipework of externals. (Ed’s note: You can find out more about hang-on filters on page 102 of this issue).

RIGHT

SHUTTERSTOCK

After the actual tank, the most important piece of equipment in freshwater fishkeeping is the filter. Without one your fish are doomed to a miserable and short existence. Many people think that filters are there to remove the obvious physical ‘lumps’ of waste in your tank (think fish poo and bits of uneaten food!) and that this is how they keep the water ‘clean’. But while they do remove these unpleasant bits and pieces, this will not keep the water safe for your fish to live in by itself. Most filters work by sucking the tank water through various materials that either remove the ‘nasties’ chemically or with the help of beneficial bacteria.

Activated carbon pellets.

chunks) which make a great bacterial home and should last indefinitely if cleaned regularly. Chemical media are different. They are intended to remove nasties through a chemical reaction. These media have a finite capacity to carry out this work and need replacing or recharging regularly. Common chemical media include activated carbon and zeolite.

Filter foam. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

New fishkeepers

Did

THE HOBBY

SHUTTERSTOCK

What’s a.... water change?

Did

The most expensive tropical fish in the world is the ...

...Asian arowana, Scleropages formosus NEIL HEPWORTH

Even with an efficient filter your tank water will over time become less and less suitable for keeping fish as they use up available minerals, and waste products not dealt with by the filter build up slowly to dangerous levels. We recommend a weekly The best way to 10–25% water change. keep your tank and fish healthy is by carrying out regular partial water changes. When adding tapwater to your aquarium we would always recommend treating it beforehand with a dechlorinator (sometimes also referred to as a water conditioner), which you can buy from your local aquarium fish retailer. It usually comes as a bottle of concentrated liquid which is added in small, measured amounts to the tapwater before it is introduced to the aquarium to make it suitable for fish (it removes the chemicals added by water companies that make it safe for humans to drink). There are lots of different brands — some are far more concentrated than others so offer better value, some also deal with the more dangerous chloramine which some water companies add to tapwater, and these are worth seeking out.

?

you know

with a red coloured specimen recently rumoured to have sold for $300,000 (around £235,000)! Here’s what else you can buy for

£235,000

A three-bedroom end of terrace house in Bristol (voted the best place to live in Britain by The Sunday Times)

A 2013 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta 6.2 coupe

A 16-NIGHT STAY in the Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Dubai (including taxes)

?

ALL PANEL PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK UNLESS STATED

you know

120,512

SHUTTERSTOCK

Neon tetras Some fish species, such as Siamese fighters and gouramis breathe oxygen from the air as well as from the water with their gills, and if not allowed access to the surface, they will drown! www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

75,806 pints of beer if you live in Herefordshire. (59,948 if you live in London!)

391,660

packets of cheese and onion crisps

3

New fishkeepers

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

What to keep

Did

?

you know

SHUTTERSTOCK

The word ‘chemistry’ will send shudders down the spine of many of us with its association with school days, Bunsen burners and lab coats, but having a basic grasp of the chemical properties of your tank’s water is a big help in keeping healthy fish. For most freshwater fishkeepers, this means getting yourself a ‘master test kit’ which should cover pH, and pollutants such as ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. With simple tests you can monitor the chemical processes of your filter and make sure the water is safe for the species of fish you are intending to keep.

SHUTTERSTOCK

What’s.... water chemistry?

40

Goldfish can live for over

What to grow

Bronze catfish, Corydoras aeneus

Anubias barteri is a superb plant for newcomers. It may be slow growing, but its tough, glossy leaves are about as indestructible as aquarium plants get and it will grow in low light conditions where other plants would fade and die. Like many of the easiest aquatic plants they don’t need planting out in the substrate; just tie them to a piece of wood or rock with cotton or an elastic band and within a couple of months their tough roots will have stuck to the object, anchoring them securely. This means you can often lift the plant and decor out of your tank during cleaning and then pop it back once finished. The standard variety can grow to around 45cm high, but this will take years in the average aquarium — they are very slow growing. For those with smaller tanks look out for the more manageable Anubias barteri var. ‘nana’ which struggles to top 10cm.

SHUTTERSTOCK

While far from the most colourful fish available, Bronze catfish more than make up for this with bags of charm and character. These plump little catfish are busy, comical and peaceful inhabitants of community tanks worldwide. Watch them closely and they’ll ‘wink’ at you — pretty impressive for a creature with no eyelids! While many people buy them to help ‘clean’ their tanks of food missed by other, more showy fish, they should not be expected to survive on leftovers and need targeted feeding with sinking foods to thrive. Albino specimens are also available, like the one pictured below. They appreciate a little shade and cover in the form of plants or decor. A soft, sandy substrate is best as gravel can be a little harsh on their whiskery mouths as they dig for tasty morsels. O Where are they from? Tropical South America. O How big do they grow? Around 7cm. O What size tank do they need? 60 x 30cm footprint/54 l volume minimum. O How many should I keep? A minimum of five.

Did

?

you know 24

Some fish can talk! Many fish communicate through croaking or clicking noises made in a number of ways, but perhaps the strangest is the Herring, which scientists have discovered chat to each other by farting!

SHUTTERSTOCK

Each month we pick a favourite ‘community’ fish species. These are tried and tested fish that have a winning combination of looks and behaviour that make them perfect for newcomers.

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

YEARS!

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Radion

TM

A perfect

BLEND

When it comes to planting, why restrict yourself to the inside of the tank? We visit one reader who likes to think outside the box, as this amazing aquascape shows. WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE FARMER

Meet the ’scaper O Name: Thang To, aka Ryan. O Age: 30. O Occupation: Nail technician. O Time in the hobby: Four years. O First fish kept: Guppy. O First fish bred: Guppy. O Favourite fish: Discus. O Favourite plant: Bucephalandra sp.

26

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Reader visit Part nature aquarium, part untamed jungle — Ryan has mixed two aquascaping styles with spectacular results.

Ryan’s tank set-up O Aquarium: ADA 120P, 120 x 45 x 45cm, 240 l. O Lighting: Two Kessil A360we Tuna Sun lights with Kessil Goosenecks and Kessil Spectral Controller set to 70% intensity and 50% colour, nine-hour photoperiod. O Filtration: Eheim 2073 and Eheim 2075 with clear hose and glassware. O CO2: 2Kg pressurised system with inline diffuser. O Substrate: 5 x 9 l ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia. O Fertilisers: DIY all-in-one and liquid carbon with auto-doser. O Auto Top-Up: TMC V2 with RO water. O Hardscape: Manzanita wood and locally collected rocks. O Livestock: Cardinal tetras, Harlequin rasboras, Amano shrimp.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

27

Those powerful LED lamps are run at 70% intensity to prevent algae issues.

I

last visited Ryan’s home around 12 months ago with PFK’s features editor, Nathan Hill. Back then Ryan’s main aquarium was a stunning aquascape in an ADA 60-P system, which was soon to be upgraded to its bigger brother, the ADA 120-P with around four times the volume. I knew with Ryan’s talent and passion for aquascaping and plant growing ablity that I would be in for a treat once his new aquarium had matured. So it was with a real sense of excitement that I organised a re-visit to check out his latest creation. I wasn’t disappointed! Ryan (real name Thang To) first came to my attention from the UK Aquatic Plant Society (UKAPS) forum and later from the UKAPS Aquascaping Experience in 2016 where he competed in the live hardscape contest. Being relatively new to the hobby with four years of experience, Ryan has a natural gift for aquascaping and loves the nature aquarium style, as pioneered by the late Takashi Amano. There are two aquariums in Ryan’s bedroom, the main ADA 120P system and an Aqua One 150 l, which is home to bee shrimp and is a low-energy aquascape. Without doubt the star of the show is the ADA set-up. The first attention grabbers are the lush emergent plants that are cleverly

Plant list O Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘Cuba’ O Eleocharis acicularis ‘Mini’ O Fissidens fontanus O Vesicularia ferriei ‘Weeping’ O Bucephalandra sp. O Hydrocotyle tripartita O Microsorum pteropus ‘Trident’ O Microsorum pteropus ‘Narrow’ O Eriocaulon cinereum O Various Cryptocoryne sp. O Ludwigia sp. ‘Mini super red’ O Proserpinaca palustris O Lobelia cardinalis ‘Mini’ O Staurogyne repens O Ranunculus inundatus O Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’ O Rotala rotundifolia O Hygrophila pinnatifida O Heteranthera zosterfolia O Marsilea crenata O Pogostemon erectus O Bucephalandra sp. (six species) O Dracaena sanderiana (emerged)

28

Start off with a photoperiod of just six hours. You can gradually increase this to eight or nine hours once the plants have matured.

RYAN’S TIP

used to partially disguise the gooseneck fittings attached to the Kessil LED lamps. The above and below plant growth offers such a beautiful slice of nature that in just a few moments you have forgotten you’re in someone’s bedroom.

A fusion layout Ryan has stuck largely to Nature Aquarium principles with his aquascape design. The backbone is dominated with excellent use of branchy Manzanita wood and base rocks but the real attraction lies within the planting. With around 25 species of plants, every section of the 120cm aquarium length is crammed with texture and colour. I would actually call this style of aquascape a fusion layout, combining strong design elements from a classic ‘U’ shape Nature Aquarium layout to a more untamed and chaotic jungle style. The result is a visual feast that throws you surprises from every angle. Hints of colour are provided by the red of the Alternanthera and various shades of green give the perfect balance of serenity and impact. Plant health is outstanding with no signs of nuisance algae but Ryan explained how things weren’t always plain sailing. Keen to up his plant growth rates Ryan increased the lighting intensity from his powerful LED lamps to 90% and temporarily experienced great success. Then suddenly algae became a real issue until he eventually settled on 70% intensity. (Author’s note: I run the same lighting system on a larger aquarium with 50% intensity). The point source effect produced by the lighting gives an amazing contrast between light and shade and the glitter lines add a great sense of movement that’s created from the powerful filtration and consequent water surface agitation. Further colour and movement are provided by large shoals of Cardinal tetras and Harlequin rasboras.

Going automatic Ryan has invested considerably in this system, both financially with high-end equipment and in the system design, ensuring it runs smoothly. One impressive

Ryan’s choice of fish suits the aquascape perfectly.

Ryan’s maintenance schedule O Daily: Check filters, temperature, auto doser, auto top-up and CO2, feed fish. O Weekly: 30% water change, clean glass, trim plants. O Monthly: Clean filters, filter hoses and glassware.

enhancement is the addition of an automatic doser that adds liquid fertilisers throughout the photoperiod (25ml all-in-one fertiliser and 10ml liquid carbon). Another enhancement is an auto top-up that adds reverse osmosis water to compensate for evaporation. Both pieces of hardware are cleverly hidden behind plants

Spotlight on...

Fissidens fontanus A very popular moss with attractive fronds that are larger than many other mosses. It’s often slow to adapt to aquarium conditions but once settled will grow with vigour. It can be tricky to attach to wood or rocks, so many aquascapers use superglue.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Reader visit

Harlequin rasbora  Scientific name: Trigonostigma heteromorpha (Trig-on-oh-stig-mah het-er-oh-morf-ah).  Size: 4cm.  Origin: Southern Thailand, Malay Peninsular, Singapore, Greater Sunda islands of Borneo and Sumatra.  Ease of keeping: Simple.  Aquarium size: 60 x 30 x 30cm.  Water requirements: 6–7.5pH, hardness 6–15°H.  Temperature: 23–28°C.  Feeding: All regular dried, frozen and live foods taken.  Availability and cost: Commonly available. Around £2–£3. 0 pH

Temp C

9

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

8

to minimise distraction from the aquascape. Plants are fed generously via the superrich ADA Aqua Soil substrate, which ensures the roots have access to more than enough nutrients. In a high-energy system like this it is also vital to ensure the plants have ample access to CO2 — this is provided by an inline diffuser combined with powerful filtration from two large Eheim canister filters. The aquarium is heated by a Hydor external heater that’s set to 25°C. On setting up your aquascape, begin with high levels of CO2 and no livestock, then gradually reduce CO2 before adding algae shrimp after 3–4 weeks.

RYAN’S TIP

7

Plant as densely as you can with healthy plants to establish your layout quickly and prevent algae issues.

RYAN’S TIP

6 5

Striving for perfection So, will we see this aquascape entered into the 2017 International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest? Ryan says he doesn’t consider this work to be of a high enough standard and that he is capable of much better. He goes on to explain that he used as many plant species as he did for this layout so he could figure out which worked best for him in his conditions — then he could shortlist those for his next ’scape. I’ve no doubt that whatever he creates next, it will be wonderful!

Cardinal tetra  Scientific name: Paracheirodon axelrodi (Par-ah-keer-row-don ax-elrow-dye).  Size: 2.5–3.5cm.  Origin: Rio Negro, Brazil and Orinoco, Venezuela.  Ease of keeping: Simple.  Aquarium size: 60 x 30 x 30cm.  Water requirements: Ideally soft and acidic, 4–7.5pH, aim for hardness <12°H.  Temperature: 23–28°C.  Feeding: All regular dried, frozen and live foods taken.  Availability and cost: Commonly available. Around £2–£3. 0

pH

Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘Cuba’ Known as ‘HC’ among ’scapers, this is one of the most popular carpeting aquarium plants, characterised by small round leaves. It grows out of water easily as it has better access to light and CO2 from the air.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

54 l+

Temp C

Hygrophila lancea

9

A relatively slow growing Hygrophila, which stays low with fine elongated leaves. Grown underwater with good light it turns a reddish brown — redder under brighter light. CO2 is recommended. Grown emerged, its leaves turn green and it produces violet flowers.

8 7 6

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

54 l+

5

29

TANKCOMMUNITY The place to share your fish, tanks, letters and photos From the

CHAT ROOM Find the PFK chat room at www.facebook.com/groups/ PracticalFishKeeping/

What size of tank for a Betta?

On mixing sand, cichlids and suckermouths Gavin has achieved some lovely plant growth in a tank with substrate shifting fish.

Molik Tahmim I was thinking of keeping a male Betta and have seen people keep them in jam jars and other small containers. I’d like to keep one in a decent sized tank. Any suggestions on the aquarium size and possible tank mates would be appreciated. Simon A. Morgan I’d aim for 30–40 l if you can stretch to it. Debbie Milford Betta thrive in heated, filtered tanks of 25 l plus. I have seven males and 16 girls. My boys are in 25 l cubes, (on their own) except for my Giant, who’s in a 54 l tank. All heavily planted. Adam Thomas My Dumbo ear Betta is thriving in a 40 l tank on his own. Molik Tahmim Thank you. Are there any good tank mates for them other than females? I’ve heard males can get quite aggressive if the females are not ready to breed. Jeroen Wijnands If you have space, then anything that isn’t too flashy. In 25 l, the best tank mates are snails and small shrimp. Debbie Milford You can’t keep females and males together unless it’s to breed them and even that can result in death or injury. If you go 54 l plus you could add Pygmy corys, Ember tetras, Harlequins or Otos, as they aren’t nippy. But it depends on the Betta — some won’t tolerate any tank mates. Molik Tahmim Thanks for all the advice. The Betta is the fish I’m most interested in, so that will be my priority before any tank mates.

+

STAR letter While reading the April issue of Practical Fishkeeping, I noticed the letter from a reader in the Fishkeeping Answers section who was asking whether it was possible to have a planted tank with a sand substrate, as they were wanting to keep L-number catfish alongside eartheating cichlids. There was a concern that the plants would be disturbed by the actions of the fish. But I would like to say that this

is certainly possible — I have done just this, with great success. I have a 600 l, 180 x 60 x 60cm set-up with a sand substrate and I have 11 different species of L-number catfish in this tank alongside Geophagus. I currently have the following plecs in the aquarium:  O Two Royal Panaque (one large and one small) O Royal tiger  O Rusty red  O Sunshine/goldie 

O Blue phantom  O Queen arabesque  O Snowball  O Butterfly  O Clown Peckoltia  O Gold nugget  As you can see, I am a huge fan of L-numbers, but I wanted to point out that you can have a lovely lush green aquarium with both a sand substrate and L-numbers! I hope you like the photo of my tank.

Gavin Little, Cumbria

Win FishScience aquarium food The writer of each star letter will win a 250ml pot of their choice from this quality range of food, which uses natural ingredients, including insect meal. Email: editorial@practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

JOIN THE PFK COMMUNITY There are five different ways to get in touch with Practical Fishkeeping: Tweet, like us on Facebook, drop us an email, join the forum or simply send a good old-fashioned letter: EMAIL: editorial@practicalfishkeeping.co.uk twitter.com/PFKmagazine

facebook.com. Search Practical Fishkeeping FORUM: http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

U

WRITE: Practical Fishkeeping, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

31

TANKCOMMUNITY FROM FACEBOOK O The female of Responses to our question ‘Tropical freshwater, temperate freshwater, tropical marine, temperate marine, brackish, community, biotope, aquascape and pond. How many of those have you tried?’

the species... Male Betta splendens are well known for their fantastic fins and glorious colour but many of their less showy female counterparts are worthy of attention. Some are equally striking and they can be kept in groups, unlike the males. This lovely fish belongs to Adrian Myers.

NEIL HEPWORTH

Lots of biotope love...

Alan Whyte: I once owned

one of the smaller oceans, which counts as biotope. Josh Pickett: I’ve done tropical freshwater, temperate (coldwater and subtropical) freshwater and biotope. Biotope has to be my favourite. I’m in the middle of setting up an African one (although I may of snuck a few fish from outside of Africa in there). I’m wanting to set up a subtropical biotope for a Channa pair this year. Tim Stoodley: Full house! Steven Baker: I’ve kept tropical fresh, subtropical fresh, coldwater fresh, biotope, tropical brackish, tropical marine and pond. By a long shot my favourite is biotope set-ups. I enjoy the research, I enjoy the natural look and the fish respond beautifully. My main tank is a Borneo forest stream. Karl MB: All to some extent, even UK native marine. My freshwater biotope at home is hardly a biotope though, it’s that lax in terms of stocking, so my native marine one will have to be described as a River Mersey biotope to fill that one. Paul Tappers Tapley: I can tick a lot of those boxes. I find I’m enjoying water gardening a lot now I’m older and more cynical. The sheer pleasure I derive from watching Sticklebacks interacting in an 18 x 18ft pond is immense. Almost limitless space for natural behaviours — fishkeeping outside of the boundaries of the box.

32

O The ultimate community tetra? It’s hard to argue with Ian Anthony’s assertion that the White tip Bentosi tetra, Hyphessobrycon bentosi, is the best community tetra out there, when you consider its winning combination of beautiful colouration, peaceful demeanour and adaptable nature.

O Bubbling beautifully The Bubble-tip anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor, is one of the easier to maintain species, and while they don’t host clownfish in the wild, they often do so in the aquarium. Ricky Lock took this photo of his colourful specimen.

O Angel in blue Metallic blue varieties of popular cichlids have taken the hobby by storm recently, and the attraction is obvious when you see gorgeous fish like Jack Sherburn’s Blue angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Tiny trooper I’m sending you a picture of a Pygmy cory I bought back in 2008. I had a shoal of 13 originally, but for the last year or so this little fellow has been on his own. I recently bought four more as I couldn’t bear for him to be alone, although he generally keeps his own company.  He has shared the tank with many different species over the years, seeming to ignore most of them, although he gets on well with the Hovering loaches. I’ve become very fond of him, checking him and a six-year-old Minelli goby before anything else when the lights come on. 

CONTACT US Address: Practical Fishkeeping, Bauer Media, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA Email: [email protected] If you or someone you know are aged between 16 and 24 and are interested in work experience opportunities at Practical Fishkeeping go to www.gothinkbig.co.uk

EDITORIAL Phone 01733 468000 Editor Karen Youngs Email [email protected] Features Editor Nathan Hill Art Editor Mark Cureton Editorial Assistant Nicki Manning

ADVERTISING Phone 01733 468000

Charlotte’s nine-year-old Pygmy cory...

Charlotte Wear, email

...and Beth’s rather younger specimen.

From one to five... Please could you consider my photo of one of my Pygmy corys for your next issue? I’ve kept fish since university, as I had some issues with stress and thought it would help (and it does, massively) and the hobby has since turned into an obsession — I now have five tanks housing fancy goldfish, a Sucking loach called Ken, danios who are almost seven years old and a little doddery, some Peppered corys (some of which are also seven years old), Cherry/Bee/Sunset yellow/Crystal cherry shrimps, White Cloud Mountain minnows, a Dwarf puffer, a Siamese fighter and five Pygmy corys, plus Zebra and Horned nerite snails. I’m a big fan of your mag, too. 

Beth Marsden, Grimsby

O A Dragon in your tank ‘Oddballs’ are always popular and they don’t come much odder than the prehistoric looking Dragon goby, Gobioides broussonnetii, a brackish species that can reach over 60cm in length. This one belongs to Jack Sherburn.

O Big bass Banjo! Many of us will be familiar with the common Banjo catfish, Bunocephalus coracoideus. Far fewer will have seen its amazing foot-long cousin the Eeltailed banjo, Platystacus cotylephorus, seen here in Wayne Goddard’s tank.

Commercial Director Rhonda Janes Key Accounts Stephen Tanner Display Advertising Executive Zaher Khan Classified Advertising Executive Lucy Baxter MARKETING Phone 01733 468329 Brand Manager Lynne Fairburn Direct Marketing Julie Spires Head of Newstrade Marketing Leon Benoiton Deputy Newstrade Marketing Manager Samantha Tomblin

PRODUCTION Phone 01733 468000 Print Production Manager Richard Woolley Advertising Production Nicholas Greenwood Printed by Wyndeham Heron Distributed by Frontline SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES To ensure that you don’t miss an issue and for the best subscription offers visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk For subscription or back issue queries please contact CDS Global on Bauer@ subscription.co.uk Phone from the UK on 01858 438884. Phone from overseas on +44 (0)1858 438884

BAUER CONSUMER MEDIA Managing Director - Hobbies Nicola Bates Editorial Director June Smith-Sheppard Head of Digital Charlie Calton-Watson Group Direct Marketing Director Chris Gadsby Finance Director Lisa Hayden Group Finance Director Sarah Vickery Group Managing Director Rob Munro-Hall CEO Paul Keenan Practical Fishkeeping magazine is published 13 times a year by Bauer Consumer Media Ltd, which is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 01176085, registered address Media House, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in any form in whole or in part, without the prior permission of Bauer. All material published remains the copyright of Bauer, and we reserve the right to copy or edit any material submitted to the magazine without further consent. The submission of material (manuscripts or images etc.) to Bauer Media whether unsolicited or requested, is taken as permission to publish that material in the magazine, on the associated website, any apps or social media pages affiliated to the magazine, and any editions of the magazine published by our licensees elsewhere in the world. By submitting any material to us you are confirming that the material is your own original work or that you have permission from the copyright owner to use the material and to authorise Bauer to use it as described in this paragraph. You also promise that you have permission from anyone featured or referred to in the submitted material to it being used by Bauer. If Bauer receives a claim from a copyright owner or a person featured in any material you have sent us, we will inform that person that you have granted us permission to use the relevant material and you will be responsible for paying any amounts due to the copyright owner or featured person and/or for reimbursing Bauer for any losses it has suffered as a result. We accept no responsibility for unsolicited material which is lost or damaged in the post and we do not promise that we will be able to return any material to you. Finally, whilst we try to ensure accuracy of your material when we publish it, we cannot promise to do so. We do not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage, however caused, resulting from use of the material as described in this paragraph. COMPLAINTS: Bauer Consumer Media Limited is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (www.ipso.co.uk) and endeavours to respond to and resolve your concerns quickly. Our Editorial Complaints Policy (including full details of how to contact us about editorial complaints and IPSO’s contact details) can be found at www. bauermediacomplaints.co.uk. Our e mail address for editorial complaints covered by the Editorial Complaints Policy is [email protected].

U www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

33

TANKCOMMUNITY

Me & my

TANK

● Name: Chris

Jones-Fuller. ● Age: 48. ● Occupation:

Class 1 driver. ● Whereabouts?

Didcot, Oxfordshire. ● Time in the hobby? On and off 20 years. ● Number of tanks: One. What attracted you to the hobby? I used to be a very keen scuba diver and I’ve always been interested in what lives in our oceans, so it was a natural progression to get into fishkeeping. How would you describe your tank? Too small! It’s only been set up seven months and has been a bit of a steep learning curve, getting used to new equipment like phosphate and calcium reactors. Once you learn how to use them they are very good pieces of equipment.

Seven months after setting it up, Chris already thinks his reef tank is too small!

What’s the easiest fish you’ve kept? Back when I started keeping fish I had tropicals, and I found that Swordtails, Mollies and Guppies were very easy to keep in a variety of water conditions, so they were ideal for the beginner.

My current stock ● Regal tang, Paracanthurus hepatus ● Yellow tang, Zebrasoma flavescens ● Two Common clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris ● Five Green chromis, Chromis viridis ● Mandarin dragonet, Synchiropus splendidus ● Starry dragonet, Synchiropus stellatus ● Blue cheek goby, Valenciennea strigata ● Four Turbo snails ● Hermit crab ● Emerald crab.

Yellow tang.

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS JONES-FULLER UNLESS STATED

Starry dragonet. Soft corals and mushrooms.

34

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

My wish list...

NEIL HEPWORTH

The spectacularly coloured Zebra octopus.

What would you most like to keep? A Zebra octopus, Octopus horridus. The interaction with this creature and getting all the water parameters right all seem very interesting to me — although keeping it in the tank would be hard enough in itself!

What’s your dream aquarium? A 1.8m x 60cm deep (6 x 2ft), bare bottomed reef tank with glass shelves, so that I can build reefs properly on the sides and back of the aquarium. They look stunning if done properly and filled with stony corals.

Chromis and Blood shrimp among soft corals and polyps.

Chris found some of the advanced marine gear took a bit of getting used to.

My advice for newcomers to marines Find yourself a reputable dealer, buy yourself some good books and magazines, and have a good read. Do your research, plan ahead — and don’t trust everything you read on the Internet. Save money: Shop around for hardware. Premier deals are there to be had on online. Don’t rule out buying second-hand

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

equipment, it can save you a lot of money. Save time: My ‘secret weapon’ is a 100 l barrel of RO water, already made up to a salinity that matches my aquarium. It makes my water changes very easy and it’s always good to have it on hand in case of any nasty surprises I might have with my aquarium.

35

The future’s

ORANGE From a drab juvenile, the Petit Laussat Guianacara cichlid transforms into a flame-headed beauty. It’s easy to keep and breed — and its unusual brood care will provide you with an unforgettable experience. WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: RADEK BEDNARCZUK

J

ust over a year ago, I purchased a few grey coloured cichlids from a genus of eartheaters called Guianacara. This was my first experience with this genus and at the time I wasn’t sure which species of Guianacara I was actually dealing with. But within a few months these rather drab looking fish began to show some colour — mostly orange — and were transformed into ‘new’ fish, which did not resemble their young selves at all. These lovely cichlids were the red-headed Guianacara sp. ‘Petit Laussat’. The black stripe running across the eye is characteristic of this genus of eartheaters. It resembles the black band worn by bandits in past times, hence its popular name among fishkeepers of bandit cichlid. This moniker is also apt with regards to their feisty temperament, along with the males’ aggression when breeding, and the courage they show in chasing even fish significantly bigger than themselves from their territory. This orange-red Guianacara inhabits the quieter areas of briskly flowing rivers, with a sandy bottom covered in mud, where there are many boulders, stones, caves, and branches. The water is clear; only during the rainy season does visibility diminish due to the washing down of sediments.

What’s in a name? Guianacara refers to the main distribution region of these fish: Guia l some cichlids in the language of the Tupi Indians: Acara.

Aquarium care In their natural environment, these fish seek shelter in crevices, where they readily breed. They can be found in areas with many rocks, as well as sandy and muddy bottoms, so long as there are hiding places available in the form of tree roots or branches. This type of habitat needs to be replicated in the aquarium — the more hideouts in the form of stones, driftwood or lignites the better; these fish love them.

36

The bottom should be covered in fine sand, not too bright in colour, on which you should place heaps of rocks, pieces of driftwood or lignites, and then add a few plants such as Anubias or Microsorum, which can be tied with transparent fishing line to wood or rockwork, as these fish like to dig in the substrate. You can also add some large Moss balls.

As the males grow to 15cm on average, and the females around 12cm, the aquarium should not be too small. Relatively large breeding territories make it advisable to consider 100 l as the absolute minimum for an adult pair, on the condition that the length of the tank is 100–120cm or more. The fish spend most of the day in the bottom and middle PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Cichlids Great for newcomers too!

The females develop a sooty black ‘lipstick’ when in breeding condition.

If you have never tried your hand at keeping eartheating cichlids before, or even if you are a relative newcomer to fishkeeping, these fish are made for you. Not only do they adapt easily to various physical and chemical water parameters, but they are easy to feed, being omnivorous, as well as resistant to disease. And you certainly wouldn’t want to miss out on that amazing breeding behavior.

How to sex your fish Adult males of this species are bigger and bulkier than the females, they also have more elongated and pointed unpaired fins. But their most striking characteristic is the red-orange colour of the head that intensifies during reproduction and brood care. Females, while rather pale outside of spawning time, become darker when they breed and their lips look as if they have been painted with soot-black lipstick; the suborbital stripe and throat also take on this shiny, sooty hue.

There’s no denying that the adult male is a magnificent fish.

levels of the tank, so its height is of secondary importance. As far as feeding is concerned, they will take any kind of food, but it’s best to offer those types that fall quickly to the bottom. I recommend a varied diet including colour-enhancing Discus foods, spirulina, Krill, and frozen fare such as bloodworm and black mosquito larvae. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

G Scientific name: Guianacara sp. ‘Petit Laussat’. G Size: Males 15cm; females to 12cm. G Origin: Petit Laussat, French Guiana. G Aquarium size: 100 l minimum with a length of at least 100–120cm. G Water requirements: Soft and slightly acidic or neutral, 6.5–7pH. G Temperature: 26–28°C. G Feeding: Sinking foods such as Discus food, spirulina, Krill, frozen

bloodworms, glassworms and black mosquito larvae. 0

pH

Temp C 9 8 7 6

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

100 l+

5

37

While this is considered a monogamous species, it’s better to include two or three females to each male to spread out any aggression on his part.

Caught on film! Check out Radek’s video of his Guianacara at pfkmag.com/orange

Breeding and fry care I found this species to be a very prolific and frequent spawner. A sex ratio of one male to 2–3 females is best for peace and equilibrium in the aquarium — while these cichlids are considered monogamous, this ratio is necessary to spread the male’s aggression around more evenly, as it can sometimes be excessive. When I separated the male from the group of females for a month after spawning, he chose the same mate again. This may have been coincidence, of course... I also observed another interesting behaviour; with only one male available to the group of females, there were frequent squabbles between the free, unpaired females and the one who has a mate, consisting of threat displays and mouthwrestling. Seen from outside the tank it looked just as if the other females were trying to steal her partner. The male begins courtship by displaying his charms to the females, and once a pair has formed the female starts looking for a spawning site. The spawning site is chosen by the female; usually a pit of some sort, dug under a piece of driftwood or rock, but they will also use empty coconut shells, ceramic pipe or an overturned clay flowerpot. The female cleans the site thoroughly, and the male protects the territory, which can take up a large area of your aquarium (up to 50cm in diameter). The eggs, numbering a few hundred, are laid on a flat surface; the female diligently fans them with her pectoral fins to aerate them and provide fresh water. From time to

38

Eggs in the base of a coconut shell cave.

time she will leave the hiding place for a moment to ‘check out’ her surroundings. Naturally, the male meanwhile is patrolling the vicinity of the spawning site and chases away even those fish that are a few times bigger than him. After 3–4 days, depending on the temperature, the mother gently frees the larvae from the egg casings, and begins to move them in her mouth to various other places, usually pits dug in the substrate. This habit of transferring the young is probably due to sanitary considerations, as toxic metabolites are likely to accumulate in the pits. Another reason that occurs to me is that in the natural environment moving the young increases the availability and variety of food. Frequent changes of location also

reduce the risk of the fry being found by fish that would eat them — another advantage of this arrangement is that it is easier to keep an eye on the young when they are sticking together. The mother keeps a distance from her brood, so as not to betray their location to potential aggressors. After a few days, depending on the temperature, the young will have resorbed their yolk sacs, and you can start feeding them — they are able to take freshly hatched Artemia nauplii from the get-go. For my part, I gave them dry food 2–3 times a day, which was finely ground and dissolved in water, as well as frozen Artemia nauplii, which I blew into the cloud of fry using a syringe with a rigid tube attached to it. If the fish spawn in a crowded aquarium, PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Cichlids A female stands guard over her eggs.

What about tank mates?

It is possible to keep other eartheaters with this species, such as those from the genus Geophagus. But don’t house them with very peaceful or timid species, as Guianacara are lively and sociable fish — and could even be called quarrelsome and loutish.

Silent signals There’s a special signal the parent fish use to communicate the presence of danger with their brood. They twitch their fins, and the young fish drop limply to the bottom. Once the threat has passed the adults signal that the youngsters can resume feeding by spreading their fins.

Two weeks old

Four weeks old

Once free-swimming, the babies will be big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp.

The characteristic black markings are beginning to appear.

the eggs or newly hatched larvae are likely to get eaten sooner or later, and in this case, all we can do is catch the rest of the brood and raise them in a separate tank. After a month of supplementary feeding I moved the young to another tank, where a food tablet stuck to the glass was always consumed to the last crumb.

Give them a rest After a few spawnings the female can begin to look emaciated and her fins frayed. Lowered immunity can lead to illness, so I recommend separating the male from the females for a while, during which time they should be fed a quality diet, so they can recuperate and restore their vital energies before breeding again. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Even juveniles barely 2–3 cm long will show aggressive behaviour that marks them out as future males.

39

Born free! Imagine a tankful of tetras that haven’t cost you a penny. Follow a few basic rules for keeping Rathbun’s beautiful bloodfin and this could become a reality when they breed... WORDS: KEITH NAITBY

HRISTO HRISTOV

W

hether they are small, medium or large, the size of a species seems to have little relevance on its ability to become a successful nomad. Driven by unknown desires, these freshwater wayfarers have developed an ability to navigate the aquatic highways and byways to spread across vast tracts of their homeland. In the continent of South America, one of the most successful

40

adventurers is a delightful fish that grows to just a few centimetres and has travelled so far it now lives in different climates! For a fish that can call five different countries home, it seems quite appropriate that a little tetra known scientifically as Aphyocharax rathbuni has several common names. Green fire tetras and Redflank bloodfins are often quoted in literature but the one we most frequently encounter is Rathbun’s bloodfin. That

common and scientific name is accredited to Dr Richard Rathbun who served as director of the fish commission at the US National museum. His position led to collaborations with prolific ichthyologist Carl Eigenmann who was no stranger to the fishes of South America. Having documented many species from other collectors, Eigenmann also took great delight in capturing the undescribed on his own field trips across this continent. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Community fish

On top form, the males are utterly magnificent. Their lime green bodies have a radiance that borders on fluorescent when seen in the flesh.

Rathbun’s tetra

Although it’s unclear whether Rathbun’s bloodfin came to light on one of these expeditions, we can be sure they were described in his honour by Eigenmann in 1907.

The wanderer Flowing in a southerly direction, the mighty Rio Parana forms a massive watershed that draws its life from many sources on route towards the Atlantic. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

This vast river basin has created some diverse habitats along its length and Rathbun’s bloodfin has taken up residence in many of them. The adaptable nature of this little tetra must have played a crucial role on their travels, as northern and southern populations are now living quite different lives. Roughly 1700 miles separates them, and the fish of Argentina exist in a much cooler and drier world than distant relatives way upstream in sultry

 Scientific name: Aphyocharax rathbuni (Aff-eye-oh-car-ax rath-bun-eye).  Size: To 4.5cm  Origin: Streams, rivers and tributaries in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.  Aquarium size: 60 x 30 x 30cm minimum.  Water requirements: Far less fussy than many South American tetras. 6.5–7.5pH and hardness 3–18°H — aim for the softer, more acidic parameters if you’re intending to breed them.  Temperature: 21–26°C.  Feeding: Flake foods, live and frozen Daphnia and bloodworm.  Availability and cost: Commonly available, from around £2.50 each. pH

0

9 8 7 6

0 Temp C

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

54 l+

5

41

Plants are essential to really get the best from these fish.

Bolivia. With Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay supporting their fair share, it’s clear these fish have found ecological niches enabling them to flourish along the way. While rivers, streams and oxbow lakes provide homes over much of their territory, many northern populations are subject to an ebb and flow existence. Annual rains flood the landscape along the Brazil/ Bolivia/Paraguay border, bringing life to the Pantanal and an ocean of opportunity for the fish. Rathbun’s bloodfins are one of the first to benefit as rising waters allow smaller species access to the bounty on offer. Aquatic plants are quick to flourish and these tetras seek sanctuary with a host of other species amongst the beds of vegetation. If they can avoid the predatory Hoplias that hunt within this tangle of macrophyte foliage, there’s plenty of food on offer and an opportunity to produce the next generation. One of the most important sources of nutrition available to them at this time are the tiny larvae of aquatic beetles. Lying dormant in the parched earth for months, these Berosus and Anacaena species appear within hours of heavy rainfall and congregate primarily among the roots of floating plants. This shallow water

42

community is also joined by billions of organisms from the testacea family. Despite their size, these miniscule invertebrates with a shell type structure play a crucial role in the food chain and make up a large proportion of the diet for smaller fish, including Rathbun’s bloodfin.

conditions, those greenish looking tetras you may encounter with a slight hint of red can transform into one of the most delightful fish our hobby has to offer. On top form, the males are utterly magnificent. Their lime green bodies have a radiance that borders on fluorescent when seen in the flesh. For some reason, Mother Nature decided to add that vibrant red marking and then trump herself with those fins! The titanium white flourishes we get to enjoy as spectators find purpose

A multitude of morphs One of the features from a fish with such wanderlust is the changeability of their appearance. It matters not one iota to the Rathbun’s that populations differ slightly in colour and shape across their range, but from an aquarist’s viewpoint these things are clearly important. Given a choice, most of us would plump for colour, which makes wild fish a bit of a gamble in this respect as origins are generally unknown. Fortunately, most commercially reared stock will have bloodlines stemming from vibrant parents as there’s little point in breeders selecting the drabber strains. I have to admit they can be a tough sell for some retailers as even the best examples rarely look appealing in shops. The bare tanks so often seen today make life easier from a husbandry point of view but Rathbun’s can appear washed out under these circumstances. Given time and ideal

While they often look drab in the shops, once settled into your aquarium these fish will really shine.

HRISTO HRISTOV

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

Although populations of these fish exist in tea-stained lakes and streams, they don’t require the highly acidic conditions so often associated with South American tetras.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Community fish

when males decide to have their genteel disputes. It’s more of an old fashioned ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that anything approaching a physical altercation must be avoided. With fins held taut, you cannot fail to be charmed by Rathbun’s artistry. The combatants take up a close parallel position and try to outdo each other with a shimmying exchange that will often find them swooping around the tank in unison. Despite watching this display for nearly 30 years, I’ve never

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

tired of it and still can’t work out how or if a victor is decided.

Setting the scene If biotope aquariums are something you aspire to, the variations available for Rathbun’s are enormous. You could pick an Argentine stream, a blackwater lake from Brazil or maybe one of Bolivia’s flooded meadows. With such a vast choice of habitat on offer there’s an aquascape waiting for nearly every taste. Of course, you don’t need to go quite this far but there a few things that might be worth considering to get the best from these fish. In terms of water chemistry, there’s no need to be over fussy. Although populations exist in tea-stained lakes and streams, they don’t require the highly acidic conditions so often associated with South America’s tetras. A neutral pH with several degrees of hardness is quite acceptable. I would pay some careful attention to the current. Fish in the wild will have to deal with a volatile flow at times but it’s something I would avoid at home. They prefer a gentle return from filters and are far more inclined to spend their time in open water if the rate is kept down. Plants are essential. Those Cryptocoryne

Rathbun’s look remarkable against black — stick some black vinyl roll on the outside back of the tank to show these lovely fish off to their full potential.

TIP

with darker leaves are perfect, accentuating the fishes’ colours while affording them a little security. Wood can be introduced as a scaffold for the ovate leaves of Anubias nana which will create an interesting backdrop of dark recesses over time. I would avoid bright green plants as they blend too closely with the Rathbun’s and the overall effect may be lost. In a similar vein I would be choosing potential tank mates to complement these little characins. Small tetras and rasboras are an ideal match in both temperament and size. But for sheer impact, in my opinion nothing competes with a species only tank. A large shoal of Rathbun’s with the occasional outbreak of competition among the males ranks as one of my favourite set-ups. My only concession might be the introduction of some small crustaceans. The lovely Bee shrimp combine the red and white colours found on these bloodfins, bringing a nice balance to the whole aquarium.

43

Community fish

3

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

The males have white tips to the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins, which is lacking in females.

tank mates for Rathbun’s bloodfins

Black phantom tetra, Hyphessobrycon megalopterus.

Rathbun’s usually spawn at first light.

Get them breeding! With some basic equipment and half a dozen fish you can end up with a tankful of Rathbun’s by breeding them at home. Six fish should give you enough to work with. Females are unlikely to display white fin markings and appear slightly heavier built under good maintenance. They can be conditioned in your display aquarium on a varied diet of flake, frozen bloodworm/ mosquito larvae and live Daphnia. Choose a 45 x 30 x 30cm breeding tank as this size will be ideal for raising a reasonable number of youngsters. A 50W heaterstat, an air pump with enough punch for two airlines and a sponge filter completes the hardware selection. I would run the filter in your main tank for a while as this will generate a healthy supply of beneficial bacteria and provide fry with food later on. Water parameters don’t need to be exact for spawning these tetras. Depending on where you live, a mixture of RO and tap should give readings with a pH around 6.5 and 4°H. It’s now imperative to give this water a little ‘tweak’. Five Indian almond leaves left in your breeding tank for a week will begin to break down and leach useful compounds into the water. I can’t offer a scientific explanation on how these agents interact but it’s safe to say hatch rates and

44

fry survival are significantly higher with water that has been conditioned in this way. With the temperature set at 24°C, filter installed and those leaves left in place, all you need to add before the fish is some spawning medium. A clump of Java moss teased apart will harbour untold quantities of microscopic fry food. Introduce a single pair of Rathbun’s to the breeding tank in the late afternoon. I would be inclined to use some towels to block out most of the light from their tank at this point — I’ve found egg-scattering species much more productive in a twilight zone. By leaving the bottom half of the viewing pane clear you will be able to watch their spawning antics without disturbance. This normally begins at first light, so be up early! Prospects for the male are heightened when the female begins to show interest in the spawning medium. After a period of closely attending her, both fish will enter the moss and a rapid flick results in eggs being released and fertilised. A couple of hours may elapse before the action subsides, resulting in 200–300 eggs. The adults can now be replaced in the main tank.

Little Rathbun’s With the water steeped in its cocktail of tannins, hatch rates can be surprisingly

PANEL PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

Dwarf suckermouth catfish, Otocinclus vittatus.

Bee shrimp — also ideal for a Rathbun’s-only aquarium.

high. Unfertilised eggs that are normally attacked by fungus in untreated water will simply turn white and subsequent bacterial explosions are kept at bay. The larvae begin hatching after 36 hours and their metamorphosis to free swimming fry takes a further five days. Once you spot some of these tiny tetras scooting about, give the filter sponge a gentle squeeze as this will release an infusion of minuscule food. With all this natural fare on offer, the young Rathbun’s will graze among the moss and leaves for several days before brine shrimp can be included on the menu. This vital food is straightforward to hatch in a bottle and your spare airline will keep the eggs in suspension. Various grades of fry feed will encourage growth but the more adventurous aquarist will definitely see a benefit if culturing microworms and grindalworms has an appeal. While this may sound like an ancient practice today, many breeders are still rearing these worms in plastic tubs for their young fish. Team all this with weekly water changes of around 25% and the first glimmers of green will soon be showing on the youngsters. Now you can grace your tank with free of charge fish! PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Did you know? NG MAGAZI EPI NE KE G

PET FIS 2016 H

Y HL NT

696

1

M O

g

p

m

YEARS

ANNIVERS AR Y

- PR ACTICAL

H

N DE OL

FI S

UIDE GE POND G FREE 24-PA 50

m

‘

S I

g

A O

F

TH

FISH T H E MON

ARS DWARF ST p of cichlids Meet a grou

PALE SHADE OF A WHITER IAL ESSENT ADVICE

sider Points to con fish with albino

lly that you’ll rea

ING MADE AQUASCAP

to take a shine

SIMPLE

THE LONG

N OF IT AND THE THI

MARINE

D PLANTE TANKS

for Easy plants arium aqu a beautiful

Eel alte for sma

s

IN! URFUL COUS REEF TRA’S COLO PS O CAMOUFLAGE ON THEPTO SHO 1 UR EMPEROR TE THE SHO : O SCOTLAND OVER THE ARF SNAKEHEADS O FISH INPON E SC ID DI PROBLEMS D O S DW ING IN AVOID SPR BREEDER O FISH ARIUMS O A TOP CAT ONAL AQU O WE VISIT INSk PIRATI H O.co.u FISeping HYshke ticalfi ITC AT.prac www O TRE

You can now buy single issues of Practical Fishkeeping magazine online with

FREE UK POSTAGE! More details at magsdirect.co.uk

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

45

10

pond plants to encourage wildlife If you want to make your pond more attractive to insects, amphibians and other native wildlife, you’ll get best results by using the plants they have evolved to live alongside. Here are our favourites... WORDS: JEREMY GAY

NATUREPL

Banded damselfly.

MOISTURE LOVING Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria

SHUTTERSTOCK

Lining the edges of the UK’s rivers and lakes, Purple loosestrife is a tall, moisture loving plant with a pink or purple flower. Pass a thicket of this on a country walk and you’ll probably think it’s a weed, but it has many benefits for UK wildlife and when in flower, is a magnet for butterflies and bees. One for the bog garden or shallow margins, with the base of the pot in water at the most, it will grow and grow — a kind of poolside Buddleia. O Great for: Butterflies, moths, and other insects.

46

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Ponds MARGINAL Yellow flag iris, Iris pseudacorus

SHUTTERSTOCK

NATUREPL

The Yellow flag is one of only two native Iris species. It has those characteristic spiky, blade-like leaves, with a bright yellow flower and it’s dead easy to grow — just place it in a pond basket on the marginal shelf of your pond, ideally with the top of the pot level with the water surface. Your Iris will occasionally produce green seed pods, looking like green chillies, which then split to reveal brown seeds, resembling sweetcorn. You can either plant these or, if they find a good spot, they will grow themselves. But the easiest way to propagate Irises is by division — take a knife or spade and chop your thicket into two or three, and re-pot. For best effect plant in groups Southern over a large area. hawker dragonfly. O Great for: Emergent damselflies and dragonflies, bees, beetles and moths.

OXYGENATOR

Where to plant O Moisture loving — permanently wet soil on pond edge. O Marginal — underwater ledge 15–30cm deep, depending on pond and basket size. O Oxygenator — in water 30–90cm deep. O Deep water — in water 45cm–1.2m deep. O Floating — free floating with no basket or roots in soil.

MARGINAL Marsh marigold, Caltha palustris

ALAMY

The flowers of this plant resemble those of buttercups. It’s native, hardy and those flowers attract wildlife. Thriving in the nation’s freshwater aquatic habitats, the Marsh marigold sticks both leaves and flowers out above the waterline and doesn’t need water deeper than root level, although up to 10cm (or to the top of the pot) is tolerated. It can also be grown in bog gardens and water-logged soils. Plant in groups for a much more pleasing display. O Great for: Butterflies, bees and other insects. Also provides shelter for amphibians and other animals that live around the pond.

Hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum

ALAMY

Ladybird.

Smooth newt.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

SHUTTERSTOCK

NAT UR

EP L

Ranking as one of my favourite aquatic plants of all time, I use Hornwort in both my indoor aquariums and outdoor ponds, even harvesting cheap bunched plants from my pond to decorate my tanks. The benefits of Hornwort are many. It helps fight algae by providing surface cover, cutting down light exposure to the depths of the pond, and its rapid growth quickly soaks up all those spare organic nutrients which would otherwise be available as fertilisers for algae growth. Next is the cover it provides. For fish, insect and amphibian eggs it makes the perfect anchor but also helps to hide and prevent access to newly laid eggs from large egg eaters, like fish. And when the eggs hatch, it provides the perfect cover from predators while at the same time harbouring microscopic life, which serves as the hatchling’s first food. Hornwort is super hardy with regard to temperature, light and pH, and doesn’t even need potting. Buy it bunched, remove stems from the bunch to prevent stalks rotting and simply drop it in. And if it grows too well, pull it out with a pitchfork and compost it. O Great for: Fighting algae issues and providing cover for fish, insect and amphibian eggs and larvae.

47

SHUTTERSTOCK

FLOATING

This is a lovely little plant that should be offered for sale more often. Not to be confused with the similarly named tropical Amazon frogbit, Limnobium laevigatum, used in aquariums, our native Hydrocharis morsus-ranae has small, lily-like floating leaves, around 5cm in diameter, and produces a small, white flower. Like all floating aquatic plants, it has many benefits to the wildlife pond including soaking up nutrients which would otherwise cause algae growth, providing fish and amphibians with cover from overhead predators and the shade that it provides also fights algae by cutting down on excess sunlight shining through the water. The green leaves turn bronze and even red in the height of summer, when another huge benefit to wildlife are the fluffy, fibrous roots. Those roots are nature’s spawning mops, providing the perfect medium for fish and newts to lay their eggs in, and then for their resultant offspring to find food and cover from predators. Being a UK native, Frogbit is quite seasonal, and its leaves die back in winter to afford them protection from the ice. A perfect mini alternative to water lilies in small ponds and water features. O Great for: Fighting algae and providing cover and a spawning medium for fish, amphibians and invertebrates.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Frogbit, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae

MARGINAL Bog bean, Menyanthes trifoliata Bog bean can look pretty sorry for itself when it comes into the shops, with a few woody stems and minimal green foliage, but you need to appreciate this one as a slow burner. Plant it in the margins in number, and once well and truly settled in, it grows horizontally across the pond surface, spreading in length and width, yet still affording open water between the stems. Definitely one for the natural looking pond, the ideal is a shallow soil edge and maybe the odd fallen branch which the Bog bean will then grow around. British biotope at its best! O Great for: Natural-looking ponds, attracting bees and other insects, and also as cover for fish and amphibians.

MOISTURE LOVING

Water mint, Mentha aquatica

TTE SHU

RSTOCK

As its name suggests, this is a mint, and its leaves look and smell like mint should. When it flowers, it will attract bees and butterflies and makes up part of many of the nation’s treasured water meadows. Ideal for the bog garden. O Great for: Bees and butterflies.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Peacock butterfly.

48

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Ponds OXYGENATOR

SHUTTERSTOCK

MOISTURE LOVING

Water crowfoot, Ranunculus aquatilis Water crowfoot can have several leaf types on the same plant, depending on whether the leaf is submersed (underwater,) or immerse (floating on the water surface). It flowers too. Ranunculus is found in a variety of UK habitats but bright light and clean flowing water is key, and ideally a stream-like habitat. O Great for: Providing cover for most aquatic life, including the larvae of damselflies and dragonflies. The flowers are also attractive to some beetles.

Bumble bee.

TTE SHU

SHUTTERSTOCK

RSTOCK

DEEP WATER

ALAMY

Water avens, Geum rivale While not massive on visual impact, Geum rivale is nevertheless a valuable addition to the bog garden and UK native wildlife pond. When it comes into flower it attracts bees and hoverflies, and in the right, moist conditions, it will flower from May until September. O Great for: Solitary bees and other pollinating insects.

Common frog in metamorphosis.

Local attraction SHUTTERSTOCK

Choose native plants and avoid pesticides in your garden to see more in the way of butterflies, bees, beetles, aquatic life, slugs and snails — while these last two might sound less attractive, they do provide food for birds, frogs, toads and hedgehogs.

This is the UK’s native water lily, very hardy, widely available and one of the cheapest water liles you can buy. It has a white flower with a yellow centre and although far from exotic in the colourful lily world, it is still a very beautiful plant when placed in large enough ponds. Those flowers will attract any number of pollinating insects and the waxy floating leaves shade the pond, helping to prevent algae growth. The leaves are a favourite place for fish and amphibians to hide under, offering valuable cover from predators. Frogs love to poke just their heads out of the water in the ‘V’ of that otherwise round leaf. If danger looms they quickly retreat underwater and under those lily leaves. The main problem with Nymphaea alba is size. A single plant may easily cover 1.5m or more on the surface. A standard, preformed pond will be too small and shallow long term — an indication of this is when those characteristic leaves stick out of the water in a vertical position, instead of lying flat on the water surface. Use it in ponds of 90cm minimum water depth and at least 2000 l volume, in extra large planting baskets full of rich soil to feed those leaves. Plant in groups of three or five in a large enough pond and you’ll have many flowers appearing at the same time, looking like the quintessential English water garden. O Great for: Reducing algae problems by shading the pond, attracting pollinating insects and providing cover for fish and amphibians. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

NATUREPL

European white lily, Nymphaea alba

Blackbird bathing in a garden pond.

49

All good things come to those who

WAIT None of our tank set-ups has ever divided opinion like this one. But whether you love or hate this biotope, it was one of the most rewarding in terms of fish behaviour! WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: NATHAN HILL

PHOTOGRAPHY: IVAN MIKOLJI UNLESS STATED

C

huck it in a tank with a load of ****. Hey presto! Biotope!” That was one less than glowing appraisal of the wood in my layout when I showed it off online. Get a tank, the theory goes, stick in some choice wood and a load of gunk, and you have a biotope. If only it had been that easy. In reality, this Neon tetra biotope has been an arduous and long-winded project — perhaps my most protracted to date. It’s also up there as the most rewarding. Biotope aquaria are a law unto themselves — set-ups that aim to reproduce a specific slice of nature. I’d love to say who first invented the concept, but I can’t. At some stage within the hobby, it just made sense to recreate the wilderness to a faithful degree. Biotopes can be loose or accurate. A loose biotope tank will go as far as melding fish and plants from one specific country. The species it contains might inhabit a range of different terrains, never crossing paths in the wild, but they will share a far-reaching geographic bond. This kind of set-up has a mild ‘zoo’ feel about it, with its mixed curiosities. An accurate biotope seeks authenticity down to the tiniest detail. It may incorporate seasonal changes, and wet and dry periods. Hardcore ’topers will seek out images of specific streams and pools, finding which fish, plants, sand, rocks and branches are there. I’ve known some to actually visit the exact regions they want to copy, importing back fish they collected themselves. I wanted my own biotope to be simpler — to encompass all that I desired from nature, while being something that anyone with a tank could muster. I wanted authenticity, but only as much as I could recreate without straying too far from the comfort of home. The internet has spectacular resources for inspiration — if you’ve no computer at home, you can still get online via your local library. Get on Youtube or Vimeo, and follow some ichthyologists out in the field. My own preference is Ivan Mikolji, who lashes cameras to himself as he dives about in Venezuelan waters. The footage he captures is little short of revelatory. One of Ivan’s videos was the precursor to this set up. A scant five seconds of footage, to be exact. If you watch it, then you’ll see from 2:17 to 2:22 the exact few seconds that sparked it all. That

50

Watch the video that inspired this set-up at pfkmag.com/ neons vision, right there, was what I wanted to reproduce. So now I had a plan. I had my inspiration, and I set aside some time to make it all happen. All I had to do now was put it together, but what a nightmare that would soon become…

Sourcing the essentials I chose the humble Neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi, because I’d never seen it in a focussed, species-only biotope before. Despite being one of the commonest species on sale, most are destined for either community tanks or aquascapes. A handful may end up in mixed, loose biotopes around the country, tossed in with dwarf cichlids, or a plethora of other tetras. I wanted to create a South American, algae filled, leaf-littered, flooded forest pool. So I asked a handful of explorers who had been there what they were like. Responses were varied. Some said sand and silt as a substrate. Others said dark, mulchy and muddy stream beds, with a deep bed of leaves. In some areas there were plants. In others, just thick gardens of algae. There was or wasn’t floating vegetation. One PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Step by step

The plan was to recreate a South American flooded forest pool for Neon tetras.

An accurate biotope seeks authenticity to the tiniest detail. It may incorporate seasonal changes, and wet and dry periods. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

51

Neons are the most popular tetras with fishkeepers, but they never seem to be the subject of biotope aquariums. We aim to change that...

theme that did recur was that although leaf litter was often prevalent, water wasn’t always stained black. Several reports cited clear water, albeit a little turbid. Wild Neons seem pretty unfussed about water depth, so instead of a tall tank I concentrated on providing a decent footprint, so that a generous leaf litter carpet was doable. As I had an Evolution Aqua Aquascaper tank sat idly awaiting a project, it was drafted in for the job. The dimensions of the tank — 60 x 50 x 30cm in depth — would allow the fish to spread out in all directions, as opposed to the restrictions of a narrower, almost twodimensional aquarium. I wanted plenty of naturally occurring life in amongst the substrate, so catfish were out. I wanted something dark, into which a cornucopia of invertebrates could delve. I settled on a coarse planting substrate, in this case Prodibio’s AquaGrowth Soil. On paper, the grains claim to be assorted from 1–3mm in diameter, but really they’re all closer to 3mm — 9 l of substrate was adequate for the job, and gave me a labyrinth of tiny nooks and crannies that microorganisms would thrive in. Hardscape proved to be my greatest

52

sticking point. I’m in the privileged position of having vast stores of aquarium decor, but absolutely nothing would work. Redmoor root looked like Redmoor root, completely out of scale with the video clip I was basing my project on. Bogwood was excessively chunky and had no form — it looked nothing like the wood of a flooded forest. Mopani wood screamed out, too bright against the black substrate. After a couple of days, I hit a creative wall.

Epiphany moment I went for a walk, and epiphany struck. As I strolled, my pathway became a dirt track, which led to the tree-heavy fringes of my estate, where Beech, Birch, Sycamore and Alder trees run riot. There in front of me, were mixed fallen branches, of exactly the right texture and scale. After some light scouring, I’d attracted the attention of a local woman in her garden, just where I was sizing up an attractive Sycamore. After a brief chat, she mentioned she had some fallen branches from the trees in her garden. One branch of about 1.5m long, dried and on the verge of rotting was exactly what I needed. With a quick swing over a fence, I was set, and on the right side of the law, too. Since 2008, when the right to forage for firewood (a right given under the Magna Carter) was overturned, it became illegal to collect wood for domestic use on common land.

Next up, I needed leaf litter. Thankfully, I had tonnes of bags from Tannin Aquatics. What I was sat on wasn’t specifically South American, but that didn’t matter. As everything would be decomposing by the time the fish went in, anything identifiable at that stage would be a drawback! I have external canister filters ranging from an ADA Superjet to a Fluval FX4, and everything in between, but all of these would churn up my wonderful detritus — for this job I needed something smaller, so despite owning more filters than most wholesalers, I went out and bought a Tetra IN800 internal canister. The reasons were twofold. Firstly, the flow is easily controlled with a frontal dial. I can tweak it in real time. Secondly, when removing the filter media chamber, the design doesn’t backflush and drop waste out as I’m trying to lift it from the tank — a real bane with some internal canisters. To heat, a simple Fluval 200W heaterstat would do the job. In the event, I had to commit a heaterstat sin and position it bolt upright. I’ve done this a few times with Fluval heaters and on the whole they’ve held out well, though mine did make some curious noises while it was running. Lighting the tank fell to two Fluval Ecobright LEDs. At 7500K, they gave the white light I wanted to bring out colours and wood textures, but they’d also have enough coverage to promote the floating plants I envisaged on the surface. In the event, they did a little too well in that role. With the key ingredients sourced, I could finally get the tank together... PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Step by step

How it came together

Before adding any equipment, I had a few dry runs with the decor, so I would be certain I could make it work. My branch was snapped into segments and arranged before I upended all my dry leaf litter and seed pods over it. The effect was, if I might be so bold, striking on the first attempt. I photographed it and stripped it back down before arranging it properly.

1

I wanted leaf litter but not blackwater, so I had to get as much extracting done as possible before the leaves went in. I started off by steaming my pods, wood curls, and Carambola lixo leaves, while boiling up my Magnolia, Guava and Catappa leaves. After half an hour of that, the water was drained away (I used this tannin extract to fill a one-litre bottle, for use on later blackwater tanks). I replaced the water with fresh, boiling water, and the steamed elements joined the core leaves in the saucepan. Boiling water was drained off and replaced every ten minutes for the next hour, until the water appeared clear.

2

To secure my backing sheet to the rear pane of glass, I use sticky ‘dots’ which can be bought in packs from stationery suppliers. The dots are discrete compared to large squares of double sided tape, and have the benefit of remaining sticky even when I pull the sheet away and reattach it. The substrate is added and sculpted so that it lifts towards the middle, which will add a little height to the decor in the centre.

3

The core, large wood pieces are added. I’ve taken the rare and ill-advised move of leaving my bark on, which presents two problems; the wood will now be more buoyant than usual, and it’s important to note that some barks leach toxins. In my case, I know there will be so many water changes over the coming weeks that I’ll dilute anything that does end up in the water. I position the filter in the rear corner at what I expect my eventual water level to be.

4

The remaining large wood pieces are added, though slightly different to my initial dry run as I find a way to position them to add extra lift. Smaller twigs are added for effect over the top, arranged in such a way that they stretch from left to right, drawing the eye away from the filter. Happy that they do this effectively, I also position the heater next to the filter.

In anticipation of the wood floating, multiple rocks are used at strategic points to help pin them down in position. At this point, I have no idea how buoyant the wood is, or how long it will take before it actually sinks.

6

7

8

With the wood now in its final position, I add one of two plants I’ll be using — Hairgrass, Eleocharis acicularis. The plan is to not interfere with the Hairgrass at all and let it run rampant, sprouting up wherever it wants to. Hairgrass has been deliberately chosen as it is notorious for trapping algae and sediment, which in turn will bring the exact ‘natural growth’ look I’m after.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Water is added — and within seconds I find out just how buoyant that wood really is! It lifts the rocks like a raft, and uproots nearly everything. After a tussle, heavier, bulkier rocks are brought in so that there are now more rocks than there is wood being held down. Then the Hairgrass is replanted.

5

The leaf litter is unceremoniously dispersed by dropping it over clearer areas of the tank. The plants will have to fight their way through it, but at this level, I want to avoid any leaves that look contrived. Now I can fill the tank to the top, fire everything up, sit back and wait — and as you’ll discover over the page, this is where the trouble starts...

53

The fish really thought they’d taken a trip back to the Amazon in our tank set-up.

Turning black A few problems arose early on. Within days, the tank started to cloud over, but not the usual white clouding. My tank was turning black, a result of the depth of the leaves, the tiny organic particles that came in with the leaves, and the lack of circulation through it all. After a large water change, I left the tank for a few days to attend an event, and on my return it was jet black. Not blackwater with

tannins black, but black from a complete organic breakdown. The water could be better described as soot, and the smell coming form it was worse than any drained bog. The whole room reeked of rotting. The filter was clogged to capacity with sedimentary debris. More water changes took place, on a daily basis, but still the tank blackened again. Stirring the leaf litter released bubbles of foul smelling gas. At this point, it must have been the most The behaviour of the Neons in this set-up was a real eye-opener.

54

toxic tank in the UK. Ammonia test results were simply off the scale, and nitrite was doing its best to follow suit. Blackness and foul smells became an almost constant issue, and the filter was continuously straining. But still, I persevered, refusing to strip it down entirely and quit. I initially used Seachem Stability daily, later changed to Microbelift Nite Out 2, but I was asking a lot of it to start with. In an attempt to soak out some of the relentless ammonia, I added a handful of Salvinia, a nitrogen-hungry floating plant. Next, mould started to appear, creeping out from the substrate and over my branches — the white, furry coating contrasted well with the black dust smothering everything. I let it run its course, gobbling up organics as and where it found them. Eventually I conceded an air pump and airstone. I worried that the anoxic conditions were delaying development, and the filter was still clogging too frequently to provide reliable circulation. Initially, it caused an increase in turbidity, but this subsided within two days, after which the tank took on a whole new feel. After around six weeks, the first life started appearing. Tiny planaria (small, PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Step by step There’s a secret side to Neons that you’ll only discover if you go wild with your aquarium.

FISH FACTFILE

When the group of 20 Neons were added, it took just seconds for something feral to reawaken in them. pointy-headed flatworms) slithered over the glass. At the deeper parts of the substrate, long, threadlike worms burrowed. Then the moment of reckoning. Some eight weeks in, there was a copepod explosion. Ostracods starting emerging in their hundreds, while tiny Cyclops-like beasts skittered about. The water turned crystal clear, instantly. Ammonia and nitrite became undetectable. Just like that, my tank had established. By now the Salvinia had formed into a thick, floating meadow — I removed 85% of it, and there was still too much. I took out the rocks, only to find one piece of wood was still buoyant. Conceding defeat, I lifted it from the tank, calmly carried it downstairs, and hurled it into the garden for the woodlice to graze on. My tank was now ready for fish. Everything I had hoped for in my initial vision had come to pass. Crumbling wood, dust and slurry, and a sea of life was at last together in a package that didn’t smell like a sewage outlet.

In go the Neons When the Neons were added — 20 in total — it took just seconds for something feral to reawaken in them. Leaving the bag, they took stock of their surroundings, and set to task getting a ‘feel’ for the layout. In a darkened room with no tank lights running, I left them to it. In the evening when the lights went on, there was a curious dynamic among them. Though they were in a loose shoal, there was a distinction between the lower-dwelling females, hovering just a couple of inches www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

from the base, and the more adventurous, leaner males who would demonstrate to each other when they came close, with sudden chases and ‘shooing’. The females would move in pairs or trios, exploring patches of substrate systematically, moving as one until a male would barrel in to them, scattering them again. The real excitement came as I started to work the lights down for the night. Given the controllability of the EcoBright LEDs, I reduced the illumination slowly during the later part of the evening, noting that as I did so, the Neons — male and female — sunk down lower and lower into the tank, until the lighting was maybe one-third of its original intensity. At this level, several of the Neons did something I’d never seen from them before. Hunkering down individually, and concealed within the leaf litter, they became stationary, but highly alert, with their eyes flicking around in what limited range they have. They’d stay perfectly still — that is, until a copepod or ostracod would bumble past, at which point the Neon would shoot from its mooring, grab the tiny morsel, and retreat back to exactly the same position it had been in before, and resume its waiting. I watched several Neons doing this over and over, behaving like tiny Pike ambushing their miniscule prey. As the lights dipped to their lowest settings, the fish started to club together again, forming a substrate hugging loose shoal. For me, the ‘ambush hunting’ was the

 Common name: Neon tetra.  Scientific name: Paracheirodon innesi (Pa-ra-keer-row-don in-ess-ee).  Size: To 3cm.  Origin: Colombia, Brazil, Peru.  Habitat: Streams and slow channels.  Water requirements: From 5.0 to 7.6pH, Hardness below 12°H.  Temperature: 21–26°C.  Aquarium size: 60 x 30cm.  Temperament: Extremely peaceful community fish.  Availability and cost: Incredibly common, from £1 each. Buy these shoaling fish in groups of at least six. 0

pH

Temp C 9 8 7 6

30 28 26 24 22 20 18

54 l+

5

single greatest reward to the tank. Neons and I have a long history — they were one of the first fish I kept in a tropical community. I’ve sold thousands over the years, and witnessed them in hundreds of aquaria. But not once in my life have I had that momentary glimpse into the secret life of the world’s most popular tetra. I strongly suggest you try something similar with your own favourite fish. Make it a home from home. Mature your tank, introduce your fish, and watch it closely. I’ll wager now that you’ll see something unique. And besides, it’s easy. All you need is some authentic decor. Remember: “Chuck it in a tank with a load of ****. Hey presto! Biotope!” You might want to open a window for a while if you do it, though...

55

SAVE UP TO

*

61% when you subscribe to PFK! Subscribe today and benefit from: O Never missing an issue O Free UK delivery to your door or free download to your digital device O Save up to 61% when you choose the print and digital package option and pay by direct debit.

To take advantage of this fantastic subscription offer all you have to do is either:

CALL 01858 43 8884 quote EDAA

Choose from three options: PRINT ONLY

DIGITAL ONLY

PRINT & DIGITAL

BEST OFFER

SAVE

61%

Get 13 issues for £40

Get 13 issues for £45

when you pay by direct debit

when you pay by direct debit

Get 13 issues for £45

Get 13 issues for £31

Get 13 issues for £50

when you pay by debit/credit card or PayPal

when you pay by debit/credit card or PayPal

when you pay by debit/credit card or PayPal

Subscribe every month to uncover how Practical Fishkeeping remains the definitive one-stop-shop for inspiration, species information, problem solving and great-looking aquariums. TERMS & CONDITIONS: *61% saving applies when you choose the print and digital package option and pay by recurring payment every 12 months. Subscriptions will start with the next available issue. The minimum term is 13 issues. After your first 13 issues, your subscription will continue at the offer price listed above thereafter unless you are notified otherwise. Recurring payments will continue to be taken unless you tell us otherwise. This offer closes on June 6th 2017. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Cost from landlines for 01 numbers per minute are (approximate) 2p to 10p. Cost from mobiles per minute (approximate) 10p to 40p. Costs vary depending on the geographical location in the UK. You may get free calls to some numbers as part of your call package – please check with your phone provider. Order lines open 8am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat). UK orders only. Overseas? please phone +44 1858 438828 for further details. Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes. For full terms and conditions please visit http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/offer-terms-and-conditions

or visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk/PFK

Who’s watching who? Bold and charismatic, brimming with personality and hardy as they come, a hawkfish could be the ideal showpiece for your marine aquarium. WORDS: CHRIS SERGEANT

NATHAN HILL

There isn’t much that escapes the watchful eyes of a hawkfish.

58

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine

Hawkfish appear to take great interest in the goings on outside as well as inside your tank, and owning one can leave you with a feeling of being constantly watched. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

59

F

rom the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific, of all the fish encountered by divers across the world’s tropical coral reefs, hawkfish have to be up there as one of the favourites. Their curious nature means that, rather than flee into a rocky recess when approached, they perch atop their coral outcrop posts, gaining a vantage point from which to assess the surrounding reef-life. Hawkfish belong to the family Cirrhitidae, and they look nothing like their avian namesakes — their name is instead a nod towards their shared predatory behaviour. Like a hawk high up in the treetops, hawkfish rest on top of corals and rocky perches, moving only their eyes to survey the reef for prey. Once located, they swoop down with a sudden burst of speed, snatching up their prey, before retreating back to their perch once more. Not much escapes the gaze of these fish, and endearingly to an aquarist, they appear to take great interest in the goings on outside as well as inside the tank, and owning a hawkfish can often leave you with the feeling you are constantly being watched.

Swimming like a hawk Although quick off the mark in the quest for nearby food, in truth, hawkfish are rather poor swimmers. Lacking a swim bladder, they sink when they are not swimming, so tend to avoid prolonged periods spent in the water column. Instead, hawkfish prefer to scoot over the rocks and corals, using their strong pectoral fins to propel them.

When watching hawkfish on a reef in the wild, it is easy to assume that they are all solitary fish, with rarely more than one individual observed resting on a coral perch at any one time, but that isn’t always the case. Hawkfish are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning that they are born as functioning females, with the largest changing to a male when the previous dominant male dies. As male hawkfish are the dominant sex, they will build up a harem of females, defending territories containing anywhere between two and seven females at any given time. Being diurnal, the male will use the hours of light to visit each of the females in his territory, and assess how many of them are gravid. Then, under the cover of darkness, he will return to each gravid female in turn in order to mate. First the male must woo the female, nudging her before sitting on top of her and quivering his body, indicating his willingness to mate. Once accepted, the male and female swim up into the water column, releasing eggs and sperm in unison, before the male hurries off to find his next conquest and the female returns to her resting spot. In times of hardship on the female front, some hawkfish will resort to monogamy instead.

60

SHUTTERSTOCK

Changing sex — and a harem of females

Hawkfish are quite capable of sitting head up or head down on their chosen perch.

A place to perch For the fishkeeper, hawkfish are undemanding and easy to please, with most of those available in the aquarium trade growing no larger than 15cm, with the exception of the Freckled hawkfish, Paracirrhites forsteri. The main consideration is the provision of plenty of perching and hiding places. Built-up rockwork with numerous platforms constructed at different levels will allow for multiple resting spots, and with more hiding spaces available, the more secure a hawkfish will feel, and the more

active and visible they will be as a result. Don’t be afraid to be creative when aquascaping — those powerful pectoral fins are more than capable of allowing hawkfish to perch in a variety of positions, including head down, and allow them to show off their impressive gymnastic skills. Unintentional perches can also take the form of SPS corals, soft corals and powerheads, so while hawkfish on the whole are considered to be reef safe, their resting behaviour may irritate some corals, causing them to remain closed. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine A juvenile Freckled hawkfish perches on a fire coral.

DID YOU KNOW?

ALAMY

The pectoral fins of hawkfish lack any skin, allowing them to take advantage of the full range of the reef’s resting spots. These include fire corals, which have stinging cells called nematocysts and sharp, calcified external skeletons. To a human, touching a fire coral can cause excruciating pain lasting a couple of days, but to a hawkfish, these colonial organisms offer an ideal resting place and protection from predators.

Fond of invertebrates! Other than being used as a seat, corals will be left alone by these fish, but the same cannot be said for most smaller invertebrates. In the wild, their diet consists mainly of crustaceans, and given a chance, ornamental shrimp, crabs, snails and other clean-up crew members will all end up as dinner. Smaller fish may be picked off, too.

As a rule of thumb, if it’s large enough to fit into the hawkfish’s mouth, it invariably will. But this tendency to pick off invertebrates can extend to hitchhikers too, with pest crabs and bristleworms also on the menu. My own Falco hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys falco, contrived to remove the tank’s entire population of Stomatella snails on its first night.

Adult Freckled hawkfish — don’t keep these or other large hawks in tanks with small fish.

ALAMY

CHRIS SERGEANT

Long nosed hawkfish can reach food deep in the rocks with their extended mouthparts.

Larger fish species tend to be left alone but if you’re in any doubt, add the hawkfish last and periodically rearrange the tank’s rockwork to avoid territorial disputes. A one hawkfish per tank policy should be adopted, as most species are not sexually dichromatic, meaning you can’t tell the boys from the girls by colour alone, and two males in a tank spells trouble.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

61

Flame

This is one of the larger species, reaching 15cm in length.

A cute, colourful cartoon-like fish for smaller tanks.

ALAMY

NEIL HEPWORTH

Arc-eyed

WHICH HAWKFISH FOR YOU? territories may help resolve these disputes. The genus Cirrhitichthys gives rise to a number of smaller hawkfish species available within the aquarium trade. The Pixy hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus, hails from the shallow reefs of the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea down to South Africa, through Southeast Asia and across to the Galapagos and the gulf of California. While their exact colouration may vary, most typically have a whitish to pink body, highlighted with reddish-brown, square shaped spots. The Pixy hawkfish reaches a maximum length of 7.5cm, making them just larger than the Falco hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys falco. A commonly occurring aquarium species, the Falco hawkfish is found across the Indian and Pacific oceans, and reaches a maximum 6.2cm in length. Similar in colour to the Pixy hawkfish, these fish are predominantly white with red to brown bands of spots running vertically from the dorsal to ventral surface, and have yellow tips to their cirri. Another commonly seen species within this genus is the Threadfin hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys aprinus. While similar in colour and pattern to the other two species, the Threadfin can be distinguished from the Pixy by its lack of tail spots, while its heavier, larger bands of red-brown spots make it identifiable from the Falco hawkfish. Fully grown, they can reach 12.5cm in length, making them one of the

Falco Great for smaller set-ups, but ensure it’s ID’d correctly. Look for the yellow tips to the cirri on the dorsal fins.

NICOLAI JOHANNESEN, CREATIVE COMMONS

The Flame hawkfish, Neocirrhitus armatus, is a vividly coloured species native to the Western Pacific, inhabiting shallow reefs from Japan down to Australia. The only known member of the genus Neocirrhites, the Flame hawkfish has a maximum length of 8.7cm, making it ideal for smaller marine aquariums in the region of 135 l. These personable characters are one of the most brightly coloured hawkfish in the trade, with a bright scarlet red body and tail, blackened rings around the eyes and a black band below the dorsal fins. Without the proper nutrition however, this vibrant colour is prone to fading. Provide a varied, high protein diet, with pellets, flakes and frozen or live fare, and additional supplementary feeding with vitamins and omega-3 fatty acid enriched foods to aid colour restoration. While these fish are placid and peaceful, smaller invertebrates, especially those introduced after the hawkfish, will be seen as food. If you wish to keep larger shrimp or crabs with them, introduce the crustaceans in a rocky, secluded area of the tank and do so at night to reduce the likelihood of predation. Small and slow-moving bottom dwellers such as gobies or smaller blennies and dragonets may also be at risk of harassment, but for the most part, Flames are compatible with most appropriate sized reef fish. If regular squabbles occur, rearranging the rockwork to break up old

larger species within the genus, but identifying between the juveniles of these three species can be tricky to the inexperienced eye. To make matters worse, C. aprinus, C. falco and C. oxycephalus are sometimes referred to by the umbrella name of ‘spotted hawkfish.’ If you are uncertain, always ask for the scientific name for clarification — correct ID is important when considering compatibility within your aquarium as along with the size difference, the Pixy and Threadfin hawkfish are much more aggressive than the smaller Falco. Despite this, Falco hawkfish still shouldn’t be housed with nano gobies, and

Pixy

This is a fabulous choice for larger set-ups.

This species stays quite small at 7.5cm, but can be pugnacious.

ALAMY

NICK HOBGOOD

Long nose

62

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine Freckled

SHUTTERSTOCK

A sizeable fish, which is prone to aggression.

black lace corals, and appreciates similar structures in the aquarium. Tanks should be in excess of 220 l to comfortably house this species as they patrol a larger expanse of territory, but they are otherwise undemanding in terms of their husbandry and care. Their long, drawn out head tapers down into a small mouth, and these elongated jaws allow them to fish out small crustaceans hidden deep within the rockwork, and aid in removing snails from their shells. They are also the only species of hawkfish to have successfully spawned in captivity, laying demersal eggs, although no luck has yet been had with raising fry to adulthood. Males of this species tend to be smaller and have black margins to their ventral fins. Spawning will only occur in the tallest of tanks however, as a lack of height to perform their courtship dance will preclude this. For aquarists with larger set-ups, there are further hawkfish species available. The Arc-eyed hawkfish, Paracirrhites arcatus, can reach 15cm in length and is named after the characteristic U-shaped marking around the base of the eye, with ‘para’ referring to ‘the side of’ and ‘cirrus’ meaning ‘curl’. This larger species occurs in a variety of colours, with the main body varying in shades of greenish-brown to reddishorange, and with a white bar running horizontally down into a blue tail. Freckled hawkfish, Paracirrhites forsteri, often appear in the trade as cute

small crustaceans are prone to harassment and attack, especially just after moulting. All three species require a tight fitting lid, as they are known to leap clear of the water when startled. If you are looking for something a little different in appearance, and have more space to offer, then the Long nosed hawkfish, Oxycirrhites typus, might be just what you’re looking for. Measuring 10cm in length, they occur naturally across the same Indo-Pacific range, but tend to be encountered at much greater depths. The Long nosed hawkfish is often found in conjunction with sea fans, gorgonians and

DID YOU KNOW? Like the venomous scorpionfish, hawkfish have large heads with compressed and elongated bodies, along with merged dorsal fins with connecting spines. While hawkfish don’t have venom glands attached to these spines, they do instead have small, trailing, filamentous tufts of tissue attached to the first ten connecting spines. Their family name, Cirrhitidae, is derived from the Latin ‘cirrus’, meaning ‘fringe’.

5cm juveniles, but reportedly reach up to 22cm in length. These fish grow rapidly, becoming more aggressive with size. Juveniles display a white body with yellow and brown bars running horizontally above the dorsal surface and as they grow, the white reverts to an olive-brown, merging into a yellow rear with black and brown freckles appearing on the head. These fish predominantly spend their time perching on Acropora, Pocillopora and Stylophora coral heads, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting fish, and they will make short work of nano aquarium fish — I’ve seen them picking off smaller, unsuspecting Sergeant majors, with ease on Red Sea reefs, so house them only with other larger species.

Threadfin

SHUTTERSTOCK

Bigger at 12.5cm, and more aggressive with it. A lack of tail spots tells it apart from similar species.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

63

The mighty

BUCE

For such small plants, the buces have made a big impact on the aquascaping scene.

CHRIS LUKHAUP

WORDS: GEORGE FARMER

64

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Plants Buces growing in their natural Borneo habitat.

GEORGE FARMER

Buces are undemanding plants that are ideal for smaller set-ups.

E

Fast facts O The Bucephalandra genus of plants is only found in Borneo — an island in South East Asia. O They belong to the arum family, along with other popular aquatic plants in the Cryptocoryne and Anubias genus. O They are slow growing and easy to keep plants. O Buces should be grown attached to decor such as wood and rocks — don’t bury the rhizome in the substrate, as this can cause the plant to rot and die. O Buces don’t require strong lighting or the addition of carbon dioxide. O They will grow in most aquariums where there is a pH of 5–8 and a temperature of 25–28°C. O Their slow growth and small sizes make them ideal for aquascaping nano tanks.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

very so often something new comes on to the planted aquarium scene that creates a real buzz. This happened when Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘Cuba’ first entered the mainstream hobby in 2005, and it still remains one of the most popular carpeting plants to date. A much rarer occurrence is when a whole genus of plants joins the hobby. Enter the mighty Bucephalandra. I first heard about this group of plants five years ago. They were impossible to get hold of in the UK back then and only in the last three years or so have they been produced in greenhouses on a large scale by the likes of Dennerle, Tropica and other large European suppliers. Before then anyone wanting these lovely plants had to buy them online — usually these were wild-collected with price tags of over £20 for a single plant! Not only was this very expensive but potentially damaging for the long-term sustainability of Bucephalandra in the wild. Due to its slow growth, wild stocks would be unlikely to grow back quickly enough to cope with demand. Thankfully, most of Europe’s major plant suppliers now all supply Bucephalandra at a reasonable cost with minimal impact on the natural habitats in the Borneo jungle.

Ideal for low light tanks Bucephalandra or ‘buce’, as it’s commonly known in aquatic plant circles, is very popular with aquascapers. It’s very similar to the old aquarium favourite Anubias in terms of growth rate and method of planting. Buces are reophytes and grow best when they are attached to rocks or wood — they need their roots and rhizome to be exposed to circulating water. Due to that slow growth, you can expect

When it comes to attaching your buce to decor, you can achieve great results by just poking the plant into nooks and crannies and allowing the roots to attach themselves. You can also use superglue to attach the rhizome to the wood or rock.

TIP

just one to two new leaves a month, depending on the species you have. The slow growth makes them ideal for lower light set-ups and they tolerate shade very well — in fact they are prone to build-ups of nuisance algae if lit excessively. The leaves are waxy and quite tough but soften when adapted to underwater growth — and they will often change colour from the emerged form. These plants also flower readily under water, producing white flower spikes. Buces are mostly sold in pots but some suppliers now offer tissue-cultured plants. Expect to pay anywhere between £4 and £8 per pot, although you are likely to pay more for the rarer wild-caught species and you’ll receive less quantity for your money.

DID YOU KNOW? Around 90% of all aquarium plants including buces, are grown out of water (emerged) in suppliers’ greenhouses. This is because the plants have much better access to light and CO2 and there’s no risk of algae. The plants are physically more robust, making transportation safer and being grown hydroponically in this way means they can hold a huge nutrient store. They are more adaptable to a wide variety of aquarium water parameters too.

65

Plants

What’s available?

Stefan Hummel has collected plants for the aquarium company Dennerle. We asked him about his experiences with Bucephalandra both in the wild and in the aquarium.

GEORGE FARMER

O Height: Less than 2cm. This miniature plant is extremely slow-growing and the tiny leaves make it especially suitable for delicate aquascapes and nano set-ups.

CHRIS LUKHAUP

Bucephalandra sp. ‘Mini needle leaf’

ASK THE EXPERT

PFK Did you know about Bucephalandra before you visited Borneo? SH I’d heard about the genus on the internet. It was generating a lot of interest in the hobby, so we took a trip out there in 2013. We used a local plant enthusiast, Michael Lo, as a guide, and we found over ten Bucephalandra species in nine days.

Bucephalandra sp. ‘Wavy leaf’

PFK How were they growing in their natural habitat? SH Most of them were found growing out of the water. They looked very similar both submersed and emerged, although a few species that were growing underwater were more colourful. Some do much better than others when grown this way — you cannot just assume that they are all suitable for use in the aquarium. They definitely grow better attached to decor though because the roots and rhizome need to be exposed to circulating water. The water was shallow. Temperature was around 26°C. We didn’t test the water chemistry but we know the water there is soft. It’s a beautiful place and the biggest jungle in the world with many undiscovered species of all kinds — not just plants!

GEORGE FARMER

O Height: 8cm. This variety is one of the faster growing buces and it is a lovely, decorative plant.

Bucephalandra sp. ‘Broad wavy’

PFK How does Dennerle produce Bucephalandra? SH We collect a few plants from the wild with permission from the authorities. These are sent to our laboratory where they are tissue-cultured (in-vitro). This has minimal impact on the wild plants and their habitats. Lab-grown plants are much healthier than wild plants anyway, and they are more adaptable, so better suited to aquariums. We are currently producing four Bucephalandra species: ‘Mini needle leaf’, ‘Wavy leaf’, ‘Broad wavy’ and ‘Brownie’. We have already sold over 20,000 pots of ‘Wavy leaf’. The slowest grower of these is the ‘Mini needle leaf’; ‘Wavy leaf’ is the fastest.

GEORGE FARMER

O Height: 6cm. This plant has slightly broader leaves than the ‘Wavy leaf’ variety, and they are a medium-green colour with reddish-brown stalks.

Bucephalandra sp. ‘Mini needle leaf.

Bucephalandra sp. ‘Brownie’

DENNERLE

GEORGE FARMER

O Height: 8cm. Leaf colour of this species can vary from dark olive green to a reddish brown, depending on lighting levels.

66

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Advertisement feature

Keep your fish happy and healthy during the holidays Planning on going away this summer? Relax and enjoy yourself, safe in the knowledge that your fish back at home are being well looked after, thanks to Tetra.

W

ith the weather warming up, summer feels only a few weeks away, which means holiday season is on the horizon! Whether you have an aquarium in your children’s bedroom, a centrepiece in the living room or a large community aquarium that greets you as your enter your home, it can be a worry leaving your fish for a period of time, especially if you’re new to the hobby. However, you needn’t be nervous as there are a number of products available to support you while you’re away to keep your fish happy and healthy.

Make sure your fish receive the nutrients they need Tetra’s myFeeder is a new automatic feeder which contains unique technology to ensure that food quality is maintained by protecting it against light, air and moisture so you don’t need to worry about feeding fish whilst you are away. Before your trip you can quickly and easily fill the feeder and using the digital display, programme feeding for up to three times a day. What’s more, if your fish enjoy a varied diet TetraMin Flakes, Crisps and Granules can www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

be added alone or mixed together providing a safe and reliable way to ensure your fish receive the nutrients needed. Alternatively, Tetra Weekend and Tetra Holiday are also self-sufficient and offer 100% of the nutrition fish need in a specially formulated feed which lasts for up to six and 14 days respectively. Available in a Goldfish and Pond variant too these diets are popular with those going away as they are easy to use and won’t affect your water quality. O RRPs: Tetra myFeeder £39.99, Tetra Weekend and Goldfish Weekend £3.05 for 9g/ 10 sticks, Tetra Holiday £4.00 for 30g, Tetra Goldfish Holiday £4.00 for 2 x 12g, Pond Holiday £7.65 for 98g.*

Provide the best water quality Checking your water weekly is very important as poor water quality can have a huge impact on fish health. It doesn’t take long and Tetra’s free Water Test App offers recommendations and solutions should your aquarium need any treatment, when used with its 6in1 test strips. In addition, using Tetra EasyBalance optimises water quality by stabilising important water values such as KH and pH for up to six months. By using this weekly you’ll help keep fish and plants in top condition while also reducing the amount of water changes required. O RRPs: Tetra EasyBalance £5.10 for 100ml; 6in1 test strips £12.75 for 25 strips.* For more information about Tetra please visit www.tetra.net/en or check out Tetra UK on Facebook.

*Please note any reference to pricing is purely indicative. Retail pricing is entirely at the retailer’s discretion.

67

Synodontis nigriventris sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ is content to swim either way up.

A life turned upside down Discover the topsy turvy world of two similar looking catfish from the Congo in Africa — both of which are attractive, easy and interesting to keep. WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN GRANT

F

Adult female sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’.

68

or many years now, the true Upside down catfish, Synodontis nigriventris, has been a staple of the aquarium scene. But now and again a similar fish has been offered under the names of Synodontis sp. aff. nigriventris ‘Zebra’, or ‘Zebra Kutu’, or S. nigriventris ‘Black’. The term ‘sp. aff’ in the name indicates that the fish is related to, but is not identical to, S. nigriventris. Let’s refer to these lookalikes here as sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’. In 2011 and 2016 some specimens of sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ were imported into Europe from the Mai-Ndombe region, Democratic Republic of Congo. This would make them from the (Middle) Congo River system, which is huge, covering 1,550,000 square miles. These fish are probably from Lake Mai Ndombe. The true S. nigriventris comes from the Middle Congo too, but sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ appears to have a more restricted range. It is good to know that sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ is a wild fish as there have been many man-made hybrid Synodontis in the hobby for a number of years. ‘Kutu’ comes from the name of the town and people that live where the lake meets the Fimi River. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Catfish SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Synodontis nigriventris.

Synodontis nigriventris sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’.

It’s quite easy to tell these two Synodontis catfish apart. Synodontis nigriventris has a yellowish or brown base colour with black markings on the abdomen.

Aquarium care Both of these species are very easy to keep in the aquarium. They are peaceful and gregarious. They can be kept in tanks of 75cm/30in or more in length, at a temperature of 75–80°C, and will accept slightly acidic or slightly alkaline water so pH should be between 6.5 and 7.5 — although if you aim to breed them it will need to be soft and acidic. Both species spend most of their time inverted (swimming upside down), underneath submerged wood and plants, so the addition of bogwood with areas for them to hover underneath is a must, along with caves and pipes to hide in. When swimming in open water they will sometimes revert back to the ‘normal’ swimming position. They also do this when food is present on the substrate. They will accept live and frozen foods such as bloodworm and brine shrimp. If they feel safe enough they will also feed from the surface in their inverted position. Both species will reach approximately 10cm standard length (SL), but males will usually stay a little smaller at around 8cm. Females are also much deeper and wider bodied than males.

Rainy season breeders Synodontis nigriventris was spawned in captivity some years ago. The water temperature had dropped and the eggs were found in PVC pipes. In the wild they appear to breed in the rainy season when the temperature falls and the waters rise, so undertaking a large water change with cooler water may be a good place to start if trying to induce your fish to spawn. Bearing in mind how restricted sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ is, this fish would also make a good breeding project. In their natural habitat, floodplains along the tributaries and around the lake become inundated following the onset of heavy rains in October. In the north, floodwaters flow into permanent swamp forests, bringing oxygenated water and nutrients. Flooding serves to increase the productivity of the lake’s shallow waters, characterised by high acidity and soil content. During heavy rains in October and November, fish move into the seasonally www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

In sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ the base colour is reddish brown to dark brown and there are pale vermiculated lines on the fish’s abdomen.

inundated swamp forests to feed and breed. Because Mai Ndombe is a blackwater lake, most of the food available to fish comes from terrestrial sources or floating vegetation, both of which are more commonly encountered during the flood season. The swamp forest’s warm, still, shallow water, its dense vegetation and rich organic mud, provide not only an abundance of fish food and ideal breeding conditions, but also offer protection from predators for the juvenile fish.

Synodontis sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ viewed from underneath...

REFERENCES Chapman, L. J., Kaufman, L. and C. A. Chapman, 1994. Why Swim Upside down?: A Comparative Study of Two Mochokid Catfishes. Copeia, Vol. 1994, No. 1 (Feb. 1, 1994), pp. 130-135. Meyer, D. L., Platt, C, and H. J. Distel, 1976. Postural control mechanisms in the upside-down catfish (Synodontis nigriventris). Journal of comparative physiology, January 1976, Volume 110, Issue 3, pp 323–331 Peck, E., 2013. 547: Mai Ndombe - Freshwater Ecoregions of the World.

...and from the top. The position of the eyes makes it easier for the fish to see above and below.

A topsy turvy world While there are other ‘upside down catfish’ out there, these are by far the smallest Synodontis species to swim in this way and it is very interesting behaviour to watch. These fish have evolved features that allow them to swim either way up. They have a unique connection between their central nervous system and inner ear which has a gyroscope like effect, allowing them to hold themselves both ways. They also have a conical shaped head with large laterally placed eyes, which makes it easier to see things above and below. The upper surface of the head and body in S. nigriventris is lighter than the abdominal surface, which is normally the opposite in fish that swim with their abdomen to the substrate. This is useful for predator evasion and is often referred to as reverse countershading. When viewed by predators who are below the fish and looking up, it is useful to have the parts of the body facing the substrate to be paler than the part of the body facing the surface of the water. This is so the body will merge into the lighter surface, and when viewed from above the fish or outside the water, the darker colouration will help the fish merge into the darker substrate. This difference in dorsal and ventral colour is not as obvious in sp. ‘Zebra Kutu’ and this is probably due to the black water and heavy plant cover in which it lives, rendering the need for such countershading differences less important.

69

Feeding the fussy fish Providing a varied, balanced diet is essential for your marine fish. But what if you have a fish that just won’t eat the food on offer? Follow our advice on dealing with some of the most commonly available ‘problem’ feeders. WORDS: TRISTAN LOUGHER

SHUTTERSTOCK

B

uying new fish for your marine aquarium — indeed any aquarium — is one of the most exciting parts of the hobby. Researching potential new purchases is strongly recommended, so that you have an idea of what to expect in terms of behaviour, colour and size. Once you have decided that the fish will fit in to your aquarium, you’ll need to check it over in the shop tank for health — look for bright-eyed, fullbodied fish that appear alert and have recovered from the ordeal of collection and shipping. At this point you could simply hand over your money and take the fish home, but it would be preferable in most cases to actually see the fish feeding before you buy it. Fish that eat readily are generally well-settled — and if you see your potential purchase feeding you will also have an idea of the kind of food that it’s used to, which will help you integrate it into its new home. Of course, this assumes that the fish you have chosen will accept the usual marine foods available, such as frozen shrimp and other shellfish, flake and pellets or one of the more specialised diets such as gel-based foods. But some fish are simply fussy, others will only eat live foods and yet more can prove difficult to care for because of the slow speed at which they feed. Success rates with others may depend on providing food throughout the day without negatively impacting water quality. Many fish appear highly selective in their choice of food — we might even call them ‘fussy’. This behaviour is seen in a number of species — and even among those fish that are considered easy to feed, the odd finicky individual can crop up.

70

If the fish is feeding in the shop, ensure you have the exact same food to offer it when you take it home. Some fish will accept Mysis of one size and not another. Others might take brine shrimp but ignore Mysis, so be prepared.

TIP

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine

SHUTTERSTOCK

Arabian butterflyfish, Chaetodon melapterus.

Don’t try the impossible! The natural diet of some fish groups, like the obligate coral polyp feeding butterflyfish, is very difficult to simulate — getting hold of specimens that will accept and thrive on alternative, readily available diets, is next to impossible. Such fish are best left on the reef.

Copperbands often arrive at the dealer’s significantly underweight and need to be fed at very regular intervals if they are to recover.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

71

HEALTHY

UNDERWEIGHT Avoid skinny Copperbands with prominent lateral lines and obvious lumps at the location of the swimbladder.

ALAMY

ALAMY

Look for a well-muscled Copperband and ideally see it eating frozen food before purchase.

Finicky feeder — or sick fish? It’s worthwhile remembering that the range of foods available to fishkeepers bears only a passing resemblance to the natural diet of most marine fish. Of course, there are many species of fish which will happily eat anything or at least take it into their mouths to determine whether it is edible. Others take a more measured approach and scrutinise every morsel before committing to taking a bite. Asking to see the fish feeding in the shop is

belong to species with specialised diets that can be difficult to simulate with off-theshelf foods in relatively sterile selling aquaria. Having an idea of what to expect from a particular species at this time is important — do your research beforehand and ask the dealer about their experiences with the individual fish. Base your ultimate decision on whether to buy a fish on its condition and your ability to feed it in your own aquarium.

a very useful tool, but don’t assume that because a fish is feeding that it will accept anything and everything, and don’t necessarily assume that if a fish doesn’t feed in front of you that it is unwell in some way. Some nervous individuals will only feed if you back away from the aquarium, when they feel that they are not being scrutinised. Some will wait until food moves and others are only interested in food when it comes into contact with the substrate. Others

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Mysis is relished by many fish species — but some might be fussy about the size they accept.

72

Masstick from Easy Reefs: smear Live river shrimp is often taken by this onto rocks for predators like lionfish — after a few grazers like algae days try them on dead fresh river shrimp. blennies.

Try frozen Calanus with Mandarins and other dragonets.

ALAMY

Try live brine shrimp to elicit that important feeding response in smaller fish.

PER HARALD OLSEN, CREATIVE COMMONS

Dried algae is ideal for herbivores like tangs, algae blennies and rabbitfish.

ALAMY

SHUTTERSTOCK

If you’re having problems getting your fish to feed, it’s worth giving one of these a whirl...

Live copepods are ideal for dragonets, as well as some gobies and blennies.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine

4

finicky fish and how to feed them

Algae blenny G Scientific name: Salarias fasciatus (Sal-arr-ee-ass fas-see-ah-tuss). G Size: To 15cm. G Origin: Widespread Indo-West Pacific. G Aquarium size:  Depending upon whether the individual accepts alternative foods or not this species can be housed long-term in 100 l or so. Those that only eat algae scraped from rocks will need a larger system with abundant hard substrates exposed to light.  G Availability and cost: Reasonable; around £18–£35.

NEEDS ITS GREENS TO THRIVE

The Algae blenny is a species often stocked to control the growth of filamentous (hair) algae in the aquarium — a job it often excels at — and while there’s abundant growth of the algae the fish thrives. The problem is that many Algae blennies refuse to accept any alternative forms of food meaning once they have fulfilled their mission they begin to slowly starve to death. In these situations, offering dried forms of alga is always worthwhile. So too is using a paste type food such as Easy Reefs’ Masstick which can be smeared onto rocks near the blenny’s home. But you should be prepared to intervene should you end up with one of those individuals that stubbornly refuses to 0 pH Temp C eat anything other than 9 living filamentous algae. In 30 28 this instance, it’s far better 8 26 to net the fish out and, 24 7 perhaps with the help of a 22 20 local dealer or other 18 6 fishkeeper, rehome it in an aquarium that contains this 5 nuisance algae. 

Psychedelic mandarin dragonet G Scientific name: Synchiropus splendidus (Sin-kye-rope-uss splen-did-uss). G Size: To 7cm. G Origin: Western Pacific: Southern Japan to Australia.  G Aquarium size: Live rock rich systems of 200 l minimum, if housed with other fish. However, in an aquarium designed around the needs of this fish or in a species only set-up, 100 l is adequate.  G Availability and cost: Excellent. Expect to pay £22–£45 depending on size. 

The Mandarin is one of the most desirable marine fish due to its stunning colours and modest size potential. But these fish do have a reputation for being difficult to feed. In many cases this is due to their requirement for live foods. Some retailers sell copepods with Mandarins as these form part of the natural diet. However, feeding Mandarins is not just about giving them the right kind of foods — it has a lot to do with getting the food to them in the first place. Mandarins feed slowly and methodically and this means that they may not get the chance to take on enough food in a boisterous marine aquarium. When choosing a Mandarin, I make sure that they are taking frozen diets such as brine shrimp or Calanus — BCUK Calanus or Gamma Red Plankton are examples just because they can be easily fed in a smallish www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

MAY LOSE OUT TO FASTER FEEDERS

ALAMY

ALAMY

100 l+

holding aquarium with little or no competition for their food, which tends to sit on the substrate or gently roll over it. Mandarins that will accept frozen diets should at least have a chance of supplementing their natural diet with the odd morsel that passes their way assuming other fish are stocked that provide competition. In a species aquarium or one that is home to other slow, methodical feeders, having a specimen that takes frozen food is more likely to lead to long term success.

pH pH

0

99 88 77 66

Temp0CC Temp 30 30 28 28 26 26 24 24 22 22 20 20 18 18

200 l+

55

73

Marine NEW IMPORTS NEED SEVERAL FEEDS A DAY

ALAMY

NATUREPL

MAY BE SLOW TO ACCEPT ‘DEAD’ FOOD

Fumanchu lionfish

Copperband butterflyfish

G Scientific name: Dendrochirus biocellatus (Den-drow-kye-russ bye-oss-ell-ah-tuss). G Size: To 13cm. 0 G Origin: Western pH Temp C 9 Pacific: Southern 30 28 Japan to Australia.  8 26 G Aquarium size: 150– 24 200 l will 7 22 20 accommodate one or 18 6 two individuals in a species set-up.  5 G Availability and cost: Reasonable. Expect to pay £35–£65 depending on size.

G Scientific name: Chelmon rostratus (Chell-mon ross-trah-tuss). G Size: To 20cm. G Origin: Western Pacific including the coast of Thailand, Southern Japan and Australia.  G Aquarium size: 300 l but ideally larger. In smaller volumes the regular feedings required by newly imported specimens can have a detrimental impact on water quality.  G Availability and cost: Widely available. Expect to pay £30–£85, with Australian ‘giant’ 0 Copperbands being much pH Temp 0C more expensive than 9 30 Indonesian and Philippine 28 8 sourced specimens.  26

This species of lionfish does not always ship well, so can take time to settle. The best individuals will readily accept frozen diets. If you approach the shop tank and the lionfish is alert and responds to your presence, this can be an indication that they will accept ‘dead’ foods, and these fish will settle more quickly into their new home. But don’t just try one type of food; if they refuse brine shrimp then try Mysis. These fish can be quite particular about the foods that interest them. Unfortunately, some individuals will refuse whatever frozen diets are offered and will require a little more investment in time and money if they are to thrive. It is worthwhile researching the natural diets of the fish concerned when presented with any individual that refuses to feed. Although the Fumanchu will consume very small fish it is actually more of a crustacean specialist — offer it a live river shrimp and, so long as it’s healthy, the switch to predator mode is instantaneous.  River shrimp are widely available in the hobby, being sold by live food providers and even some marine retailers and can represent an important first stage in the weaning of predatory species onto more convenient foods. Having fish that feed enthusiastically on live food and, in the process become more familiar with their new home and its other inhabitants, is useful as the fish learn to associate you with mealtimes. This cryptic, nocturnal predator can become very tame, often learning when feeding time is and waiting for food to appear. Often they become less concerned with the actual food they are eating rather than getting it down them as quickly as possible. So, while they will gobble up live river shrimp initially you may well find that after a few days they take dead fresh river shrimp, leading to larger Mysis shrimp being accepted. This may take several weeks, but with some it’s just a matter of a few days between that first feed on live shrimp to hoovering up Mysis from the bottom of the aquarium.  Of course, there will always be the odd individuals that refuse anything other than live foods, so before acquiring them ensure you have the means to source a lifetime’s supply of suitable food.

Wild collected fish will have 20 6 18 been subject to holding facilities and preparation for 5 shipping. The best exporters prepare their fish for transportation by withholding food prior to bagging. This reduces the amount of waste products that accumulate in the bag. Most marine fish handle this preparation well and recover quickly without special intervention. For others, aquarists often have to take special care and take steps to allow the fish to recover the weight lost during collection and shipping. This is particularly true of the iconic Copperband butterflyfish.  It is a fact that many Copperbands will have lost weight by the time they arrive in dealers’ aquaria, and many refuse food even when on the verge of starvation. If the fish you buy is showing significant weight loss and you add it to an aquarium with abundant, agile tank mates, strong water movement and a once-a-day meal, it’s unlikely to ever recover its weight unless there is abundant natural food in the aquarium on which it can subsist. Success with this species, for me at least, begins with choosing one that feeds readily on food such as Mysis. Then this should be offered in small amounts at very regular intervals — and it’s important to ensure that the fish really is eating it, not taking the food in and coughing it out again. You really can’t overfeed a Copperband that has been recently imported — even 20 times a day isn’t too much if you can do it without compromising water quality. Of course, the more tank mates you have with the Copperband, the more food you will need to add, and for this reason, stocking Copperbands before larger, boisterous tank mates is best.  You may need to feed this frequently for several weeks until the fish has regained its weight and settled into the aquarium. At that point feeding can be reduced to normal, but always keep an eye open and be prepared to increase it again if your Copperband appears to be losing weight.

150 l+

74

300 l+

7

24 22

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

New Insect Meal Formula

The Future Of Aquarium Fish Foods Uses cultured insect meal to ensure the food: 6IGVIEXIWXLIREXYVEPHMIXƤWL would eat in the wild Environmentally friendly and sustainable Easily digested for low waste Plus 2EXYVEPP]IRLERGIWXLIGSPSYVSJXLIƤWL using Spirulina algae, paprika and krill WWW.FISHSCIENCE.CO.UK

t
"
VOJRVFMZ
TUZMJTI
BQQFBSBODF t
*ODSFBTFE
IFJHIU t
)JUFDI
-&%
MJHIUJOH t
&BTZ
JOTUBMMBUJPO
PG
DBOJTUFS
öMUFST t
"
TUZMJTI
UBOL
TUBOE
UP
NBUDI
(MPTTZ

BRVBSJVNT
PG
BOZ
TJ[F
OPU
JODMVEFE

dŽĮŶĚLJŽƵƌŶĞĂƌĞƐƚƐƚŽĐŬŝƐƚƉůĞĂƐĞǀŝƐŝƚǁǁǁĂƋƵĂĞůĐŽƵŬ

Improve your Fishkeeping Practical advice and great ideas to ensure you get the most from your hobby.

78

82

Get the best behaviour! It’s the ultimate question, and one every retailer gets asked — which fish goes with which?

Beat your greens How to keep your garden pond algae-free this summer.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

84

Why is my coral sulking? We look at what may cause your corals to shrink or stop expanding their polyps.

77

Improve your Fishkeeping

Get the best behaviour! It’s the ultimate question, and one that every aquatic retailer gets asked — which fish go with which? WORDS: NATHAN HILL Did you know that there are over 30,000 known different species of fish? They range from famed giants like the Whale shark at almost 16m long, down to the 8mm Infantfish, and everything in between. Choose an underwater niche — caves, sandflats, inside stinging anemones, or at the bottom of the ocean where the pressure alone would kill most other life — and there’ll be fish there. There is, perhaps, more diversity within fish than there is in any other branch of animal life.

Not everything goes From the fishkeeper’s perspective, the availability of so many fish means that there’ll inevitably be friction. Just because we want fish to live together peacefully in a tank doesn’t mean they’ll set aside their grievances. Some fish eat each other. Some fish actually live as parasites on other fish. Others prefer exclusive rights to breeding territories and chase away invaders, or jealously guard their food patch. Getting the right fish to live together can sometimes be a taxing part of the hobby, but it’s a necessary one. There are so many possible combinations that it may be impossible for any one person to know which mix will and won’t work in every case, but your retailer is a good start and will be your firewall against the most obvious slips. Still, not all retailers will be 100% cautious, 100% of the time. Errors can and do occur, and so the only way to be safe — as with every other aspect of the fishkeeping hobby — is to do your own research.

What are the trends? What follows is an oversight of the main types of fish available and some of their obvious traits. Though there will be numerous exceptions to these, it could be a handy guide if you have no further information to hand on the fish that you’re thinking of buying.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY: NEIL HEPWORTH UNLESS STATED

Black widow tetras can be nippy.

78

Despite its popularity, the Angelfish is actually a poor choice for most community tanks.

ANGELFISH are aquarium icons that are well behaved (if a little testy) when young, but can eat smaller fish like Neons as they grow. If they pair off, they will spawn and create havoc in your aquarium. With larger tank mates, like gouramis, they are sometimes okay.

Rummy noses are very well behaved.

TETRAS are for the best part peaceful fish, with a handful of noted exceptions. Smaller, torpedo shaped tetra like Neons and Glowlights tend to be impeccably behaved, while some of the deeper bodied species like Serpae tetra can nip each other. Be cautious about mixing larger, deep bodied tetra with long-finned and slower moving fish.

Harlequin rasbora.

RASBORAS, like Harlequins, are awesome community fish with limited biting and chasing issues.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Basics CHOOSE THE RIGHT MIX OF FISH

ALAMY

Mbuna should never be added to your community tank.

AFRICAN CICHLIDS are notoriously territorial and have no place in the community tank. Many require keeping at high stocking densities and have fierce pecking orders. Specialist tanks only.

Keep one Swordtail male to two or three females.

Firemouths are better suited to a large fish community. MID-SIZED CICHLIDS like Firemouths mainly reserve their hostility for other cichlids, but can take the opportunity to scoff down small fish if the opportunity arises. Fish like Electric blue acara may be pretty, but do have a vicious streak.

Corydoras are peaceful little characters.

SWORDTAILS AND PLATIES are classic community fish that will ignore most other species. At worst, swordtail males may chase each other, but note that male fish can harass female fish, which looks like aggression – and can be just as stressful. MOLLIES can be belligerent to the point of stressing or even injuring small fish.

Gold barb.

CORYDORAS CATFISH are the ultimate for community set-ups, but should be kept in shoals to keep them happy. They are unaggressive, with rare exceptions of a little territoriality in long-snouted types.

WHAT IS A FISH? FUN FACT – Technically there’s no such thing as a fish. When we talk of birds or mammals, we can trace their lineages back to one single common ancestor. But for fish, it’s a different ballgame. You have jawless ‘fish’, bony ‘fish’ and ‘fish’ like sharks with cartilage for skeletons, — and in some cases they’re so distantly related from one other that they can’t be called the same thing. A Neon tetra, for example, has more in common genetically with you and me than it does with a hagfish, yet both are classed as ‘fish’. In evolutionary biology terms, the word is just an umbrella term to describe any of the water-dwelling creatures that aren’t mammals, turtles, invertebrates and so on. Don’t feel you need to take my word for it. Have a look at the works of the late, eminent evolutionary biologist, Stephen J Gould — he dedicated much of his career to this very subject before concluding that ‘fish’ don’t exist!

Apistogramma macmasteri.

DWARF CICHLIDS have a temperament unbecoming of their size. Apistogramma species are best kept alone, or with just tetras and sometimes catfish. They turn nasty if they spawn. Rams are popular but can also be waspish. Given enough space they may work in a community of fish with similar requirements of warmer, acidic water.

The Opaline gourami is one of several colour forms of the Three spot.

ALAMY

Bristlenose catfish.

BARBS get a lot of bad press for nipping, but it’s usually only the Tiger barb, when kept in inadequate numbers, that does this with any regularity. ‘Narrow’ barbs like Cherry and Gold barbs are well behaved in any numbers.

Neon tetra.

Oscars will eat small fish. SUCKERMOUTH CATFISH can be territorial. Tiny Otocinclus are social and require shoals, while larger species like Golden nuggets guard their caves and have less place in community tanks. Bristelnoses (Ancistrus) are the better option for a peaceful community. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

GOURAMIS come in dwarf and normal varieties. Normal types like Pearl and Three spot gourami can become chasers as they age, but are sometimes laid back. Dwarf species, like the Honey gourami, tend to be passive fish.

LARGE CICHLIDS like Oscars are a standard community no-go. Though there is a place for them in big fish communities with Tinfoil barbs and big catfish, they will quickly devour their small neighbours in an everyday tank.

79

Improve your Fishkeeping ‘CAN IT EAT OTHER FISH’ CHECKLIST While it might not be possible to tell every fish predator at a glance, there are some tell tale signs that can help expose their true nature. Watch out for the following:

SHUTTERSTOCK

EYE POSITION – fish that don’t want to be eaten usually have eyes set either side of the head, to provide as wide a field of view as possible. Many predators, meanwhile, have slightly forward facing, forward set eyes, allowing for overlapping vision and depth perception. Pike are a perfect example.

Even Pygmy puffers are on the nippy side.

ALAMY

TORPEDO BODY – if a fish has a long, arrow-shaped body (what’s known as a Sagittiform shape) then chances are it’s geared for sudden bursts of extreme speed – the hallmarks of a fast ambush predator fish like a Florida gar. SIZE – predators benefit from being bigger than the fish they’re eating, but there’s no magic size for a fish to suddenly ‘turn’. Still, if you see a fish kept on its own, and it’s three times bigger than everything else in a store, it’s a safe bet it might view other fish as food.

PUFFERFISH are almost always not to be trusted and only the tiniest species like Pygmy puffers have even a tenuous place in a community tank. All are best suited to species-only, or carefully crafted specialist biotope communities.

ALAMY

WHISKERS – many predators in dark, deep waters find their prey with elongated whiskers. While a goatee-bearded Corydoras isn’t going to scoff your Rummy nose during the night, a Pimelodus pictus catfish won’t think twice about it.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Boeseman’s rainbowfish ideally needs an aquarium of 100 l or more.

TEETH – in theory it’s a no brainer, but if you can see long, obvious teeth on a fish – the kind of teeth designed for grabbing and holding – or razor sharp, triangular nubs, then you’re likely dealing with a predator. Piranhas are the most obvious here.

RAINBOWFISH are well behaved when very young, but may be too active to house with nervous fish, and can become chasers when they become adult. Dwarf species like Melanotaenia praecox are better community choices.

SYNODONTIS CATFISH frequently get big and can become hostile towards tankmates. There are many exceptions, like Upside-down catfish and Pyjama catfish, but some of the classic species like Featherfin catfish are known troublemakers.

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

CAMOUFLAGE AND HIDING – some fish hide in plain sight to avoid predation, others do it to hunt. If a fish buries itself in the sand, or blends in perfectly with leaves, ask yourself why. Is it waiting for a passing meal to stumble by? Leaf fish and Chaca catfish are good examples of camouflaged and hiding fish, respectively.

While none of those features taken alone might identify a predator, a mixture of a few is a worrying sign. A fish with all of them is pretty much guaranteed to be a flesh eater!

Black ghost knifefish.

80

ALAMY

MOUTH – a lot like teeth, this is a strong indicator of feeding preference. An Ancistrus with soft, suckered lips will eat a very different diet to a Gulper catfish with its broad chasm of a mouth. Simply put, if it has a mouth that can fit other fish into it, assume that it’s going to try — even if it chokes in the process!

Upside-down catfish.

KNIFEFISH are opportunistic night time predators, and while they start lives with small mouths, most available species will become dusk hunters in the home tank. Best in specialist set-ups.

STINGRAYS — just no!

Hard to keep, need a huge tank, will eat small fish...

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Basics Aphyosemion bitaeniatum.

EXCEPTIONS VS. RULES

HRISTO HRISTOV

Boraras maculatus.

KILLIFISH can be extremely hostile between males and are best kept in pairs. They will be intimidated by other fish in a community and are best kept alone. DWARF RASBORAS are too small for most communities, where they will be eaten, but are perfectly well behaved in a tank of similarly tiny fish.

Keep Guppies away from anything that might shred that tail....

DANIOS AND MINNOWS only misbehave in very rare cases and are usually good community additions.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Zebra danio.

GUPPIES need to be housed with care, as their long, flowing fins make them targets for fish that aren’t usually nippy. While they are not aggressive, they can be shredded by a rogue barb or tetra.

Betta splendens.

SHUTTERSTOCK

SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH are high risk in a community tank with fish that might nip fins, but are themselves peaceful except towards other Fighters, or fish with long, flowing fins like Guppies.

We humans are very prone to wishful thinking, and especially to confirmation bias — if we read or hear something that seems to support our existing hopes or ideas, we tend to be more sympathetic to it than we are to criticism. The problem in fishkeeping is that there are many exceptions to normal situations, and it’s a temptation to try to copy them. Ultimately, the weight of data should always be used as a benchmark to gauge a situation. So, if you have 20 people who experience a certain cichlid eating their Neons, but one person who has the two species living together just fine, you should take those 20 failed cases as a normal representation of what is likely to happen if you try to do the same. I witness this exact phenomenon every time I express caution about a particular species. Point in case: when I wrote about Golden sucking loaches being aggressive, I received one passionate email from a keeper who had hers in a community tank without problems, among dozens of emails and messages from folks who wished they’d known about the aggression before they’d bought their own, problematic sucking loaches.

Red-tailed black sharks are better behaved in tanks of 100 l or more.

‘SHARKS’ like Red-tailed sharks become territorial as they mature, chasing away fish that encroach their expanding territories.

Polka-dot loach need handling with care.

LOACHES should be handled with care. Some Botia are known to be eye eaters that will harass and chase other fish. Flat, rock-hugging Sewellia type loaches are well behaved with other fish but territorial among themselves, while upright ‘wedge’ shaped loaches like Yo-yo loaches are more of a problem. Long, small eel-shaped loaches like Kuhlis are almost always well behaved. Sucking ‘loaches’ and Flying foxes, while not true loaches, are both problematic in community tanks as they age, but are usually fine when small. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Most Bumblebee gobies sold in the trade need salt in their water.

SMALL GOBIES like Dragon or Bumblebee gobies are happy to display among themselves and look grouchy, but leave other tank mates alone. Larger gobies tend to be predatory and should be avoided.

81

Improve your Fishkeeping

BANISH ALGAE FROM YOUR POND!

Beat your greens Summer offers the chance to get out there and really enjoy your pond — but not if it’s full of green water and blanketweed! Tetra’s Dave Hulse has advice on keeping things under control... Algae is something every pondkeeper dreads. Whether it’s single celled green water algae or filamentous blanketweed, a small amount in the pond is natural, but the overwhelming dominance of these primitive plants — what we call a bloom — is both unwelcome and unsightly.

What’s the problem with algae? A small amount of algae is inevitable in all ponds, and is part of the natural ecology of the pond ecosystem. But we don’t want it to dominate over all other life in the pond. Single celled algae makes the water so murky that we cannot see our fish, while filamentous algae seems to choke all other living things in the system. Any other plants in the pond are dragged down to the depths and filters and pipework can become blocked, causing the knock-on effect of water quality problems. Algae is a primitive type of plant, and like all plants it needs sunlight and nutrients to grow. If we can deprive the algae of one or both of these essential factors then we can get to the root of the problem. Sun blocking measures are available; pergola shading can have beneficial effects and blue dyes added to the water can filter out light of a crucial wavelength, preventing

82

the algae from growing. But these steps seldom work to control algae on their own.

Control those nutrients! To ultimately win the war against algae, we need to control the nutrients it needs to grow. These are primarily phosphate and nitrate — both of which tend to be available in plentiful quantities in the average garden pond! Fish food breaks down, releasing phosphates and the breakdown of waste ammonia from the fish by the biological filter bacteria, ultimately raises the nitrate level in the pond. So, if two commonly found compounds in pond water are responsible for algae growth how can we get rid of them?

Manage your phosphate Limiting phosphates in your water is easier than controlling nitrates. Removal of any uneaten fish food is the first step. Fish faeces will also be a source of phosphate due to the presence of digested and partially digested food, and so more food means more phosphates. Regular cleaning of filter foams or other means of mechanical filtration will also remove decaying organic matter such as uneaten food and fish faeces, which will help to reduce the accumulation of phosphates.

Deal with nitrate Nitrate is constantly being added to the system by the continuous release and breakdown of waste ammonia from the fish. The release peaks shortly after feeding time, but does drop to a baseline level of constant release that is related to their basal metabolic rate. Many pondkeepers are unlucky enough to have a level of nitrate in their tapwater. Here the nitrate has run off into the water supply from agricultural fertilisers and, whereas a low level is relatively harmless to adult human health, it does add to the nitrate problems faced by pondkeepers. The release of ammonia (and the subsequent production of nitrate), is constant, so we could try keeping fewer pondfish or feeding less frequently, but what’s the point in pondkeeping if we can’t buy new fish and take enjoyment from those we already have? Although a water change successfully dilutes the nitrate level, it rarely reduces it

DID YOU KNOW? Around 10% of the fish food added to a garden pond will remain uneaten!

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

NEIL HEPWORTH

ALAMY

While some algae growth is perfectly natural, a bad case of blanketweed can choke everything else in your pond.

Pond health YOU CAN HAVE PLANTS WITH KOI! Plant marginals in baskets where they can’t be accessed by your fish.

STEVE WADEY

NEIL HEPWORTH

A newly-installed vegetable filter on a Koi pond.

Pondkeepers with Koi will know that any plant life in the pond is usually regarded as a meal by the fish, and soon disappears. Planting marginal species in baskets or flexible reinforced planters, out of reach of the Koi, will enable the plants to take up nutrients and out-compete the algae without them being damaged by the fish. Alternatively, try adding a vegetable filter, where a slow flow of pond water is passed through a substrate in which nitrate loving marginals such as Phragmites reeds, Watercress or Mimulus have been planted. Koi keepers who have added vegetable filters to their ponds are always very pleased with the results.

to zero, even without the added complication of tapwater nitrates. But fear not! Successful management of algae is possible, and it does centre on nutrient control...

algae problems. Often other plant micronutrients can become deficient in the pond, which is why regular dosing with an aquatic plant fertiliser such as Tetra PlantaMin can be beneficial. Couple this with other anti-algal measures such as an ultra violet clarifier, shading, electronic and chemical controls and the algae won’t stand a chance.

Add some competition! Algae, like all plants, needs nutrients to grow, but it is an opportunist species; if there are spare nutrients, it grows, but if there aren’t, it won’t. So, rather than trying to control the source of the nutrients, invest in other plants which are pleasing to the eye, and which will use up those nutrients instead of the algae. Adding higher plants into the pond to compete with the algae for available nitrate and phosphate is the ultimate control for

Use UVCs and flocculants Where would we be without the ultra violet clarifier (UVC)? Their development and use for the control of green water algae has been little short of revolutionary for pondkeepers. However, during severe green water algae blooms a UVC alone can struggle to control

SHUTTERSTOCK

Now’s the ideal time of year to buy pond plants and starve that algae out!

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Floating lily leaves shade the pond surface, helping to control algae growth.

Dave Hulse is Tetra’s Technical Consultant. He has 20 years of experience within the aquatics industry, and has been involved in education and training for the last 15 years, having taught at both Sparsholt and Reaseheath Colleges. He is currently based at the School of Life Sciences at Keele University where he turns his hand to other subjects in the biological sciences — although he usually manages to crowbar a piscatorial reference in at some point! With such a varied and rich background in aquatics, Dave brings a wealth of experience to support Tetra and its customers.

the situation. This is where a chemical flocculant such as Tetra’s AlgoRem can help clear the water, allowing the UVC to work more effectively. By making the microscopic algae stick together, the flocculant creates heavier, larger particles which fall to the pond floor and can be picked up by the pond’s pump or filter. This makes it easier for the UV light from the UVC to come into closer contact with the green water algae cells, clearing the problem much more quickly. However, once the greenwater algae is not there to use up any available phosphate and nitrate, blanketweed may well seize the opportunity and its dreaded growth blooms to choke out everything else in the pond. Which brings us on to algaecides...

Use algaecides wisely Algaecide for ponds, such as Tetra AlgoFin, can be very effective at controlling blanketweed when used monthly. They have to be registered and approved by the Health and Safety Executive for use in domestic ponds as most contain a specific algaecide chemical which has been proven to kill and prevent re-growth of blanketweed. It is vital when using an algaecide that the dead algae matter is removed from the pond, otherwise it will decay in the water. This decay will stagnate the water, lowering dissolved oxygen to possibly dangerous levels, and the breakdown of the algal tissue will also ultimately give off nutrients including nitrate and phosphate triggering the same problem all over again. If your pond is facing repeated blooms of algae, the constant use of an algaecide at full strength is going to be unwise and rather expensive, so the ultimate control is nutrient management, backed up with preventative algaecide dosing, UVC, shading, electronic control, and magnets.

83

Improve your Fishkeeping

Why is my coral

sulking?

DIAGNOSE AND DEAL WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS

You just can’t beat a good reef tank when it’s running well. But what if your corals start to shrink, change colour or stop expanding their polyps? Here are some of the possible causes and what you can do to resolve the issue. WORDS: DAVE WOLFENDEN ack of coral polyp extension (PE) is a common complaint with many reefkeepers. Many aquarists directly link polyp extension to the health of the coral — but it’s hard to definitively say that a coral with permanently extended polyps is ‘happy’. Polyps may extend for a host of reasons, including feeding, optimising light capture, respiration and aggression, and we can’t definitively equate PE directly with health — at least not in terms of a correlation between the degree of PE or its duration. If the coral extends its polyps to some degree for at least some of the day or night, is growing and shows good coloration then there’s almost certainly no real cause for concern. Not all corals extend their polyps on a continuous basis. Many will retract them during the day, only extending at night to feed. This may be perfectly normal behaviour, reflecting natural conditions on the reef (at night, zooplankton availability may be at its highest and the occurrence of coral-munching fish at its lowest). Many soft corals will periodically shrivel and then return to full form, which is a common behaviour related to the shedding of mucus. Corals will also often refuse to extend their polyps after fragging or being introduced into a new environment, so don’t panic for the first few days if the coral sulks. That said, protracted periods of coral sulking and little or non-existent PE could be a sign that something is amiss. Extended periods without PE often precede events such as bleaching, and may indicate stress. This may not always be the case, but there will be times where something just seems ‘off’ and it’s worth looking for potential problems — especially if corals start to show a decrease in PE from that which they normally exhibit.

L

Some soft corals retract their polyps and shrivel before shedding mucus, after which they return to their former glory.

If all the corals are affected: The problem could be down to a system-wide issue such as a decline in your water quality or incorrect salinity. If just one colony or part of the colony is affected: While it’s still important to check your system as a whole, look for signs of pests, predation or aggression on the affected coral.

84

NATUREPL

How many corals in your tank are affected?

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine CHECK THE WATER FIRST!

Test the water before doing anything else — and in difficult to determine cases, consider precision ICP-OES testing.

DAVE WOLFENDEN

Water quality should always be the first port of call. Key parameters such as alkalinity, nitrate, phosphate and pH should be checked, and adjustments made if necessary using water changes, supplementation or the use of chemical filtration. The advent of readily-available ICP-OES testing has allowed parameters to be measured with a precision not possible before, and this can be used to flag up potential stressors. For example, elevated copper levels (above 15ppb) have been implicated in poor PE — ICP-OES testing is really the only available way to determine elements in the water at such low (but still stressful) levels. Check the salinity — deviations above or below the optimal salinity level (usually around 35ppt) is stressful to corals. Calibrate refractometers and/or get a second opinion by reading salinity with an alternative instrument. Fluctuations in temperature, and prolonged exposure to temperatures outside the coral’s optimum range, are also stressors that can cause polyps to contract, so check heaters and any chillers, and aim for stability. Elevated temperature is a trigger for bleaching, so don’t ignore any potential issues here.

This Acropora is showing signs of bleaching, either through disease or stress

Go with the flow While many SPS corals are adapted to high-energy environments, and require strong (and often turbulent) flow to encourage polyp extension, direct blasting from a powerhead may discourage polyps from opening. Conversely, corals from slack water lagoonal environments (such as many LPS species) may retract their polyps in strong flow. Research the requirements of the species in question, and if necessary consider moving it to a more appropriate region of the tank.

Lighting intensity

NATUREPL

Inappropriate light intensity can also cause stress and polyp retraction — in some cases this can be followed by full-scale bleaching. This could happen tank-wide after upgrading lighting, or even following an increase in water clarity from the use of ozone or chemical filtration. On an individual basis, newly-introduced corals should be acclimated to the light intensity of their intended location to prevent ‘light shock’; this can be achieved by temporarilly shading them and gradually exposing them to increased light, or else moving them from shadier portions of the tank to more brightly-lit zones. Of course, insufficient lighting in the long term can also cause problems, too. Ultimately, it’s important to find out each coral’s needs, acclimate them slowly to their lighting ‘Goldilocks zone’ and prevent sudden increases. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

85

Improve your Fishkeeping

SHUTTERSTOCK

Flame angels are known polyp nibblers.

Feed me!

Predators and pests

A key function of coral polyps is food capture, and a lack of polyp extension may be caused simply through a lack of available food. Chemoreceptors on the polyp respond to amino acids and other compounds in the food, causing the polyp to expand and the feeding tentacles extend. If PE is disappointing, consider increasing the frequency of feeding, or experiment with a variety of foods; the range of coral-specific powdered, pelleted and liquid feeds available means we’ve never had it so good — but keep an eye on water quality when using them as they can be very high in nutrients. The use of a thriving refugium can help to produce natural plankton populations, too. Another trick worth trying is the use of amino acid products — added to the water these can encourage PE; feed the corals shortly afterwards, while their tentacles are extended and ready to accept food.

Many fish will nip at coral polyps, with dwarf angels and butterflyfish being common culprits — but you might need to be patient to catch them in the act. Even damsels may nip at polyps, but this tends to be quite site-specific behaviour related to nesting and territory establishment. Such nipping will cause the polyps to contract. It’s your call how to deal with this, but rehoming problem fish might be the only option. Pests such as flatworms and red Acropora ‘bugs’ can irritate the coral and cause polyps to contract. These can be difficult to treat on a tank-wide basis, so removal of individual colonies and treating in isolation may be the safest option — screening and prophylactically treating corals for pests is the best way to prevent introducing these to your aquarium.

DAVE WOLFENDEN

Amino acids encourage corals to expand their polyps to feed.

86

Turf warfare Aggression is also worth investigating. There are two types of interaction to look out for. Firstly, direct stinging from neighbouring colonies. This could be due to sweeper tentacles from closely-spaced colonies, used to engage offensively or defensively in ‘turf warfare’ on the reef. LPS species such as tooth corals, Galaxea spp. and Euphyllia species can be very aggressive, but horn corals, Hydnophora spp., (often classed as SPS) can be just as belligerent. These corals can emit long potent sweepers which will irritate other corals and prevent polyps of the victim from extending; even a reasonably small Galaxea colony may extend sweepers well over 30cm! Poor PE may be accompanied by visible damage to the

THAT’S IRRITATING! Disturbance can inhibit corals from extending their polyps. Watch for hawkfish and other perching species resting on specific corals. Crabs and other mobile invertebrates can irritate corals, causing the polyps to retract. Try to minimise the touching of any corals during maintenance, or kicking up debris onto them when syphoning and stirring the sand bed.

coral’s tissue. In such cases, movement of the aggressor and/or the affected coral will be necessary. Soft corals are known to secrete various toxins, including terpenoids. These are a chemical alternative to sweeper tentacles, used to ward off competitors for space on the reef and even actively kill stony corals. In the aquarium, these toxins may affect SPS or LPS corals, irritating them and causing the polyps to retract or even die off; stony corals placed very near softies may be affected most drastically, but all corals in the tank can be affected. Running activated carbon and using aggressive skimming can help by adsorbing and exporting the toxins, but tanks with high densities of softies may still cause problems for stony corals kept with them. This isn’t always the case, however — stony corals in some softie-dominated tanks actually show good PE, perhaps because they’re stimulated to feed on the mucus regularly sloughed off the soft corals. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine BLEACHING Bleaching is a sign of a stressed coral, with temperature being a major factor.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Whereas lack of polyp extension may or may not indicate a problem, bleaching is a potentially fatal condition for corals. It involves either expulsion of the coral’s algal symbionts (zooxanthellae), or consumption of the algae by the coral. Small-scale bleaching of individual colonies probably happens frequently as a means for the coral to manage its zooxanthellae populations, and it may not even be noticed. In severe cases, the result is a washed-out, pale (often white) coral thanks to a near-total loss of the symbionts. This is a well-known and highly topical phenomenon in the wild (Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing an unprecedented bleaching event). Bleaching can be caused by a number of factors which ultimately stress the coral or otherwise lead to loss of zooxanthellae. In many cases, it’s important to consider the possibility of multiple causes rather than trying to pinpoint a single ‘smoking gun’. However, there are some key factors known to contribute to bleaching: Temperature stress: There’s overwhelming evidence that elevated sea temperatures are a major trigger for wild bleaching events. Temperatures of 30°C or above is a real danger zone, but excessively

low temperatures, or rapid changes which stress the coral should also be avoided — stable optimum temperature is the key. Lighting changes: Rapid bleaching can occur when lamps are changed or if clarity is dramatically improved through the use of activated carbon or ozone, either of which will increase the light availability. Excessive or severely limited nutrients:

If just one coral is ‘sulking’ it may not be a cause for concern.

ALAMY

ALAMY

Galaxea corals have long sweeper tentacles that can irritate and sting neighbours.

Corals (or rather, their zooxanthellae) do need some nitrate and phosphate to survive, and if these are extremely low then they may die off. Aim for minimum levels of 0.25ppm nitrate and 0.02ppm phosphate to prevent large-scale zooxanthellae die-off. Imbalances of nitrate and phosphate (such as high nitrate and very low phosphate) can also trigger bleaching.

Bleached corals may recover, but they should be well fed to prevent them from starving. They may be able to recapture zooxanthellae from the water column (zooxanthellae can be free-living as well as symbiotic), or more likely, any remaining symbionts could reproduce and recover their normal levels — whilst the coral recovers, it’s best to maintain adequate nitrate and phosphate to support zooxanthellae growth. The easy solution to this is to simply increase feeding. One product (Algagen PhycoPure) offers bottled zooxanthellae, and this could be well worth trying as an additional supportive measure to aid recovery from bleaching.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

ALAMY

If your corals bleach...

Some corals, like this Acropora, only extend their polyps and feeding tentacles at night.

87

COULD YOU BE THE 2017 UK AQUASCAPING CHAMPION?

The New Improved Matsuko Switch Boxes... HIGH PERFORMANCE POWER SOLUTIONS

ENTER ROUND ONE TODAY for your chance to win up to £250 cash, fishkeeping goodies & be crowned UK Aquascaping Champion in Round 2, the live scape off! Sponsored by:

The new Matsuko Switch Boxes give you five lines for five different devices. They are great for controlling multiple pond, garden and aquarium appliances, each outlet will take appliances of up to 1500 watts per line and a maximum load of 3000 watts. All of the Matsuko Switch Boxes are weatherproof, stylish, robust and safe in all outdoor environments.

Models Available :-

Switch Box Switch Box Timer Switch Box Timer +PumpGuardTM

2

YEAR GUARANTEE

Round one entries close on Tuesday 20th June 2017. Terms & Conditions apply. Visit www.ukasc.co.uk for more details.

Available at all good stores

www.matsuko.co.uk

Aqualush

Your Premier Marine Centre www.aqua-lush.co.uk

FOLLOW US ON Twitter! Keep up to date with our store and what’s in stock. Tweet us at aqualush_info.

FOLLOW US ON Facebook! Keep up to date what’s new in our store and what’s in stock. Share our pictures and updates!

FOLLOW US ON the Worldwide Web! Keep up to date with our store and what’s in stock, place orders and watch our in store videos! www.aqua-lush.co.uk

Aqualush is a premier marine centre located in the heart of a thriving, bustling business centre. BSS House is just a short distance from J15 & J16 of the M4. Aqualush have access to some EHDXWLIXO©½VK©VWXQQLQJ©FRUDOV© equipment, food, aquatic life and ½QDOO\©D©.,'=©=RQH©:H©KDYH©D© PHPEHUVKLS©DQG©OR\DOW\©FOXE© offering; a spend and save club, access to exclusive events, new product launches and expert assistance in the store. Aqualush will also provide advice out of hours and DLG©ZLWK©DQ\©GLVDVWHU©UHFRYHU\© 2XU©H[SHUWV©ZLOO©DGYLVH©\RX©LQ©VWRUH© RQ©SXUFKDVHV©½VK©FRPSDWLELOLW\©FRUDO© placement, water testing, different V\VWHPV©ZD\V©RI©FDULQJ©IRU©\RXU© DTXDWLF©IULHQGV©DQG©KHOS©HQVXUH©\RXU© ‘slice of the ocean’ (or tropical sea) is at its best. Email us at: [email protected]

UNIT 36 BSS HOUSE, Cheney Manor Ind. Est., Swindon, Wiltshire, SN2 2PJ

Fishkeeping Answers Send your questions to PFK and you’ll receive a personalised reply from one of our top experts. Remember to include as much information as you can about your set-up — a photo is useful too. There’s a box of goodies from Tetra for the letter of the month.

The Spixi snail is currently still legal to buy and sell on in the UK.

OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS

ALAMY

TRISTAN LOUGHER works in aquatic retail and has sold marines for 15 years. He has written books and taken part in research projects. Tristan works at Cheshire Waterlife. BOB MEHEN has been keeping fish since the 1970s and has a particular passion for catfish. He helps to moderate the PFK website forum and excels at advising and guiding new keepers. GEORGE FARMER is a world-renowned aquascaper. He co-founded the UK Aquatic Plant Society and now works as a freelance aquatic specialist.

TROPICAL

Q. Can I sell these snails? I’m new to fishkeeping and when setting up my first tank (110 l) I bought four Spixi snails. They have bred and I now have rather more than four! I was hoping to move some on but I have read that there are restrictions on selling some types of snail. Please could you clarify the situation for me?  KAY STEVENSON, EMAIL

You are correct that some types of snail are restricted. Pomacea species, commonly called Apple or Mystery snails are very invasive and potentially damaging to agriculture, and following the discovery of breeding populations NEALE MONKS in Spain, the EU introduced measures to prevent their further The sale of Apple snails has spread. This included restrictions been banned due to their on the sale of pet Apple snails invasive potential. across the entire EU, implemented in the UK via the UK Plant Health Service. Anyone breeding or selling Apple snails is in breach of this legislation, and even home aquarists keeping these snails are expected to destroy any eggs produced. However, although the Spixi snail, Asolene spixi, is a member of the Apple snail family, it doesn’t belong to the Apple snail genus Pomacea, and therefore isn’t specifically covered by either UK or EU legislation. That being the case,

JEREMY GAY has kept fish most of his life. He’s managed an award-winning store and is a former PFK editor. He’s now Evolution Aqua’s business development manager. NEALE MONKS has kept fish for over 20 years. He has authored a number of fishkeeping books and has a particular passion for brackish species.

ALAMY

A

NATHAN HILL is PFK’s features editor. He’s worked as a public aquarist, managed a number of aquatic stores and has lectured in aquatics.

you can still keep and breed this snail, and pass on the offspring to pet shops or fellow hobbyists. Of course, ecologically it’s very similar, and coming from subtropical parts of Brazil known for chilly winters, it could potentially become adapted to the warmer parts of Europe. So, while this snail is currently still available in the hobby, you’d still be wise to handle this species with care. Destroy unwanted eggs, taking care to keep them from getting into local ponds or streams. If you do pass them on to other aquarists, make sure they also know what these snails are and how to care for them responsibly.

U

Send your questions to us at: Fishkeeping Answers, Practical Fishkeeping Magazine, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA, or email them to us on questions@practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Expert aquarium care with our digital water test app, download here: www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

89

Fishkeeping Answers

IAN JUBB

An overstocked pond and an inefficient filter results in murky water that’s low in oxygen — a disaster waiting to happen in hot summer weather!

Use a pond vacuum to remove all that muck from the bottom.

SHUTTERSTOCK

POND

Q. How can I sort this mucky pond? I have a 10 x 6ft pond, which is 2ft deep in the middle, becoming shallow on one side to help the wildlife get out. There is a small waterfall at one end. The pond filter box measures 30 x 30 x 45cm high and has one layer of foam on top of black plastic rings. There is an E11 Yamitsu Algae Master UV water clarifier fitted to the filter box and the pump is an OASE Aquarius 1500 (it’s a fountain set, but we don’t use the fountain). There are lots of goldfish in the pond which look extremely healthy and are breeding like mad — I reckon there are probably up to 100 fish of various ages and sizes. There’s also a lot of wildlife. The problem is that the water in the pond is really murky and there seems to be a lot of debris on the bottom, which I’m sure isn’t helping the situation. How can we resolve this? Should the debris at the bottom be cleaned out? If so, what with? Also last summer, during the warm weather, the fish seemed to be gasping for air — would adding a pond aerator for this coming season be a good idea? CAROLINE DAVIS, EMAIL

I would describe your pond as medium-sized, and I have had several just a little larger than that myself over the years. A breeding population of goldfish and all that wildlife is a sign of good health and pond maturity, but if there are 100 fish in there, and increasing every year, I think you already know that you have far too many fish. At a volume of around 3400 l, I personally wouldn’t want more than 30

A

adult goldfish in there, so you need to catch all the fish from the pond and give them a serious thinning out. If any have reverted to the wild type black/bronze colouration and grown to adult size I would certainly rehome those as their offspring will be black too, and soon all your bright colours will be lost. The filter clearly isn’t coping. This then starts a vicious circle of mulm and debris building up in the bottom of the pond which in turn negatively affects water clarity, encourages algae to grow and consumes that vital oxygen. You have a good make of pond pump there, although you have a model which is designed primarily as a fountain pump with a fine mesh for a water intake. The black box is then undersized for the volume and number of fish, is getting dirty too quickly, and losing its efficiency at being able to break down waste. Add to this the risk of pump blocking and flow slowing or even stopping and your oxygen problem with the subsequent fish gasping will raise its ugly head again. You need to find a good water garden centre and hire a large vat to hold your fish in. Get it home, fill it with pond water, start to drain the pond and catch all the fish. Once the fish are caught and held in the vat, move the fountain pump and filter across, make sure the water is well agitated by the pump and don’t feed the fish for the duration. Online local classified sites are a quick way of offloading excess pond fish. Completely drain the pond and remove all that sludge from the bottom. Take the pond plants out, cut back and replant in larger baskets if necessary. Pressure wash the liner if necessary, empty, then refill with a hosepipe

LETTER OF THE MONTH Caroline Davis wins a bundle of pond prizes, comprising Tetra Pond Holiday Food, Tetra Pond Variety Sticks, AquaSafe, CrystalWater and AlgoRem, and a pack of 25 Tetra 6in1 Pond Test strips.

and dechlorinate. Next, you need to buy a larger pump and filtration system. I always like to go over the top, so choose a solids handling pump and filter package suitable for at least 1500 gal or 6800 l. A new filter system, less sludge and less fish should mean much better oxygen levels, although if it continues to be a problem, or you want to safeguard against future fish gasping, arm yourself also with a pond airpump and airstone. Extra air can actually help a pond filter break down waste more efficiently too. All the above fixes will also lead to less algae. Regular cleaning of a more efficient filter and fewer fish should mean less waste to remove from the pond itself, but a helping hand is available in the form of a pond vac, which you could either buy or hire.  JEREMY GAY

Everything you need for healthy fish 90

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

TROPICAL

Amazon swords will benefit from the extra food that root capsules will provide.

Q. What is this strange beast? I wondered if someone on the PFK team could help me identify the creature I found in my Daphnia container. At first I thought it was a Glassworm that had a single Daphnia stuck on its head, or even a deformed worm! Is it anything I should be worried about? CARLIE, EMAIL

I’m fairly sure this is some sort of dipteran larvae — something along the lines of Chaoborus spp., commonly called Phantom midges. The round bit at the top includes the head and thorax, the two stalks are the breathing structures, and the wormy bit underneath is the abdomen. The black spots are its eyes. These, and other midges, are aquatic as juveniles, often inhabiting the same sorts of fish-free environments favoured by Daphnia and Cyclops, so it’s entirely possible for them to find their way into batches of live food. Phantom midges are particularly interesting. The larval stage is predatory, with a pair of grasping appendages used to seize tiny prey such as small Daphnia. It is worm-like in shape, and because it is mostly transparent except for its eyes and some of its internal organs, it is often called the Glassworm. This stage lasts anything from a couple of weeks to a year, depending upon the species and its environment. Eventually though, it turns into a pupa, which lacks the grasping appendages, and has a more globular body at the front. Inside the pupa the animal is turning into its adult form, but amazingly the pupa is still able to react to its environment, twitching its ‘tail’ to escape from predators if disturbed. After a few days, it hatches, the adult fly usually only living for a few days, but completing the life cycle of the species by mating and laying eggs in another suitable body of water. Glassworms have been used as food for aquarium fish, and the pupae will probably be taken too. Alternatively, you could just keep the thing in a glass jar and watch what happens over the next few days. If the adult fly can get out, it will, leaving behind the exoskeleton of the pupa as the only reminder of the aquatic stage in its life cycle. NEALE MONKS

ALAMY

Phantom midges are aquatic as juveniles and favour a similar habitat to Daphnia.

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

A

PLANTS

Q. Can I switch my plant food? I have an old tank planted with Cryptocoryne and Echinodorus in plain gravel. I have never had any problems with the plants, but I am surprised how quickly they start to wilt when I stop giving them their daily feed. I would have thought such plants would be able to store sufficient reserves in their extensive root system. I try to keep everything as low-maintenance as possible with fishkeeping. If I inserted root tabs every fortnight or monthly, would that be enough to keep my plants thriving instead of my current daily liquid feeding regime? JOHN ANUSAS, EMAIL

Cryptocoryne and Echinodorus (Amazon sword) species are very heavy root feeders, so will definitely benefit from additional food near their roots. They will happily take nutrients through their leaves as well, as you have discovered. My advice for the healthiest possible plants is to feed both a good quality liquid fertiliser and use root capsules or tablets together. This way the plant will thrive and help to keep off nuisance algae. I suggest a good quality root capsule that adds all the necessary nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, rather than those that just add iron and other micronutrients. The same can be said for a liquid fertiliser. I like to dose a smaller amount of liquid food every day, rather than rely on a relatively large weekly dose. However, if you are really keen on not adding any liquid fertiliser at all you could try root capsules on their own and keep an eye on the plants. It really depends on your lighting and other parameters that determine the nutrient uptake rate. If you see signs of deficiency then you may have to add liquid fertilisers once again. Another option to potentially reduce the maintenance would be to lower your lighting. You could shorten your photoperiod and/or reduce light intensity. But keep an eye on plant health to ensure they are receiving enough light to remain healthy.

A

GEORGE FARMER

Join us on Facebook and Pinterest: www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Tetra UK 91

U

Fishkeeping Answers TROPICAL

I could use some advice before committing myself to a potentially expensive project which could end in disaster. I want to set up a freshwater tank in the recess shown in the attached photo, which is bounded by two brick walls and a wooden beam. The brick platform is approximately 55 x 53cm and the usable height is up to 153cm. I would favour an external filter placed in a cabinet beneath the tank but allowing for the cabinet it would, in theory, be possible to fit a tank up to 90cm deep! Of course, the tank and cabinet would have to be custom made. I love deep tanks but there are obvious practical considerations. Could you give me some tips on planning a deep aquarium specifically with respect to lighting, how to access the bottom of the tank when stocked and any other points you can think of to avoid mistakes? NICK BROWN, YORK.

Planning thoroughly is always vital, so you are doing exactly the right thing in seeking opinions and advice before making the leap. Tall, narrow aquariums can be a bit of a nightmare maintenance wise. Similarly, when it comes to livestock, choice can be restricted. Accessing the bottom of a deep tank for cleaning can be very difficult, as can cleaning the glass, while the vast majority of

A

fish species appreciate plenty of room to swim horizontally, not up and down. As a result, livestock has to be chosen carefully. Deeper tanks also require thicker glass due to the increased water pressure, so this means they are usually more expensive. Finally, while you may have a significant volume of water, the surface area is very small in comparison, meaning that oxygen levels can be hard to maintain without extra aeration. For this reason, I would not recommend you build the tank any deeper than 60cm which is really as deep as most of our arms can reach comfortably to maintain! If you’re planning a cabinet beneath you’ll also need to be certain of the height of the power filter you intend to use (including taps and pipework) to make sure there is sufficient space. You may be able to get a custom tank builder to drill the tank bottom so you can have pipework inside the tank, rather than outside which will give you more space to fit the tank tightly in the alcove. The cabinet will need to be of sturdy construction as a tank with dimensions of 55 x 53 x 60cm will hold around 170 l of water which will weigh 170kg before the glass is taken into consideration. Compact LED lighting should be able to penetrate 60cm brightly allowing a good range of plants to be grown — you may even be able to suspend one above the tank which would make maintenance easier. Fish wise I would

TROPICAL

Q. Why are my Swordtails so badly behaved?

NICK BROWN

Q. Should I go for a tank this deep?

This space will accommodate a tall, narrow tank, but cleaning it could be a problem. stick to small species, ideally nothing over a couple of inches long as they will be able to behave more naturally within the restricted length and width dimensions. BOB MEHEN

Swordtails are grazers and fresh greens will lead to more natural feeding behaviour.

I have five Swordtails in my community tank: one male and four females, along with some catfish, including a small 5cm pleco. Two of the Swordtails keep nipping the eyes and fins of the pleco and catfish, and I am concerned they will injure them. I’d like to keep them all together if possible, so would appreciate your advice. ANDRE, EMAIL

Swordtails are funny fish, often well behaved in one tank, but not in another! There are a couple of things you could try before moving the two species apart. The first is to provide more hiding places for the catfish, that the Swordtails are unable to use. Hollow tubes are ideal, but you could use artificial tree roots or even ceramic skulls if these appeal more. Then your catfish can seclude themselves away

ALAMY

A

during the day, coming out to feed while the livebearers sleep. Another option is to provide some better grazing for the Swordtails, in the way of slices of cucumber and blanched lettuce. Swordtails are primarily herbivores in the wild, but we often give them protein rich flake and pellets that are consumed within a few minutes. Being hard-wired to graze, they end up nibbling on whatever else they can find — such as the catfish in your case! Giving the Swordtails some proper greenery, while skipping on the

flake for a few days, will encourage more natural feeding behaviour, and if fresh greens can be used alongside flake in the long term, they will be all the better for it. Of course if none of this helps, you will need to separate these fish. Fish don’t have eyelids, and persistent targeting of the eyes by other fish causes them to become damaged, then infected, and eventually the fish can go blind, which is obviously not what we want. NEALE MONKS

Everything you need for healthy fish 92

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

TROPICAL

SHUTTERSTOCK

Q. What can I keep in this small tank?

A Siamese fighter would make an ideal choice for an aquarium with a 25 l volume.

I bought a 25 l tank from a pet shop chain about six years ago and on their advice got a single Comet-tailed goldfish to put in it. Sadly, the fish died earlier today. I think it was down to a swimbladder issue but can’t be sure. The ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels within the tank are all good.   I’m considering a swap to tropical fish and am seeing conflicting advice about stocking levels in a very small tank like mine. Please could you give me some advice? My tank is still set up with the filter running. Should I do a complete or partial water change before restocking — or maybe change the gravel? I want to ensure everything is right before I buy any more fish, seeing as I’ve had such unreliable advice in the past.

and Pogostemon helferi. Whatever plants you use will provide the green background against which brightly coloured shrimp can show themselves off to best advantage. Cherry shrimps are a good default, but there are all sorts of varieties and species out there. While you’re planning for the future, yes, keep the filter running, and add a tiny bit of flake food every few days to give the filter bacteria something to work on. I’d do water changes as usual, every weekend or two, but if water quality was otherwise good, there’s no particular reason to take all the water out before you add new fish. That said, if you decide to re-work the tank into a planted set-up, you may need to break it down anyway. If you remove the filter and pop it in a bucket of aquarium water, then switch it on, you can keep the filter bacteria happy for hours, even days, if necessary.

LOUISE, EMAIL

NEALE MONKS

A tank of 25 l doesn’t offer a huge amount of space. Your options are quite limited, but there are some things that can work. The simplest is to keep a Siamese fighter, or Betta, of which many different varieties are available. Their long fins actually make it quite difficult for them to swim, so they don’t do terribly well combined with more active species. But they can live perfectly happy lives kept singly in a 25 l tank provided it is suitably filtered and heated (Betta can’t survive at room temperature for long, even in centrally heated homes). Filtration can be quite simple — an air-powered sponge or box filter being ideal because such devices provide good water quality without too much water movement. Another popular use for these small tanks is for a planted shrimp aquarium. In this case lighting needs to be considered if you want plant growth to keep down any algae, but apart from that, this sort of system can be quite easy to put together and maintain. The simplest approach combines hardy epiphytes like Java moss and Anubias nana attached to bogwood or lava rock, but more ambitious aquatic gardeners will use a rich substrate and high-performance LED lighting to get the best from rooted species such as Cryptocoryne spp.

A

NEIL HEPWORTH

Bee shrimp are great for planted nano set-ups.

Expert aquarium care with our digital water test app, download here: www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

93

Fishkeeping Answers MARINE

Q. What’s wrong with my water? Please can you advise me on how I can keep the pH up in my marine tank? It is constantly in the region of 7.6–8.0pH and my dKh is averaging 10. I’ve read on the internet about opening a window to release CO2 but you can’t do this when you’re at work, or it’s the middle of winter! Adding chemicals just doesn’t seem right. PAUL BEENEY, EMAIL

Your system does seem to be experiencing not only low pH (i.e. 7.6), but also large pH swings (7.6 to 8.0 is actually a huge shift). This is surprising if your alkalinity is 10dKH, although pH will tend to vary between day and night (pH tends to drop at night due to reduced photosynthesis and increased carbon dioxide production in the tank; it rises when the lights are on due to CO2 consumption as a result of photosynthetic activity). I don’t think you need to be adding any chemicals to your aquarium at this point — if the alkalinity is 10dKH, there should be

A

ample buffering, and it does look likely that there is an issue with gas exchange. Are there any factors which could be contributing to the issue? Cover glasses and hoods, for example, can hinder gas exchange; so, if these are in place, consider how to increase ventilation, and if you can provide any other information on the system itself then please let us know. Is the tank regularly cleaned, and are you using equipment such as a calcium reactor or sulphur nitrate filter? Firstly, however, I’d be interested to see if there is a shift in the pH between day and night — this should help to confirm what’s going on. But do be sure to check your pH testing against another kit first and doublecheck alkalinity as well, just to eliminate any possible faults with the test kits, before embarking on corrective measures.

Then measure the pH at intervals over a 24–hour period, and see if there is a pattern. Meanwhile, take a small bucket of the tank’s water and measure the pH. Take the water outside if possible, and aerate with an air pump and airstone. After a couple of hours, measure the pH again. If gas exchange is the problem, then the pH should have risen (the aeration will drive off excess CO2). Assuming this is the case, increasing aeration and surface movement in the tank may help to drive off the excess CO2, but levels in the room itself could be an issue. Increasing ventilation in some way will be necessary to solve this, but we need to find out if this is the problem in the first place. Try the ‘bucket test’ and a 24-hour pH check for starters, and let us know how you get on.  DAVE WOLFENDEN

Cover glasses and hoods can hinder gas exchange, resulting in a fall in pH levels.

NEIL HEPWORTH

Increasing ventilation may be necessary to tackle pH problems.

Everything you need for healthy fish 94

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

How to make a simple fish trap

TROPICAL

What you will need: O Empty plastic water bottle O A pair of scissors O Thread or fishing line O Some tablet food for bait

Q. How do I catch fish without wrecking my tank?

NICK, EMAIL

Removing fish without disturbing the tank is admittedly very difficult. To some degree, preventing the problem is better than trying to solve it. If we take our cue from the marine side of the hobby, we’ll see the importance of quarantining all new livestock before adding it to the main tank. This keeps parasites and pathogens out of the display tank, so there’s no need to use medications that may prove toxic to corals and other invertebrates. Should the worst happen and a small fish dies, a clean-up crew in the form of snails, shrimps and other small scavengers are employed to consume the bodies without the need to take apart the reef itself, any attempt at which is likely to do far more harm than the decomposition of a small fish like a goby or damselfish. We don’t normally talk about a clean-up crew in freshwater fishkeeping, but Melanoides snails will do just as good a job at turning a small corpse into the sort of organic particles an aquarium filter can process without too much bother. In short, if we’re simply talking about small community fish like Neons or Guppies, it’s perfectly possible to adopt the marine approach with our freshwater systems: quarantine thoroughly to keep diseases out, and if fish do die, snails and other scavengers will break down their corpses quickly enough that there’s no real risk of water quality problems assuming robust filtration and regular water changes. The use of sturdy plants is one thing you could do to decorate such tanks, and epiphytes like Java fern and Anubias are particularly handy because they grow on rocks and bogwood roots that can be lifted and moved about without bothering the plants themselves.  But you still have the problem of removing small, healthy fish for such purposes as breeding. There are snail traps on the

A

market, and apart from snails, they’re cheap enough to worth trying if you wanted to capture shrimps as well. Bait the trap, and leave them in the tank for a few hours and see if some of the shrimps crawled in. There are also larger, more expensive traps used to catch fish available — and you can even make your own (see right). That said, when it comes to using a net to catch your target fish, it’s a common mistake to think you only need need one net. What you actually want is two nets, the aim being to use one to drive the fish into the other. The two nets could be the same size, but many aquarists find using nets of different sizes works well, a smaller net to drive the fish forwards, and a much bigger net to catch it. I’d avoid using traps with any air-breathing fish such as gouramis, Betta and so on. These can get caught inside the traps and drown. Non-air breathers, such as tetras, barbs, livebearers and dwarf cichlids, aren’t at risk, so you should be fine with these, so long as the trap is big enough for the fish not to feel overly confined. NEALE MONKS

Unscrew the cap and cut down the bottle, one-third from the top.

2

Now remove the top third of the bottle at the neck, leaving just a cone with an open hole.

3

Take the cone-shaped piece, turn it around and reinsert it into the remainder of the bottle, creating a cone inlet with a small aperture.

Some traps work better in the open, especially when catching more active fish, like tetras. Others can be placed to mimic a cave for shy species like catfish. Try to coordinate catch time with peak activity of the fish you want — daytime for tetras, night for catfish.

TIP

To catch territorial species in a fish trap, place a small budgie mirror at the base of the trap where it is visible from the opening. This will lure in the fish, which will mistake its own reflection for an opponent. Unable to resist the perceived threat to its territory, the fish will swim in to meet its opponent and trap itself.

4

TIP

Join us on Facebook and Pinterest: www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

1

Plants grown on wood are easy to remove should you need to catch a difficult fish in your tank.

PANEL: JACQUES PORTAL

After carefully setting up a pleasing aquascape with rocks, wood, plants and other decor, and that has now matured, how do you catch and remove a sick fish or potential breeding stock without wrecking the whole set-up and spreading mayhem and panic among its inhabitants? I have thought of making miniature lobster pots, modelled on those used here in Cornwall, to help thin out my shrimp, as they can move like lightning when they want to, but taking out a single Guppy or poorly Neon is almost impossible. I would be very keep to hear of any solutions.

Punch a hole and use fishing line to make a tether. At this point the bottle can be baited with tablet food dropped into it, and submerged into the tank. Be patient and observe when trapping a fish this way, as several wrong fish may be caught until the correct one eventually finds its way in. Once caught, remove the bottle and you have your fish!

Tetra UK 95

Fishkeeping Answers

Vaillant’s gourami is a stunning softwater species.

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

NEIL HEPWORTH

TROPICAL

Boraras are small, peaceful schooling fish.

Q. What do I need for these gourami? What water chemistry and tank size would a pair or trio of Vaillant’s gourami need? Could I keep them with Boraras? BEN ELLIS, EMAIL

Sphaerichthys vaillanti is a classic blackwater fish, so in terms of water chemistry, soft and acidic is what you’re after! A pH of 6.0 is about right; below this, biological filtration tends to drop off, making water quality management a bit more difficult. Even at pH 6, you’ll want to understock the tank, minimise the amount of food going in, and use some fastgrowing plants to ensure good water conditions in the long term.

A

Similarly, hardness needs to be quite low — around 20–30 mg/l is about right. The simplest way to achieve all this is to use RO water and add Discus Buffer to provide the right water chemistry and to steady the pH between water changes. Many aquarists keeping blackwater tanks like to add leaf litter to the substrate, either store-bought Indian almond leaves or Beech tree leaves picked up from somewhere away from busy roads or other potential sources of pollution. The leaves can be left to decay in the tank, releasing useful tannins and humic acids in the process, which lowers pH and tints the water an attractive peat-brown that brings out the subtle colours of these fish.

I wouldn’t try anything smaller than 60 l tank size, simply because a little extra volume will help you manage water chemistry and water quality more easily. A pair or trio should settle down quite nicely in there, and a few caves or coconut shells can be used to provide individuals somewhere to hide if they need to.  Sphaerichthys vaillanti is not a good community fish by any means, simply because it’s slow, shy and needs quite specific water conditions to do well. But schools of peaceful midwater swimming fish will help it settle down, and a group of Boraras will fit the bill nicely. NEALE MONKS

TROPICAL

An automatic fish feeder will offer peace of mind while you are on holiday.

Q. How do I feed my fish while I’m away? I have a 125 l tropical fish tank with a Fluval U3 internal filter and silk plants. I have 26 fish including Swordtails, Rosy barbs, White Clouds, danios, catfish, two Pearl gourami and three shrimp. I am going on holiday for a week very soon. Please could you advise me on feeding them while I am away? MR. MCCULLUM, EMAIL.

You have quite a lot of fish for the size of tank, but healthy fish in a well maintained tank are usually fine for seven days without feeding, especially the more commonly kept 'community' species. While most stores stock holiday blocks or similar slow release foods, my advice would

A

be to feed the fish as normal up to your departure (but perhaps fatten them up a little with the occasional extra treat such as frozen bloodworm). The day before you leave, carry out a 25% water change and clean the filter. Your fish should then be fine for the week without food, just a little more enthusiastic to see you when you return! If the room is relatively bright, then I would recommend you leave the lights off and just let the natural day/night cycle do its thing. In darker rooms, add a timer to your lights to allow for around six hours of 'daylight', which should help prevent nuisance algae going mad in your absence. If you are really concerned the fish will get

too hungry then there are plenty of auto-feeders available that should do the job if set up correctly, or if you have a trusted neighbour then it's best to portion out the food into small 'wraps' marked clearly for each day — non-fishkeepers often get over enthusiastic with food and add far too much because the fish ‘looked hungry’... BOB MEHEN

Everything you need for healthy fish 96

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

ALAMY

Sally lightfoot crabs are rather skilled predators...

MARINE

Q. Is this crab eating my fish? I have a 250 l reef tank that houses Green chromis, Pyjama cardinals, a Coral beauty, a Lemonpeel tang and a Pink spot blenny, along with Blood shrimp, several hermits and sand sifting snails. Water parameters are all within an acceptable range. During the past three months I have added a Clown tang, a Yellow tang, a Convict tang and a dwarf angel — all four fish lasted a week or less before ‘disappearing’! Do you believe it’s possible that my Sally lightfoot crab is predating upon these new arrivals while they are sleeping in the rockwork, despite the fact that the other fish appear never to have been touched? I have relocated the crab to the sump for the time being.

by the waiting crab. They will also take a pop at small invertebrates; there’s no rule as to what they will or won’t try and catch. You’ve done well to catch the crab and ‘sin-bin’ it in the sump. They can be very difficult to catch, thanks to their lightning speed and flattened, rock-hugging morphology. There’s no reason why it couldn’t remain in the sump if this suits your set-up. They are pretty cool crabs to be fair, and keeping it in solitary confinement here means it’s going to be unable to harass any of the other inhabitants — but you’ll need to

DAVE WOLFENDEN

Clown tangs can reach 30cm or more.

BRIAN SIM, EMAIL

Yes, it is absolutely possible that these fish have been picked off by your crab; in fact, I’d put money on it! There are several species which are referred to as ‘Sally lightfoot crabs’, but in the aquarium hobby, Percnon gibbesi is the most commonly-available. Either way, it’s fair to say that pretty much all crabs are opportunistic and capable of becoming predatory. Percnon gibbesi is often sold as a reef-safe herbivore, and touted as a valuable member of the clean-up crew. While juveniles lean towards the herbivorous side, as they grow they can definitely become carnivorous, actively catching unsuspecting fish as they’re resting or even just passing

weigh up whether it might be disruptive if your sump doubles up a macroalgae refugium — the crab could destroy the algae, in which case I would take it back to a retailer. Just as an aside, Clown tangs, Acanthurus lineatus, are beautiful fish, but they can reach over 30cm in length, and are very aggressive with it. You’re looking at least 1000 l to house a fully-grown adult, so if you’re intending to try keeping another one now the crab has gone, you will need a long-term plan for when it has grown.

SHUTTERSTOCK

A

Expert aquarium care with our digital water test app, download here: www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

97

Hang on for a moment! We compare six hang-on aquarium filters — if you’ve never considered using this type of filter before, maybe it’s time to give one a whirl. Here’s what’s available... WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GABOR HORVATH

Hang-on filters are incredibly useful and versatile. But while they are very popular overseas, here in the UK they have never really taken off to the same degree. This may have something to do with our widespread use of aquarium kits that come with built-in hoods, as they make installing a hang-on filter quite difficult. But whatever the reason, it’s a shame they aren’t more commonplace, as these filters have their merits and could help you out in many different situations. O Ease of cleaning: Just unplug your filter, lift it off your tank and take it away to clean it without any risk of dirty water getting into the tank. While some may argue that external canister filters offer the same easy maintenance, you can get two quality hang-on filters for the price of one average priced external! While in longer tanks you would need two hang-on models anyway, at least you could clean them alternately, meaning that you will always have one well matured filter operating. O Space saving and easy to hide: Hang-on filters don’t occupy valuable aquarium space but still provide significant filtration volume. You can attach them to the side of your tank or behind it — they are often referred to as HOB (hang on back) filters. This hidden filtration can be very handy for aquascapers, where nothing should detract from the aquarium layout. O A range of filter media options: Many hang-ons work with a wide choice of easily exchangeable and replaceable filter cartridges, enabling you to always have the appropriate filtration in place. This is the reason why I always have a hang-on filter standing-by: if there is an urgent need to treat the water in any of my aquariums I just load the relevant media (such as activated carbon, nitrate remover, or peat) into the filter, hang it on the tank and I’m good to go. O Scum removal: Some models boast built-in surface skimmers to keep even the top layer of your water sparkling clean.

With push filters, the pump is submerged in the aquarium and pushes water up onto the filter media. Advantages: The pump never runs dry as long as there is water in the fish tank. Disadvantages: In some designs if there is a blockage the filter may overflow, but in the Seachem Tidal filter tested here, there is a wide outflow, so it is not an issue. However, the filter takes up a considerable amount of space in the aquarium. With pull filters, the powerhead is in the filter body, outside the tank. The pump sucks water in through the water inlet and sends it towards the filter chamber. The clean water then cascades back to the aquarium as a mini waterfall. Advantages: The filter is situated outside aquarium, saving lots of space on the inside. Disadvantages: This type of filter needs priming, which can be a bit tricky, depending on the brand. The main issue with the pull systems is that if for some reason the water intake is interrupted, the pump will run almost dry and may burn the coils in the powerhead, so you’ll need to check regularly that the inlet is not blocked with any debris or plant material.

into the fascinating world of hang-on filters, showing their true versatility. Operation wise there are two basic versions: filters with back-to-front flow (as with the AllPondSolutions and Versamax Mini filters on test here), where the water may go around the clogged filter media, and the bottom-to-top flow (Tidal and Versamax filters), where the water is always forced through it. This latter type provides more efficient filtration. I like to think of hang-on filters as a little like outbuildings — providing extra space in small accommodation or allowing you to add additional improvements to your existing accommodation. With this comparison in mind, the AllPondSolutions 600-HO has a simple

What we tested While there were only six models available for comparison in this review, it has nevertheless provided an excellent insight

3

4

1 2

Push or pull? Modern hang-on filters are all electric powered, consisting of a powerhead and a filter chamber as a basic model, and they vary between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ designs.

98

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Buyer’s guide

Despite all being hang-on filters, all the models we tested were very different.

design and build quality of a DIY tool shed (albeit one of the better ones). You can’t call it a looker, but it will nevertheless keep your ‘tools’ (filter media) safe and can free up some living space in your tank. It doesn’t come with many extras — except for the surface skimmer, which is situated a bit too close to the outlet for my liking — but if you only need a bit of extra room without spending a fortune it’s a wise choice. The flow rate is good and the maintenance is simple. Although it is more than capable of running a tank on its own, I would

recommend using it as an add-on or stand-by filter. A sound, inexpensive option. If you’re happy to spend a bit more, the AquaEl Versamax filters can give you the comfort and the extras of a pre-built ‘garden centre’ type shed. They look neat and come in every size you may need, from the tiny ‘Mini’ (the one I use in my photo tank) to the large Versamax 2, which is able to cope with tanks up to 200 l. The Versamax Mini is equipped with a range of disposable filter media modules (with more available as options), which should be replaced

DOS AND DON’TS always unplug the filter before detaching it from the aquarium. And keep it away from the electric sockets!

DO

DON’T

let the filter run dry. The rotor can be damaged

very quickly. keep an eye on the minimum water level. Hang-on filters should usually be positioned within 10cm of the water level, but always follow the positioning recommendations of the manufacturer.

DO

clean the pump head regularly, as in hang-on filters the rotors are in contact with the incoming water, so can get dirty quickly.

DO

5

6

select the right type of filter for your tank considering your filtration needs.

DO

use incompatible filter media, especially in those filters with cartridges. Using inappropriate filter pads may result in reduced filtration efficiency.

DON’T

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

99

Left and right: AllPond Solutions’ 600-HO is a steal at £11.99.

Right: AquaEl offers a range of special filter media options.

regularly. It can only run tanks up to 40 l, but that is exactly the size range where inner space is at a premium, so every little helps. Its bigger brothers are fitted with a divided media basket, which is a great idea, as you can either clean the supplied filter sponges alternatively or use different media in the two parts. AquaEl provides an excellent choice of optional media, from phosphate removers to bioceramics, so there are no excuses for

DID YOU KNOW? Due to the way hang-on filters operate, where the water trickling through the filter media can mix well with air, they are very good at aerobic biological filtration. This strong flow of oxygenrich water is much appreciated, even by marine species.

having a dirty tank with these filters. If you really would like to up your game, then connect an AquaEl Multi UV lamp to the inlet pipe and say goodbye to nasty bugs. (The UV unit can also be connected to the Fan internal filters and the AquaEl external filters). The Seachem brand is well known for its excellent range of water treatments, foods and chemicals. It has now teamed up with Sicce to develop a hang-on filter that is

practical, easy to use and capable of dealing with even the hardest tasks. The Seachem Tidal filter is very robust and with the submerged pump it occupies considerable space in the fish tank — but as the Tidal 75 on test is designed for large aquariums, its size is negligible in a 300 l tank. Even the smallest filter in the range (the Tidal 55) has a 1000 lph pump, while the biggest Tidal 110 circulates 2000 lph. Despite its size, the Tidal 75 was surprisingly

How the filters compared Qmax l/h

Qempty l/h

Qloaded l/h

Power consumption

Tank volume

Shaft

Extras

Warranty

RRP

1

AllPond Solutions 600-HO

600

562

474

6W

up to 120 l

metal

Surface skimmer

1 year

£11.99

2

AquaEl Versamax Mini

235

220

196

4.3W

10-40 l

metal

Range of optional special filter media

2 years

£17.99

3

AquaEl Versamax FZN-1

500

478

445

7.2W

20-100 l

ceramic

Split filtration basket, range of optional special filter media

2 years

£38.99

4

AquaEl Versamax FZN-2

800

752

702

7.2W

40-200 l

ceramic

Split filtration basket, range of optional special filter media

2 years

£48.49

5

Seachem Tidal 75 by Sicce

1500

1416

1345

7W

up to 300 l

metal

Surface skimmer, range of optional special filter media heater holder

3+2 years

£56.99

6

Dennerle Scaper’s Flow

360

332

298

5.6W

30-120 l

metal

Adjustable lily pipe outflow, pre-filter sponge, various options with installation

2 years

£63.99

100

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

SHUTTERSTOCK

Buyer’s guide

Early memories, Rubik cubes — and a lesson learned!

Seachem’s Tidal 75 was surprisingly quiet, given its size.

quiet, and all I could hear was the soothing sound of trickling water. The Tidal filter comes with a removable media basket, which contains a filter sponge pad and a bag of Seachem’s Matrix biomedia, but you can replace it with any other Seachem media of your choice. The filter itself is very user friendly, with lots of handy features. It is self-priming, so all you need to do is to attach the filter to the side of the tank and plug it in. There is a built-in surface skimmer with long slots, enabling the filter to keep the top 5cm layer oil and debris free. Overall, I was very impressed with its power and functionality, and it offers a perfect solution for those in need of a real professional filter. It’s like having a workshop or a double garage next to your house. If the Tidal is a beast then the Dennerle Scaper’s Flow is a beauty — dare I even say, sexy. It was designed to look good when used alongside those beautifully aquascaped tanks that are so popular. Technically it is not a real hang-on filter because the water circulates in a closed, pressurised circuit — more an external canister filter with a hang-on ability. Boasting a generous 2 l filtration volume with a basket containing a range of filter media it is like a well-equipped conservatory: you have everything you need for your comfort and relaxation. Don’t expect it to work too hard, as the 360 lph pump will not cope with messy fish. Instead it provides a gentle flow, ideal for well planted tanks, especially if you are dosing CO2. To consider the needs of aquascapers even www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

I have a small hang-on filter filled with very fine filter wool on my photo tank, so I can keep the water crystal clear without being worried about obtrusive background objects in my pictures.

TIP

further, the lily pipe on the outlet has adjustable height: you can lower it during the day, so the CO2 remains dissolved. At night the raised pipe creates vortexes, oxygenating the water. Dennerle has even thought about the shrimp-keeping element, with a dense pre-filter sponge to protect those tiny shrimplets. A perfect and almost invisible filtration solution for aquascaped tanks. Usually this is the point where the Best Buys are selected, but despite all the models featured here being hang-on filters, they were so different and served such a wide range of purposes I could see no reason to single out any of them. They’re all excellent and any of them would make a valuable and useful addition to your set-up. Hopefully this review will help you to find the most suitable hang-on filter for your own situation. I’m sure they will not disappoint you!

More information AllPond Solutions: www.allpondsolutions.co.uk Seachem/Sicce: www.seachem.co.uk /www.sicce.com AquaEl: www.alfltd.co.uk Dennerle: www.dennerle.com

My memories of hang-on filters go right back to when I was 12 years old and still living in Hungary, when the only filtration option for me within 100 miles of my home town was a simple air-driven sponge filter powered by a single outlet air pump. When my parents announced that our next holiday would be in the Soviet Union I was jumping with joy, as I knew there would be the opportunity to get some great (and rather cheap) aquarium gear. So, I invested all my pocket money in Rubik’s cubes, knowing they were highly sought after in the Soviet Union, but difficult to get. Hungary was full of Rubik’s cubes and jeans, while the Soviet Union had some aquarium stuff (and tinned whale, as I learned later). My calculations were right: at our very first stop in the SU I managed to sell all of them with a huge profit, which I spent on air pumps (with double outlets), heaters and thermostats — and external hang-on filters. These had a very simple design, with air-bubbles lifting up the dirty water into a plastic box you could fill with filter media of your choice, before being returned via a spout at the other end. I swiftly installed one of the filters on my return, using the padding of my old winter coat as filter media and I was so happy that I forgot to check whether the hang on filter was perfectly horizontal — it wasn’t! As the filter floss slowly clogged up, the water level in the intake chamber reached the rim and soon water was dripping from the filter. This wouldn’t have been a big problem if there hadn’t been a power socket right below the tank. But the water trickled down an airline straight onto the socket. When I noticed the overflowing filter I decided to unplug everything — and let’s just say it was a very shocking experience, and I quickly learned that electricity and water don’t mix! These days I double check all my external installations, making sure they are horizontal or gently sloping towards the outlet end.

101

PFKNewGear The latest fishkeeping products, tried and tested. FIRST SIGHT

AquaEl ASAP 700 filter Nathan Hill checks out this unusual take on the popular internal canister filter. Fixed nozzle The nozzle may be static, but you can rotate the whole canister through 180° to aim flow.

‘Foam in a bottle’ The filter media is larger than the hole you extract it through, so prepare for some jiggling...

Easy access impeller The pump pulls out of the case, and then you’re just one removable cover away from an impeller clean.

Here’s a no bluster, straightforward canister filter. Don’t get me wrong, I love features on a filter — I’ll take rotating duck bills, Venturi outlets, in-built spray bars and flow displays all day, every day. But sometimes I just want a bog standard pump with foam and some suckers that I can whack in a tank and leave to it. The ASAP 700 filter is a curious design. While most of us are used to having our internal filters top heavy, with the pump sat near the water’s surface, this thing does it all backwards — it’s a pusher, not a puller. Where usual designs drag water through various stages of media and finally yank it through an impeller chamber and spit it back in to the tank, the ASAP 700 pump sits underneath the media. It drags water in through a removable plastic body, and then pushes it up through a long chunk of foam, and out of a spout at the top of its smokey-cased canister. The benefit of this design is that it’ll run in a shallow set-up, like an aquaterrarium. As long as the motor is submerged, it’ll pump through — 5cm of water depth is all that’s needed. So, that quirky, half-filled tank you always wanted to try? Now you can. That’ll also come in handy for breeding projects where it’s beneficial to slowly lower the water level before

replicating rainfall. Flow rate on the 700 is 650 lph, and that uses up just 6.8W of power. AquaEl claims this will filter an aquarium of up to 250 l capacity, which I guess it will if it’s really lightly stocked. Personally, I think this will be good between in tanks between the 120 and 180 l range, which I base on sponge size and how much it churns out. You can twist the entire filter cartridge through 180° to direct flow, but that’s where controllability ends. Cleaning the filter is straightforward enough, though not the easiest task. By rotating the canister fully, it comes away from the pump assembly, and

‘Stay in place’ suckers Fix the case in place and you can separate the pump and filter canister from it just by pulling.

102

This is a good filter at a sensible price. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

PRODUCT NEWS

Microbe-Lift Coral Scaper coral glue Ah, now here’s a pretty simple idea, but a welcome one. The thing that turns me off about most coral glues and cements is that they look obviously false. Without naming brands, some look little better than crude cement, while others are just pasty and grey, or even a bit yellow. Microbe-Lift’s coral glue is a rather charming shade of purple — encrusting marine algae purple, at that. Rather than looking like the ugly zit on the gorgeous face of your reef tank, it’ll keep blemishes to a minimum. Like some other glues, it comes in two parts; one end purple, the other white. You have to knead equal parts of each together for about 30 seconds to bring it to life, and then you’ve got (according to the instructions) about 80 seconds to join together whatever you’re trying to glue. I found it didn’t really start to stiffen until after five minutes, becoming hard (dry, and at room temperature) after around nine minutes. So, it does what it says, but not quite in the time stated. As a big plus, it doesn’t change tone as it sets, so what you see is what you get on the purple front. It’s also clean to use, not leaving my fingers covered in residue after making it up. O Verdict: Pretty darned good, actually. O Price: £15.99 O More info: microbelift.com NATHAN HILL

One end’s purple...

The other end is white...

Take an equal amount from each end.

Knead the two together.

Cleaning the impeller is an absolute doddle.

you’ll see a black inlet on the bottom of it. With a little fighting, this inlet pulls off, giving you access to the foam. Prepare to get messy extracting it, as it’s a bit of a ‘ship in a bottle’ moment where the foam is larger than the hole you’re trying to pull it through. Getting it back is slightly worse, as you’re trying to make sure the foam sits flush to the top of the canister (otherwise the water will just bypass it), while trying to ensure the media is sat in such a way that you can get the inlet nozzle behind it. After a minute of faff, I just say ‘that’ll do it’ and give up. Getting to the impeller, however, has to rank as one of the easiest assignments I’ve ever had in fishkeeping. The cover comes off with a basic clip action, and goes on just as simply. It’s actually harder to clean the foam than the www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

working parts — go figure. Despite the ASAP 700 lacking user comforts, there’s a plus side. This thing is cheap, a bit like a budgie. A little snooping around and I find it out there for under £20, while I can get a couple of spare foams for under a tenner. Now that’s a bargain.

Verdict

4/ 5

It does a job, and it does it for a fair price. No frills, and it isn’t the prettiest thing out there, but that’s not the point, I guess. I’d buy one. O Ease of use: 3/5 O Features: 2/5 O Value for money: 5+/5 O Overall: 4/5 O Price: Around £18.99 O More info: aquael.com

After 30 seconds your glue is ready to use.

103

FIRST SIGHT

JBL Pro Pond All Seasons I’m trying so hard not to get suckered in by the packaging on this, but it’s impossible. It’s all so shiny and retro-modern, so unlike most pond food packages I see. It has big, authoritative numbers on it, like an advert for a new kind of toothpaste. There’s a diagram of a fish with measurements, and if I look on the back there’s a rolling wave of colour that laps up against a photo of fresh ingredients. The whole bag has a feel of what life would be like if we’d never left the garish 80s, and I love it. All of this is in keeping with a feature I read last year, in which it was predicted that packaging would start leaning away from being artisanal and organic, and instead drift towards a synthetic, informative feel. And JBL’s packaging is packed with easy to access information — in 12 different languages. I caught a glimpse of JBL’s brand overhaul at a trade show last year. Its revised range covers a lot of niches — a lot of seasons — with specific products. Many pondkeepers will likely be bamboozled by the selection, so here’s one we can all get on board with: All Seasons food.

Taking away the guesswork The informative dial on the front of the package (something of a design high) clearly

proclaims use in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, with a handy instructional thermometer graphic: feed this food above 10°C and below 25°C. It couldn’t be any simpler. A coloured banner along the bottom makes it clear that I have the medium sized sticks (there’s also a small option), and that they are an average 14mm long, which the fish diagram above it tells me are suited to fish of 35–55cm length. There’s really not much guesswork left. Despite the images of Koi on the front, this food covers a good spread of species. It’s slow to sink, though, so you might want some sinking foods on standby for Tench. JBL has coined the (clever) acronym of ‘NEO’ out of ‘natural, energy optimised nutrition.’ Long story short, JBL has embraced the fact that fish have different protein to fat ratio requirements, pending time of year. So, in summer, the fish need a four to one protein to fat ratio, while winter requires only a two to one ratio (to account for the extra protein consumed for energy as well as growth when water is warm). The All Seasons food has a three to one ratio advertised, though it’s actually slightly over that with 24% protein and 7% fat. Curiously, I expected to find a different feed rate advised between Summer and Winter, but there’s a generic instruction

Repashy Soilent Green and Bottom Scratcher The single greatest obstacle to housing the most exotic of fish is usually feeding. For the last century, the most popular fish have been those that would eat anything — Goldfish in the 1920s were fed a mix of breadcrumbs, insects and other daily food scraps. In recent times, we’ve come to love many fish with fine culinary demands. Catfish, particularly the suckermouths of South America, turn out not to be the universal algae guzzlers they were initially thought to be. Inspection of teeth structures have revealed wood eaters, carrion feeders, worm gobblers and even fish that comb algae for the microorganisms living

104

within. These are not fish that will accept breadcrumbs and scraps. The Repashy range fills a massive gap in the market. While economies of scale have driven many food manufacturers to opt for fish meal and cereals as their base ingredients, the specialist market for exotic feeders has been largely ignored. By utilising an omnibus of ingredients, Repashy has created diets for some of the finickiest feeders out there.

Soilent Green This food is designed to cater to aufwuchs eaters (much like the Gold nuggets on page 8 of this issue). Aufwuchs is a German word that describes a mix of quality algae and the tiny

organisms that live upon it. In the confines of a tank, with limited space, it can be hard to maintain sufficient amounts naturally for specialist feeders. Designed to act as an aufwuchs replacement, the ingredients list is vast. One tub of Soilent contains (brace yourself): Spirulina algae, Algae meal (Chlorella), Krill meal, Pea protein isolate, Squid meal, Rice protein concentrate, Fish meal, Alfalfa leaf meal, Dried brewer’s yeast, Coconut meal, Stabilised rice rran, Flax seed meal, Schizochytrium algae, Dried seaweed meal,  Lecithin, Dried kelp, Locust bean gum, Potassium

Difficult feeders have never been so easy... citrate, Taurine, Stinging nettle, Garlic, Rosehips, Hibiscus flower, Calendula flower, Marigold flower,

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

PRODUCT NEWS

food of ‘once or twice a day, as much as can be eaten in a few minutes’. Look harder, and on the side of the bag there’s a pond size/fish size/food weight suggestion, hinting at a day rate of between 8g and 30g of food per fish. It’s not the clearest, but it’s a start, and still more advice than some brands offer. I can’t tell you whether that’s effective or not, as the product hasn’t seen a full seasonal cycle yet. But 24% protein is quite low compared to growth foods (some of which contain up to 50% protein), so you shouldn’t expect huge growth in summer. On the plus side, high protein leads to lots of ammonia excretion, so a low level reduces the load on your filter.

What’s in the bag? Assuming the ingredients are listed in order of amount, corn

Propolis from NT Labs meal and wheat meal lead the way, followed by various shrimp, rice and salmon meals, then greenery like spinach and spirulina before yeast extract (great for B-vitamins) and other vitamin supplements join in. The bag is resealable. Opening the bag for the first time, you’ve a beast of an airtight seal to pull apart. Once the seal is gone, a ziplock stops excess moisture getting in between meals. The Pro Pond range includes all manner of niche foods, like silkworm and shrimp (extruded into a crude shrimp shape!). You have the standard territories of growth and colour foods, along with a new ‘active’ food. Across the many foods you’ll find flakes, wafers, sticks and pearls, some of which float while others sink. The sticks are also multicoloured, but fish don’t seem to distinguish between them. NATHAN HILL

Verdict

Working out when and how to feed your fish is simple.

Paprika, Turmeric, Salt, Calcium propionate and Potassium sorbate (as preservatives), Magnesium amino acid chelate, Zinc methionine hydroxy analogue chelate, Manganese methionine hydroxy analogue chelate, Copper methionine hydroxy analogue chelate, Selenium yeast. Vitamins: Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D supplement, Choline chloride, Calcium L-Ascorbyl-2Monophosphate, Vitamin E supplement, Niacin, Beta carotene, Pantothenic acid, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex. That’s pretty impressive,

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

A ‘one size fits all’ bag of pond sticks will be a welcome solution for many. Prepare to see it dominating pond sections across the UK this season. O Price: 1.1kg sells around £14.99. O More info: jbl.de/en/ propond

and leaves you with a nutritional make up of 40% protein, 8% fat and 8% fibre.

Bottom scratcher This is an invertivore food — many of our favourite catfish like nothing more than a belly full of grubs, larvae and insects. While many such fish might survive on a fish-based flake and tablet diet, they may not thrive on it, so Repashy has aimed to make something where all protein and fat sources come from invertebrates. I’ll spare you the full ingredients list this time, but the four greatest components are Krill meal, Insect meal, Mussel meal and Squid meal, followed by a further 40 ingredients. This one

Sealing wounds has always been an issue on Koi, which is a pain as they are so prone to gashing themselves open. Ulcers, yanked scales and hikui can blight the looks and value of a fish, and a range of potential cures have been tried out in an effort to find a solution. In steps propolis. Propolis is a fascinating chemical. For years it has been used as a traditional medicine in humans. It’s a sealing glue made by honey bees, comprised of a mix of bee spit, wax and assorted botanical residues — the saps and juices that bees gather as they do their thing. You’ll recognise it from the smell — a kind of hospital antiseptic, beeswax aroma. Part of the issue in using traditional sealants like Vaseline is that they soon wash back off the fish, especially if it rubs against something because it’s irritated. That means any medication under the Vaseline flushes away, leaving harmful bacteria to carry on reproducing, while simultaneously placing the fish under osmotic stress as it loses electrolytes from the wound. Propolis not only acts as an instant seal, but also has a degree of antiseptic action. For ulcers, open wounds and hikui, NT Labs advises removing the fish from the water (sedated if necessary) and drying the affected area before applying a few drops directly. As soon as the fish hits the water again, the liquid forms a waxy seal and keeps things locked in. Like Vaseline, it’s not entirely immune to fish rubbing it off, but it is pretty quick and easy to apply. It can also be used as an ingested antibacterial treatment. By adding some to dry food in a sealed bag and shaking, you can get it straight into the fish (assuming they still eat it). Given that you’ll be using just a few drops at a time, a 50ml bottle should last you. Unfortunately, NT Labs recommends an open life of just six months, so it might be worth getting a fresh bottle on standby at the start of every pond season. O Verdict: I’m all for an antiseptic action sealer for wounds, so I predict big things for this. I’m especially keen to discover how it works on tropical wounds, too. O Price: £12.99 for 50ml. O More info: ntlabs.co.uk NATHAN HILL

is a tad richer than Soilent Green with a protein level of 45%, fat at 10% and fibre at 12%. Though sold as a gel, what you actually buy is a fine powder that you need to make up into a gel (a small pot makes a lot of food). For that you’ll need some freezer or sandwich bags and a kettle. Just mix one part powder with three parts boiling water (add powder to water, not water to powder), then pour the resulting mix into a ziplock sealing bag. If you lay the bag on its side, you can slowly flatten the mixture out until no air remains inside, then simply seal it and let it set at room temperature. Store it in a fridge for a couple of weeks, or six months in a freezer.

If you need it firmer or softer, then you can increase or decrease the water to powder ratio accordingly. Once made, chop it into chunks, slices, or whatever takes your fancy. O Verdict: Aufwuchs and invertivore food is something of a niche for specialist feeding fish, and probably won’t be much use in an everyday community, but if you want to add a finicky feeder, here’s your access point. For keepers of unusual L-numbers and mbuna, Soilent Green is a must-have. O Price: Soilent Green and Bottom Scratcher cost £10.99 and £11.49 for 84g respectively. O More info: repashy.co.uk NATHAN HILL

105

PFKShoptour

Bradford

This month’s shoptour takes us to Suffolk and West Yorkshire.

Mildenhall

Salty Revolution Address: 94d Hamstead Avenue, Mildenhall, Suffolk, IP28 7AS. Tel. 01638 715990 Website: www.saltyrevolution. co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/ saltyrevolution Open: Thurs 12–10pm; Fri 12–8pm; Sat–Sun 10am–6pm. Closed Monday–Wednesday.

A thoroughly modern shop, which is already looking at expansion.

Avenue Chiswick

ad Ro lly Fo

Field Roa d A 1101

Avenue Hamstead ue ven dA tea ms a H

A11 01

Salty Revolution

WORDS: KAREN YOUNGS; PHOTOGRAPHY: NATHAN HILL

What is it? Salty Revolution is a new marine-only store set up as a joint partnership between two former retailers: James Goodchild (previously owner of Fishes and More in Mildenhall) and Dale Frankland (formerly owner of Aquatics Express in Norwich). Opened in February this year, Salty Revolution holds 40,000 l of marine stock including 165 square feet of coral bays, which are all lit by Radion LED lights. The guys at Salty aim to have 300–500 marine fish in stock at any one time, along with 30–50 species of inverts and hundreds of corals, including some very healthy looking frags at good prices. James explained that they aim to be growing 50% of their coral and selling 25% of their fish from captive bred sources within three years. A couple of local breeders are already supplying them and there’s also an onsite coral farm. All the fish are quarantined in store before being offered for sale and James told us that tricky feeders such as Mandarins are converted onto frozen foods before they’re allowed to leave the shop. There were several fish species here that we hadn’t come across before, some of which we couldn’t photograph as they were still in quarantine, having only come in that week.

STAR RATING: Excellent 11111 106

A huge display tank at the end of the store was awaiting set-up — this will be an SPS system filled entirely with corals grown on by James and Dale from frags. There’s also a 7500 l pool housing an Epaulette shark. Dry goods include a range of own-branded treatments and supplements, among them a live bacteria product devised by James and Dale, which all the shop’s systems are run on. Oh, and they were just signing a lease on the premises next door, so just a few months after opening, the shop is already expanding, with a tank show room being part of the plans for the extra space.

High points There’s a huge amount of knowledge between the staff here — just chatting for half an hour provided nuggets of information we hadn’t known before. While you’ll find many old favourites here in terms of marine fish, you’re also likely to come across something a little less familiar — there were several unusual goby species on

Silver coral goby.

our visit, for starters. Newly arrived fish that were still in quarantine were also clearly labelled. There’s a wide range of corals of all kinds and lots of frags to choose from, and the shop was pretty busy early on a Thursday afternoon. Plenty of parking, too.

Low points There was a lot of emphasis on blue lighting, which really does make the colours of those corals pop, but doesn’t appeal to everyone and can make it hard to see what you’re buying (and making photography difficult). But the guys were more than happy to adjust this on request.

Verdict A thoroughly modern shop with loads of choice at decent prices and very knowledgeable and friendly staff. We heard some excellent advice being given. If you’re a newbie to marines, this would be a great place to start, while the experienced reefkeeper is bound to find something here to whet their appetite. Make a note of those opening hours though — this is not your ‘usual’ 9am–5.30pm store, but fishkeepers who have to work during the day will appreciate those late Thursday and Friday closing times.

Good 11111 Average 11111 Below average 11111 Poor 11111 Out of season OS Not stocked NS

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

The shop has a resident shark.

Salty Revolution aims to have 50% of its corals home-grown within three years.

The dry goods selection included Salty Revolution’s own brand of products.

There was a very good range of shrimp gobies, some of which we hadn’t come across before.

Tangaroa goby.

Humphead bannerfish.

Star rating Tropical fish Discus Catfish Cichlids Oddballs Indoor plants Pond plants Koi Pond fish Fancies Indoor coldwater Marine fish Marine inverts Indoor dry Pond dry Freshwater inverts Labelling

NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 11111 11111 11111 NS NS 11111

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

The bizarre ‘Donald duck’ shrimp.

What stood out:  Silver coral gobies £40 pair  Black footed clowns £80 pair  Humphead bannerfish £70  Brindled dwarf bass £40  Lavender tang £80  Blue hana goby £25  Scissortail £25  Diagonalis shrimp goby £30  Tangaroa shrimp goby £20  White line triggerfish £80  Yellow brotula £20  Tiger pistol shrimp £30  Donald duck shrimp £30  Mushroom colonies from £30  Assorted frags from £10

107

PFKShoptour QSS Aquarium & Koi Centre Address: 339 Wakefield Road, Bradford, BD4 7NJ. Tel: 01274 728361. Website: www.qssaquarium. co.uk Open: Mon to Fri 9am–5.30pm, Sun 10am–4pm. A6 50

ct St Prospe

Bowling Ba ck Lane W ak efi QSS Aquarium el dR & Koi Centre oa d

50 A6

What is it? QSS Aquarium & Koi Centre is a very well established retailer, having opened its doors in an old police station in Bradford back in 1972. It’s situated at the top of a hill in an imposing detached 19th century building with the original huge ‘Tropical Fish’ sign attached to the side. I was warmly welcomed by current owner, Andrew Shepherd, who at just 21 took over the business from his father in 1983. The shop gained a reputation as a specialist Japanese Koi dealer and Andrew would visit Japan frequently to select the best fish and show them in contests — he won the top prize in an All Japan Show with a stunning Shusui fish. Sadly, the recession hit the local economy quite severely and the consequent lack of demand for high-end Japanese Koi meant that the shop had to switch to Israeli and English-bred fish in 2008. Andrew also made the decision to focus more on Discus and now has UK exclusivity importing from a Discus breeder in Vietnam.

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE FARMER

High points The shop is split into three main areas. The first is a large room housing the majority of the shop’s tropical fish, plants, dry goods and the sales counter. This area is home to mostly bread and butter community offerings, all showing great health and colour. The highlight for me were some beautiful Hyphessobrycon sp. ‘Red and blue Peruvian’ tetra. Every tank is individually filtered with either undergravel or sponge filters, which Andrew says offer the advantages of disease

STAR RATING: Excellent 11111 108

There’s a good range of products along with a solid choice of fish.

The shop specialises in Discus and is the exclusive UK dealer for a breeder in Vietnam.

The shop stocks Israeli and English bred Koi.

control and overall improved health versus centralised systems. As you walk into the next fish room you are greeted with a large display featuring some beautiful Discus, a pair of captive-bred Altum angelfish from the Czech Republic and a stunning Flag-tailed characin. This room houses a mix of goldfish, more tropicals and a very impressive selection of Discus. One wall of tanks also offered a classic mix of ‘value’ fish at £1 each, which Andrew explained was popular due to the area’s demographic. The third area on show to the public is the outdoor section, which stocks a wide variety of

pond fish including 11 Koi vats, totalling over 45,000 l. Stock included some lovely A-Grade Israeli Koi, reasonably priced for their size. Behind the scenes is the shop’s quarantine area where new imports are kept for two to three weeks to ensure good health. The Discus have their own area where they are treated for worms and other parasites. Dry goods were well-represented with most big brands on offer at competitive prices. Pond products in particular were plentiful.

Low points The shop’s water is very soft so it probably wasn’t a surprise to see

very few African cichlids on sale, but I would have liked to have seen more freshwater inverts on offer with just Amano shrimp being sold on my visit.

Verdict Overall the shop was very impressive with healthy fish and well-maintained tanks. The Koi and Discus were particularly good and among the best I’ve seen in the UK. Andrew and his staff are both passionate and knowledgeable and have adapted to the changing economic circumstances of the area well. Certainly worth a visit if you’re in the area — if you like your Discus or Koi then consider a day out.

Good 11111 Average 11111 Below average 11111 Poor 11111 Out of season OS Not stocked NS

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

The tanks are well-maintained and the fish are quarantined before going on sale.

Pond owners are well catered for.

Neon dwarf rainbowfish.

Hyphessobrycon sp. ‘Red-blue Peruvian’ tetra.

There’s a lovely display tank of Discus, and plenty of decor for budding aquascaoers.

Star rating Tropical fish Discus Catfish Cichlids Oddballs Indoor plants Pond plants Koi Pond fish Fancies Indoor coldwater Marine fish Marine inverts Indoor dry Pond dry Freshwater inverts Labelling

11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 NS 11111 11111 11111 11111 NS NS 11111 11111 11111 11111

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

What stood out

Flag-tailed characin.

 A-Grade Israeli Koi £150–£250  Blue diamond Discus £45  Congo tetra £5.50  Glass catfish £3.25  Red and blue Peruvian tetra £4.25  Red pigeon Discus £90  White fin rosy tetra £4.25  Blue acara £5.50  Neon dwarf rainbowfish £3.25  Rams £21.95 pair

109

NEXT MONTH in the July issue of On sale June 7th 2017

NEIL HEPWORTH

SIDING WITH ANGELS Our fish of the month is the iconic Angelfish — find out how to really do these beautiful cichlids justice. DON’T FORGET

KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN Meet a group of fish with an unusual swimming style.

NEIL HEPWORTH

NEIL HEPWORTH

NEIL HEPWORTH

BACK-SAVING POND IDEAS Build a garden pond that’s easy on the spadework with our labour saving suggestions.

You can now buy single issues of Practical Fishkeeping magazine online with free UK postage! More details at magsdirect.co.uk

GO THE WHOLE HOG We turn our spotlight on to the marine hogfish.

PLUS: OReaders’ tanks OBreeding Fighters OFresh ideas to rejuvenate your reefscape ONew fish in the shops OThe latest gear reviewed OHow to choose the right pond pump and much more! 110

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

COUNTY DURHAM Retailer of the year North East The only true aquatic Superstore, with over 250 stock tanks specializing in community, rare and unusual cold water, tropical and marine fish inverts and corals. Largest range of aquariums, dry goods, frozen and live foods and Tropical plants.

Fish Alive

Opening hours weekdays 10.00 - 18.00, Saturdays 10.00 - 17.00, Sundays 10.00 - 16.00, Closed on Wednesdays

Units 10 & 11, Dragonville Retail Park, Durham DH1 2YB Phone and fax: 0191 3843590

MooreAquatics

DEVON

GILBERTS TROPICAL FISH www.gilbertspets.co.uk Comprehensive range of fish and accessories YOUR FRIENDLY LOCAL AQUATIC SHOP The Precinct, St Mary Church, Torquay. 01803 329149

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Your new Fish Supply Everything Aquatic - Coldwater, Tropical, Marine fish and corals. bespoke aquarium manufacturer, Dry good supplier and consultancy specialist

NOW OPEN! www.mooreaquatics.co.uk 24 St. Davids Square, Peterborough PE1 5QA

HAMPSHIRE Cafe serving home cooked food 5 acres of award winning gardens Ample Free Parking

Romsey World of Water Trading for 30 years Specialist Independant Retailer 9000ltr Tropical fish and Plants 5000ltr Marine fish corals and Inverts 80,000ltr Japanese Koi, Goldfish and Natives

www.romseyworldofwater.co.uk

Aquatic experts, specialising LQPDULQH¿VKDQGFRUDO  

CAMBRIDGECORALTECH.CO.UK

ARUNDEL AVIARIES & FISHERIES 311 – 315 Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Tel: 02392 820047 Tropical, reptiles, amphibians, marines etc. Also cage birds. Good selection of accessories Open Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat 9am-5pm. Wed Closed

Established over 75 years Find us on facebook

THE CORAL CAVE AQUATIC CENTRE “FOR A TOTAL FISH EXPERIENCE” www.coralcave.co.uk 01954 212004 + Voted PFK East retailer of the year & UK runner up + Tropical + Cold water

+ Marines & invertebrates + Huge aquarium showroom + Superb dry good selection

“smell the inspiration not the fish”

Please mention when responding to adverts

HERTFORDSHIRE

Your Complete Fish Shop for: Marine / Tropical / Koi Coldwater / Pond Fish Inverts & much more...

175 St.Neots Rd, Hardwick Cambridge CB23 7QJ

deepblue aquatic

CORNWALL

Hillier Garden Centre, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 3BA Tel: 01442 244072 [email protected] www.deepblueaquatic.co.uk

CALL TODAY 01566 86454 • HIGH GRADE RAYS • NEW STOCK INDIVIDUALLY QUARANTINED • LOW COST QUALITY PLANTS • COMPETITIVE DRY GOOD PRICES

WWW.TANKTERRORAQUATICS.CO.UK UNIT 5, TRETHORNE LEISURE PARK, KENNARD’S HOUSE, LAUNCESTON, PL15 8QE

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

KENT

Abacus Aquatics

• Voted Best Fish Shop in SE England 3 years running • Voted Runner Up Best Fish Shop in SE England 3 years running • Voted One of The Top Fish Shops in the Whole of the UK 6 years running

:HWDNHJUHDW SULGHLQWKHKHDOWKRIRXU¿VKDVZHOODVRIIHULQJD JUHDWYDULHW\LQFOXGLQJPDQ\UDUHO\VHHQHOVHZKHUH . :HDOVRVWRFNDZLGHUDQJHRIHTXLSPHQWLQFOXGLQJDTXDULXPV all sold at competitive prices.

www.abacus-aquatics.co.uk +DOIZD\6W6LGFXS.HQW'$'-RUDW

Tel: 020 8302 8000

111

To advertise here please call the sales team on 01733 366411

52%*UHHQ(QG5RDG&DPEULGJH&%5<

01794 515 923 SO51 0HB Open 9am-6pm Monday-Saturday 10am-4pm Sunday

LONDON

SUSSEX

Fishey Business Aquarium and pond specialists RS ONLY

RETA IL SHOPPE r all your Thank you fo 1967! e nc si t or pp su , London, E2 l Green Road 0 77292444 220 Bethna 02 x: Fa 56 53 Tel: 020 7739

OPENING TIMES ●

MONDAY: CLOS ED ● TUES, WED & FRI 10.30-6.00 ● SAT 10.00-6.00 ● SUN 10.00-2.0 0

www.wholesaletropica

lsaquatics.co.uk

Have moved to Stone Cross Garden Centre (from 2nd Jan.) Stone Cross Roundabout, Dittons Road, Pevensey BN24 5ET Tel: 01323 847868 www.fisheybusiness.co.uk

WILTSHIRE

WALES

The Fish Bowl Ltd 133 Dawes Road, London. SW6 7EA

Tel: 020 7385 6005 www.thefishbowlltd.com email: thefi[email protected]

Classified To advertise here please call the sales team on 01733 366411

OFFICIAL JUWEL STOCKISTS PLUS SPARES Aquatic and Pet Shop. Open 5 days a week 10am to 6pm. Closed all day Thursday and Sunday

Established Established 1973 1973 55 John Porthcawl, Air Street, conditioned CF36 3AY CF36 5DD 109 New Road, Porthcawl Tel:01656 01656 784646 Tel: 784646

WEST MIDLANDS

ANGEL AQUATICS

2 ELLIOT ROAD SELLY OAK BIRMINGHAM B29 6LA TEL: 0121 472 5144 OPENING TIMES MONDAY-SATURDAY 10AM-6PM SUNDAY 11AM-5PM

WWW.ANGELAQUATICS.CO.UK YORKSHIRE

MISCELLANOUS

SHEFFIELD’S LARGEST AQUATIC CENTRE

Fluke-Solve TM

The simple solution for skin flukes, gill flukes & tapeworms Easy and effective

Rare breeds - Discus, L-number Plecs etc Over 150 aquariums and ponds Tropical, Coldwater & Pond 2700 Litre Malawi section

Fish Treatment Ltd. www.fish-treatment.co.uk

0114 231 0225 www.sheffieldaquatics.co.uk

LEICESTERSHIRE

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

www.leicesteraquatics.com

Leicester Aquatics 0116 2709 610

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

New 50g Sachet

ACCESSORIES & PARTS

GOLD LABEL Here at DKP we specialise in producing bespoke fibreglass fish tanks for the discerning customer who wants the BEST for their fish. The DKP product range includes Filters, Bakki’s and Tanks 400, 450, 900 & 1500 gallons in rectangular with 700 & 800 gallons in circular but any bespoke size can be catered for including viewing windows.

www.denbykoiponds.co.uk 01773 863991/07773186198 [email protected]

29 290m 0mll NO NOW W AV AVAI AILA LABL IN IN CL BL CLEA EARR EE

OSeals Under Water ONo Need To Drain Ponds OBonds To Most Surfaces OPlastic, Glass, Stone & Wood OSeals Splits & Cracks ONon Toxic Aqua Pond Paint :Bonds to Damp Surfaces Without Primer

Pipe Repair Tape :Instant Pipe & Joint Repair

ON NOW E-SHOT AVAI IN CL LABLE EAR

Pond Liner Patch :Butyl Liner Pieces For Use With Gold Label

Huge range of livestock in more than 600 tanks! TROPICAL - MARINE - POND & COLDWATER - REPTILES

IRU3RQGV6SDV3RROV0DULQH&RQVWUXFWLRQ

Six-time winner of top UK aquatic retailer

7HO)D[

www.wharfaquatics.co.uk Tel: 01773 861255 Marine direct: 01773 811044 Reptile direct: 01773 811499 Open 7 Days - 65-67 Wharf Road, Pinxton, Notts. NG16 6LH (near M1 J28)

ZZZKXWWRQDTXDWLFSURGXFWVFRXN

INTERNET

SCOTLAND

House of Pisces ~ Scotland’s largest aquatic superstore by far With over 1000 aquariums full of tropical, marine and cold water fish Huge range of aquariums, aquarium furniture and equipment at discount prices

Unit B/G, 207 Strathmartine Road, Dundee, Scotland, DD3 8PH

112

01382 832000 www.tropicalfish-scotland.com

P L A N T E D AQ UA R I U M S P E C I A L I S TS

www.aquariumgardens.co.uk 01480 450572 [email protected]

INTERNET

NATIONWIDE DISTRIBUTORS

Barlows Aquatic Trading AQUARIUM MANUFACTURERS..supplying direct to the public at trade prices

www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk www. www.

uk .co.uk

T:01254 208245

E EVERYTHING FOR THE AQUARIUM, P PONDS AND REPTILES, TOP BRANDS A AT ROCK BOTTOM PRICES.

HUGE SELECTION OF GOODS, FROM ALL MAJOR BRANDS LOYALTY POINTS SCHEME 5 STAR RATED SERVICE AND AFTER SALES FRIENDLY AND PROFESSIONAL ADVICE 1000’S OF PRODUCTS IN STOCK FOR IMMEDIATE DESPATCH FREE NEXT DAY DELIVERY ON ORDERS OVER £50!

HiVcYVgYh^oZh[gdbhidX` BVYZidbZVhjgZ ;^aigVi^dcheZX^Va^hih###hjbeh!l^Zgh!XdbWh!e^eZ!ejbehZiX#### C:L##EaZXdÆdliVc`h!WgZZY^c\XjWZh di]Zgh^oZh A^`Zjh dc ;gZZXdchjaiVi^dcVcYYZh^\c FAC EBO

OK Ring: 01254 388815 www.barlows-aquarium-supplies.com e mail: [email protected]

or call in and see us at: Brisol Works, Mount St., Accrington, Lancs BB50PJ FINANCE AVAILABLE ON ALL ORDERS OVER £300.

VOTE FOR US IN THE 201 PFK

READERS POLL fb.com/completeaquaticsuk @completeaquatic pinterest.com/aquaticsuk

WHOLESALERS AQUASCAPE FISH IMPORTS Tropical & Coldwater Live Fish Wholesalers Unusuals inc Rays, Turtles, Crabs, Shrimps, Lobsters

DAILY NATIONWIDE DELIVERIES CALL NOW FOR FREE monthly TRADE lists 8QLTXH¿VKODEHOOLQJV\VWHP Tel: 0121 331 1212 Fax: 0121 331 1414 ZZZDTXDVFDSHFRXN ZZZ¿VKODEHOVFRXN [email protected]

KKC

Est 1972 Specialist in marine and inverts

6 ASTRAL ROAD, HESSLE Tel: 01482 640329 Fax: 01482 640489 15,000 Gal marine and invert system 8,500 gal tropical freshwater system. Marine wholesale and aquaria trade & retail. Open 10am till 5pm, closed Sun & Mon

Email: [email protected]

To advertise here please call the sales team on 01733 366411

The July issue of PFK sees the launch of our

Practical Fishkeeping Readers’ Poll 2017 Readers of PFK will have the chance to vote for their top aquatic shops, specialists and online retailers. Could your store be among the winners this year? Get those votes coming in! To find out how to advertise your shop or online business to make the most of this exciting opportunity, call Lucy Baxter on 01733 366 411 or email [email protected]

113

JACQUES PORTAL

Tailpiece with Nathan Hill

“

You can take the fish out of the Amazon, but you’ll never take the Amazon out of the fish.

S

o, I finally did it. I set up my ‘grail’ biotope, and I did it with the help of my friends. The Neon tetra aquarium on page 50 signifies a coming of age moment for me, and I’m overjoyed that I did it. Why is the whole leaf litter and detritus thing so slow to gain momentum? I guess a substantial part is that it’s a waiting game, and a drawn out one at that. In the same time it took me to set up my pool of slurry, I know of other aquarists who assembled and stocked multiple tanks. Fishkeepers aren’t always known for their patience — that’s why the market for biological starters is as huge as it is. I imagine the ‘dirty’ image plays its part, too. It takes real effort of willpower to overcome the urge to clean. We’ve been taught, generation after fishkeeping generation that we need to water change regularly, and swipe a gravel cleaner around as we do. The association of detritus with bad water quality has captured wide imaginations within the hobby. I was close to ditching the project on several occasions. There’s disheartening, and then there’s ‘I’ve come home to a jet black tank and a room that smells of rotting hippo anuses again’ disheartening. It’s a big ask of me to imagine that anyone

Discover the wild side of your fish with a biotope set-up.

would want to alienate their entire household with such an olfactory assault. That thing truly honked at points, but I’m glad I rode it all out. I posted some teaser images online, and the response was as polarised as you might suspect. Some folks didn’t get it. At all. Fellow aquarists who didn’t get it mainly tended to be new to the hobby — under six months or so. Non-aquarists who didn’t get it tended not to be ‘nature’ people in general, if you follow me. They’d take a bar on a clean, shiny promenade along a seafront over a country walk with wellies and Dock leaves to sort out nettle stings. So no surprises there.

The highest praise The folks that did get it seemed to REALLY get it. Non-aquarists who got it drew parallels to documentaries they’d seen, which was flattering. Within fishier circles, I received kindly messages. A few South Americans tapped me up to say how lifelike it was — the highest praise I could have hoped for, seeing as that was exactly the appearance I wanted.

Hardwired for their environment But what really made it for me was the activity of the livestock itself. You can take the fish out of the Amazon, but you’ll never take the Amazon out of the fish. My Neons were many generations away

”

from the wilderness — their great, great grandparents would have known only Asian breeding vats. The moment they hit my tank, they knew exactly what the deal was, though. The behavioural changes — the hierarchy, the hunting — was like witnessing a total reversion to the wilderness state. Those fish are hardwired for their environment, and if you give it to them, they deliver. I’ve been making a similar point for a while. Put fish in a wilderness scenario and they’ll give you wilderness antics. I wonder how much we miss out on, because we overlook a single natural element that fish would ‘anchor’ their lives around in the wild. A seed pod that they spawn in, or a fall of leaves that can symbolise the coming of a new season — let your imagination run riot.

Excited state Thing is, I’m now in a very excited state. I tried something a little ‘out there’, and it delivered for me — oh, it delivered. The tank I made is already stripped and reassembled, and my current project is in a similar vein. A chance discovery of some amazing wood implanted an idea, and now I’m running with it. I imagine that there will be more stinky nights ahead again. I anticipate filters becoming so filthy that I’ll probably retch when cleaning them. I will probably have unidentifiably horrific creatures writhing about on my arm after I’ve been in there moving stuff around — again. I’ll be water changing the tenth time that week, when I’d rather be out skating. And then when the fish go in, I’ll be a nervous wreck again, waking up throughout the night and checking that there’s enough oxygen, that nothing has jumped, that there hasn’t been an outbreak of some noxious gas.

Go hardcore

NATHAN HILL

But you know what? If I get to see my fish do something they don’t do in community tanks, or barren breeding set-ups, then it’ll be hands-down, 100% totally worth it. Find a fish that fills you with joy and do this for them. Make the most hardcore biotope you can. It’s a long and arduous journey, but you’ll love it. More importantly, the fish you cherish so much will absolutely adore it. Nathan Hill is Practical Fishkeeping’s features editor, synth-tinkering aspiring beatmaker, yoyo fiend and amateur freestyle skateboarder with a stinky fish tank.

114

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Brand new: OASE Indoor Aquatics range - from the worlds leading manufacturers of pond equipment With OASE’s 65 years’ experience in the world of water gardens, we are excited to bring to you a high quality extensive product range for the indoor aquarium. Proven reliability innovative products minimal maintenance

Long cleaning cycles Made in Germany

Available now. For more information please visit www.oase-livingwater.com

BioMaster BioPlusInternal Filter

External Filter

Pond season is upon us... &E ELW N I SV EXC U

AQUAPOND CARE )\TIVXXVIEXQIRXW ERHQIHMGEXMSRWXS OIIT]SYVTSRHGPIER GPIEVERHLIEPXL]

AQUAGARDEN ESSENTIALS POND VAC • )δIGXMZIP]VIQSZIWTSRH  [EWXIERHWIHMQIRX • %YXSεPPERHHVEMRG]GPI • ;IXERHHV]QSHI • 0SRKVIEGL EHNYWXEFPI LERHPIPIRKXLYTXSQIXVIW • 0MKLX[IMKLXERHIEW]XSYWI

Save £100

23;f

GREAT DEALS ON AQUA NUTRITION POND FOOD!

3 FOR £25.00 POND STICKS 750G

;ILEZISZIVWXSVIWREXMSR[MHIWXEδIHF]LYRHVIHW SJTEWWMSREXIERHORS[PIHKIEFPIεWLOIITIVW Find a store near you today or visit εWLOIITIVGSYO 1EMHIRLIEH%UYEXMGW

$XLICεWLOIITIV

3 FOR £50.00 KOI PELLETS 2KG