Practical Fishkeeping - September 2017 UK

EXCITING IDEAS FOR 90CM TANKS PING MAGAZ EE IN E

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2016 PET FIS H

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pfkmag.com

Grow your own

KILLIES

Discover the fishy equivalent to garden seeds!

STEP BY STEP

Be inspired by nature & the great outdoors to

CREATE THE PERFECT FOREST AQUASCAPE...

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A DAY FOR YOUR FISH

Improve your fishes’ diet — and save yourself money!

September ‘17 Issue 10 £4.40

MARINES

CLEANER WRASSE DEBATE The arguments for and against keeping these remarkable fish

NNIVE RS AR

Amazing fish and how to keep them

EN A LD GO

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Welcome

SEE PAGE 76

Learn from the best

JEREMY GAY is a former PFK editor and now Evolution Aqua’s business development manager. He brings us some great outdoor projects to benefit you and your fish. Page 72.

DAVE WOLFENDEN is curator at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire Oaks. He looks at the arguments for and against keeping Cleaner wrasse. Page 46.

GEORGE FARMER is a world-renowned aquascaper. He takes inspiration from nature to set up a forest aquascape. Page 82.

I need another aquarium. How many times have you said that? It seems that no matter how many tanks I set up, and whatever size, there’s always something else I want that just doesn’t fit in with anything I currently keep. Discus, shell dwellers, puffers, eels (both fresh and marine) and big Scobiancistrus and Pseudacanthicus plecs are among the many fish I have on my ‘one day’ list — and that’s before I start listing all the breeding projects I want to do! And then there’s the problem of the tank just not being big enough — another common complaint. Newcomers to the hobby in particular soon realise the limitations of the two-footer they set up, which seemed to hold so many opportunities before the fishkeeping bug really hit. If you’re contemplating going a bit bigger, we have some fantastic ideas for what you could do with a 90cm/36in-long aquarium, and some of the amazing fish you can stock it with, including freshwater puffers, smaller rainbowfish or Blockhead cichlids. Find out more on page 64. There still time to get the most from the summer weather with a range of outdoor projects that will benefit your fish — whether they’re out in the pond or indoors in the aquarium — and some of them will save you money, too! See page 72. Or why not get out there and see what aquascaping ideas nature can offer you? Take inspiration from forests, river, streams and even mountains, whether you’re travelling abroad or staying here in the UK. Check out our forest-inspired aquascape on page 82. Plus, discover the fish that you can grow from eggs in the post (page 8), an ideal egglayer for a breeding project (page 52) and the reason why that new marine fish isn’t behaving quite the same as you had expected (page 86). All this and much more in this month’s magazine. Enjoy!

64 What to do with a 90cm/36in set-up.

46 Should we keep Cleaner wrasse in the aquarium?

56 Broaden your fishes’ diet — and save money!

Get more PFK! NATHAN HILL is an aquatic journalist and PFK’s features editor. He spotlights some fabulous killifish, offers ideas for three-foot set-ups and has advice on breeding Zebra danios. Pages 8, 64 & 52. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Karen Youngs, editor

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Sep

Cover image: Peter Maguire

ON THE COVER

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LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG

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Discover the fish you can grow at home, jus like buying seeds...

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THE CLEANER WRASSE DEBATE We look at the arguments for and against keeping these remarkable fish.

FROM THE GARDEN TO YOUR AQUARIUM

Improveyour

FISH KEEPING

Add variety to the diet of your fish, shrimp and snails, and save money into the bargain!

64 82 93

THE NEXT STEP UP If you’ve found your feet with smaller tanks, how about investing in a larger set-up?

’SCAPE HUNTING The concept is simple: go out, explore, be inspired, then use your experience to create an aquascape.

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PROBLEMS SOLVED

16 44 114

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

PLUS FISHKEEPING NEWS Public aquariums in the U.S. to reduce plastic; a fish called Enya, and more.

SUBSCRIBE TO PFK! Take advantage of our latest offer and save ££s.

TAILPIECE Nathan Hill explains why he feels nervous around large pumps.

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8 64 6

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

FISHKEEPING KNOW-HOW

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FISH IN THE SHOPS Rarities and curiosities we’ve encountered on our travels recently.

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38

WET BEHIND THE EARS? Our section for beginners to the world of fishkeeping.

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THE SPICE OF LIFE We revisit the star of one of this year’s most popular PFK reader visits.

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OFF TO A FLYING START The Flyer cichlid is a delightful fish that makes a great introduction to Central American cichlids.

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BREEDING STRIPES As egglayers go, the Zebra danio has to be one of the best choices for beginner fish breeders. Here’s how to go about it.

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UNDERSTANDING DROPSY

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9 SUMMER PROJECTS

Improve your

FISH KEEPING

If the body of your fish swells to the point that it takes on a pine cone appearance, you can be pretty sure it has dropsy. So, what causes it and can it be treated?

52

Improve your

FISH KEEPING

Make the most of the rest of summer with our outdoor ideas.

76 86

READERS’ POLL Vote for your top aquatic shop.

BAD BEHAVIOUR So, that new marine fish you added acts nothing like you expected. Or maybe a peaceful fish has become a tyrant. What causes changes in behaviour?

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YOUR FISH & TANKS

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TANK COMMUNITY The place to share your fish, tanks and experiences.

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ME & MY TANK A lovely reader’s reef set-up.

NEWS & REVIEWS

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GEAR GUIDE We review the latest aquatic products to hit the shelves.

SHOPTOUR We visit shops in East Yorkshire and Bristol.

VOTE NOW! www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

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FOR YOUR FAVOURITE SHOPS READERS’ POLL 2017 - PAGE 76 7

LIVE FAST,

HRISTO HRISTOV

The brightest fish you probably won t see on sale in many shops is something you can grow at home, just like buying seeds. Get some Tupperware and start planting for a new take on the hobby.

The Bluefin notho, Nothobranchius rachovii, is the species you’re most likely to find on sale.

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elcome to the hardest pitch of my life. Imagine I had some striking little bean-sized fish, heaving with all the reds and blues of a can of Pepsi. Utterly beautiful fish. £15 and upwards for a male and female pair. Then I told you that whatever tank you set up for them was probably wrong, that your community tank wasn’t going to work with the aggression of the feisty males. Then, to really crush the deal, I drop a bombshell. They might only live a few months. Not even a whole year. Worse,

they’ve been in my shop for two months. And they were three months old when I bought them. And that, good reader, is why you don’t see many adult Nothobranchius killifish on sale. Nothobranchius keeping isn’t the usual ‘paint by numbers’ approach we all employ. It’s a niche, with its own lifestyle. It’s the hobby at its most immersive — trainspotting for aquarists, with daily tinkering and written records. It’s punctuated by long pauses, and heisting domestic fittings like the airing cupboard, where eggs might be stored. It involves piles

of Tupperware, tiny worms, and the trade of genetic material by post. And it is marked with the numerous highs of spawning. If you want a ‘sit back and relax’ tank, then they are not for you. If you’re the kind of aquarist who relishes a project, and have the grit to see things through, then these will definitely appeal. I invite you to take the plunge with me. The outlay is cheap enough, and for the best part you’ll be improvising equipment from around the house. And besides, which other fish are you ever going to grow from a bag of posted ‘seeds’?

HRISTO HRISTOV

DIE YOUNG

Killifish, or ‘killies’ as they are known in the circuit, are egg laying fish from the Cyprinodontiform order. If you’re in good company (or if you’re a part of the fishkeeping illuminati), you’ll hear the cyprinodontiformes sometimes called toothcarps. That’s pretty misleading as there’s nothing carpy about them, but it’s a an old name that lingers on. You can split the toothcarps down the middle, into the livebearing toothcarps — better known as the livebearing poecilids like Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails and so on — and the egglaying toothcarps — the killies and pupfish. Though killies can be found over several continents, the Nothobranchiidae we are interested in here restricts itself to Africa. The family houses 11 different genera: Aphyosemion, Callopanchax, Epiplatys, Episemion, Fenerbahce, Foerschichthys, Fundulopanchax, Nimbapanchax, Pronothobranchius, Scriptaphyosemion, and the genus I’m focussing on today — Nothobranchius. Nothobranchius are what we term annual fish, which is to say that their life cycle of birth, growth, fight, love, mate and die, all happens inside of one year.

Why such short lives? A short life can indicate a hostile environment. That’s not to say that rough

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habitats always lead to early deaths. Some of the longest living fish — the lungfish of the genus Protopterus — share their habitats with Nothobranchius; temporary, muddy African pools. These can be anything from an enlarged, seasonal puddle to wetlands that flood and recede each year. When conditions turn bad, a lungfish endures a forced, underground cryogenic suspension for long spells. The lives of these true

Did

?

you know

Not all Nothos are short lived. One member in particular, though, has a lifespan of just 12 weeks. N. furzeri, pretty much unseen in the trade, is geriatric before most fish have even become sexually active!

HRISTO HRISTOV

What are killifish?

PETER MAGUIRE

A spawning pair of Bluefin Nothos.

Nothobranchius furzeri.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Eggs by post Many of us have spawned livebearers. Some of us have either accidentally or intentionally spawned egglayers. Very few of us have received eggs by post and hatched them at home, having never met the parents. But that’s how the killifish game is played. Hatching Nothobranchius is a skill, but not an overly taxing one. The first thing you need to do is source the things, and that stage alone can be make or break. There are plenty of suppliers of eggs online, but plenty of budding rearers have been caught out by substandard eggs that fail to hatch. Sellers who guarantee their eggs are rare, but always preferable to those

One-day-old Notho fry.

Young Nothobranchius eggersi fry.

DENISE CHAN, CREATIVE COMMONS

breeding and conservation — certain livebearer and catfish clubs have this at their core — for the casual aquarist the emphasis is often on desirable, affordable fish, and that’s what the retailers cater to. That means killies like Nothobranchius are relegated to the committed, curious, or even outright obsessed fringes of fishkeeping. Spawnaholics love them, but it is to shift the g along. In nce of retailers, market for es is currently all, and any stock gamble. e killifish market ainly in the obbyists, and in erpetuate the ey rely on the unique

who don’t, and as with so much in life, you get what you pay for. Quality eggs cost money, and quality, guaranteed eggs are more expensive again, but they are still cheap compared to buying pairs of adult fish. 30 Nothobranchius rachovii eggs can start around £5 (an adult pair will cost you £15 or more), while rarer species start around £15 for the 30-50 egg mark. The next thing to know is that 30 eggs won’t ensure 30 fish. Out of a 30 batch, you

In dry season when the sun beats down to carry water away, there’s nothing left to do but dry out on the scorching earth. Two colour forms of Nothobranchius eggersi —a ‘Utete’ (top) and ‘Bagamoyo’.

HRISTO HRISTOV

Mummies of Africa can measure into tens of decades. Adult Nothobranchius cannot go to ground in the same way. They are small, and dry out easily. They lack the physical adaptations that lungfish have evolved. You don’t need an advanced understanding of Africa to know that in many areas the temperature is high, and the rainfall low. As an example one of the most popular Nothos, th Bluefin notho, Nothobranchius rachovii, comes fro Mozambique, a cou with a set dry seaso from April to September. During cyclone-rich wet season, food is bounteous, and life fast-paced. The we season isn’t a wet season as you might imagine from a rainforest region. In the Amazon, up to 6m of rain might fall in a year. In the UK, we hover around 88cm. Mozambique — a typically ‘Notho’ country — may have just 50cm some years. If you watch the collection of wild Nothobranchius, you’ll see folks clearing out pools the size of upper-end UK garden ponds. Even when it’s wet, life isn’t plain sailing for Nothos. Out of necessity, they live in regions riddled with mosquitos — a staple food source for these voracious, protein hungry little hunters. The problem with mosquitos in a country heaving with malaria is self-evident, and though in a perfect world there’d be natural controls to reduce numbers, the reality is that many problem ponds are sprayed with harsh pesticides. Alas, pesticides don’t distinguish between pest and pet. Even pesticides don’t guarantee death in the same way that complete dehydration does, and in dry season when the sun beats down to carry water away, the Nothos’ universe recedes daily, until there’s nothing left to do but dry out on the scorching earth. But even though the Nothos cannot survive their own impermanent homes, they can, at least produce resilient eggs. In this respect, they are world class parents. As the dry season looms, they spawn, a final act of defiance to a doomed existence, and their eggs remain in a state of diapause — inactive dormancy, with the young trapped in time. Trapped, that is, until the rains return, signifying a new season of food and breeding. As the water stirs plant and insect life to re-emerge, the young fish hatch out, ready to exploit the temporary world around them. Once hatched, they can mature rapidly. That they are so uncommon in the hobby reflects a wider shift in the fishkeeping demographic. With rare exceptions, at a hobbyist level fishkeeping has become less about sustainability, and more about consumerism. While aquarists in some niches make up an infrastructure of

.C. ZAMMIT

Fish of the month

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might get 20 hatch on a good week, and out of those you’ll get less than ten fish reaching adulthood. Still, even on those maths, if just five make it through, that’s £1 a head for some of the brightest fish in the business. When buying, you might see mention of ‘F1’, ‘F2’, or ‘F3’ fish, and so on numerically. These will indicate how many generations down the line the seller has kept and bred the fish for. F1 fish are those directly descended from a pair of wild fish. F2 fish, will be the offspring of the F1 fish, and so on. Dedicated killie breeders often have fish of several generations age, but this is rarely a cause for concern, as they’re pretty hot on spawning — they’re invested in their bloodlines, and a bad reputation in a small industry is enough to see the bad breeders off. Sometimes.

What will you need? Apart from the actual eggs, the next thing you’ll need is food. Liquifry will get you off to a start, sure, but live foods are best for these little hunters. Out of their eggs they’ll take pretty large foods, so you’ll want to get some Artemia cultures (brine shrimp) in place, along with some tiny worms. Banana worms are a good choice, and as long as you can handle a bit of a vinegary smell, you won’t mind tubs of them around the place. There are a couple of other sundries you want for successful hatching. Tupperware, for one. Or old ice cream tubs. Yoghurt pots and a small plastic bowl. Some polystyrene. Ask a retailer if you can have some of the small polystyrene boxes they receive their frozen foods in. Also, some aquarium peat, aquarium salt and a length of airline (or big

Did

and slightly acid, but Nothos are pretty pipette) will be a help. Java moss will be resilient. Personally, I’d float that tub in the required. Oh, and a magnifying glass. When your eggs arrive, they’ll be in a small aquarium the fry are destined to go into, but it’s not essential if you can keep the bag of peat. You’ll hopefully also have temperature stable. Controlled temperature instructions about how to hatch them. If fish houses have the advantage here. not, you’ll need to make a call and find out exactly how long the egg h b ng out dry for. Nothos vary in time, but some can be r large tub, place the from around the hurt pots or small 8–12-week mark, givin upperware, and the you plenty of leeway to plastic bowl, so that After 48 hours of fry set up a little rearing they are in but not collecting, re-bag the peat, tank of around 45 x under the water. In get it back in the polystyrene 25 x 25cm, with a the bowl, spread out box, in the dark, and give it a small air-driven filter your peat and eggs few more weeks. Chances are and a heater. — the technical term Until they’re ready for this is ‘wetting’. the remaining eggs are late to emerge — revealed t’s essential not to starters — it’s rare for all by the presence of tiny parate the eggs and the fry to emerge at eyes in the slowly peat — they won’t once. developing eggs — you without it. In the to keep them somewhe al pots, add a clump of at a stable temperature. In a warm Java moss. household, the inside of a polystyrene box in Hatching will start after an hour or so, but the top of a wardrobe may do the job. In an give them a few hours before moving them. old, poorly insulated or chilly house, the They should be free swimming at least. Use bottom of the airing cupboard will be a the large pipette (or baster, or large better, stable option. Either way, remember eyedropper) to lift the fish out and separate to air the peat bags of eggs every few weeks them between the different pots. Personally, (mouldy, or too dry peat will damage them). I prefer to use a long length of airline (it’s Keep checking the eggs with a magnifying wider than a pipette) and a practised glass, and once you see two little beady suction technique with my mouth to lift the black eyes peering at you from them, they’re fish out, but there are health and hygiene ready to go. risks associated with this. At this point, you want your ice cream tub, The separation of the fry evenly between or largest Tupperware pot. Fill it with tubs is to reduce the risk of cross infection dechlorinated water, or water from a in a disease outbreak. Velvet is particularly mature aquarium. Ideally you want it soft pernicious with Notho fry, and spawning

TOP TIP

?

you know

Nothobranchius kadleci.

HRISTO HRISTOV

Some species, like Nothobranchius kadleci, have turned sexual activity into a race, and can reproduce at just 17 days old (or should that be ‘young’?)

Fish of the month

Three of the best Notho killifish

HRISTO HRISTOV

HRISTO HRISTOV

HRISTO HRISTOV

If we’ve whetted your appetite, here are some ideal species to get you started.

FOER’S KILLIFISH

BLUEFIN NOTHO

EGGER’S KILLIFISH

The longest lived of the Nothos featured here, N. foerschi will hit between one and two years of life (decades in killifish terms). Eggs hatch after 3–6 months of dryness. These guys originate from Tanzania on the East coast of Africa, and prefer their water closer to neutral.

The commonest, but also shortest lived species of the three here. Six months is feasible, a year is excellent. They can reach sexual maturity in under a month. They also have a long egg incubation time, sometimes up to seven months before they are ready to be soaked and hatched. Their wild homes are hostile, short lived pools, where they lurk among plants to avoid predators. They’re easy going on water quality and even tolerate high levels of salt, compared to a lot of tropical species.

This killi is well represented in the hobby, and you’ll find many regional variants, each with their own unique markings. For a lot of fans, these are ‘the’ Notho, with outstanding metallic blues, scarlet deep reds, and shades of violet and purple. They also have water preferences close to many folks’ tapwater — slightly hard and alkaline. Their lifespan stretches from six months to a rarely attained 18 months. The young hatch fast, emerging after 3–4 months of drying.

G Scientific name: Nothobranchius foerschi (No-tho-bran-key-uss foe-whirshy). G Size: To 5.5cm, females to about 4cm. G Origin: Tanzania. G Habitat: Temporary mud pools with heavy vegetation, and grassy floodplains. G Tank size: Minimum 45 x 25cm footprint. G Water requirements: Neutral, or either slightly soft acidic, or slightly alkaline: 6.5 to 7.5pH, hardness below 18°H. G Temperature: 20–25°C. G Temperament: Moody. House as pairs. G Feeding: Plenty of live and frozen meaty foods. Daphnia, Cyclops, bloodworm, Calanus, Tubifex. G Availability and cost: Adults uncommon; usually starting around £17.50 a pair, eggs readily available online and through clubs, prices from £7 per 30.

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Temp C 30 28 26 24 22 20 18

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G Scientific name: Nothobranchius rachovii (No-tho-bran-kee-uss rack-oh-vee-eye). G Size: To 5.5cm, females to about 5cm. G Origin: Mozambique, South Africa. G Habitat: Temporary mud pools with heavy vegetation. G Tank size: Minimum 45 x 25cm footprint. G Water requirements: Ideally soft and acidic, but neutral and even slightly alkaline water is shrugged off: 5.8–7.6pH, hardness below 10°H. G Temperature: 20–25°C. G Temperament: Moody. House as pairs. G Feeding: Plenty of live and frozen meaty foods. Daphnia, Cyclops, bloodworm, Calanus, Tubifex. G Availability and cost: Adults uncommon; usually starting around £15 a pair, eggs readily available online and through clubs, prices from £5 per 30.

pH

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9 8 7 6 5

Temp C 30 28 26 24 22 20 18

28 l+

G Scientific name: Nothobranchius eggersi (No-tho-bran-keeuss egg-errs-eye). G Size: To 4cm. G Origin: Tanzania. G Habitat: Temporary mud pools with heavy vegetation. G Tank size: Minimum 45 x 25cm footprint. G Water requirements: Neutral to alkaline and quite hard: 7.0 to 8.2pH, hardness 10 to 25°H. G Temperature: 20–25°C. G Temperament: Moody. House as pairs. G Feeding: Plenty of live and frozen meaty foods. Daphnia, Cyclops, bloodworm, Calanus, Tubifex. G Availability and price: Adults uncommon and usually starting at around £17.50 a pair, eggs readily available online and through clubs, prices from £6 per 30.

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9 8 7 6

Temp C 30 28 26 24 22 20 18

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5

Some of us have will bred our fish, either accidentally or intentionally. But few of us have received eggs by post and hatched them at home, having never met the parents. But that’s how the killifish game is played. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

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Fish of the month

Growing on the fry Feeding in the earliest stages can be assisted with a little Liquifry if you haven’t quite got your cultures ready, but by this stage you really want bubbling tubes of brine shrimp, and tubs writhing with microworms. The trick is not to overfeed. Starving Nothos is tricky, poisoning them is easy. Couple that with the fact that you want to avoid large water changes — young Nothos hate them — and you can see why food management is essential. If you’re doing water changes, remember to keep adding your salt. Velvet disease can strike out of nowhere. After a couple of weeks in their pots, move your fry into the tub as a group, along with more Java moss, freeing up a few pots for the next potential hatch. Don’t mix fish from different stages together. Big Nothos are predatory and will nail their tiny siblings. A couple of weeks after that, it’s into the tank proper, where air-powered foam filters, Java moss, peat and a nice, peaty substrate should be waiting. From here, you can move along to increasingly large foods — Cyclops, then small Daphnia, and eventually Tubifex and bloodworm. Now just sit back, watch ‘em grow, and prepare for an explosion of colour. And there we have it. Your very first home-grown fish. At this point, you may be wondering how to breed them yourself. It’s easy enough, but I’m all out of space here. That said, you’ll likely be itching to spawn more than Nothobranchius, so I strongly recommend you ask your local retailer for a book on killifish breeding. If they don’t have one, take a trip to your local library and see what they can get for you. Or you could just Google it, but where’s the fun in that?

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Why all the code? You’ll probably see Nothos or eggs on sale from killifish breeders with long-winded coded descriptions like ‘MZCS-08/100 Buzi River Basin, Mozambique’ attached. Because Nothos are so region specific, the danger is that there will be crossbreeding, and so these codes incorporate a location of capture and timescale to help clarify which fish originate from where. Even though Nothos may be of the same species name, they can appear wildly different pending location, like the extreme red and blue populations of species like N. eggersi.

This killie has a name that’s bigger than it is: Nothobranchius rubripinnis Mbezi River TSTS 2012-20.

HRISTO HRISTOV

veterans usually add a little aquarium salt (around 3g per litre of water will suffice) to reduce the risk.

AQUAPRESS

Nothobranchius foerschi is one of the longer lived species, with a lifespan of up to a couple of years.

USEFUL CONTACTS British Killifish Association (BKA) Membership costs: UK £20, Europe £27, overseas £37, online £10. Visit www.bka.webeden.co.uk or contact Trevor Wood, 9 Dalton Green Lane, Huddersfied, West Yorkshire, HD5 9YD. Suppliers of Notho and other killifish eggs: > Peter Brown, 18 Paragon Close, Cheadle, Staffordshire, ST10 1JD. Tel. 01538 755292; email: [email protected]. Species include N. elongatus F2, N. flammicomantis FTZ 10-21, N. foerschi, N. guentheri Blue form, N. guentheri ‘Zanzibar’ and N. korthausae Red. > Charles Zammit, 12 St Georges Street, Birzebbuga BBG 1632, Malta. Email: carmzammit@ gmail.com. Species include N. guentheri aquarium strain, N. guentheri Red ‘Zanzibar’, N. korthausae ‘Mafia’ and N. korthausae Red. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

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FISHKEEPING NEWS Latest news and events from the world of aquatics. CONSERVATION

19 U.S. aquariums to reduce plastic Aquariums across the United States have joined forces to create a new Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP) to address one of the gravest threats facing ocean and freshwater animals — plastic pollution — with the launch of a nationwide consumer campaign and a business commitment to drive a shift away from single-use plastic. “The public trusts aquariums to do what’s right for the health of the ocean and for ocean wildlife,” said Julie Packard, executive director of

the Monterey Bay Aquarium. “We’re just beginning to understand the full impacts of ocean plastic pollution on ecosystems, marine life and human health. But we already know enough to say that now is the time to act.” Through the national ‘In Our Hands’ campaign, the ACP hopes to drive a shift away from single-use plastic and towards alternatives. The campaign includes a website that inspires visitors to make positive everyday behaviour changes and raise awareness of the issue.

All 19 aquariums are also supporting this shift away from single-use plastic within their own businesses by eliminating plastic straws and single-use plastic takeaway bags. They have also committed to significantly reduce or eliminate plastic beverage bottles by December 2020 and to showcase innovative alternatives to single-use plastic in their facilities. About 8.8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean each year worldwide — roughly a dump truck full of plastic every minute of every day. In the United States alone, plastic waste averages more than 200 pounds per person each year. If nothing changes, by 2025 the flow of plastic into the ocean is expected to double. But it’s not just the ocean that’s affected. Today, there are an estimated one billion plastic particles floating on the surface of Lake Michigan alone. The Aquarium Conservation Partnership was first championed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, National Aquarium in Baltimore and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, in collaboration with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Coalition partners include: Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach; California Academy of Sciences/Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco; Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut; Florida Aquarium; Newport Aquarium in Kentucky; Audubon Nature Institute/Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans; New England Aquarium in Boston; Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska; Wildlife Conservation Society/New York Aquarium in New York City; North Carolina Aquariums; South Carolina Aquarium; Tennessee Aquarium; Texas State Aquarium; Virginia Aquarium; Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma; and Seattle Aquarium.

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Open Sea exhibit.

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ALAMY

MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM

This shocking amount of plastic was washed up with driftwood, not in the U.S., but on Pembrey Sands beach in Wales.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

NEW SPECIES

DIARY DATES

New Orinoco fish named after Enya ALAMY

In 1988, Irish singer and songwriter Enya (pictured left) released a single called ‘Orinoco Flow’ from her second studio album, which went on to become an international hit and earn a Grammy Award nomination. Now scientists have named a new species of fish from the Orinoco River drainage after her. Leporinus enyae is a “beautiful little fish,” says Michael Burns, a doctoral candidate at Oregon State University and lead author on the paper describing the new species. “Whenever we were in the lab at Oregon State working on the fishes, Ben Frable would always play ‘Orinoco Flow,’” says Burns, referring to another graduate student in the lab. “I heard the song so often in the lab it got

stuck in my head,” co-author Marcus Chatfield adds. “Then I just started listening to it on purpose when I was taking measurements of the specimens. When the time came around for choosing names, it just felt right to name this new beautiful fish from the Orinoco after the artist who wrote that beautiful song.” Leporinus is the largest and most diverse genus in the characiform family Anostomidae and includes roughly 90 species across most of South America. The term Leporinus literally means ‘little hare,’ in reference to the large teeth that protrude from the mouth, much like those of a rabbit. The bottom teeth of the new species are particularly long, and while no one is sure why, the researchers note that it may relate to it foraging on plants, worms and other invertebrates. Leporinus enyae is found in the Orinoco River drainage.

OOCTOBER 7–8, 2017 Fancy Guppies UK (FGUK) holds the International Guppy Show at the Holiday Inn Express, Rockingham Road, Kettering. This event sees lectures, competitions, and an auction of Guppies and other livebearers, along with the opportunity to see some world class Guppies. More info: www.fancyguppies.co.uk

OREGON STATE UNIVERISTY

MISSING CREDITS These two lovely Angelfish aquascape images, featured in the July and August issues of PFK, were both taken on a visit to The Green Machine in Wrexham, which is a Nature Aquarium specialist store. Unfortunately, we omitted to mention this in the original picture credits. Find out more at www.thegreenmachineonline.com

DISCOVERIES

VICTOR HUERTAS AND DAVID BELLWOOD

O SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 1, 2017 The British Killifish Association is holding its annual convention at the Mercure Hotel, Wetherby, North Yorkshire. Guest speaker will be Béla Nagy, giving two lectures: Lecture one will be on European killifish, covering collecting trips in Spain, Corsica, Sardinia, and Corfu, plus outdoor maintenance and breeding. Lecture two will cover recent collecting trips in Africa, including Béla’s most recent trip to Congo, and features a number of new species. Non-members can join at the event (UK membership costs £20). Room prices (including b & b): Single: £71; Double/twin: £82 Saturday evening meal: £20 per head. More info: www.bka.webeden.co.uk

Wrasse eats corals by ‘kissing’ them

A Tubelip wrasse wraps its slimy lips around a coral.

Of all the things an animal could eat, corals are arguably one of the toughest, thanks to their thin, mucus-covered flesh packed with venomous stinging cells spread over a razor-sharp skeleton. Perhaps that explains why of the more than 6,000 fish species that live on the reef, only 128 are known to feed on corals. Now, researchers have discovered that at least one species of coral-feeding fish ‘kisses’ the flesh and mucus off the coral skeleton using protective, self-lubricating lips. “The lips are like the gills of a mushroom but covered in slime,” says David Bellwood of www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

James Cook University in Australia. “It is like having a running nose but having running lips instead.” The researchers suggest that the mucus may facilitate suction while offering protection from the corals’ stinging nematocysts. Wrasses that don’t eat corals have lips that are thin and smooth, with teeth that protrude slightly. By comparison, Tubelip wrasses, Labropsis australis, have lips that are fleshy and stick out, forming a tube when the mouth is closed that covers all the teeth. The most prominent characteristic of the

Tubelip wrasse’s lips, they found, are numerous thin membranes arranged outwards from the centre like the gills of a mushroom. The mouth surface also includes many folds loaded with highly productive mucus-secreting glands. In other words, their lips drip with slime! The wrasses feed by briefly placing their lips in contact with the coral prior to delivering a powerful suck, appearing to seal the mouth over a small area. The new evidence suggests that the Tubelip wrasse survives by feeding primarily on coral mucus.

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Looking for something a little bit different? If so, take a look at this selection of some of the rarities and curiosities we’ve encountered on our travels recently. WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: NATHAN HILL

RED EYE GHOST TETRA This is an unknown fish, which we found at Pier Aquatics in Wigan, and which I have been desperately trying to find anything on for weeks now. Hans Evers has tentatively named it Heterocharax sp. ‘Rio Nanay’. After a lot of trawling, where I was torn somewhere between Longochenys and Heterocharax, the closest I’ve found is a single batch of red, ghosty fish that went to the Far East, branded as Heterocharax sp. ‘Blue Neon’ but were neither blue nor neon. So, I’m deferring to Hans’ name — H. sp. ‘Rio Nanay’ it is… They came to the UK via Peru, and as far as I know, Pier is the only place that has had this species in the UK. I recall them being marked as ‘Red eye ghost tetra’. Beyond that, I really cannot tell you anything about them. They look like they have some fine teeth on them, so I’d keep them away from flowy fins. Everything else is guesswork based on what we know of other Heterocharax species.

FACTFILE  Scientific name: Proposed as Heterocharax sp. ‘Rio Nanay’.  Size: Estimate 5cm.  Origin: Peru.  Habitat: Unknown, guessing rivers.  Aquarium size: Starting with a 60 x 30cm footprint seems sensible.  Water requirements: Unknown, assume slightly acidic and soft.  Temperature: Assume somewhere around 25°C.  Temperament: Suspect slightly nippy.  Feeding: Flakes and live or frozen Daphnia, bloodworm.  Availability and cost: Maybe the first and only shipment to the UK, priced at a bargain £5.95 each. Call Pier on 01942 236661 for more details. 0

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish in the shops

Seen at Pier Aquatics, Wigan

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

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Seen at Wildwoods, (QҕHOG

RAI

It comes from Eastern Australia, where it lives in nutrient poor, acidic swamps and bogs (what the locals calls ‘wallum’ land) as well as streams under cover of trees, and heaving with leaf litter. Populations are pretty abundant. The swamp fish come from water that is stained a deep, rusty brown, with correspondingly low pH values — down to 3.9pH. Submerged plants are rare at best, and even algae fails to grow in the light-starved habitat. With so little underwater life, they scoff surface falling insects mainly, so a few wingless fruit fly cultures as food might be a good idea.

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

Most rainbowfish tanks are dominated by heavyset wedges like Melanotaenia and Glossolepis species, and the smaller ones go overlooked. Pity, because species like this Rhadinocentrus ornatus are just dying to make an awesome rainbow project for someome. Rhadinocentrus is monotypic, which means it has just the one species. This is a small beast, hitting around 5–6cm in most tanks, with rare, hump-headed and pale brutes reported up to 10cm. Despite being a single species, there are many regional variants, swinging from those with blue bodies and orange fins, through plainer examples with golden heads and dappled navy flanks, to bright orange bodies and black trim.

ISH

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Fish in the shops

BENJAMIN’S WOODCAT

If you love catfish but lament the fact they’re always hiding, then woodcats are the way forward for you. These little fellows hail from Bolivia, where they are hardcore invert feeders. Think I’m joking? Supposedly, these cats can guzzle up to 1700 planktonic crustaceans each and every night — they’re like miniature, freshwater Basking sharks! They don’t get too large, so a 60cm tank would make for a suitable home, but do keep them in multiples. They’re not shoaling fish in any traditional sense, but they still fare better when kept with others of their own kind. Furnish the tank with sand, big chunks of wood (lots of wood) and maybe some leaf litter too. Adding plants can be an option, but note that they might ‘sleep’ amongst them, on their sides. This is entirely normal behaviour, and nothing to panic about. During the daytime, they’ll hug into crevices and cracks in the wood, but as the light fades, they’ll be out to forage. To lure them out in the daytime, drop a bag or two of Daphnia or Cyclops in the tank. You’ll see movement. Oh, you’ll see movement. Curiously, they like to feed from the surface, which makes a nice change for a cat. Eventually they’ll learn to take flake food from there, too.

FACTFILE  Scientific name: Rhadinocentrus ornatus (Rad-in-oh-sen-truss or-nay-tuss).  Size: Maximum 10cm, but usually 5cm.  Origin: Australia, northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.  Habitat: Slow or static streams, pools, bogs, either with leaf litter or just sandy with decaying logs and branches.  Aquarium size: Minimum 60 x 30cm for a shoal.  Water requirements: Slightly soft and

FACTFILE  Scientific name: Entomocorus benjamini (Enn-tom-oh-core-uss ben-jah-min-eye).  Size: Max 7cm, which it usually reaches.  Origin: Upper Madeira River Basin, Bolivia.  Habitat: Congregates around fallen wood in sandy rivers of mixed flow rates.  Tank size: Minimum 60 x 30cm for a small shoa.  Water requirements: Slightly soft and acidic to slightly base, clearwater preferred: 6.0 to 7.5pH, hardness 3-12°H.  Temperature: Found at ranges between 22 and 28°C, but aim to keep between 24 and 27°C.  Temperament: Peaceful, but benefits from the presence of a small shoal.  Feeding: Crustaceans 0 pH Temp C and insects Daphnia, 9 30 Cyclops, baby brine 28 shrimp, fruit flies. 8 26  Availability and cost: 24 7 22 Quite rare. Therse fish 20 were in quarantine when 18 6 we visited, and still 5 awaiting a price.

acidic, blackwater not essential: 6.0 to 6.8pH, hardness 4-8°H.  Temperature: Found in extremes of 16–32°C, thrives between 20–28°C.  Temperament: Peaceful, but needs to be kept in shoals to be settled. Aim for 10 or more fish.  Feeding: Small insect and meaty foods. Daphnia, Cyclops, baby brine shrimp, chopped Tubifex, fruit flies.  Availability and cost: A rare, rare find and one that’s usually the haunt of rainbowfish breeders. These fish seen at £34.95 each.

54 l+

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Seen at Wildwoods, (QҕHOG

This is a delightful but much less commonly sold rainbowfish species.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

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Fish in the shops

GOLD DISTICHODUS A bit of an oddity here, but Wildwoods in Enfield had a few of these shy fellows on sale. The official name given is Distichodus affinis ‘Gold’ which does toss a bit of a spanner in the works because I’ve never seen an affinis with red eyes — which these fish have. D. affinis is pretty common now, and you’ve probably seen some if you visit a few different stores. They’re in that ‘slightly too big’ category for a lot of tanks, reaching about 20cm, and being thickset with it, so they tend to linger on sale for a while. They’re also hungry for their greens. I’ve seen guys make the mistake of putting them into planted tanks, and immediately their blank faces and soulless eyes make a beeline for the foliage, which they strip like locusts. Still, they’re hardy and tolerant to a range of water chemistries, and get them in a big enough tank with the right crowd (similar sized cats and cichlids in a community, usually, or better still an African tank with Congo tetra, Polypterids and Synodontis) and they fit in just great. Interesting fact — gold is just one of many colour morphs, which may eventually turn out to be separate species.

FACTFILE G Scientific name: Distichodus affinis (Diss-tick-oh-duss aff-in-iss). G Size: To 20cm. G Origin: Democratic Republic of Congo. G Habitat: Multiple, often in rivers with sandy bases, leaf litter, debris and vegetation. G Tank size: Minimum 120 x 30cm footprint. G Water requirements: Easy going between acid and alkaline: 6.0 to 8.0pH, hardness 4–20°H. G Temperature: 23 to 28°C. G Temperament: Pretty aloof, might have a rare nip at a long fin out of curiosity. G Feeding: Omnivore, but get plenty of green in the diet. Cucumber, courgette, flaked pea and spinach periodically will help. Also eats Daphnia, bloodworm and most dried flake and pellet foods. G Availability and price: D.affinis are common now, even farmed, but this gold variant will be a rare wild import. Priced at £24.95. 0

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Temp C 9 8 7 6 5

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108 l+ Seen at Wildwoods, (QҕHOG

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

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Providing a complete set, the Tetra Starter Line 54L aquarium comes with a 50W heater, making it easy to keep tropical fish, in addition to a Tetra EasyCrystal filter with two replacement cartridges for clean and clear water, and a sample of AquaSafe, water conditioner to ensure the water is ready for its new arrivals. What’s more, the Tetra Starter Line 54L aquarium also includes a TetraMin food sachet offering a complete and balanced diet for tropical fish. The Tetra Starter Line 54L aquarium is available with an RRP of £76.99*. * Please note any reference to pricing is purely indicative. Retail pricing is entirely at the retailer’s discretion.

5 TOP TIPS FOR BEGINNER FISHKEEPERS Dave Hulse, Tetra’s Technical Expert provides his top tips for those looking to join the fishkeeping hobby: Do your research: Learn about the importance of water quality, feeding a proper diet, providing the right sized tank and the fish you’re looking to keep.

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Choose fish most suited to your experience: There are thousands of species and varieties of tropical fish that can be kept in aquaria, but some have highly specialist requirements and should only be kept by experienced fishkeepers. However, there are lots of danio, barb, tetra or rasbora species that make excellent starter fishes.

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Select a suitable location for your aquarium: Your tank needs to be sited in a quiet corner of a room out of direct sunlight, to prevent algae growth. Keeping a tank in a kitchen is usually avoided as volatile odours from cooking and cleaning products can enter the water and harm the fish.

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Test the water regularly: Successful fishkeeping starts with managing the water quality of the aquarium as it highlights trends which can be monitored and identifies problems before they cause harm to the fish. Tetra’s free water testing app, speeds up and simplifies water testing.

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FIND OUT MORE For more information about Tetra and to view the full range please visit www.tetra.net/en or check out Tetra UK on Facebook.

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Speak to your retailer: If you have any questions about the hobby or your aquarium, don’t be afraid to ask. Staff at your aquatic shop will be happy to provide the information you need.

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Wetbehindtheears?

A NEWCOMER’

I ALAMY

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

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is... s bstrate?

It’s not that long ago that the only real choice of aquarium substrate was the colour of the gravel you were planning on using. This was largely due to the preferred filtration method which was ‘undergravel’ filters — basically the whole substrate was your filter and to best achieve this, relatively coarse gravel was needed.

Sand

Sand looks very natural but needs regular maintenance.

ou

know Flying fish are well known for their flights above water to escape predators. They’ve been recorded travelling distances of over 400m at speeds of up to 43mph and at heights of up to 6m above water. That means it would cover 100m in around half the time of Usain Bolt!

Yes, it’s still popular and makes an excellent choice for many aquariums. The range has expanded hugely and offers all sorts of choices in terms of size and colour. You can get everything from the classic ‘Dorset pea-shingle’ (a selection of rounded, naturally coloured granules with sizes typically from 1cm to 1mm) to bright, artificially coloured substrates, graded to a uniform size and available in a literal rainbow. Fine sizes can compact while larger, coarse types can become clogged — using a gravel cleaner when doing your water changes will help prevent this happening.

Planted community tank with a gravel substrate.

NIEL HEPWORTH

ALAMY

Gravel

NIEL HEPWORTH

SHUTTERSTOCK

Probably the most popular alternative to gravel, sand can give a lovely, natural look and many fish will enjoy digging around in it for food, or even burying themselves under it. The colour range is typically more limited, but natural white, golden and even black sands are available. Especially fine sands can be sucked into external filters, potentially causing damage to their impellers, so be sure to site the intake a little higher to prevent this Like

While undergravel filters still exist, (and can work very well if maintained correctly) they are seldom seen outside fish shops and the boom in planted aquaria has led to an equivalent explosion in variety when it comes to what you choose to put on the floor of your fish tank. Here are a few of the basic options.

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

New fishkeepers 5 top tips for using subtrates

THE HOBBY Planted tank substrates While you can successfully grow many plants in plain gravel or sand, to achieve the lush growth you see in many of the beautiful ‘aquascapes’ that jump out of the pages of PFK every month, you’ll need a specialist planted tank substrate. These typically come in two varieties; complete substrates or base layers. Complete substrates are, as their name suggests, complete and are intended to be used alone. They are made to contain an optimum mix of nutrients combined with the perfect grain size to promote plant health and growth. They are available in an increasingly large range of colours and sizes and are probably the most expensive substrate choice, but for good reason. Base layers are generally a nutrient rich substrate intended to be put on the tank base, and then topped off with a cheaper, inert substrate like sand or gravel. These substrates are considerably cheaper to buy than the complete types, but the base and top layers can end up getting mixed together due to the actions of digging fish or during other aquarium maintenance.

Wash before using. Unless your substrate specifically states that it is cleaned and ready for use, it will need thorough washing before you add it unless you want a ‘swamp’ themed tank! Most substrates are surprisingly dirty and it can take several washes in buckets of water to remove fine sediments carried with them. It’s a tedious job but worth doing.

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Cheap alternatives such as garden centre gravel or play-pit sand can make economical choices for those on a budget, but do check to see if they will affect your water chemistry before using them. Most aquarium specific substrates are inert and won’t mess with pH/KH but these apparent bargains can cause problems. If you’re unsure, leave a handful in a jug of water overnight and compare the test results before and after. If there’s no change, you’ll be OK to use it.

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If you are planning to keep bottom dwellers like Corydoras catfish, be aware that some gravel can have sharp edges which may damage their sensitive mouths. It’s usually better to use soft sand for these digging species to prevent injury.

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Some planted substrates can release ammonia into the tank water when first added, so fish should not be added to newly set-up tanks, even with a mature filter in place. Read the instructions care

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Did

you know

The Black pac metre-long ve with teeth and eat Brazil nuts!

GEORGE FARMER

You’ll need a specialist planting substrate for a result like this.

Don’t go too deep. If you’re not intending to plant your tank then you don’t need deep layers of substrate — a few centimetres to cover the bottom is sufficient. Deeper layers will make maintenance more complicated and take up volume that could be used for more fish!

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New fishkeepers

What to keep Each issue we pick a favourite ‘Community’ fish. These are tried and tested species that have a winning combination of looks and behaviour that make them perfect for newcomers.

ALAMY

Honey gourami, Trichogaster chuna

What to grow

Vallisneria (usually abbreviated to ‘Vallis’) is a staple of the hobby and that’s no surprise given how easy it is to grow and how good it can look. Sometimes called ‘eel grass’, its long, strap like leaves can give a classic water weed look, swaying beautifully with the flow in your tank. It can grow very rapidly with leaves capable of reaching a couple of feet in length and laying across the tank surface. These plants spread by runners and can swiftly populate the bottom of your tank to the degree that they may need pruning back or weeding out. A twisted leaf version, with attractive, spiralling leaves as well as a dwarf species are sometimes available. It can struggle in soft, acidic water but otherwise it’s usually a case of keeping it under control. Many fish will nibble at its leaves, but unless you stock larger, vegetarian fish and don’t supplement their diet with veg then your Vallis will usually match or outgrow their appetites.

O Where are they from? India and Bangladesh. O How big do they grow? 5.5cm/2.2in. O What size tank do they need? 60 x 30cm footprint/54 l volume minimum.

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O How many should I keep? These aren’t shoaling fish, but they do like company of their own kind, so aim to keep at least four.

The sex lives of clownfish can be confusing. They typically live in small groups in an anemone, where the largest fish becomes female, and the next largest fish male, to form a breeding pair. The rest of the group won’t develop sexually. If the female is eaten (as in Finding Nemo), the male will become female, while the next largest fish in the group turns male! What an interesting movie sequel that would have been! 26

ALAMY

you know

ALAMY

Did

Gourami are among the most popular fish in the hobby, and rightly so given their grace, colour and generally peaceful behaviour. However, many of the popular species get a little too big for the average starter community tank, while others are plagued by disease problems. Luckily, the Honey gourami is not only the perfect size at just over 5cm/2in full grown, but is also a model community resident. Like many fish, they can appear a little dull in the shop tanks — just a washed out cream colour with the occasional dark blotch or bar, but once settled into a well planted aquarium they’ll show their true colour. Females are a coffee/tan shade, with a bold, chocolate brown bar running horizontally from nose to tail. Males look rather similar, but with a warmer, more golden body colour, but once in breeding condition they flush with their namesake golden honey colouration, which in the best specimens can be a deep orange. At the same time their throat and belly darken to a deep blue/ black while their dorsal fin is tipped with yellow. For those who want more obvious colour, a few selectively bred varieties are available; ‘Red robin’ with bright, rather artificial deep orange red colour all over and a ‘Golden’ or ‘Sunset’ variety with a rich yellow. These little fish build nests of bubbles to lay their eggs in but will need floating plants to help them do this. If you watch them closely, you’ll see that they use their fine, thread-like ventral fins to ‘touch’ each other as well as objects around the tank.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

THESPICE OFLIFE Not content with a single set-up, one Cambridgeshire aquarist has his fishfingers dipped in multiple projects at once. We revisit the star of one of this year’s most popular PFK reader visits. WORDS: STEVEN BAKER, FOREWORD AND PHOTOS: NATHAN HILL

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teven Baker became a Practical Fishkeeping pin-up only a couple of months back with his outstanding ‘Wall of Life’ aquarium. But there’s more to his hobby than just his spectacular Borneo aquarium/ paludarium/biotope hybrid. When we visited, he had no fewer than five tanks on the go, and we’ve chosen to pick up where we left off, chewing the fat over African cichlids, peaceful pufferfish and rescued Fighters. As there was too much to fit in before, here’s the rest of the story of the man behind Cambridge Aquatics, and the coveted Wall of Life that sent so many readers wild with envy!

PFK: What was your first aquarium experience? SB: The lady that cut my hair as a child worked from home, and her husband was an inspirational fishkeeper. He had a huge reef tank in the hallway, maybe five or six feet long and two-and-a-half deep. I was about six then, and it was amazing, even by today’s standards. Then there was a 6ft deep Koi pond in a planted conservatory that led out into the garden. I later worked for that couple, Mike and Ester, through my college years in their aquatics shop. PFK: When did you get your first aquarium, and what was in it?

I got addicted from the off. I’ve never been without a tank since my first one. 28

SB: I asked for a tank for my 10th birthday. I enjoyed fishing with my dad and I liked seeing fish at the garden centre so... My parents bought me a 90 l John Allen tank with a tin lid and an iron frame stand, complete with undergravel filter and air pump. After receiving incorrect advice my six Neon tetras died. But with correct advice from Mike, I went on to keep a group of Zebra danios, Danio rerio, for many years. They shared their tank with three black Angelfish, Peppered corys, and some Harlequin rasboras. My dad did all the maintenance chores initially and slowly taught me to take over. The tank eventually got upgraded to a Juwel aquarium, but a few years later it made a reappearance as a second tank in my bedroom with rainbowfish. PFK: How did you get addicted? What was the buzz for you? SB: I think I got addicted from the off. I’ve PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Reader visit Steven’s larger Tanganyikan set-up.

never been without a tank since my first, and my fishkeeping was greatly improved and invigorated after three years of fisheries studies at Brooksby College. The buzz? I don’t know why I chose fishkeeping specifically, but the more I look into it the more I find. It’s an endless study — a fully enclosed environment that includes all forms of science and gives me complete control. While I struggle with technology and maths, science and nature makes sense to me. Plus, I don’t have a particularly broad knowledge, so I guess I wanted to know a lot about one thing and I just kept enjoying the study of fish. I love their environments and their lives within those environments.

SB: At work, I concentrate mainly on livestock. So, it’s water changing, settling new arrivals, and general health care for tanks and tanks of tropical fish — and plants. That’s the day job. Balance my life? No, not me. I currently work a seven-day week of fish tanks and ponds, and then I go home and feed and maintain my five home tanks and hop on to social media to talk about fish, or draw up designs for pond for work projects. That’s not a man with a balanced life, that’s a man with an extremely understanding wife! It can usefully be justified as my livelihood and it’s what pays the bills, which is a very good excuse for my unreasonably excessive fishkeeping.

PFK: You work with fish as well. What does a typical fish-job day entail? And how do you balance your work fish life with your home fish life?

PFK: What’s Cambridge Aquatics? How did that all come about? SB: Cambridge Aquatics is my plan for the future. It was founded by myself and my good

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

friend Tai Strietman. We do large projects together, but as he’ll be off to Brazil soon to study his degree in ichthyology, Cambridge Aquatics is mine to nurture and expand. Currently I offer home pond and tank care — services such as designing and building systems, renovating old ones, cleaning and maintaining, and health care. It’s a business that’s still in its building stage, but I plan much more for the future. PFK: You’re currently running two Tanganyikan tanks — the multi-species mix and the shellie set-up. What’s the appeal of the lake fish? Why do you think Tanganyika set-ups are having such a resurgence right now? SB: I’d wanted a Tanganyikan set up for years, but I love planted aquaria. It wasn’t until I was running five tanks at once that I thought one without plants would be acceptable. I worried I’d get bored without the constant tweaking

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Lamprologus kendali. and grooming required by plants, but three years down the line I’m still happy with it. The social interactions and the hierarchy are both obvious and interesting. A Tanganyikan tank becomes much more enthralling when you read in depth about the Lake. I’d always assumed that the vast lake would be totally stable and experience little in the way of change, but when I started reading Pierre Brichard’s book ‘Cichlids of Lake Tanganyika’ I realised how wrong I was. The different habitats around the shores, influenced by incoming rivers and various rock types really inspired me. Plus, the age of the lake and the evolution status of the fish fascinates me.

(Feature ed’s note: Lake Tanganyika has its earliest roots as far back as a possible 12 million years). It’s as much about the stories behind the fish as it is the fish itself for me. I think a resurgence is likely just down to trends. Like clothing fashion, some fish just fall in and out of favour. Seeing as Tanganyikans have been out of fashion for some time, that now makes them something different to keep. They are very rewarding fish, so I hope more people do start to keep them. PFK: How do you keep water chemistry right for them? Aren’t Tanganyikan fish real alkaline fans? Really alkaline, yes! In the hly-oxygenated waters in the tre of the lake where photilapia frontosa reside a as high as 9.2 can be gistered. ost fish in the lake sit around e mid-8pH range. They’re highly sensitive to cidosis so it’s important to maintain a strong buffering apacity in the water. Due to a ack of plants soaking up organic compounds, I opt to use RO water on my Tanganyika tanks. I mineralise it with Seachem’s Tanganyika Buffer, Cichlid Lake Salt and Cichlid Trace.

PFK: Even though they’re from a similar region of the world, how does the behaviour differ between Tanganyikan and Malawi fish? Yours look pretty chilled together, but most Malawi tanks I see are war zones. SB: I think there is much more diversity from Lake Tanganyika, and more in the way of specialised niche-filling fish. While there’s an abundance of species from Lake Malawi, many of them overlap habitats and lifestyles (especially the ones commonly kept), so there is more competition, and subsequently aggression. The stock in my tank has been chosen to avoid fish which are too similar. They are very territorial and I’ve allowed for them the space to put up their boundaries, and it all works nicely — as you say, chilled even. The real problems arise when people try to mix fish from other habitats, particularly fish that don’t understand territorial boundaries. PFK: Have you had any breeding activity from either of your Tanganyikan set-ups? SB: I’ve had batches of Neolamprologus leleupi, Julidochromis marlieri, Neolamprologus multifasciatus and Lamprologus brichardi in the main tank. I saved the batch of N. leleupi as I had a spare tank to move the fry and the parents into. They are very easy to rear, accepting frozen and dried foods with no hesitation. The parents were F1 fish and the fry were great in terms of PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Reader visit Neolamprologus brevis shell dweller.

colour and health, and free of deformities. The fry all went to auction at an East Anglia Cichlid Group event. The L. brichardi put too much pressure on the tank, breeding every four to five weeks. It was amazing to see 5mm-long fry herding and caring for a younger generation of 3mm fry but they were so (over)productive that they had to be moved on.

Right: Steven’s converted Fluval aquarium cabinet. Below: Shell dwellers only need a small set-up.

PFK: What decor have you opted for in your Tanganyikan tanks? How do you go about deciding whether something is safe to use or not? SB: I haven’t aimed for an accurate recreation, as Lake Tanganyika contains boulders the size of a typical family car, and underwater cliff faces! I settled for a natural feel with some impact, but mostly a layout that provides nooks and crannies for territorial strongholds and places to dart away from conflict. Because hardness in water isn’t an issue with Tanganyikan fish, there’s less to worry about with rocks. I’ve had large pieces of wood in Tanganyikan set-ups, but this does mean keeping a close eye on KH and pH values, and not letting them drop. I like to think the rounded, weather worn cobbles I’ve used are similar looking to what could be found in the lake, even if the size is vastly different. The question is, can you tell which single rock is fake? (Feature ed’s note: Nope!) www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

31

PFK: What hardware have you got running on it? SB: I’m not particularly loyal to brands and I’m not a tech fan. If it works, is efficient and reliable, then I like it. I happen to have a lot of Fluval. The tank is a Fluval Roma 240 and also the FX6 filter upgrade and the Sky LED lighting upgrade. I have my favourite heater, a 300W Hydor external unit, a Hydor 5400 lph powerhead (which comes on twice a day for five minutes to lift any settled waste). I also use a very old Rena air pump and a very small Interpet LED as a dawn/dusk light. The only brand I stay loyal to with this tank is Northfin foods. I’ve used these for a full year at least and I’m very impressed.

Colomesus asellus, aka ‘Big Puff’.

PFK: What shells have you used in the shell dweller tank? SB: I desperately wanted to use Neothauma shells from the lake, but the price was too high. I’ve settled with giant land snail shells instead. The fish are happy with them and I can live with them. PFK: You’ve converted one of your cabinets into a foldaway table — talk me through how it works. SB: When you’re offered a nice tank at a good price you don’t leave without it! The ideal position for this tank already had a dining table in place, but I didn’t want to lose that and so I thought of a way to have both. The cabinet doors are held together by two thin lengths of wood with hinges running along the top, and carry two hinged legs. All straightforward stuff, but quite effective. Now I can sit and eat while looking into Lake Tanganyika. PFK: As well as your feature tanks, you’ve got a planted community running. How did that come about, and what’s in there? SB: Most of the fish are from a previous, more focused tank which contained fish from the Guyana shield area. Other fish have come by similar means and from friends’ tanks. The more obvious inhabitants are two Amazon puffers, Colomesus asellus, Nannostomus marginatus pencil fish, and some Characidium darter tetras. Some other fish take a fair bit of finding in a heavily planted tank, such as a Leopard frog catfish, and an Amblydoras hancockii. As the fish were a mixture, I didn’t hesitate in mixing the plants. When running well targeted tanks it’s nice to have a ‘play’ tank to be free with.

Characidium fasciatum.

The Betta is a temporary feature... Nannostomus marginatus.

PFK: Do you ever get issues with the puffers nipping at things? SB: The puffers are curious and dog-like. With each new fish addition, I can expect one nip of the newcomer’s dorsal fin — and that’s it. I’ve not had them do any further damage; either they realise their tank mates aren’t food or their tank mates suddenly wise up to it and stay out of the way. PFK: How helpful is the carbon dioxide for

32

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Reader visit plant growth? Do you use other fertilisers with it? What’s your plant growing routine? SB: Realistically, this set-up is thrown together, with a donated tank and equipment from my deep, dark cupboard of fishy bits. It’s low energy — I’m not really trying with the plants here but I still think the carbon dioxide system makes a big difference. This tank gets daily doses of 5ml JBL Ferropol, 2.5ml Seachem Nitrogen and 0.5ml Seachem Trace. Very rarely I’ll dose with phosphorus but mostly my tapwater provides all the phosphate I need. PFK: Your last tank with the Fighter has a totally different feel to the rest. What’s the intention in there? SB: The Fighter’s a temporary resident, which is here to gain some body weight and vitality since his previous keeper lost interest. This was my first attempt at a paludarium and the waterfall seemed a nice idea to see, hear and to keep humidity as high as possible. Eventually, when the Fighter is rehomed, the set-up will be home to some Painted reed frogs.

Steven’s planted community.

PFK: How many hours a week does it take to maintain all these tanks? SB: Around four hours per week. The large Tanganyikan tank takes up the most time with frequent water changes but being over-filtered with an FX6 allows a long time between filter cleaning. The other tanks take less time and attention each. The plant growth in the puffers’ tank soak up lots of fish waste and compete well against algae, so a basic fortnightly water change and a filter clean monthly is sufficient and the two small tanks are massively understocked, so maintenance is minimised. PFK: What was the silliest aquarium mistake you ever made? SB: Taking sick fish home because I hoped that my tank conditions would help them come round, but in the event they wiped out a full tank. That was quite some time ago now and it’s a mistake I learnt from very quickly. It still hurts 15 years later and I miss the Lampeyes, Procatopus similis, I lost in that incident.

Neolamprologus leleupi.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Aspidoras cats roam Steven’s community.

PFK: What has been your proudest fishkeeping moment? SB: Seeing my words and my Borneo biotope in the July edition of PFK. PFK: Do you name your fish? SB: Only three of my fish have nicknames. There’s Big puff and Little puff — I don’t think I need to explain who they are. Then my female Amblydoras hancockii is known as Catwoman. I’ve named some of my other stand out fish in the past, like Mr and Mrs Monster, which were a pair of Bristlenoses. And the fish I miss the most is my Mastacembelus ‘eel’. As they are not truly eels, she got the name of ‘Izzy-Aneel-Ornot’!

33

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

+

Health risks with fish are very low, but it pays to take sensible precautions.

CHAT ROOM

STAR letter

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

Paul Robinson How about hatchetfish as the Silver Surfer? Steven Baker Or Diamond tetra? Karen Carragher Green Lantern Platies? …or Angelfish (for Angel from the X-men) or Black phantom tetra for Phantom Girl? Paul Robinson How about Plat(y) Man?

Put your gloves on! I am new to PFK and I haven’t seen anything posted on this so far, so here goes. I have kept tropical fish for many years, but it is only within the last two years that a problem has occurred, in the form of lesions on my arms, and they are quite unsightly. I have been to a few doctors in different fields to find out what I had wrong with me, and after two years, I finally have the answer. The doctor in this case said straight away: “I know what you have — you have a low immune system (yes, I have) and you have had a cut on your hand or arm (good possibility) and you have tropical fish (yes, I do). You have the tropical fish equivalent of TB tuberculosis.” (What?). He then gave me a long medical name for the human condition, told me it’s OK and not contagious and that after a few months on a cocktail of antibiotics it would be gone. I now wear full arm length gloves when I am

Steven Baker What about Batman snails, Neripteron auriculata? Bob Mehen I’m not suggesting these as compatible stock, just superhero themed fish, but how about (Guardians of the) Galaxy rasboras and Golden wonder (woman) panchax? (Golden wonder panchax would most likely eat the Galaxy rasbora and the Neons!) Amanda Jayne Barritt I bought five Black widows this afternoon, so they’re sitting in the bag waiting to meet the rest of the ‘squad’...

doing my aquarium housework — I have a 350 l tank plus a 120 l sump tank. I mostly keep cichlids of different varieties. The doctor explained that not all fish carry this and it’s also very rare that anyone catches it, but if you have a low immune system you have more of a risk than others. Since then I have been looking for warnings about fish that are more susceptible to TB. Basically, what I am saying is either check with your doctor if you’re concerned about how effective your immune system is, or please wear gloves whenever you have your hands in aquarium water.

AJC1, PFKMAG.COM/FISHTB

Amanda Jayne Barritt I’m a huge superhero fan and so far I have Harlequins, Penguins and some Neons which my boy picked because they looked like Spiderman. I’m looking at getting some Black widows soon, but I just wondered if anyone out there can think of any other fish that have a superhero-related name — just for a bit of fun, mind!

NEIL HEPWORTH

SHUTTERSTOCK

Penguin tetra.

Peter Broughton, email

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

JOINTHEPFKCOMMUNITY

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

WRITE: Practical Fishkeeping, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA

34

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

FROM FACEBOOK Responses to our questions ‘Which is THE best fish book you own/ would recommend, and why so?’ Steven Baker: For

OCory’s big cousin

The Porthole catfish, Dianema longibarbis, is a lovely, peaceful choice for mid-sized aquariums. Growing to around 10cm, they look like XL corys with long, flowing whiskers that give them the second part of their scientific name. This one belongs to Nathan Duncan.

OA quick change of

exoskeleton...

When shrimps shed their exoskeleton to grow, they usually find somewhere tucked away to do it, but Wayne Ashley managed to get this great shot of his Amano shrimp beside its old ‘shell’.

understanding the ins and outs of fishkeeping I’d say Interpet’s Manual of Fish Health. Quite in depth but written quite simply. I cut my teeth on the Baensch Atlas and I would definitely recommend them for identification and information on species. I have six volumes now. Tony Horrocks: Adrian Tappin’s Rainbowfish book is great. Rainbowfish aside there isa wealth of info... All for free! Antony Swindale: For inspiration, Nature Aquarium (complete works) by the great Takashi Amano. George Farmer: Nature Aquarium World Book One. I wouldn’t be here without it. William C: Jeremy Gay’s Haynes Aquarium Manual was the first I bought.

OOut of Africa The Three-lined cichlid, Benthochromis tricoti, is a graceful beauty from Lake Tanganyika in Africa. Males are especially gorgeous with long fin extensions and glorious blue colouration. This one belongs to Graham Murray.

Sarah Thorell: ThePerfect

OBlue is the colour Blue forms of cichlids are proving increasingly popular, with everything from Rams to Jack Dempseys getting the ‘neon’ look. This lovely metallic blue Angelfish belongs to Sharon Layfield Scrivener.

OGoing against the flow

OHanging out together

If you’ve ever wondered how strong your suckermouthed catfish’s grip is, check out Mark Saxton’s juvenile Golden Ancistrus happily hanging out in the outlet of a 1000 lph powerhead!

Loricariid catfish can be intolerant of their own kind, but this Whiptail and Golden Ancistrus in Wayne Ashley’s tank seem happy to ‘hang out’ with each other.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

AquariumbyJeremyGayis myfavourite.Easytoread andunderstandyetstillquite in depth. Saumya Chakrabarti: For easy reading , it’s You and Your Aquarium by Dick Mills; Klaus Paysan had a wonderful Hamlyn aquarium fish species book. But my favourite is J. Van Ramshorst’s The Complete Aquarium: An Encyclopedia of Tropical Freshwater Fish. Steve Gritter: My first ever.... Mini Atlas. Very outdated now but full of memories and the basis of books today. Steven Chester: Spawning Problem Fishes 1 & 2 by Willie Jocher. David Speed: Anything by Ian Fuller, Hans Evers or Ingo Seidel. Andrew Page: Something by J. R. Hartley!

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TANKCOMMUNITY Biotope behaviour at its best!

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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].

‘Amazon’, let’s just read ‘wild’). I currently have a small group of Asian rummy noses, Sawbwa resplendens, and Emerald dwarf rasboras, Celestichthys erythromicron, and upon introduction to the tank they were skittish at first and I kept them in darkness for some time to let them get used to their new environment, so they weren’t stressed out. It was on the second day that I noticed the hunting behaviour that Nathan spoke of in the Neon tetras that were in his biotope tank. It’s fascinating to watch and I am glad that I set up a biotope tank and got to witness the behaviour that might not be seen otherwise in a normal planted set-up. Thank you for reading this. I

hope to keep on biotoping as it is something that I now really enjoy doing.

Andy Basuki, Indonesia

I’m dropping you a line just to say how much I loved Nathan Hill’s biotope for Neons in PFK June. I found his description of the stinking mess it all turned into as it was maturing as delightful as the natural behaviour he witnessed as a result of all his efforts. While I can see that the aquarium would not appeal to everyone (it certainly wouldn’t win favour with my good lady), I thought it was a remarkable achievement and I loved it.

Peter Hughes, email

Step by step

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

C

PHOTOGRAPHY IVAN M KOLJI UNLESS STATED

I was reading through the June issue of PFK when I chanced upon the biotope build that Nathan Hill put together for the humble Neon tetra. Being someone who dabbles or maybe I should say who is infected by the biotope bug), this article really caught my interest. It’s not just the process of how he set up his biotope tank for Neons, but also the experience he had in order to achieve his results. I could understand how Nathan felt and what he experienced in his article, because that is what I also experienced when I set up my interpretation of a Lake Inle biotope. It took a month or more for the invertebrate population of this tank to start populating like crazy! And now I find it so natural and enjoyable to watch. The set-up is a 50 x 50 x 50cm rimless cube tank, holding 125 l, with LED lighting and a canister filter that I set to a very low output from its spray bar. Nathan Hill, in his Tailpiece article, spoke of something that rang true and I personally saw this in my Lake Inle biotope. He said: “You can take the fish out of the Amazon, but you can’t take the Amazon out of the fish”. This is certainly true in my experiences with this kind of set-up (although in my case, for

CONTACT US Address: Practical Fishkeeping, Bauer Media, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA Email: [email protected]

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

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 pract calfishkeeping co uk

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ALAMY

Asian rummy nose, Sawbwa resplendens.

36

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

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TANKCOMMUNITY

Me & my

TANK

G Fishkeeper:

Ben Cook.

G Age: 32. G Occupation:

M.E.T. (Mechanical and Electrical Trim Technician). G Whereabouts: West Midlands, UK. G Time in the hobby: On and off for around 20 years. G Number of tanks: Currently two: a 250 l mixed reef display tank and an 80 l quarantine/frag tank.

What attracted you to the hobby? For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by water and fish. So, for me it was a way to create a piece of that magical world to enjoy at any time in my own home.

Tail spot blenny.

Zoa frag.

How would you describe your tank? A glass box into which I place all of my money! On a serious note, my tank started off as a mixed reef with mainly soft corals and a few LPS. I’ve since caught the SPS bug and I enjoy the challenges and rewards of keeping stony corals. The tank is a work in progress but my long-term goal is to have a stunning colourful SPS dominated display.

PHOTOGRAPHY: BEN COOK UNLESS STATED

What’s your favourite fish? This would have to be my Long nose hawkfish. It has a great personality and is very aware of life outside of the tank. It’s one of the fish that first attracted me to the salty side of the hobby. What’s the most challenging fish you’ve kept? This is an easy question for me — the hardest species I’ve ever kept has to be the Goby cichlid, Eretmodus cyanosticus ‘Kippili’. After many months, I finally got a breeding pair from a group of wild caught fish. Then, after trying numerous approaches and tank set-ups, my reward was seeing the whole spawning process from the eggs being laid, then passed between parents, to finally seeing the fry released, which grew into stunning adults. And the easiest? Is there such a thing? I don’t think any fish is easy but if you do the research and provide the right water parameters, diet and habitat, it makes it a lot easier to keep any fish.

38

Current stock G Iridis wrasse G A pair of Common clowns G Long nose hawkfish G Purple firefish G Goby and shrimp pair G Tail spot blenny G Tomini tang G Tuxedo urchin G 2x Red legged hermit crabs G 3x Nassarius snails G 6x Black foot Trochus snails G 2x Strawberry conch G Money cowrie G Emerald crab G 2x Turbo snails G Lots of Stomatella snails G Various LPS, SPS and Zoanthids.

Iridis wrasse.

Ben’s tank is stocked with both LPS and SPS corals.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Ben’s set-up started off with LPS and soft corals, but he’s recently caught the SPS bug...

My wish list...

NEIL HEPWORTH

Achilles tang.

What fish would you like to keep? On the fresh water side I would like a large group of Tropheus ikola ‘Kaiser’. I kept and bred various Tanganyikan cichlids for years but never got round to keeping Tropheus. Then I had to sell all my larger aquariums due to downsizing our house, so have now focused on my 250 l marine tank. If in the future I’m able to set up a large reef tank I would like an Achilles tang, Acanthurus achilles, because they are a truly stunning fish.

Common clownfish.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Lake Tanganyika has plenty to offer for a biotope tank.

What would be your dream aquarium? A 10 x 3 x3ft Lake Tanganyika biotope or a mixed reef of the same dimensions.

My advice for beginners Watchman goby and shrimp pair.

Find a good local fish shop and build a relationship with the staff who will share their experience and knowledge with you as well as give you a ‘heads up’ as to when the best stock arrives. Write an aquarium log to keep notes of things such as dates you added livestock, test results, changes to lighting, flow and water parameters. This information will be invaluable should you run in to any problems. Invest in an RO filter and mix your own saltwater; not only will this save you time and money in the long run but you can be sure that your water always has the optimum parameters for your system. Make any changes slowly and only one thing at a time; if you make multiple changes at the same time you won’t know what helped or caused issues. Save money: Do your product research and buy the best equipment you can afford from the start. These generally last longer, saving you the expense of having to replace or upgrade items at a later date. Save time: Buy your own RO filter so that you can prepare saltwater at home, saving those weekend trips to the nearest marine store. (This also saves money as prevents impulse store purchases!)

Long nose hawkfish.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Things I wish I’d known. The importance of a good quarantine set-up. If I’d used one in my early days it would have saved me lots of heartache. These days I quarantine everything wet for a minimum of 12 weeks before it’s added to my display tank.

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Off to a f lying The Flyer cichlid might take a bit of tracking down, but it’s a delightful little fish that makes a great introduction to keeping and breeding Central American cichlids. WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: LEE NUTTALL

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I

’m ashamed to say that the Flyer cichlid, Archocentrus centrarchus, had been a rather overlooked species during my time of keeping Central American cichlids, until I acquired a small group back in 2011. But I’m certainly glad I took the plunge, as this a lovely little fish to keep. Described by Gill and Bransford in 1877, the Flyer cichlid wasn’t commercially available to the aquarium trade until a few specimens were imported into the United PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Cichlids These cichlids are fairly placid for Central Americans, and can be kept in groups of eight or more.

Archocentrus in its own monotypic genus. While two other species — A. multispinosus and A. spinosissimus — had been placed in the same genus, both have since been re-assigned to new genus placements and are now described as Herotilapia multispinosa and Rocio spinosissima.

Tank set-up

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In the aquarium these cichlids hang their fry in bunches near the root system of a bushy stem plant. In the wild they attach the larvae to the Chara algae weeds of their natural habitat.

States in 1974 from Costa Rica by Dr. William Bussing, then later into Europe. At retail level, A. centrarchus can be quite an elusive species, which seems to be more readily available on dedicated importers’ lists. This is a shame, as it really is an interesting little cichlid to keep and breed.

Where do they come from? Archocentrus centrarchus hails from the Atlantic slope of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, inhabiting the quieter parts of rivers and www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

streams in the San Juan drainage system. These fish are also found in both Lago Nicaragua and Laguna Xiloá where they form large shoals and spawn exclusively in the Chara algae weeds. They are found living alongside many different syntopic species such as smaller Amatitlania nigrofasciata, Neetroplus nematopus to larger Amphilophus spp. and also the predatory Guapotes, Parachromis dovii and P. managuensis. Recent taxonomy studies place

The Flyer cichlid is classed as a small to medium sized cichlid. Certain aquarium populations have been reported to attain a size of up to 20cm/8in, however, a size of 15cm/6in is generally the norm for an adult male. This makes it a very appealing fish to keep, as an aquarium from 120 x 50 x 50cm would be ideal to keep an adult pair along with a range of larger livebearers. As Central American cichlids go, A. centrarchus are quite placid and can be kept in larger groups of eight fish or more. Spawning is generally a natural progression, but depending on aquarium size surplus stock may have to be removed as a pair will become territorial. If you decide to keep them with other different cichlid species in a large community aquarium, I would perhaps suggest biotope correct Cribroheros rostratus or Hypsophrys nicaraguensis. You can decorate the aquarium with a sand/gravel mix with rocks and driftwood. You could also try plants such as Ceratophyllum sp. or Vallisneria and even Java fern attached to wood. They are an herbivorous species in the wild, feeding on algae and detritus, however, A. centrarchus will accept many dried and prepared aquarium foods. Higher protein foods such as prawns can be offered but only as a treat. The consensus is that they will fare better on foods which contain vegetable matter.

My own experiences I first introduced a small group of juveniles into my aquarium back in 2011. Younger specimens are a silvery grey colour with around seven vertical bars. As they mature, the overall body colour will take on a yellow/ green complex with light blue extending from the gill cover through the middle of the flanks. Sexual dimorphism can be weak with this species, but as the fish mature, the male will become more heavily built with a pointed dorsal fin, females appear much more rounded in comparison. The group grew fairly quickly where sexual dimorphism was becoming a little more apparent. Fortunately, the dominant fish I had a suspicion of being male turned out to be the only male in the group, so I was now left with five females. Two particular females were beginning to change into a slightly darker colour with more pronounced barring and each was defending a corner of the tank. The male and the sub-dominant females from the group stayed together and seemed to ignore the two dominant females. So, I decided to remove the sub-dominant females and keep the male and two dominant females only. It wasn’t long before the fish started pair bonding. This consisted of close approximate swimming, body shimmering

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and occasional jaw locking. Pair bonding in this case seemed to be quite gentle, but this certainly isn’t always the case — Central American cichlids are too intelligent to be that predictable! A vertical stone was chosen and cleaned as the chosen spawning site. I missed the initial depositing of eggs, but I knew straight away they had spawned, as both fish had dramatically changed from a yellow/green colour to almost black and light grey with thick dark vertical barring. The pair had deposited a few hundred eggs, but over the couple of days quite a large portion of them were becoming infertile. This initially worried me, but I observed the female picking out the fertile eggs and placing them into the nursery pit — this is unusual as cichlids will pick out the infertile eggs first as a rule; this ensures the fertile ones don’t become infected by fungus. The eggs finally hatched and became fee swimming fry at around day 6–7, where the pair defended the brood. Once a pair has formed, these fish can be quite prolific spawners. Always keep an eye on the female, as in the confines of the aquarium there is always the risk of the bond breaking down. This is usually because the male fish is ready to spawn again before the female, resulting in him becoming impatient with her.

Protective parents Flyer cichlids are very defensive of their eggs and fry. Mine shared their aquarium with a much larger pair of Vieja maculicauda, but this size difference did not deter them from protecting the spawning site.

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Flyer cichlid in normal colouration.

Once a pair has formed, these fish can be quite prolific spawners.

FLYER CICHLID

G Scientific name: Archocentrus centrarchus (Ark-oh-sent-russ sen-tra-kuss). G Size: Males usually max out at 15cm/6in. G Origin: The great lakes and some adjacent lakes of Nicaragua; the Atlantic slope in the San Juan drainage system in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. G Aquarium size: 120 x 50cm footprint minimum. G Water requirements: Does best in harder, more alkaline conditions. Aim for 7–8pH. G Temperature: 24–28°C. G Feeding: Vegetable matter, flake with spirulina, pellets, prawns as a treat. G Availability: Uncommon, juveniles around £10 and adults £25.

Breeding behaviour When keeping Flyer cichlids, you’ll be really missing out if you don’t try to breed them, as they exhibit very interesting behaviour.

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pH

Temp C 9 8 7 6

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300 l+

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A suitable pair will start pair bonding by fanning their fins and gill flaring. The top fish is in fact a female and is starting to display brooding colours, likely to attract the male fish.

Once the pair has successfully bonded, they will stake out a territory. Both fish undergo a dramatic colour change to dark bars on a light grey body. This photo shows the male excavating and spitting out sand.

Once they have chosen a suitable spawning site, the pair of Flyer cichlids will deposit around 200 eggs or more. In this case, a vertical rock has been used.

The eggs will hatch and fry will emerge in around 6–7 days. Before they become free swimming, you may see the parents hanging the fry like washing on a bushy plant or a piece of decor.

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During breeding, both male and female Flyer cichlids produce a growling sound, apparently to reduce aggressive behaviour in an opposing fish.

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These fish are quite prolific spawners, so ensure you don’t get over-run with fry.

PFK recommends

NEIL HEPWORTH

Confrontation between a pair of Flyer cichlids and a much larger Blackbelt cichlid.

Flyers could be kept alongside the Nicaragua cichlid, Hypsophrys nicaraguensis, which comes from the same biotope and as such has similar requirements.

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Bluestreaks are prodigious cleaners, consuming around five parasites per minute and dealing with over 2000 client visits per day!

Marine

The

Cleaner wrasse DEBATE Cleaner wrasses are the dermatologists, beauticians and masseuses of the reef. But are they really suitable for captive care? We look at the arguments for and against keeping these remarkable fish in a mixed aquarium.

WORDS: DAVE WOLFENDEN

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse at work among the gills of a puffer fish client.

ALEX MUSTARD / NATUREPL

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leaner wrasses offer an important service to other fish in the wild, including removing dead skin and picking off isopods, flukes and various other ectoparasites, all to the greater good of the reef. In the aquarium they can provide clear benefits, but in the wrong system they are a poor choice due to their challenging nature. Having said that, the appearance of captive-bred specimens means that we may be looking at sustainable and much less demanding animals in the future.

enough space, it’s possible for one or two wrasses to establish a cleaning station which their clients can visit when they wish (and escape if they need to) — and if the tank is suitably stocked, the cleaners won’t tend to focus their attention on a small number of clients. Put them in a small tank with just a few fish, however, and they can be a pest, constantly harassing their tank mates and damaging them through their incessant pecking. Ideally, you’re looking at a system of 1000 l or more, jam-packed with fish.

The Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

We all know that a massage is a great way to de-stress. Cleaner wrasses often engage in pre-cleaning ‘massages’ by rubbing clients with their pectoral and pelvic fins. This tactile stimulation appears to be beneficial to the client fish. Presumably it helps build up trust between cleaner and client, but it also appears to reduce stress levels in the client. This was demonstrated in an ingenious 2011 study* by Marta Soares and her collaborators. Two types of model cleaner wrasses were made separately available to Silver spot tangs, Ctenochaetus striatus. Both models were identical — each type was painted to resemble a Bluestreak cleaner wrasse and had soft bristles — where the differences lay was that one was moving courtesy of a mechanical rocker;

The Bluestreak, Labroides dimidiatus, is probably the definitive cleaner wrasse for most aquarists. Widespread around the Indo-Pacific, it reaches around 10cm/4in in length and sports a distinctive ‘cleaner blue’ colour. On the reef, L. dimidiatus is territorial, and pairs or groups establish cleaning stations which are visited by client fish for removal of parasites, loose and damaged scales, and dead skin. Providing a good service means repeat business with clients returning to their preferred cleaner. The Bluestreak cleaner is by far the most commonlyoffered species and the least difficult to care for — but that’s relatively speaking; it still presents challenges. While it can be trained to accept prepared foods, these should only be viewed as supplementary, and the wrasse’s appetite for cleaning can create issues. A study by Alexandra Grutter of James Cook University in Queensland revealed that Bluestreaks are prodigious cleaners, consuming around five parasites per minute and dealing with over 2000 client visits per day! And cleaner wrasses don’t just feed on parasites: they will ‘cheat’ by preferentially feeding on fish mucus and skin, as this gives a nutritional boost (at a cost to the client). On the reef, they tend to do this if they can get away with it, so they appear to cheat herbivorous clients rather than predators capable of eating them. They will also tend to cheat more frequently when parasite loadings are low within their client base. What this means is that the system must be right for these wrasses to thrive. They can be brilliant in large systems with sufficient numbers of client fish. Given

Personal services

The whitespot myth While they are excellent at removing dead skin and picking off isopods, flukes and various other ectoparasites, it’s a misconception that a cleaner wrasse can keep a tank whitespot-free. The feeding stages of Cryptocaryon irritans actually burrow into the host fish’s skin, making them difficult for the wrasse to consume. Not only that, cleaner wrasses are unable to deal with the microscopic freeswimming infective stage of this parasite, making them useless against reinfection. In short, if you’re eyeing up a cleaner wrasse as a form of natural whitespot control, forget it.

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PASCAL KOBEH / NATUREPL GEORGETTE DOUWMA / NATUREPL

Physical contact with cleaner wrasses has been shown to reduce levels of stress in client fish.

NATUREPL

provide the same benefit, but this needs to the other type was stationary. be balanced against whether they have a The tangs with the moving models spent choice to interact with the cleaner or not. much more time with them than those with the stationary ones; this included posing, Hawaiian cleaner wrasse touching and physically interacting with the models. Soares then examined the The Hawaiian cleaner wrasse, Labroides stress responses of the tangs by phthirophagus, is a gorgeous species, with measurement of the hormone cortisol, its golden anterior half and bright violet tail including confined (stressed) markings. It reaches around and non-confined (non10cm/4in in length and is stressed) fish. The endemic to the Hawaiian results revealed that region. In the wild, this is tangs which an obligate cleaner, interacted with the relying on a diet of moving models had parasites and fish lower cortisol levels mucus; without (and therefore suitable numbers of lower stress clients in the responses) than aquarium, it is very those with access to difficult to maintain. stationary models. Although wild-caught Not only that, L. phthirophagus are very Cleaner wrasse gets to when subjected to challenging fish, in 2016 work on a diver’s ear. confinement in a bucket, Avier Montalvo bred the fish which had previously species at Rising Tide interacted with a moving model Conservation in Hawaii. This was demonstrated a lower stress response. initially unintended, when a pair of the The study provides strong evidence that wrasses spawned in a system housing direct physical contact of the kind provided broodstock including tangs and butterflies. by cleaner wrasses is beneficial for reef fish Avier has now bred the species twice, and (Soares suggests that the massages are his experiences suggests that if the fish are offered as a trade-off by the cleaner to offset raised on prepared diets they can effectively the effects of cheating). Whatever the be conditioned to become facultative reason, it seems that the massages provide a cleaners (meaning they don’t rely on tangible benefit to their tank mates in the cleaning alone to meet their nutritional form of reduced stress. It’s possible that needs), making them potentially more adding a cleaner to the aquarium could suitable for aquaria. This is game-changing

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stuff. The implications for conservation are obvious, but it also illustrates how culturing such challenging species can address many of the difficulties associated with their long-term care. Nobody’s suggesting that captive bred Hawaiian cleaner wrasses are suddenly ‘beginner’ fish, but they certainly or aquarium life. at the stage where eaner wrasses heir wild-caught ts in the trade, Rising waiians have been made o North American through Los Angelesality Marine. ne of many Rising Tide ojects the company h an impressive list of includes the Milletseed h, Chaetodon miliaris; g, Paracanthurus hepatus; us wrasse, Halichoeres s; Yellow tang, Zebrasoma and the Yasha goby, a. k been positive regarding eaners? “Quality Marine s have received nothing from the customers that tive bred cleaner wrasse, e this project even more hia DeLillo of Quality Marine explains. “Traditionally, this species has been considered sensitive and challenging, and especially difficult to feed properly. Rising Tide’s captive bred ones are reared on readily available diets, and don’t have these same feeding issues, which was very attractive to our customers.” Cynthia feels that aquaculture will play a deciding role in the future of the hobby — and ultimately, of the oceans themselves, but price appears to be a barrier at the moment. “The increased costs associated with culturing these species typically results in a more expensive animal, which is not always accepted by hobbyists,” she says. “I do believe that price will greatly determine the future of aquaculture. Everyone in the industry needs to work together to better educate the public on the importance of aquacultured marine ornamentals and why they should choose a cultured specimen.” Bluestreak cleaners have previously been cultured by Bali Aquarich with impressive results, and Rising Tide’s successful breeding of Labroides phthirophagus ups the ante considerably. It does seem that captive breeding is the way ahead here. Not only could we have fish that are easier to keep, but we can be confident that they are ethically sourced. There are concerns that removing cleaner wrasses from the wild may impact on the health of fish on the reef; combine this with the generally poor survival rates of wild-caught cleaners in aquaria, and it’s not a good look for the hobby. The know-how is there to breed them, so we can have them if we want them badly enough — and, crucially, are willing to pay a premium for the privilege. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine

Three of a kind

The BICOLOUR WRASSE, Labroides bicolor, from the Indo-Pacific, grows to 15cm/6in. There are several geographic colour variants. It does form cleaning stations, but may actively scour the reef touting for business. A challenging, obligate cleaner.

The BLACKSPOT CLEANER WRASSE, Labroides pectoralis, is another challenging species. It hails from the Western Pacific and grows to 10cm/4in. There are several colour morphs, but the common name is derived from the dark spot near the pectoral fins.

SHUTTERSTOCK

NDRE SEALE / ALAMY

REINHARD DIRSCHERL / ALAMY

There are other cleaners in the genus Labroides, as well as ‘part time’ cleaner wrasse species.

The FOURLINED CLEANER WRASSE, Larabicus quadrilineatus, is a Red Sea endemic that reaches around 11cm/4.2in. While juveniles of this species act as cleaners, the adult fishes’ diet includes coral polyps, making them risky additions to a reef tank.

SHOULD WE KEEP CLEANER WRASSE? FOR

DAVID FLEETHAM / ALAMY

NATUREPL

G Provide a useful service in removing parasites, loose and damaged scales and dead skin from client fish. G Have been shown to ‘de-stress’ fish using a pre-cleaning massage technique. G Will set up a cleaning station in large enough tanks with plenty of client fish. G Recent captive breeding success may lead to hardier, easier to feed tank bred cleaner wrasse becoming more widely available in the hobby eventually.

Hawaiian cleaner wrasses are stunning (and expensive).

Hawaiian cleaner wrasse with goatfish clients on a reef. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

AGAINST G Wild caught cleaners are difficult and challenging to keep long term in anything but the biggest systems containing large numbers of fish for them to service. G Can become a real pest in tanks with fewer clients, harassing and constantly pecking at tank mates. G Wild caught Hawaiian cleaner wrasse in particular are obligate cleaners, relying on a diet that includes parasites and fish mucus. In a tank without sufficient client fish, chances of success with these fish are slim. G There are concerns that the collection of cleaner wrasse from the wild is detrimental to the health of coral reefs as a whole. G Cleaner wrasse won’t prevent marine white spot due to the more complicated life cycle of the parasite responsible.

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Easier alternatives Although the prospect of cultured specimens will make them more accessible, many systems just won’t be suitable for a cleaner wrasse. No cleaner is ever going to be a ‘magic bullet’ to eradicate disease from the aquarium, but there are less challenging alternatives to cleaner wrasses that also offer ‘personal services’ on the reef. Of the numerous cleaner shrimp species, the Scarlet cleaner shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis, from the Indo-Pacific is hard to beat. Reaching around 6cm/2.2in in length, with its red, white and gold stripes and distinctive white antennae, it’s very attractive. This is by no means an obligate cleaner (and it also makes a great scavenger), but given the opportunity it will happily primp and preen fishy clients. They can be kept in pairs in small tanks (and groups in larger systems), and while raising the young is a challenge, they can be captive bred. Be cautious if housing them with large crustacean-munching fish such as puffers and triggers, as they may find the shrimp too good to resist, particularly during moulting. As with all shrimp, acclimate extremely slowly to prevent salinity shock. The Atlantic cleaner gobies of the genus Elacatinus are also an excellent alternative. The tiny 5cm/2in Neon goby, E. oceanops, from the Caribbean, is arguably the go-to species. It can be kept in pairs in tanks of less than 100 l, or in groups in larger set-ups, and can be captive bred, too. They don’t rely on a diet of parasites to survive and happily accept a variety of prepared foods, but will set up a station and perform cleaning duties if kept with other fish. Take care in tanks with predatory fish or larger crustaceans. FURTHER READING *Soares, M.C. et al. (2011) Tactile stimulation lowers stress in fish. Nature Communications. 2:534

Neon goby, Elacatinus oceanops.

NATUREPL

Elacatinus gobies will happily set up a cleaning station.

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine

EXPERT Q&A

Cleaner shrimp, such as Lysmata amboinensis, are much easier to keep than cleaner wrasse and are also useful scavengers.

QUALITY MARINE

CBIMAGES / ALAMY

Avier Montalvo, now a researcher at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research nstitute in San Diego, was responsible for culturing the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse at Hawaii Oceanic Institute. How did you feel when you realised that you had Hawaiian cleaner wrasse larvae? I was really surprised at first, and then I got excited. I was just doing routine maintenance on one of my larval tanks when I saw a neon blue streak shoot up from the bottom of the tank. I had no idea what it was at first, so naturally, I had to catch it. After catching it, I knew the only species from the exhibit it could be was a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse. What was even more surprising is that the fish that was just neon blue and black less than five minutes ago was now magenta/pink and black. I didn’t know if my eyes were playing tricks on me or not! Perhaps the most surprising thing was that out of all the fish in the 628,378 l exhibit, there was only one single pair of Hawaiian cleaner wrasse! Truth is, I was shocked to see as many eggs from them as I did over the course of the entire project.

As larvae, they ate the same live prey items as everything else…copepod nauplii, enriched rotifers, Artemia, and so on. As they got older it was fairly easy to wean them onto Cyclop-eeze, flake, and even pellets!

Q

Q

What were the challenges associated with growing the larvae, and what have they been feeding on? Most of the challenges with the project were surrounding egg collection and disinfection prior to stocking viable eggs into larval rearing tanks. Many of the disinfection methods I tried were pretty detrimental to all eggs in the collection. Since the eggs were collected from a mixed species exhibit, I never knew how many good eggs of a particular species I would ever have to work with. The cleaner wrasse larvae grew much faster than many of the other larvae in the collection. They also had a pretty unique strike pattern. This made it pretty easy to identify them amongst other larvae. As the project went on I was actually able to catch and separate them into their own rearing tanks.

Q

Hawaiian cleaner wrasses are notoriously challenging; do you feel that captive bred specimens might be easier to care for than wild caught individuals? Definitely; mostly because they were very easy to wean onto more conventional diets. Towards the end of their larval duration, they transitioned very well to frozen Cyclop-eeze, ornamental fish flake, and appropriately sized ornamental pellets. Every single person I have spoken to who has acquired one said their fish were eating like champions, and they were still performing their cleaning behaviours in tanks they were housed in. This is an amazing success story — where do you plan to take this next? Based on the results in Hawaii, and the dozens of Hawaiian cleaner wrasse that came out of that project, I’d like to continue to work to optimise their production. I plan to do so here at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute as soon as I can acquire additional brood stock. The Hawaiian cleaner wrasse is an excellent candidate for commercial production for many reasons. In addition to having a limited wild distribution, it has a short larval duration, does not need excessively large tanks to rear, and the brood stock seem to spawn multiple times throughout the day. Captive-bred specimens are already appearing to do much better in captivity than their wild counterparts. At this time, it seems like a win-win!

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

The captive bred wrasse still perform cleaning duties, even though they are eating flake and pellet foods.

QUALITY MARINE

SHUTTERSTOCK

One of Avier’s captive bred Hawaiian cleaner wrasse.

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of the best choices for beginner fish breeders. Master them, and you’ll be in a stronger position to progress to trickier species.

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

WORDS: NATHAN HILL

Zebra danios are attractive, hardy, lively — and great fun to breed!

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

Community fish

TOP TIP

M

ost of us experience our first spawning by chance, and usually without our intervention. Livebearers in a community tank may churn out a few dozen babies overnight, and we find one or two stragglers hugging the substrate in the morning. But there’s fun to be had in spawning beyond the accidents and the easy stuff. From my own past, egg scattering fish always proved an enjoyable challenge. Yeah, there are great behaviours to be had when you’re spawning finicky mouthbrooding cichlids, but in those instances, you’re not really ‘mothering’ the fish. The parents are doing all that work for you. When I spawned Zebra danios, I used to feel like a farmer. You can get high yields, but you need to work for them. You need to make preparations in advance, you need to condition the fish thoroughly, and you need to be on hand with plenty of fry food. But build up your experience on these, and you can move on to a world of trickier egglayers, like tetras and barbs. I mean, have you seen the prices on some of the rare tetra being imported? Spawn those successfully, and you’ll have store credit coming out of your ears…

Fixing up a tank This is a little misleading of me. You actually want two tanks — a breeder and a keeper — because at a later date you’ll be removing the parents. So, prepare a generic www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Don’t skip the condensation tray. Zebra danios are tremendous (and unpredictable) jumpers. Even though this breeding tank will be run relatively shallow, they can high jump prodigiously.

danio home tank with substrate, heater, and decor as your ‘keeper’ tank. This is where they’ll b headed when they’re n physically spawning. For a breeding tank, something deceptively large. I’ve known folks to breed Zebra groups in 45cm/18in long set ups, and pairs in tiny spawning traps, but all my action happened in a 75cm/30in all-glass aquarium. Contents only need to be basic. I’d run a 100W heater, and two Algarde Biofoam filters (one Biofoam 45 and one Biofoam 200 for reasons that’ll become obvious) — if you can track a couple down. Shop around and you might get some old stock somewhere. Alternatively, Hugo Kamishi make a modern version, or Boyu make a different shape of similarly-working air driven filter. Get an air pump that’ll cope – something around 100 lph should do it, like a Tetra APS300. At this point, I should mention it’ll be a lot easier if your two tanks are in the same room. If not, plump for smaller air pumps, and buy two. Remember the essentials: in-line control valves and non-return valves. There’s nothing worse than a powercut-syphon-electric shock. For lighting, I used to use a single T5 or T8 tube balanced precariously on a condensation tray, but for health and safety reasons I advise against this. Secure the light to something sturdy, or consider a clip-on LED. You won’t need much light for

Zebra danios have a wide temperature tolerance and do well in unheated tanks.

the spawning tank. While lighting is mportant for Zebras, xcessive lighting is bad breeding tanks in ral. Transparent eggs protection against the g g ects of UV light, and developing DNA can be obliterated by it. There’s a reason most breeding fish houses are a gloomy, medieval dark. On the bottom of the tank, do not add sand or gravel. Just don’t do it. Instead, get in the attic and find your childhood toys. You want a big bag of marbles to put on the bottom (the reason will become evident soon enough). Failing that, buy some. I’ve seen them in all sorts of places lately, though mainly in ‘Pound Stores’ and other bargain retailers. Over the years, I’ve had folks grizzling that marbles are too expensive. I’d pay around £2.50 for 50 at a time, making them one of the cheaper substrate options of my life. No idea where those folks were shopping… If you fancied being more modern, you could alternatively use egg crate on the bottom (that plastic grid sheeting that reefkeepers LOVE to put live rock on) assuming you can source it and afford it. Alternatively, make up some spawning mops from wool or synthetic yarn, and keep the tank bare. Note, you’ll want sinking mops rather than floating ones. If you’re too lazy to make those, just get a big clump of Java moss — enough to cover 90% of the tank’s base.

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Conditioning the fish Danios preparing to breed are easy to spot. Males are lean, and bright, usually with a pink tint on their flanks. Females are paler, with hefty paunches. As they produce the eggs, they need to have a much greater mass than males do. Any Zebra over two months old is capable of spawning, but they hit peak productivity between 6 and 12 months. I’d opt for a dozen fish — four males and eight females, and was later overjoyed to find that this was protocol for many Zebrafish research facilities. In the aquarium, maintain water chemistry at between 6.0 and 8.0pH (mine was always around 7.2 to 7.4pH) and hardness between 5 and 16°H (I genuinely cannot remember what mine was). Fill the tank to half way. You might need to

Did

?

you know

angle the filters to get them to work if the water is shallow, but this isn’t a problem. Start with a low temperature — 20°C should be fine. Remember, Zebra danios have a wide tolerance, and fare well in subtropical waters. Zebras spawn just after sunrise, so setting a daily photoperiod is important. From when until when is entirely up to you, but spawning will commence within a couple of hours of lights on, when the fish are ready. Choose a routine and stick to it. With the fish added (we’ll take it as read that you’ve cycled the tank in advance, although personally I’d steal matured filters from existing aquaria), add your fish and start feeding them with lovely, rich foods. I was always fortunate enough to have reliable suppliers of fresh Daphnia and bloodworm, plus I had a large boating lake used for pedalos (paddle boats) not-too-far from my home, so a source of fresh

Zebra danios were the first ever vertebrate to be cloned, and their importance to science is impossible to overstate. At this time, there are well over 400 laboratories globally, dedicated to Zebra danio research. Information gained from danios has been instrumental in assisting the development of cancer treatments, alongside a galaxy of medicines for other ailments. What makes these fish all the more appealing to researchers is that at the point of spawning, there are scientific procedures in place to remove the tough shell of the egg, allowing ‘easy’ manipulation of the individual developing cells within! 54

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

Zebra danios are early morning spawners.

Daphnia and copepods wasn’t an issue. Feed two or three times a day (more if you’re happy to up the water changes) and over the coming week up the temperature slowly. 1°C every 24–36 hours is great, until you reach 25–26°C (some Zebra keepers are terrified of breaking the 25°C limit). Hold it there for 48 hours, then do a water change, bringing the water down to 20°C. I’d do my changes in the early evening, and the next morning, my danios would be spawning away. I know some keepers are nervous of such a temperature shock, so an alternative is to keep adding cool water over 6–8 hours, until 20°C is reached. Either will work. At the start of the conditioning, think about your live food sources. First stage Zebra danio fry need tiny Paramecium or infusoria as their initial food, so you’ll need to culture some.

Spawning time Assuming you’ve used marbles on the base of the tank, you will, if you’re up to watch it, observe the males chasing the females close to the bottom of the tank, punctuated by releases of eggs (which they will do their damndest to eat). If you’ve used moss or mops, you’ll see the females lingering within, behaving erratically, with males periodically dipping in to join them. I’d leave mine until the middle of the following day (so just over 24 hours after spawning activity starts) to let any slow starters get involved. This is why I favoured marbles, personally. The eggs fall down between the gaps, meaning that the adults cannot get to (and eat) them. With moss, I used to find that a couple of more switched on fish would go on an egg eating mission. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Community fish Culturing infusoria

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This spawning tank uses plastic grid on the base for the eggs to fall through.

Infusoria is a mixture of tiny, usually single-celled organisms like algae and Paramecium. It’s a wonderful food, and you can make it at short notice at home.To grow it, you’ll need a jar (clear in colour) some tank water (or flower vase water if you have some handy) some kitchen scraps and a windowsill. Half to three-quarter fill the jar with aquarium water (never use untreated tapwater for this — the chlorine is present to stop the likes of infusoria from growing). Into that place a generous slice of cabbage, lettuce, courgette, sprout, spinach, or whatever else you have. I’ve always used leafy greens with good effect. Pop a piece of cloth on the top of the jar and seal with an elastic band, and place the jar somewhere bright but not in direct sunlight (I’d just end up with a green jar when I did). I always used an obscured kitchen windowsill. Over the next few days the water in the jar will turn cloudy. This is a bacterial bloom, and entirely necessary to the process. Your infusoria is not yet ready, though! The jar may become a little stinky at this point. After seven or eight days, the water in the jar will clear, or sometimes turn a pink colour. This is a surefire sign that infusoria has started to grow and is using the bacteria bloom as a food source. Look in to the jar and at this point you should see a fine, moving dust. That’s your infusoria, ready to go! Add as much as is needed with a pipette, and use this culture to help kickstart other cultures.

This water will be teeming with tiny live food in just a few days.

GABOR HOGARTH

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

Once the youngsters are on to powdered fry food, growth is rapid.

Excessive lighting is bad for breeding tanks. Transparent eggs have no protection against the ravaging effects of UV light, and developing DNA can be obliterated by it. That’s why most breeding fish houses are gloomy... To move the fish, I’d carefully net out the adults and put them into the other, pre-set up aquarium and (here’s the reason you’d want the tanks close together) move over one of the Biofoam filters (the larger 200 model) at the same time. That way, I retain enough biological activity to cater for the adult fish, while leaving a seeded, established filter behind for the fry. Fry start to hatch after around 30–36 hours at 20°C, and for the first four or five www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

days they’re fine left to their own devices. After that, keep an eye on them, especially on their yolk sacs. The fry will start to become free swimming, usually at the same time as the yolk sacs are depleted, and this is when you want to start feeding them with the infusoria. (You did culture some, right?) Personally, I never benefitted from adding Methylene blue, but at the same time, I was always cautious not to feed too early. Feeding too soon leads to waste, and waste

means pollution, resulting in potential egg and fry fungus issues. At the free-swimming stage, I would laboriously pick out my marbles (it takes a good 20 minutes or so if you’re being gentle) and leave the base of the tank barren, to make identifying and cleaning any waste easy. To remove it, I’d syphon with a length of airline. If using mops or moss, then you can gently pull it out, and hope for the best. Feeding over the coming days needs to be done by eye. It would take my fry around ten days before they started to accept larger foods (sometimes longer) and then I’d move them on to newly hatched brine shrimp, and then Microworms. From there, growth is pretty fast. Powdered fry foods, or finely crushed flakes will help them pile on the grams. Remember to keep those water changes regular — as they grow, and as more food goes in, more waste will come out. And there you have it! Baby Zebra danios, ready to join their parents again, as soon as they’re too big to be eaten.

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FROM T

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

TO THE

AQUARIUM

Add variety to the diet of your fish, shrimp and snails, and save money into the bargain! WORDS: GABOR HORVATH & GABOR CSEPANYI PHOTOGRAPHY: GABOR HORVATH

Leafy greens go down particularly well with veggie fish and shrimp. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

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TOP TIP What is readily accepted by some fish, shrimp and snails may be refused by others. They need to get used to the new food, so try it a couple of times and only give up on it after several rejections.

Aim to widen your fishes’ diet — and you could end up eating better yourself!

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inding the right food for your family can sometimes be complicated, especially if you have picky kids. Although my three would happily live solely on a toast-pizza-burger-chips staple diet, I want to make sure they get all the necessary nutrients and provide them with a diverse range of food. Therefore, I’m always on a look out for new ways to enrich their diet, trying various fruits and vegetables. Some of them may be rejected, but others might make it onto their list of favourites. My extended family — by that I mean my fish and other aquatic creatures — are treated in a similar way. Despite having a range of quality commercial food in my fridge, I’m keen to add some fresh greens to the menu when possible. So, if you want to introduce some variety to your fishes’ diets, this article will give you some useful ideas. As their budget tightens, more and more aquarists seek alternatives to their off-the-shelf factory foods for their vegetarian fish and shrimps. If you only have a handful of those, buying a tub of algae wafers now and then will not ruin you. On the other hand, having dozens of huge voracious veggie eaters, such as Goldfish, plecs, snails or Malawi cichlids could be quite expensive. But how do you know what is safe and what isn’t? There’s a lot of contradictory information out there, and it can be difficult to know who or what to trust. However, when I needed some inspiration for this article I knew who to ask — my good

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friend Gabor Csepanyi is very adventurous and has tested a range of low cost green fare in his tanks. He’s famous in Hungary for his home made plec food and was voted The Aquarist of the Year in 2016 by his peers for his helpfulness. Between us we have over 70 years of fishkeeping experience, so the plants listed below have stood the tests of time and proved to be safe for our aquarium livestock.

Garden plants and vegetables O Root vegetables, such as carrot, parsnip or parsley root: While often rejected the first time, it pays to be consistent with them: they contain a high amount of carotenes and are rich in Vitamin C and E. Parsley root leaves are usually welcomed and gobbled up quickly. O Lettuce: These are usually readily accepted by most vegetarian fish or shrimp, especially the Butterhead and the Romain varieties, which my aquarium livestock seem to prefer over ‘fancy’ varieties such as Iceberg or Lollo Rosso. Lettuce contains high level of Vitamin C, several types of Vitamin B and a range of minerals. The Romain lettuce is also rich in Vitamin A. So why not prepare some for your supper and put aside a few leaves for your fish? O Lamb’s lettuce: Despite the name, this isn’t actually a lettuce. It’s a member of a different genus

erianella) but it still s most of the lettuce’s d features, and also adds luable potassium. Spinach: This is the most wi ely use green food, a main ingredient of several commercial products, and it’s probably more popular among our aquatic friends than it is with humans. Spinach contains a high amount of Vitamin C, E and K, as well as calcium and iron. I always keep a pack of frozen spinach leaves in my freezer for the shrimp. O Chards: The fresh leaves of Swiss chard, Baby chard, beetroot or even turnip can be used as an alternative to spinach, but — beside the high iron content — they can provide Vitamin A-, B1-, B2- and C. Warning: If collecting these from the garden, ensure you identify them correctly, as they can look similar to Rhubarb, which (anecdotally) can be poisonous. O Cabbages: This group has several members, including white and red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, Savoy cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli — and many others. Cabbages boast a range of minerals, high level of Vitamin C and a selection of Vitamin B-s. Broccoli flowers top it up with folic acid, beta-carotene, calcium and iron. This richness, however, comes at a certain price. If left in the tank for too long PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Feeding cabbage leaves may cause an infusoria bloom, leading to cloudy water, so remove the uneaten leaves as soon as your fish or shrimp lose interest. O Cucumber: These are always readily accepted and jumped on quickly. Although they are relatively low in calories — so not really suitable as a staple food — their Vitamin C, B and E content makes them a welcomed addition to the menu. O Melon: Water, Cantalupe, Sugar or Honeydew — it doesn’t matter which type of melon you prefer, just slice up some for your animals and they will love you for giving them a potassium, sodium, iron and calcium rich tasty snack. Unfortunately for the fish, my kids are the enemies of every melon: they exterminate them by eating every piece as soon as they see one. Therefore my livestock o thin layer flesh unde the melon’ skin. They have never complaine though. O Other cucurbits: This group contains a wide range of fruits, including courgette, squash and pumpkin. The courgette has similar nutritional value to the cucumber (with some added Vitamin A). It is one of the most widely used fresh food, my shrimps go crazy for it. The squash and pumpkin aren’t so popular, but they do provide a healthy dose of carotene, calcium and phosphor. It’s not surprising then that even commercial manufacturers use them for their fish foods. Try some next Halloween! O Beans: Fresh green and yellow beans are a good source of protein, but also contain some Vitamin A and C as well as a range of

O Green pe introduction, p y g q y p role in human and fish diets. Green peas are protein rich, high in Vitamin B and C and also easy to use. Steam them gently, remove the shell, squash the inside a bit — and the meal is ready. The pods are equally useful — plecs in particular will jump on it, leaving only the thin outer skin f h i f O Tomato: Thes come in many shapes, sizes and even colour, but al forms can be used aquaria. My daughters absolut

O Sweetcorn: It’s well known among anglers that fish love weetcorn. Aquarium fish are no

Cabbage is high in Vitamin C, but don’t leave it in your tank for too long as it can lead to cloudy water.

them, so my aquatic friends usually miss out on this Vitamin C and carotene rich food with its valuable lutein. Put aside a slice or two when making your next salad, so your fish can enjoy it too. O Peppers: These provide Vitamin C and a wide range of carotenes, uch as bet t l t i eaxanth staxanth ome tim sh and s et used t eppers b ven my uppies ibble on

ten , more aquarists seek alternatives to off-the-shelf factory foods for their vegetarian fish and shrimps. www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

O Potatoes: Although they share the name and have similar shapes, ‘o di ’ and sweet potato are very in botanical and nutrition sense. The potato is well known for its starch content, but also boosts Vitamins A, B, C and a bit f Vi in K. The sweet the other hand in C, B2, B6 and s well as a signific amount of variou

different and will happily accept both fresh ‘milky’ corn (just make some cuts on it so fish can access the inside) or steamed. Corn has a high protein and starch content, with some Vitamin A and carotene. Garlic: Both the en garlic and the garlic or Ramsons um ursinum) are sidered to be llent immune sters, so often used in mercial and homemade fish food es. Their fresh leaves can also be d to feed directly, so their high min A,B,C and E content is well served and utilised. O Aubergine: This close relative of the potato is often used in my home and I always make sure that the end bit — an inch-th slice at the

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stem — is spared for my shrimp to enrich their diet with some minerals, Vitamin C and A. O Asparagus: Steam fresh a V y J b

O Fruits: A slice of apple, peach, prunes or pear can serve as an occasional treat. They contain various minera and vitamins, but we don’t feed them very often. The same applies to the strawberry. I have heard of others using its fruit and leaves regularly, but my own aquatic livestock wasn’t too keen on it.

Wild plants O Stinging nettle (Urtica): It’s astonishing that such an otherwise Pumpkin and squash is worth a try if you’re carving lanterns this Halloween...

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unfriendly plant can be so popular among fish and shrimp, but it’s one of the almost always readily accepted by every vegetarian creature. The fresh spring leaves are the basic ingredient of many of my friend’s home made foods and I also regularly pick some on my way to home for dinner (for my shrimp, that is). Stinging nettle is a well-known herb, famous for its cleansing effect, high iron and Vitamin A B,C,K and U content. Pick it with bare hand and you could (allegedly) d arthritis!

quatic) animals, as andelion will provide hem with healthy reen matter almost ll year around. The flowers can help to identify these ‘evergreen’ perennials, but it’s the leaves we need as a food. They are rich in Vitamin A, B, C, D and have a positive effect on the digestive system. Warning: Anecdotally the flowers can be poisonous. While so far neither of us has experienced any negative issues, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so please don’t risk your valuable stock.

lovers (Trifolium): can find these growing flowering wildly almost rywhere. They are very h in protein, and our creatures love it too, so next time you see a clover, pick some for them.

O Tree leaves: There are many leaves that can be used in aquaria. Oak, hazel and beech leaves should be collected in the autumn after they fall, while mulberry leaves are useful both green or brown. The latter is keenly accepted by almost every vegetarian in our tanks.

O Dandelion (Taraxacum): These bring spring to the meadows with their bright yellow flowers, but they’re not so welcome in most gardens. The exceptions are those keeping green loving aquatic (and non-

O Flowers: These are more of a delicacy than a staple food, but can add some colour to our fishes’ menu. We have tried the flowers of chamomile, pansy and Feed what’s seasonal at the time — and remember that you can always freeze anything that’s spare.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Feeding elderflower, and never received any complaints. But be careful as some flowers are poisonous. Don’t use daffodils (even if you are Welsh!). The list above is by no means comprehensive, but it includes those most regularly used by us. Of course, some will be seasonal (you may have to wait for wild garlic until spring), but keep your eyes open in your kitchen, garden, or on the organic market. You will always find something you can use in your tanks.

Storing your greens If you have a significant amount of vegetarian livestock, you’ll need to store your greens properly. The key thing is not to keep large quantities for a long time. Seasons come every year, so only collect the amount you can use up till the plant is again available next year. As for garden plants you don’t even need to stock up, just feed what is available at the time. Winter tomatoes or strawberries may look ‘real’, but their nutritional value is

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questionable. They also have a high carbon footprint, so we would urge you to seek environmentally friendly alternatives for your animals (pumpkins pop into my mind). These latter have the advantage of easy storage as well, as in a cool place they will be fine for months. The leaves of stinging nettle and clover can be preserved air-dried. Just tie these into small bunches and hang them up upside down in an airy and dry place, away from direct sunlight. Store the leaves in paper bags or dense nets. At feeding time sprinkle the crushed leaves over the surface or you can weight them down for bottom feeders. The autumn leaves also require drying. We use large mesh-bottom trays, which allows easy airflow around the leaves. When they are bone dry you can store them in mesh bags for years. Deep freezing is also a popular alternative. If you are already storing your frozen bloodworm in the family freezer, it shouldn’t be a problem to add a bag or two of stinging nettle or dandelion leaves. Freeze them as a thin layer on small trays, as it will be much easier to break off the amount you need for feeding than trying to cut off a slice from a diamond-hard leaf-brick.

At feeding time sprinkle the crushed nettle leaves over the surface, or weigh them down for bottom feeders. You can even freeze a mixture of various sliced leaves. The freezing process usually softens up the leaves, so no blanching is needed. Just drop a piece into your tank and let the fish have a feast. The good thing is that many of the above mentioned vegetables are already a staple of many freezers. So next time you’re planning lunch, why not ‘accidentally’ take more veggies out than needed for the recipe? Your aquatic creatures will be very grateful!

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

64 THE NEXT STEP UP Okay, so you’ve found your feet with smaller tanks, but you’re tired of the limitations of a dinky footprint. So, how about investing in a larger set-up?

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UNDERSTANDING DROPSY What causes this disease and can it be prevented or treated?

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9 SUMMER PROJECTS Simple ideas that will benefit your fish, both indoors and out.

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Jewel cichlids will be much better behaved in tanks of 90cm and upwards.

T

e

p

Okay, so you’ve found your feet with smaller tanks, but you’re tired of the limitations of a dinky footprint. So how about investing in a larger set-up? WORDS: NATHAN HILL

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or many aquarists, the first substantial tank they own is a 90cm/3ft long furniture piece, complete with cabinet and gear. The market for tanks around the 90 to 100cm mark is strong, and new packages can be had at reasonable prices. If they’re outside your budget, there’s no shame in picking up a secondhand old 90cm all glass tank, like a Clearseal. For decades they were a hobby staple, and they can be bought used in a reasonable state for relative pennies — a quick online search reveals a couple going for just £20, if collected! But then, getting the tank is only the start. The next issue is what to put in it. Though still a good size, 90cm isn’t a carte blanche to add anything and everything that your store has to offer, but compared to smaller tanks you

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can make some exceptional set-ups. Here are some projects you could consider in a larger layout like this...

African river set up You’ve a couple of options here. The first would be to go down the rocky river route, and for that you want some big cobbles, gravel and sand, maybe a handful of Anubias for effect. You’re aiming to recreate a quiet pool among choppy waters (sounds like a contradiction, I know) so it’s all about clear water and plenty of oxygen. A couple of powerheads with venturi systems rigged up to provide bubbles, but not directed toward the substrate, would be a nice touch. Fish wise, you’re looking at a pair of the awesome Blockhead cichlids, Steatocranus casuarius, along with a shoal of (completely

geographically incorrect) ‘Debauwie’ catfish, Eutropius buffei. Get some caves in there for the Blockheads and you might even be blessed with some spawning. Alternatively, go for a forest stream. Get some dark sand (JBL’s Sansibar sand has some nice dark options) and add fallen branches, leaf litter and heaps of African plants like Anubias, Crinum, Bolbitis and lilies, and you’re already looking rather authentic. For fish, start with any of the wonderful Congolese characins — Bathyaethiops and Phenacogrammus Congo tetra (or go Nigerian with Arnoldichthys Red-eye tetra), add some Jewel cichlids, Pantodon butterflyfish, or small Synodontis catfish (S. nigriventris would work well) and you’ve a pleasing African communitope.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

NEIL HEPWORTH

Stocking advice

NEIL HEPWORTH

African themed set-up.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Acidic water down to 6.5pH would be a bonus. Find a good supplier of African plants (check out the Aquarium Gardens online store).

Scaled down rainbows Rainbowfish keepers know a thing or two about colour. The catch is, for a decent set up with the classics – Melanotaenia boesemani, Glossolepis incisus and so on, you need a bigger tank than 90cm. 120cm or more is where the magic happens there.

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Melanotaenia praecox, and Macculloch’s dwarf rainbow, Melanotaenia maccullochi. They may be smaller than their standard rainbowfish counterparts, but they lack none of the colours. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Get some remineral (the kind usually used to adjust RO water) on standby, and invest in a hardness test kit if you haven’t got one. Rainbows usually like things slightly alkaline and hard, and excessively soft water impacts immune systems. Aim for 10-15°H.

Centre on America Panama is the divide between Central and South America, and is home to some amazing cichlids that sit at just the right size for a 90 x 30cm footprint. Chief among them, and a personal favourite, is the little seen Yellow convict, Cryptoheros nanoluteus. Why more

Blockhead cichlid, Steatocranus casuarius.

ALAMY

For an African rocky river, you’re aiming to recreate a quiet pool amongst choppy waters, so it’s all about clear water and plenty of oxygen.

But 90cm does still facilitate some outstanding species, in a stunning layout. Because they’re both skittish and active, you want a balance of open water combined with heavy planting. The best way to do this is to get the centre two thirds of the tank open, with cobbles and rounded stones on the base, and deck out the back and sides with greenery. Personally, I find that plant type makes little difference — they enjoy lurking in all of it. Get grasses, stem plants, big bladed plants like Amazon swords — whatever your personal taste. To bring out the colours of the fish, get a dark substrate. If you want the plants to thrive, opt for a dark planting substrate like Aquasoil. NEVER use soil from the garden to plant an aquarium. For fish species, three fish in particular lend themselves really well to this tank. The aptly named Pygmy rainbow, Melanotaenia pygmaea; the Dwarf neon rainbow,

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Improve your Fishkeeping retailers don’t carry these is beyond me. Chances are you’ve heard of (or kept) Convict cichlids. These fish are ‘convict light’ versions. They’re more colourful, a smidgen smaller, with about half the aggression. Anyone in the country can house them. They like water anywhere between 5.5 and 8.0pH, so unless you’re drawing your water from a peat bog or a chalk well, you’ll be fine. Sand and rocks give the right look, plants aren’t needed. For a not-quite-biotope feel, add Swordtails. For a real biotope feel, get involved in the livebearer scene and track down some Poecilia gillii.

Community tank for smaller rainbowfish species.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Good connections to source the fish.

Most predators are by their nature big fish (it pays to be bigger than the fish you’re trying to eat, in most cases), but at 90cm, we can just about house the smaller ones. If you’re up for a challenge, track down the Pike topminnow, Belonesox belizanus. While it is tolerant of a broad range of water conditions, even living in brackish (partially salty) water, and likes a hard, alkaline water supply around 7.5 to 8.0pH, this curious looking livebearer can be tricky to get feeding. Pike topminnows have evolved as high-velocity, high-appetite hunters, and getting them to accept dead foods is easier said than done. Slowly weaning to chopped earthworm, a little prawn, and pieces of smelt takes time. If you prefer your predators more cryptic, look at Frogmouth catfish, Chaca chaca (so-called because of the sound it makes when you pick one up). It’s a biggish fish, hitting 20cm, but it doesn’t move about. You should keep it solo, though, as anything in the tank will be seen as food. Chaca are GREAT fun to feed with long pinsettes, suddenly leaping up from the sand where they’re hiding. They also tolerate a pH from 6.0 to 8.0.Chaca do an odd thing with water, too, so watch out for it. Every so often, they seem to lower the pH. No one knows quite what’s going on, but it’s been reported more times than I’d put down to chance. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: For Belonesox, lots of bushy plants like Cabomba are needed, along with a good supply of hard water. For Chaca, fine sand, leaf litter and reduced lighting are beneficial.

NEIL HEPWORTH

Go predator!

If you prefer your predators more cryptic, Yellow convict cichlid.

A venturi air pipe is a way of injecting a fine stream of bubbles to a water outlet, usually a powerhead. A connection is made to the water outflow, and that connection carries a length of tubing that comes out of the water. As the pump pushes water, air is sucked along the tubing from outside the tank, and mixed with it, creating a turbulent broth of fine bubbles. Venturi systems are a useful alternative to air pumps in a tank, but they can be noisy in the same way.

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NEIL HEPWORTH

What is a venturi?

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Stocking advice Essential sundries for your 90cm aquarium STURDY CABINET The weight of a filled 90cm tank with just water will be over 80kg, so a designated aquarium cabinet will be needed rather than domestic furniture. Shop around and you might find an old metal welded stand for a good price, but cabinet designs are more common. They can be expensive though, unless bought as part of an initial package. FILTERS Internal filters are okay in a 90cm tank, but an external is arguably a better proposal. Here are some choices

³Fluval U3 internal filter £61.99 ³OASE Bioplus Thermo 200 filter (with heater) £59.99 ³Ocean Free Hydra 30 £47.99 ³All Pond Solutions 800 lph aquarium internal filter £13.00 ³Fluval 206 or 306 external (pending stocking density) £117.99 and £150.99 respectively ³JBL Cristal Profi e910 external £117

look at Frogmouth catfish... Frogmouth catfish, Chaca chaca.

³ TetraTec EX800 external £145.00 HEATERS ³Juwel 100W (200W for cold and fluctuating rooms) £29.95

NEIL HEPWORTH

³Fluval E-100 (E-200 for cold and fluctuating rooms) £47.59 and £48.59 respectively ³Tetra HT 150W £22.00

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

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Improve your Fishkeeping

15 GREAT

Puffing it up

PHOTOMAX

Everyone loves a puffer fish, but our first encounter with one is often some big Dog-faced or Porcupine marine version. The trouble with many of the popular so-called freshwater puffers is that they aren’t freshwater at all, requiring brackish conditions as they age. One notable exception is the delightful Amazon puffer, Colomesus asellus. In theory, these fish can reach almost 13cm long, meaning they’d need a 120cm tank, but in reality they rarely get anything over 7cm in an aquarium setting. What’s more some puffers, they’re not unrelenting killers or biters, meaning that you can keep them (with some caution) in communiti active fish. I’ve seen them kept alo pencilfish and Charicidium recent were doing fine (check out the rea page 28). A sandy base, some rounded stones, a little planting if you want it, and you’re good to go. Oh, but do have some whitespot medication on standby. These are scaleless fish, and seem especially prone to infection if there’s an outbreak.

BANJO CATFISH Bunocephalus sp.

GOLD OR BLUE GOURAMI Trichopodus trichopterus

SAILFIN MOLLIES Poecilia velifera

HOG-NOSED CATFISH Brochis multiradiatus

Special requirements: High oxygen is a must with these puffers.

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LEOPARD FROG PLECO Peckoltia compta

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

DWARF CHAIN LOACH Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki.

M.P. & C.PIEDNOIR, AQUAP

Amazon puffers need hardshelled foods to keep those teeth in check.

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

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Coral red pencilfish.

Stocking advice

AQUARIUMPHOTO.DK

M.P. & C. PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

UPSIDE DOWN CATFISH Synodontis nigriventris

RAM CICHLID Mikrogeophagus ramirezi

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

‘DEBAUWI’ CATFISH Eutropius buffei

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NATHAN HILL

BLOCKHEAD CICHLID Steatocranus casuarius

GIANT DANIO Danio aequipinnatus

PWORTH

TEUGEL’S DISTICHODUS Distichodus teugelsi

RED EYE TETRA Moenkhausia oligeolepis

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BRISTLENOSE CATFISH Ancistrus sp.

NATHAN HILL

GEORGE FARMER

NEIL HEPWORTH

FISH FOR 90CM TANKS

SWORDTAILS Xiphophorus helleri 69

If a fish’s kidneys fail, water begins to collect in the abdominal cavity, causing swelling.

DIAGNOSE AND DEAL WITH FISH HEALTH PROBLEMS

Understanding dropsy If the body of your fish begins to swell to the point that the scales stick out and the fish takes on a pine cone appearance, you can be pretty sure it has dropsy. So, what causes it, and can it be treated? WORDS: DAVE HULSE, TECHNICAL CONSULTANT AT TETRA One of the fish diseases dreaded by most fishkeepers is dropsy — an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. Experience tells us that once a fish exhibits these symptoms, reversal and cure is unlikely and you’ll need to prepare for the worst. In order to understand what causes dropsy, and how it might be treated and prevented, we need to first explore fish anatomy and physiology of our fish. So, grab your notebooks — we are going back to the classroom!

What is dropsy? Let’s keep things simple and focus on freshwater fishes, where dropsy is a much more common condition than in their marine counterparts. These fish have many electrolytes such as Na+, K+ and Cl- dissolved in their tissue fluids and an effect of these, in conjunction with plasma proteins, is to give the fish an osmotic potential greater than the freshwater in which they swim. Therefore, water molecules are drawn into the body of the fish across any permeable surfaces by

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.

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osmosis and electrolytes can be lost to the environment via diffusion. The vast majority of the body surface is impermeable; skin is thickened and often covered in scales or bony plates. However, two organs must retain a permeability with the water; the gills, where permeability is essential for gas exchange and nitrogenous waste excretion, and the gut, where nutrients are uptaken. These two organs are the holes in the osmoregulatory armour of the fish. For freshwater fish, adapting to this persistent salt loss and water influx across the gills and gut is essential. It is one of the functions of the kidney to excrete this water, hence freshwater fishes produce copious amounts of a very dilute urine. Therefore, if the gills are damaged, admitting more water than the kidneys can filter out, or if the kidneys fail, water begins to accumulate and will collect in the abdominal cavity where it is known as ascitic fluid or ascites (from the Greek askos, meaning sack or bag). However, failure of the kidney to

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

PHOTOMAX

Improve your Fishkeeping

Fish health CAN THE RISK OF DROPSY BE REDUCED? Prevention of dropsy in healthy stock centres on the reduction of stress in fish and quarantine. Opportunistic bacteria such as Aeromonas hydrophila in the tank or pond are able to attack fish whose immune systems have been weakened by stress, which has led to dropsy. Quarantining new stocks should prevent pathogens exotic to the tank or pond from entering the system — any disease they cause should strike in isolation from the main stock of fish. Lastly, feeding a quality diet such as TetraMin, which is rich in prebiotics will support fish health. Remember to always make sure food is within expiry date and is stored in a cool, dry place as this ensures optimal nutrition.

PHOTOMAX

osmoregulate is not the only reason fish can symmetrical distension of the abdomen, accumulate ascitic fluid. Damage to the liver usually a protrusion to one side or biased to can lead to reduced blood flow through this the front or rear of the fish will be apparent, large organ, much of which is from the portal also rarely will the scales protrude. Gravid vein carrying nutrient-rich blood from the females can have very round bellies, again intestine. In humans, this compromised blood rarely with protruding scales, but will flow raises blood pressure in the portal veins not show other signs of disease such as loss of leading to fluids weeping out of small blood colour, loss of appetite, fin erosion, or vessels and collecting in the abdominal cavity respiratory distress. — a similar mechanism is presumed If a fish with dropsy is suffering in fish; liver damage due to major organ failure, there will be infection or pollutants is Heavily gravid livebearers other clear behavioural and often associated with will be very swollen, but won’t physical symptoms of ascitic fluid, even in disease. However, the show any signs of ill health. marine fish. only way to be certain a So, it is apparent fish has excessive then that dropsy is ascites is to observe actually a symptom the condition rather than a problem post-mortem. in its own right. If we can rule out Therefore, we must other causes of find the original cause abdominal distension of the liver or kidney we have to try to deal damage if we wish to with the dropsy. Any fish correct the condition — disease investigation and this is usually easier said begins with a thorough water than done! quality appraisal, taking into There are many fish diseases of bacterial consideration the environmental or viral origin that have ascitic fluid as a requirements of the livestock in the tank or common symptom, but all seem to include the pond. Using Tetra’s Test 6in1 alongside its free liver, kidney or the spleen as target organs of water testing app will provide a clear analysis infection. Crudely, if an internal organ with a of water parameters. Also consider the recent large blood supply becomes infected or history of the environment. Have new fish, necrotic, blood flow through the organ is plants, or invertebrates been added? Have fish hindered, which raises blood pressure in the been handled lately or has vital hardware supplying vessels leading to accumulation of failed recently? ascitic fluid.

What are the symptoms? Dropsy is a simple and obvious condition to recognise, but it is possible to confuse with other conditions. The build-up of ascitic flu places pressure on the abdominal wall caus the belly to distend outwards. As the condit progresses and more fluid accumulates, tho fish with scales or bony plates (such as the armoured catfish), will show protrusions of these scales or plates, imparting a grotesqu ‘pine cone’ like appearance to the fish. A fis this condition really is very poorly as this is clear sign of major organ failure. Other causes of abdominal distension to r out include internal tumours or the fish sim being a gravid (full of eggs or fry) female. Tumorous growths rarely lead to a

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Can it be dealt with? Assuming only a single fish is affected, it is vital to isolate it; remember there are numerous pathogens that can cause multiple organ failure and the affected fish is almost certainly a reservoir of pathogen. Isolation tanks must be housed well away from the main stock and have dedicated, filtration, nets, and syphons. The water chemistry and temperature in the isolation tank should equal that of the main tank and the decor of the isolation tank must be minimal, though a simple refuge for the fish must be provided. Once in isolation, a treatment regime is essential. Ideally, the agent of the infection must be identified and this can only be done by a veterinarian. Moribund (nearly dead), tank or pond mates may be sampled or biopsies may be taken from the individual concerned to identify the causative pathogen and find an antibiotic to which it is susceptible. This is likely to be administered to the isolated fish in addition to the population in the tank or pond. Clearly this service is going to be expensive and is likely to only be undertaken on high value fishes such as Koi, marine fish or broodstock Discus for example. Non-veterinary treatment involves isolation, water quality improvement and possibly the use of a broad-spectrum aquarium antiseptic such as Tetra Medica General Tonic. Certain freshwater fish can benefit from an addition of table salt to the isolation tank water. Salting to 3 g/l will reduce by one third the osmotic influx of water into the fish, and so if the problem is due to kidney failure, this lessens the load on the struggling kidney, possibly facilitating a self-cure. If the ascites is due to liver or splenic damage, salting will have little effect. Always investigate whether your fish are able to tolerate a salt regime in their water — as a rough rule of thumb, soft water species are much less tolerant.

Viewed from above, it’s easy to see the classic ‘pine cone’ appearance of dropsy in this goldfish.

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Improve your Fishkeeping

9

summer projects for the great outdoors

The warm weather and long days are ideal for ponds, but they offer potential benefits for indoor fish, too. Make the most of the rest of the summer with these simple ideas. WORDS: JEREMY GAY

1 Make RO water

ALAMY

With no risk of frost, you can fit an RO unit to your outside garden tap. There you can merrily fill 25 l drums galore, without the anxiety of what to do if it overflows. Run it 24/7 (if you’re not on a water meter that is) and if your drums fill and spill over into the garden, no problem. And you can water your garden with the gallons and gallons of waste water produced

2Culture live foods

There is no better thing in the world than free live food for freshwater fish, and in the summer live foods are available in abundance, in your own back yard. Fill anything with water — and I mean anything: a bucket, a dish, a polythene sheet — and within days all those annoying gnats and mosquitoes will find it and lay their eggs in it. I get two forms of larvae; bloodworms which form little detritus nests on the bottom and black mosquito larvae which hang at the surface. Throw a few brown tree leaves in and you’ll have a constant supply of these two fish foods throughout the summer. Using a standard sized fish catching net I

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ALAMY

NEIL HEPWORTH

Get free food with mosquito larvae (above) or breed your own Daphnia (left). can harvest a decent feed once a week, even from only a few litres of water, so by placing water all over the place you’ll get daily feeding quantities. Just keep fish out, as obviously they will predate the larvae. Look closely on the surface and you’ll see black floating rafts of mosquito eggs. I skim these off with a jug and feed those too. Small tropical fish were literally made to eat live gnat and mosquito larvae! If you want to really push the boat out, farm Daphnia too. For a pound or less I buy a bag of live Daphnia from the fish shop. Don’t worry if they are looking ropey in the bag — you’ll only need a few live ones to start a culture. Again, these need only a few litres of tapwater, but this time I leave it out in the garden until it goes green. As soon as it does, the Daphnia can go in and you will have swarms of very healthy live food within days to weeks. Plan ahead so you always have a bucket of green

water ready and you can simply net some out and place them into the next bucket. If you only have only one vessel, no problem, — you can feed Daphnia on the tannins from oak leaves, algae and even detritus from when you clean the filter media. Several times I’ve actually acquired Daphnia for free. At my last house, some polythene sheet was put on the ground, it filled with a few inches of rainwater and some fallen oak leaves and to my surprise, the most robust, colourful and abundant Daphnia I’ve ever seen turned up in it. I don’t know to this day how they got there!

TOP TIP

Combine Daphnia with live mosquito larvae for abundant, virtually free live food sources throughout spring and summer every year. And search out earthworms for larger, predatory freshwater fish.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Outdoor projects

4Breed amphibians

The nation’s amphibians need you, so if you haven’t got any form of water in the garden, please consider some. It doesn’t even need to be an actual pond, or very big. This year I laid down an old fibreglass tray on my decking. It’s only 10cm/4in high and it filled with 7.5cm/3in of rainwater. Despite no previous pond or signs of frogs, they found it, spawned in it and I raised several hundred tadpoles to frog stage, where they hopped off and can now occasionally be seen in my flower beds. When the eggs hatched, I put plenty of oxygenating plants in, and when they became free swimming tadpoles, I fed them on dry fish foods. Provide a home for them and they will come.

ALAMY

newly hatched Artemia (brine shrimp), but if you want nature to take its course, remove the adults, slow the filtration down even more, let the water go green, add live Daphnia and you are away. There’s something wonderful about the food chain that is water-algae-Daphnia-fish. If you have enough of the first three, the fish will survive and grow all by themselves. It’s a very low maintenance breeding project, uses hardly any electricity or bought food and it’s a lot of fun.

Your Garra will love those pre-prepared green rocks and stones.

ALAMY

5Farm algae

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Summer time doesn’t have to be all about fighting green water and blanketweed. Algae can also be your friend. Greenwater is good for conditioning Goldfish and Koi, and for feeding to Daphnia, but other types of algae can benefit your indoor aquariums too. Place rocks and wood in water outside and wait for them to go green. That lush green matting on the surface is perfect for all kinds of algae grazing indoor fish to feed on, from mbuna to plecos to livebearers and even freshwater shrimp. And it costs nothing. Circulate rocks and wood between outside and inside so you always have some algae covered ones to move in, and some grazed ones to replace them and go back outside.

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BOB MEHEN

If you want a low hassle, fun fish breeding project then why not breed some of your pond fish? Choose a plump female and at least two males and place them in a shallow tank or vat with gentle, air powered filtration. Place them somewhere the vat will catch the morning sun and wait until water temperatures hit 20°C. Add some feathery oxygenating plants, wool spawning mops or Koi spawning brushes and they’ll spawn like clockwork. You can raise the subsequent fry quickly on

ALAMY

3Breed your pond fish

6Soak bogwood

Keeping wood underwater also has the benefit of pre-soaking it. Far too many aquarium woods sold these days actually float, and there’s nothing worse than s endin da s a uasca in an a uarium

Did

?

you know

7 Seek inspiration

You may have been lucky to have visited rivers and streams in tropical countries, but the good news is that the UK’s are exactly the same, only colder. Go for a walk and study the local streams and rivers. Watch the flow and ater moves and, if you’re lucky, the h swim in it. Look at the substrates ers and how they intermix and dy the undercut riverbanks and the ng foliage and where any true ants are growing. A typical UK bitat perfectly replicates danio Asia, so reproduce that for Asian rbs, danios, rasbora and loaches the dappled lighting and light/ e contrast throughout the day and cate this with controlled LED ighting over one end of the tank. where the fish hang out — small fish he safety of shallow water; larger eek the depths. Overhanging tation provides shade and cover for ne fish and extra food comes from al insects that fall into the water.

8Forage

Get to know your local trees in readiness for when they’ll be of use to you and your aquarium. Find oak and beech trees for leaf and twig gathering. Find alder for those all important cones, which beat any blackwater treatment for staining water brown. The branches of Cherry trees look good underwater, and find out what an Azalea looks like. The roots of Azalea bushes are none other than good old ‘Redmoor wood’. Find dead Trachycarpus leaves in parks and botanical gardens as they look superb in Amazonian themed tanks.

Wood that has been pre-soaked outdoors is likely to contain free live food within it, such as bloodworms, providing indoor fish with nutrition and environmental enrichment.

A typical UK minnow habitat perfectly replicates danio habitats in Asia, so reproduce that at home, and your Asian riverine barbs, danios, rasboras and loaches will be very happy. 74

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

ALAMY

JACQUES PORTAL

Improve your Fishkeeping

Outdoor projects

 Paradise fish, Macropodus opercularis  Variatus platies, Xiphophorus variatus  Eartheating cichlids Gymnogeophagus spp.  Hillstream loach, Gastromyzon spp. or Pseudogastromyzon spp. Great for streams, waterfalls and rills; need high oxygen.  Moustached danio, Danio dangila. Net these to avoid jumpers.  Hoplo catfish, Megalechis thoracata.

Hoplo catfish.

Hillstream loach, Pseudogastromyzon cheni.

ALAMY

Paraguay eartheater, Gymnogeophagus balzani.

I’ve chosen the fish below because you will probably get a long outdoor season with them. If in doubt, place a heater in the water and set it to come on when temperatures hit 20°C.

NATASHA KHARDINA

Moustached danio, Danio dangila.

NEIL HEPWORTH

ALAMY

Variatus platy.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

ALAMY

Paradise fish.

6 ideal fish to spend the summer outside

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

This is somewhat controversial, as some fish species could be considered a threat to native species, but I’m talking about true tropical fish species here, that in no way would survive outside in the UK year round. Hopefully the fact that we are leaving Europe will also prevent the farce that has been banning Apple snails and Water hyacinth from being repeated (South American Apple snails were found to be breeding outside in Spain). And if Theresa May ever wants someone to argue the case for those two species, I’ll happily go to Brussels and negotiate for them on her behalf. I do feel that Apple snails might be low down on the negotiations list, however! Start by harnessi h hi you possibly can. T pond liner or plasti heats up quickly. Next is positionin the black lined pon a south facing loca

there’s insulation. Put the tank in a greenhouse, or build a polytunnel or cold frame over the top of it. It’s all about extending those summer temperatures for as long throughout the season as you can, and preventing rapid cooling at night. Then you need a thermometer to monitor day and night water temperatures, and it would be wise to take the extra precaution of putting an aquarium heater in there too, just to be on the safe side. If you then do all the usual things such as using a mature filter and monitoring water quality, what’s stopping you putting some of your hardy tropical fish outside if the water temperature is 24°C? Acclimatise them carefully, just as you would when transferring any fish from one tank to another. I’ t k l t f t i l fi h cies ears and gain at the rs are green water, e sun on .

MP & C PIEDNOIR, AQUAPRESS.COM

some hardy tropical fish outside 9Put

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Readers’ Poll 2017

Vote for your favourite aquatic shop in our Readers’ Poll — and you could win a great prize, courtesy of Fluval!

I

t’s that time of year when we ask you to vote for your top aquatic retailers in our annual Readers’ Poll — and just by taking part, you could win a great prize! Great aquatic shops deserve your support — so if you know of a retailer who offers fabulous fish, first class customer service or has amazing staff, here’s your chance to shout about it and give something back for service that’s gone above and beyond the expected. Receiving a PFK Readers’ Poll award is the highest praise for an aquatic shop and retailers who have won awards in the past usually have their certificates proudly on display. Every vote counts — and the result depends entirely on you, the PFK reader. It doesn’t matter if the shop you want to vote for is large or small, new or old. Wherever you are, your vote has as much weight as anyone else’s and is treated in the most democratic way. Winners are those who get the most votes in whichever category. Once voting has ended we’ll put together a list of regional and specialist winners, plus a list of the Top 40 shops in the UK — and of course, the overall Retailer of the Year.

Last year’s winner was Charterhouse Aquatics in London.

How to vote Vote online at the PFK website. Go to pfkmag.com/shops You don’t have to fill in every category on the form — as long as you’ve filled in at least one! But we do need your name and contact details in case you win a prize.

What you could win

The runner-up in 2016 was Seahorse Aquariums in Dublin, Ireland.

Your votes are important, so as a thank you, we will automatically put your details into a prize draw where there are some great Fluval aquatic products to be won courtesy of our sponsor, Rolf C. Hagen. Entries must arrive before August 18, 2017. The results will be announced later in the year.

Tell us about your favourite shops and why you love them!

Huge thanks to our PFK Readers’ Poll sponsor Rolf C. Hagen for supplying these fabulous prizes.

#pfkreaderspoll

Vote online at pfkmag.com/shops RULES: The business that receives the most votes for each category will be declared the winner, followed by the runner-up in each category. The 40 retailers or websites with the highest number of votes will also be listed in the PFK Top 40 shops. Retailers and their staff and families are not eligible to vote. Votes believed to be spurious will be disqualified. Open to UK residents only. One vote per reader. Vote online at pfkmag. com/shops. Multiple votes are not allowed.

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Prize winners will be notified by post. No cash alternative. All entries will be placed into a prize draw. The first name drawn will win the Fluval Flex aquarium set, the second name drawn will win the Fluval U4 filter and the third name will win the Fluval AquaVac+. The following ten will each win one of the runners-up prizes. If for any reason beyond the promoter’s control it is not possible to provide the stated prizes, the promoter reserves the

right to offer an alternative prize of no less value. The promoter’s choice of alternative prizes is final. No entries can be returned, no cash alternative given and no correspondence will be entered into by the promoter. The promoter accepts no responsibility for resultant loss or damage to persons or properties (other than death or personal injury due to negligence of the promoter or their agents) as a result of these

prizes being awarded. Prizes will be despatched 28 days after the closing date. We and our partners reserve the right to feature the names, photographs and locations of the winners in any future promotional activity. Details of the winners will be available towards the end of the year by sending a stamped, addressed envelope to Practical Fishkeeping, Bauer Media, Lynchwood, Peterborough, PE2 6EA.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Readers’ poll WHAT YOU COULD WIN

FIRST PRIZE

Prize fund

worth over

is a fabulous Fluval Flex 57 l aquarium set, RRP £149.99

£400

The Flex aquarium not only offers contemporary styling with its distinctive curved front, but is also equipped with powerful multi-stage filtration and brilliant LED lighting that allows you to customise several settings via remote control.

Key features O 7500K LED lamp supports plant growth and enhances fish colours. O Fully adjustable White + RGB LEDs for endless color blends . O FLEXPad remote can also control fun special effects (i.e. fading cloud cover, lightning bolts). O Powerful 3-stage filtration for superior water quality. O Oversized mechanical (foam), chemical (carbon) and biological (Biomax) media included. O Multi-directional dual outputs for customised water flow. O Hidden rear filter compartment. O Stylish honeycomb wrap conceals water line and sides of rear compartment. O Easy feed top cover opening. O Bold curved front design. O For freshwater use only.

SECOND PRIZE

THIRD PRIZE

Fluval U4 underwater filter, RRP £76.99

Fluval AquaVac+ cleaner, RRP £51.99

Offering outstanding 3-stage filtration, increased water movement and vital aeration, the Fluval U-Series of internal filters offers new and improved design features!

Key features O New sleek design. O New easy grip water control paddle. O New redesigned media cartridge – traps more debris. O Designed for aquariums up to 240 l. O Use as a primary filter for smaller aquariums, or supplementary filter for larger aquariums. O Position horizontally for shallow tanks, larger tanks with low water levels, or to create a decorative waterfall feature. O Position vertically against aquarium wall to create currents or customised flow patterns. O Convenient flip-top lid allows for quick and easy access to filter cartridge for maintenance or replacement. O Adjustable 3-way flow control: Top output for circulation and oxygenation, integrated spray bar for a gentle even flow, and bottom output for deepwater agitation. O BioMax biological media included. O Made in Italy. O Ideal for freshwater, saltwater and reptile environments.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

With its intelligent 2-in-1 design, the battery-operated AquaVAC+ doubles as both a gravel cleaner and water change system for quick and easy cleaning with no syphoning or annoying mess to clean up!

Key features O Fully submersible waterproof vacuum up to a depth of 91 cm/36 in — traps plant debris, excess food, fish waste and more. O Removable integrated filter cartridge — easily detaches for waste disposal and rinsing. O For best results, the replaceable fine filter pad removes even the finest of particles for an extreme clean. O Built-in, automated water change system — no syphoning or annoying mess to clean up. O 120cm hosing included for easy tank-to bucket water changes. O Cordless operation — includes two ‘C’ batteries. O Interchangeable nozzles (10cm/4in and 20cm/8in) for shallow or deeper aquariums. O Retractable hanging hook. O Easy-grip handle. O For use in both fresh and saltwater aquariums. OWe also have 10

runners-up prizes of Fluval food and care product packages.

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Readers’ poll

Reader recommended shops Visit #pfkreaderspoll or email editorial@practicalfishkeping.co.uk Tell us about your favourite aquatic shop and why you love it. Or why not outside your top shop? Spread the love and recommend the shops you think other fishkeepers should be voting for in our readers’ poll to find the 2017 Retailer of the Year! For me there is only one shop and that is Pier Aquatics, Wigan. Jason Gardner

Maidenhead Aquatics @ Trowell and Wharf Aquatics in Notts for me! Emily Cook

Coast Aquatics in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire is the best you could find. Always ready to help and advise you on the correct fish, food, equipment etc. Well recommended. Caroline Terry

This poll needs a new name — long gone are the days when just readers of the magazine voted by filling in a form and returning it in the post! Stand out shop I have been to on my travels: Goldfish Bowl, Oxford — proper bricks and mortar traditional shop, not a shed in a garden! Mark Evenden

Abacus Aquatics in Kent — not a huge store, but somehow they manage to have an amazing selection of fish, including some rare stuff. Always really clean and tidy too. Bit of a trek for me, but I always try to go there when I’m in the area. Karen Cutts Pier Aquatics in Wigan is deffo becoming (if not already) the mecca for fishkeepers. I’m lucky I live here but unlucky cos I’m poor! Paul Derricott Pier Aquatics every time for us, there is nowhere else that comes close. Jackie Triscott Discovery Aquatics, Dundee. Great selection of fish and the staff are helpful and knowledgeable. Nathan Duncan

I can’t really say my favourite as I work in a store. Although I do like Maidenhead Aquatics Fareham, Southampton and Wilton, and I’ll visit Gosport during the summer. I like the selection and it’s brilliant to see good quality goldfish for once at a store. Maidenhead Aquatics @ Southampton has a good selection with healthy stock, Wilton is very good for anything unusual, specifically plecos! I do like my work but I can’t really make any comments on it as it’s not fair, seeing as I work there! I can say that everyone is really friendly though! Rebecca Bentley

AND OUTSIDE THE UK? Anyone who finds themselves in the Netherlands should really travel to Amersfoort and visit Utaka. On the edges of the town in a rather unlikely location you’ll find a medium sized shop hidden behind a rather bland exterior. Inside is the usual collection of hardware and dry goods although there’s a bit more JBL and Sera than the norm for shops in this country. Tanks at decent prices and a continuous selection of

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Maidenhead Aquatics @ Findon — great staff who have gone out of their way to help. Quality fish and kit and sensible pricing. David Price

Somefin Fishy, Greasby on the Wirral. Fabulous family run shop. It’s small but perfectly formed. Everyone who works there is super friendly and genuinely cares about their fish. Nicky Arthur

Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton, Notts., for me. There are some high quality shops I haven’t visited but of the shops I have visited it’s Wharf. Fish selection is awesome and the staff are enthusiastic to talk fish geek stuff. There is always a member of staff with a specialism of interest. Steven Baker

Lincs Aquatics — HUGE store, LOADS of tropicals; GREAT pond fish! William C.

Maidenhead Aquatics @ Cheddar. Great staff — and you must go and say hello to Mr James the Mbu puffer! Gaina

wood both small and very big. Fishwise it’s mainly Asian and South American with some good quality African riverine species thrown in the mix now and then. You won’t find any mbuna here. What sets these guys apart from almost all other shops in the country is a good quality and affordable range of bread and butter fish mixed in with real rarities that they import themselves. Also, unlike many other shops they’re a stickler for proper identification and

have their own YouTube channel with many of their fish getting their minute of fame. For a stocklist with prices (in euros), visit: http://utaka.nl/stocklist/ Jeroen Wijnands Au Poison d’or — just 85 minutes from Calais is worth a day trip for any fishkeeper, and likewise for a really specialist shop, try Cichlid Centre, Antwerp. Mark Evenden

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2017 With over 20 years experience in all types of Aquatic Design and Installation at Clearly Aquatics we design, construct and maintain all sizes and styles of ponds, pools, water features, and bespoke aquariums. Wide range of Japanese Koi, tropical, cold water and marine fish. Pond & Aquarium Equipment specialists.

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spot of ‘crustahunting’.

’SCAPE

The concept is simple: go outside, explore, be inspired, then use your experience to create an aquascape. Here’s how we did just that in the forests of Germany — but you can do the same thing right here at home! WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE FARMER

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here are three things I really love: aquascaping, photography and forests. When the opportunity arose to combine all three on a mini expedition with Dennerle I could hardly believe my luck. The plan was to explore and photograph a variety of environments in the forests with the aim of gaining inspiration and transferring this into an aquascape. My hosts and guides were Stefan Hummel and Volker Jochum. Stefan is Dennerle’s ‘plant hunter’, which involves him exploring all over the world, and Volker is Dennerle’s full time aquascaper and nature enthusiast. We left my hotel at 5am and drove to a well-known castle at the top of a huge hill surrounded by dramatic scenery. The views from the castle are said to be stunning and we aimed to reach it for the sunrise. After a steep walk, we were greeted by a locked gate

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into the castle grounds. We walked around in search of an alternative entrance to no avail. After a brief discussion, we made on foot to another location and climbed a steep slope. We just missed the sun rising over the distant hills but the view was incredible nonetheless. A slight mist added a sense of ethereality and everywhere I looked, from the far distance to my feet, I felt refreshed and removed from the hustle and bustle of modern living. Next stop was a large stream with crystal clear water. Volker had a small underwater camera fixed to a makeshift boat, which was used to create some great underwater footage featuring plenty of aquatic plant life including Callitriche sp. and Ranunculus aquatilis, as well as the invasive Elodea canadensis. I had never seen so much dense aquatic plant growth in one area. My head was bursting with inspiration for the

aquascape that I was to create the next day. We took a long uphill walk to some incredible and huge red stone structures. I had never seen anything like it — they barely looked natural! The red tones against the blue sky looked amazing. We carried on uphill to a point where we could actually see the French border. By this point we had walked a total of around 16km (10 miles). Just after lunch we met up with Dennerle’s ‘crustahunter’: the shrimp and crayfish expert (and ex-rock star) Chris Lukhaup, and set off to another stream in the middle of a forest. To my surprise there was a manmade raised pond that was being fed with fresh water from the hills. The pond was constantly overflowing with marginal mosses, ferns and other rheophyte plants attached to the side walls. A sign (in German) said: ‘Flowing biotope — this pond contains rare animals and plants. Please PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Aquascaping

HUNTING The incredible view from the hill at the first location, shortly after sunrise.

This large stream had crystal clear water and dense aquatic plant growth.

Shady woods and waterfalls offered plenty of aquascaping inspiration.

These huge red stones looked amazing against the blue of the sky.

don’t remove the moss!’ The pond itself was gin clear full of willow moss, Fontinalis antipyretica, with a water temperature of around 8°C. In an adjacent stream Chris had a small underwater camera and managed to get some footage of a small loach, which none of us could identify. The final stop for the day was a beautiful area in some shaded woods with several small waterfalls running through. Chris donned his waders and promptly found a crayfish! Happy among the rocks and water we left Chris to his ‘crustahunting’ with the remainder of us making more of an ascent, interrupted only to photograph more inspiring landscapes and waterfalls. The following day we started a little later and just had the one location to visit. Stefan was keen to show me some giant grasses and I wasn’t disappointed. They were massive! Nearby was another stream with more aquatic plants including some Water cress, Nasturtium officinale, which I ate and found delicious! Volker found a wild orchid and Stefan a natural spring flowing with fresh water.

Tank set-up

Taxiphyllum sp. ‘Spikey’ Eleocharis sp. ‘Xingu’

Hygrophila pinnatifida

Bucephalandra sp. ‘Mini needle leaf’ Eleocharis acicularis

Vesicularia sp. ‘Triangle’ Bucephalandra sp. ‘Brownie’ Eriocaulon breviscapum

Chris took some underwater footage in a gin clear stream. Aquarium: Dennerle Nano Cube 60 l, 38 x 38 x 43cm. Lighting: Dennerle Trocal LED 18W with controller. Filtration: Dennerle Eckfilter Nano XL. Heater: Dennerle Nano ThermoCompact 50W. Substrate: Dennerle Plantahunter Natural Gravel (Burma) and Scaper’s Soil. Decor: Locally collected red sandstone and driftwood.

Time to aquascape h

Fast flowing water and plenty of trees — both around and in the water.

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Stefan with the giant grasses.

Back at Dennerle HQ in Vinnengen, Volker and I set up the studio lights around a Nano Cube and I began to formulate in my mind an aquascape design based on what I had experienced over the last two days. I didn’t want to directly copy a scene from the previous day’s discovery but mix some strong themes to create a coherent design. The obvious place to start was the rocks and gravel. The locally collected red sandstone would provide the initial impact, with the softer hue of the Dennerle Burma gravel. The forests were full of tall trees, so vertically mounted driftwood was the logical choice. Most of the boulders and fallen branches in the forests were covered in moss so it made sense to use some aquatic mosses to mimic this effect. Plant choice was largely based on the giant grasses I had seen earlier that morning, so I opted for three vertical grass-type species — two species of haigrass and an Eriocaulon. To give the effect of more rounded textures I went for two species of Bucephalandra. The final touch was to add some small branches that were locally collected from the previous day. The process of experiencing nature, gaining inspiration, then transferring that into an aquascape was one that I was already familiar with but never had previously executed with such relish. By the time I had completed the aquascaping process I was exhausted, but the sense of satisfaction is one I’ll never forget. PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Aquascaping

How to create a German forest aquascape...

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This Dennerle Nano Cube holds 60 l/13 gal. Some Dennerle Plantahunter Natural Gravel Burma is added towards the front. Its attractive brown/orange hue mimics some of the landscapes we saw in the forest and it blends perfectly with the stones.

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Five pieces of driftwood are placed among the stones and partially buried in the soil. Small stones are attached to the bottom of each piece to ensure it won’t float once water is added. The wood is positioned vertically to enhance the tall nature of the aquarium.

Dechlorinated tapwater is added slowly to the tank using a strainer and hose that directly connected to the mains. It’s important to add the water slowly, otherwise the soil will turn the water cloudy and the plants may float.

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2

Locally collected red sandstone is placed on top of the gravel, taking care to position each stone so the layout looks as natural as possible. The largest stone is placed off-centre to give the best aesthetic balance. The stones have been pre-washed beforehand.

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5

A combination of grass-type plants are planted, using aquascaping tweezers: Eleocharis acicularis, Eriocaulon breviscapum and Eleocharis sp. ‘Xingu’ — all compliment the vertical elements in the ’scape. Moss covered stones are added to the foreground.

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The equipment is added. I am using a Dennerle Trocal LED lamp which is connected to a computerised controller. CO2 injection and daily liquid fertiliser will be used in this set-up, as well as an internal filter and heater.

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Four litres of Scaper’s Soil is added to the rear of the tank. It’s sloped towards the back to give a sense of depth and allow easier planting. The soil helps buffer the water at around 6–6.5pH and reduces the hardness, making it suitable for most plant roots.

Bucephalandra plants are pushed into crevices between the wood and stones. Taxiphyllum sp. ‘Spikey’ and Vesicularia sp. ‘Triangle’ mosses are glued to the wood using superglue and stones. I add Hygrophila pinnatifida just above the largest stone.

The finished aquascape. The lighting is set to 50% intensity for eight hours a day to begin with. Once the plants have matured, the lighting intensity can be increased if required — too much light too soon will result in algae issues.

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So, that new marine fish you added to your tank acts nothing like you expected. Or maybe a once peaceful fish has turned into a tyrant. What causes these changes in behaviour? WORDS: TRISTAN LOUGHER

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ne of the many attractions of keeping an aquarium is the ability to observe the behaviour of animals in the comfort of your own home. Natural behaviour is what we hope for, whether it be courtship and spawning or simply that the fish acts as it would in the wild — and it’s hugely rewarding when we can achieve this. But natural behaviour doesn’t always transfer well into an aquarium situation, and this is particularly true when it comes to marines. The behaviour of many marine aquarium fish changes over time from benign to problematic — or they simply don’t do what you expected them to do in the first place. Let’s look at some of the common situations and why it happens.

Anti-social shoalers Many species of marine fish display schooling or shoaling behaviour at certain points in their life cycle. Even fish you might not normally associate with being found in large groups, such as the Common

clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris, will form a tight ball as juveniles when they feel threatened. Another species occasionally seen in the hobby (but which is really only suitable for large public aquariums) is the Golden trevally, Gnathanodon speciosus. The juveniles are often referred to as ‘Pilotfish’ as they can be found swimming around the heads of larger animals such as sharks, turtles and even dugong. In this species, a tight school is not the normal group configuration but it is adopted quickly when danger threatens. The popular Green chromis, Chromis viridis, is a natural shoaler with individuals often residing in small to very large groups over and in the heads of small polyp stony (SPS) corals. A study published last year found that living in a group reduced the metabolic rate of this species. Group living puts less demand on the resources of these fish and individuals kept in isolation for a week showed a reduction in body condition compared with those kept in groups. This phenomenon has been referred to as the

‘calming effect’ of group living. The calming effect appears to depend on visual and chemical cues that are detected by the individual members of the group. These would still apply in the context of the aquarium where most of the fish can see and ‘smell’ each other at any one time. So, the group can still benefit from the calming effect without having to maintain very close proximity to one another. Of course, there is also the fact that there are simply far fewer potential threats to the fish in an aquarium, so their behaviour changes as a result — you wouldn’t want to be keeping predatory fish alongside their prey in the aquarium after all, and the absence of danger can explain why some species stop shoaling together. Another factor is that most home aquaria simply cannot accommodate the sheer numbers of fish that might comprise a shoal in their natural environment. It’s worth noting that the absence of danger in your aquarium doesn’t always mean that there isn’t a perception of Living in a shoal has been found to have health benefits for Green chromis.

Schooling vs. shoaling — what’s the difference? Schooling fish swim in the same direction in a coordinated manner. Think of those tight swirls of fish such as sardines that we often see on the TV where thousands of fish appear to move as one. This tight group swims in such a manner to gain protection from predators, to swim with greater efficiency and to enhance their ability to find and exploit food resources. Shoaling fish stay together for social reasons, although some of the advantages described above will certainly apply as a result of these fish staying together. These fish will swim together but there isn’t as much coordination and the group appears more loosely packed.

ALAMY

Marine

Girls will be boys — and vice versa! Some species associate in groups when juvenile and become more individual as they mature, sometimes living on their own or in male-female pairs. But one of the most significant factors for the marine aquarium is the fact that so many popular fish are sequential hermaphrodites, meaning that they can or do change sex at some point in their lifespan. Most wrasse (Labridae) begin life as juveniles — these are relatively benign before they mature into functional females, which are usually rather laid back and non-aggressive. However, as they grow they

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can undergo a full sex change into males, becoming more aggressive and highly territorial. Many wrasse, such as the flasher wrasse (Paracheilinus spp), have haremic sexual systems where one male spawns with a group of females over which he has control. The females are rather tolerant of each other but males will skirmish and fight with one another, and with similar fish species that stray too close to the group. This kind of behaviour can develop over time in the aquarium as those fish you bought as juveniles mature. Frustrating as such aggression may be, at least we have

clues as to what might be going on here because males and females — and often even sexually immature juveniles — have different colours or patterns. But that’s not always the case. The Pyjama or Sixline wrasse, Pseudocheilinus hexataenia, is a very desirable fish — small size potential, coral compatibility, a good price and stunning good looks are just a few of the reasons. However, experiences among fishkeepers with this species vary considerably; some love them and find them inoffensive and peaceful; others recall instances of

It’s difficult to tell a male Pyjama wrasse from a female — apart from the level of aggression.

SHUTTERSTOCK

potential threat. You’ll note that the first introductions to a new aquarium tend to be very timid, irrespective of how apparently extrovert they were in the shop, and the perception of threat is often seen in individual species stocked singly. It would appear that the absence of other fish in the aquarium is perceived as potentially dangerous — when fish are hiding on the reef there is probably a good reason, such as a predator lurking nearby. This is why our old friend the Green chromis and its ‘safety in numbers’ philosophy can be so useful as a first introduction to the aquarium, as its presence in open water gives other fish the confidence to venture out and explore.

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Marine

context too, most notably in clowns and anemonefish. Males are smaller than females, sometimes substantially so and often it is the larger, more powerful females that become problematic in an aquarium context as they mature. Anemonefish are members of the damselfish family (Pomacentridae) and so it should come as no surprise that certain damselfish are also protandrous hermaphrodites, but many are protogynous hermaphrodites, so knowing the sexual strategy of your individual species, preferably prior to purchase, is useful in avoiding future problems with aggression.

A pair of Maroon anemonefish, with the much smaller male on the left.

merciless aggression, resulting in the death of a newcomer. The explanation appears to be the transition of the fish from female to male going unseen. There are few differences between female and male Pyjama wrasse with the exception of size — if yours is at or close to its maximum size potential, it is likely to be a male. The males can be very territorial and seem happy to attack fish significantly larger than themselves, particularly those that have recently entered their territory — such as newly purchased fish. In these instances you can find that a fish that has behaved impeccably for months or even years suddenly turns into a complete nightmare. A similar situation can occur with dwarf angelfish (Centropyge spp). These popular fish are usually bought when still relatively small, so most individuals will be female at this time. Specimens that have achieved their size potential are likely to be males and more inclined towards territorial aggression. So, although dwarf angelfish species may be mixed in a suitably large aquarium, it’s usually a good idea to have only a single male present, so this means stocking smaller individuals. Fish that are female first before becoming male are referred to as protogynous hermaphrodites. The opposite are protandrous hermaphrodites and we see plenty of examples of this in an aquarium www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

ALAMY

‘Get off my patch!’ Marine aquarists often experience issues with fish becoming aggressive towards new introductions. The reaction of a resident fish towards a newcomer can depend on the species of fish involved and whether the apparent interloper is perceived as a direct threat. It’s usually advised that the most territorially aggressive species are added to the aquarium last, but due to occasional losses situations can arise when a replacement is added after a territorial fish. But what are the reasons for territoriality and how does it manifest itself? Typically, territoriality revolves around the defence of a resource or a potential resource. Along with more species-specific factors, these could include: GDefending a female or group of females, as in flasher wrasse; GFood resources, as in obligate coral polyp feeders like some Chaetodon butterflyfish species; GAn anemone, with clowns and anemonefish;

GA collection of ‘farmed’ algae, as in the case of some damsels or surgeonfish; GA hole or crevice, with blennies or dottybacks; GA nesting site, with damselfish, anemonefish, gobies and so on. The extent to which an individual fish is prepared to defend its territory against a perceived intruder will vary from species to species and the value they give that territory. Some will apparently fight to the death whereas others will calm down in a matter of minutes. Territorial aggression can be anticipated and mitigated through careful stocking, along with tricks such as rearranging the tank decor, turning the lights off or covering the aquarium while new additions settle in (if they can’t be seen they have a chance to recover from the stress of netting and transportation unmolested, rather than being chased or harassed by resident fish too). But sometimes the aggression increases in intensity over time, as with a well-studied damselfish, the Dusky gregory, Stegastes nigricans. This is a species that farms algae within its territory but whose territorial boundary increases in proportion to the size of the fish. In their natural environment, fish will often space themselves out accordingly, but as the fish’s territory expands in the confines of an aquarium it will cause issues if it starts to overlap with that of another fish. This creates tensions which seldom end well for any of the fish concerned.

Fights over food When many species of marine fish perceive that resources are limited they become increasingly prepared to compete for and defend them. This can lead to hitherto

TOP TIP

Aggression can cause stress, which is often a precursor to disease. While it’s easy to blame disease for fish losses, it’s worth thinking about the potential causes of stress that may have led to the disease outbreak in the first place.

Chaetodon baronessa is an obligate coral polyp feeder and one of the more territorial butterflyfish species.

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Male clownfish are often much smaller, so it’s the larger, more powerful females that tend to become a problem in the aquarium as they mature.

Marine

Opportunist tyrants Although there are biological reasons why the behaviour of your marine fish can change, how an individual of a given species will behave can depend very much on the environment. Take the beautiful dwarf hogfish, the Candy hog, Bodianus bimaculatus, which undergoes a change from female to male and peaks in size at a very modest 10cm. In an aquarium with larger or occasionally boisterous tank mates, this fish is likely to keep

itself to itself and may even appear shy or reclusive. But stock it in a tank with other fish that are as apparently delicate and timid as it is, and it can dominate and bully them. And of course, there’s always the odd rogue fish out there — individuals that fly in the face of everything ever written about the behaviour of that species, and which prove problematic in terms of aggression or make a nuisance of themselves in other ways.

The territory of the Dusky gregory grows in size along with the fish.

ALAMY

peaceful species becoming violent towards one another. In an aquarium situation, this can occur from the outset, particularly if you are being too frugal with food, perhaps in an attempt to manage the levels of nitrate and phosphate. It can also occur when a naturally occurring resource in the aquarium begins to run out. We see this with Zebrasoma tangs — if algae growing on rocks runs out and is not replaced with an alternative, such as nori, these fish can become increasingly aggressive with tank mates. Some fishkeepers will also experience issues if they go away for a period without making provision for feeding their fish. While individual fish are unlikely to starve over the course of a week or so, the increased aggression can lead to physical damage or even deaths among species previously happy to coexist peacefully.

Know your fish Fish are like humans in many ways with their lives revolving around the creation and maintenance of a home, protecting it, putting food on the table and, of course, sex. There’s no better way of avoiding potential issues with changes in behaviour than to know the individual fish concerned and that means researching it before purchase. G Is it a species that will change sex and become more territorial? G Does it have a reputation for being aggressive and if so, what species of fish does it single out for aggression more than others? G Can you make arrangements for your fish to be fed regularly in your absence if a lack of food is likely to become a problem? G Is your set-up large enough to house a territorial individual of a particular species? Dealers can help here as many will have had feedback from customers regarding the long term behaviour of the fish that they sell. Rather than the single anecdote: ‘It was fine in my aquarium’, they will have their own experiences with a number of individuals to call upon. Compiling such a wealth of information might seem intimidating, but it can save a heck of a lot of heartache in the long run — as anyone who has tried to catch a Pyjama wrasse in a large reef aquarium will verify!

SHUTTERSTOCK

A hungry tang is an angry tang.

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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.

TROPICAL

Snakeheads can often be weaned onto carnivore pellets, but it might take a bit of perseverance.

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.

NEIL HEPWORTH

OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS

Q.How do I widen their diet? I have a Peacock snakehead and he is loving bloodworm but won’t entertain much else. I’d like to get him onto both good quality flake and frozen/live foods. Any advice please? JACK SHERBURN, EMAIL

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. 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.

‘Hunger makes the best sauce’ is a good maxim when keeping carnivorous fish. Bloodworms might well be tasty but they’re not particularly nutritious, and your goal is to get your snakehead weaned onto as varied a diet as possible. The greater the range of foods a predatory fish consumes, the smaller the risk it will suffer from some sort of nutrient deficiency. This contrasts with standard community fish that can do well for their entire lives on good quality flake foods, such foods having been carefully designed to satisfy the nutritional needs of small, omnivorous species like barbs and tetras. Predatory fishkeepers have to think about diet much more carefully, because some types of foods are noticeably lacking in certain nutrients. The most notorious example of this is probably the enzyme thiaminase, which breaks down vitamin B1 (thiamine) and predatory fish fed a diet containing a lot of foods containing thiaminase end up getting sick in a variety of different ways. With your Peacock snakehead, Channa pulchra, there’s no particular reason to assume your fish will starve itself to death if you decide to lay off

the bloodworms for a while! This species, like most snakeheads, is reported to take a wide range of foods. While I’ve not kept this particular species, I’ve kept a similar one, and it happily consumed earthworms, river shrimps, and all the usual chunky seafoods such as white fish fillets, cockles, and prawns (these latter used sparingly because they contain thiaminase). Indeed, earthworms are often the very best foods for getting shy carnivores settled in because they seem to be irresistible. Flake and pellet foods are a bit more of a mixed bag so far as snakeheads go, but once a snakehead has learned to consume a range of fresh or frozen foods, you should find it’ll try carnivore pellets and the like if offered at the same time. Proper carnivore pellets contain a good selection of nutrients, and should make an excellent staple. So, it’s more about getting your Channa in the mood to try something different. A good approach is to skip feeding the fish for at least a couple of days. While most fish can go without food for long periods if they’re in good shape, after a few days without being fed they’re usually more willing than usual to try something new. If the food isn’t taken within a few minutes, remove it and try again the next day. Don’t leave high protein foods uneaten in the tank because of the strain they place on the filter. NEALE MONKS

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

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Fishkeeping Answers TROPICAL

NEIL HEPWORTH

Could Paul’s new Otos have brought something nasty into the tank with them?

Q. Was this water contaminated? I recently bought some Otocinclus catfish from a well known pet store. I added them to the tank but also added the water they were bagged in. Foolish, I know but I did it — and ever since I have had a wave of fish deaths. I’ve tried to remedy this with water changes and my parameters seem OK. What is the best way to introduce new fish? Is it possible that a pet shop’s water was contaminated? PAUL HAGGIE, EMAIL

A

Adding new fish to an established tank always brings with it the possibility of introducing disease and parasites at the

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same time. The best shops fully quarantine their livestock before putting them up for sale but even this can’t guarantee that they aren’t harbouring problems. Wherever possible it is best for the hobbyist to quarantine new fish at home for several weeks where they can settle and any signs of disease or parasites can be spotted and dealt with. However, many of us don’t have the facilities or space to do this, so we have to take the gamble of adding fish direct to the display tank. You don’t mention any symptoms that the sick fish showed before death so it’s very hard to work out what the problem is. Not adding the water from the transit bag is usually a good idea, but diseases and parasites are more likely to be actually on or in the fish than in the water itself. Some shops keep constant levels of medication in their display tanks, especially marine fish where copper is often used to keep parasites at bay, and adding this water to a tank with inverts in it can cause real problems. If your Otos were not visibly ill when you bought them, then there isn’t much more you could have done without quarantine facilities. Fish deaths around the introduction of new fish to a tank usually go two ways in my experience. The first is that the new fish die soon after introduction, often due to a sudden change of chemistry from their stock tank to the home display, where the fish have often got used to a steady drop in water quality or

chemistry without showing any obvious signs, meaning that the owner doesn’t test the tank, thinking that the water quality must be fine. The second scenario is that the new fish are OK, but the existing stock drops like flies. This is usually due to disease, and happens in much the same way as something as apparently mundane as a common cold can wipe out an isolated community in the Amazon. The fish in your stock tank have lived in isolation for so long that they haven’t been exposed to any pathogens. The new fish are hardy survivors of all the nasties thrown at them during the process of capture, export and so on, and they bring with them diseases that they are largely immune to. Once added to the display the existing fish are rapidly wiped out while the newcomers carry on as if nothing is wrong in the tank. My advice is to quarantine, but if this isn’t possible, then get a reading of the shop’s tank water (not the water in the bag which can change during transit) and compare this with your own aquarium water. Make sure they match as closely as possible. Only buy healthy fish that are not sharing their sales tank with any obviously sick individuals. When acclimatising the newcomers, do so in the usual way (see the step by step process on the right) and then net the fish out of the bag and dispose of the water in the bag afterwards. BOB MEHEN

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Even the Java moss (inset) is struggling to grow in David Hill’s tank.

To acclimatise new fish, turn off the tank lights. Cut off the knot on the bag of fish.

DAVID HILL

1

Roll down the top of the bag to make a floating collar.

2

PLANTS

Q. Why won’t my plants grow?

Float the bag of fish in the aquarium for 15–20 minutes to equalise temperature.

3

Add a small amount of tank water to the bag every 15 minutes for the next hour.

PICTURE SEQUENCE: JACQUES PORTAL

4

Net the fish from the bag and release them into the tank, disposing of the bag water. Keep the lights off until they settle in.

5

I have the most horrendous luck with plants. They always seem to die on me: yellowing out, holes in leaves, melting — if there is a way for plants to die, I’ve had it happen to me. I’ve even managed to kill Anubias! I recently did a strip down of my tank as I decided to focus more on my Manacaparu Angels, and thought I’d have one last attempt. I don’t use CO2, but I have a Ecotech Radion XR30 G3 light running at about 25% brightness. I dose weekly TNC Lite aquarium plant nutrients and Plant Growth Premium fertiliser from Tropica. The majority of the tank is sand substrate but in the corner that’s planted I’m using Tropica Soil with JBL Root Tabs. One month in and half of the wood-based Java moss is covered in algae; the other is browning out, my Vallis is not growing and my Amazon swords are developing holes in the centre of their leaves. The tank is 100 x 40 x 60cm and I carry out weekly 75–100 l water changes using RO + Seachem Equilibrium. Please help! DAVID HILL, EMAIL

A

It sounds like your plants aren’t getting enough of what they need. This leads to a suffering plant that attracts algae. My advice would be to plant heavily and then you can benefit from a complete liquid plant food rather than the two products you mention. They are both very similar to one another and do not contain the nitrogen or phosphorous that plants require. Contrary to popular belief, in a healthy planted tank, nitrates and phosphates do not cause algae

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but promote plant growth, which in turn helps to prevent algae. Consider a complete liquid plant food and dose daily rather than weekly. I have great results with The Aquascaper Complete Liquid Plant Food, which is an all-in-one product designed to be dosed daily for all types of planted tank. The fact that your Vallis is struggling is an indicator that you may need more light. I’m unfamiliar with the PAR output of the XR30 but I wonder if you have the spectrum that is adjusted for plants, rather than the marine lighting unit that’s blue-dominant. I also question the use of RO water. The plants you keep, and probably the fish, will be fine with tapwater. Tap contains more nutrients to feed the plants and is more economical to use with less waste and no need for re-mineralisation products. Consider stocking a lot of fast growing stem plants as well, as this will help fight off algae. If you do all of the above I’m sure you’ll have a better chance of success. GEORGE FARMER

The Amazon sword leaves are attracting algae.

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Fishkeeping Answers MARINE

Q. What will eat this feathery weed?

SEAN COLLINS, LICHFIELD

A

There are several ‘feathery’ species of Caulerpa, including C. sertularioides and C. taxifolia. Caulerpa can be very attractive in small amounts but if you don’t keep on top of it, it does tend to be invasive — it can shade invertebrates and the runners can damage the tissues of corals if it’s allowed to run rampant, so you’re right to want to get on top of this. Using fish to deal with Caulerpa can be

hit-or-miss; sailfin tangs and foxfaces can be worth a try, but I would be worried that your system isn’t big enough to house these kinds of fish on a long-term basis, as they get quite large. It’s been suggested that nudibranchs like Elysia crispata can be used, but reports of them actually eating Caulerpa are mixed Instead, opt for manual control of the algae to keep it contained, and try to keep nutrients down. Where possible, remove as many affected rocks as you can to make it easier to pick off the runners and then dispose of the algae. Otherwise, carefully remove as much of the Caulerpa in the tank as you can (you might need to do this on a regular basis); be careful not to break off too many fragments as you do this, as they can settle and regenerate into new growth. This is a bit labour-intensive, but it will help to keep the algae in check. Keeping phosphate and nitrate levels as low as possible should also help, as you’ll be limiting the essential nutrients the algae needs for growth. Depending on what the current levels are, this could perhaps be achieved with water changes or the use of

media such as phosphate-adsorbing GFO (granular ferric oxide). I would also review flow in the aquarium — brisk water movement will help to stop the detritus and mulm which algae thrive on from settling — and check your mechanical filtration. Increasing the efficiency of this form of filtration, and the frequency of cleaning, can help to keep nutrients limited. DAVE WOLFENDEN

Caulerpa sertularioides.

ALAMY

I have an outbreak of some sort of macroalgae, which hitchhiked into my reef aquarium on a piece of coral. Several months later it has grown and has taken over parts of my rockwork. It is green with feathery leaves and spreads with runners. I think it might be a type of Caulerpa. While it hasn’t overrun my tank, I would like to introduce a fish that would eat it. Can you recommend anything, please? I have Red Sea Reefer 170 aquarium with a mix of corals. Other fish include a Yellow wrasse, a Royal gramma and a pair Common clownfish.

ALAMY

The Lettuce slug, Elysia crispata, may eat Caulerpa — but then again, it might not...

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TROPICAL

Could Samantha’s Guppies have been a victim of ‘old tank syndrome’?

My 180 l tank has been set up for about three years. The water is crystal clear and tests have showed it is fine, but my fish are dying. The only fish that don’t seem to be affected are the three Mollies. I’ve lost all the Guppies. There are some Bristlenoses still alive, but I’ve lost some of them, too. How do I work out what treatment is needed? Any advice would be welcome. SAMANTHA STRANA, EMAIL

NEIL HEPWORTH

Q. Why am I losing my fish? A

It’s upsetting to lose fish, especially when the cause isn’t apparent. Without a full set of test results for your tank’s water and more detail of the stock and your maintenance routine, my answer is going to be a best guess, but it might give you some insight that you can use to track down the problem yourself. It’s possible that your tank is suffering from ‘old tank syndrome’. While most people are striving to get their tank ‘mature’, so that

things will be stable biologically for their fish and other livestock, there can come a point in a mature tank’s life when its age becomes a factor. At three years old, this might be the case with your set-up. Once the initial panic of cycling a tank has passed and the need for daily testing to check what is going on has lessened, many fishkeepers only test the water when something is going wrong. It can often be a big shock to see that things such as pH has plunged to dangerously low levels or nitrate and phosphate have crept up and up, until they too can be an issue. Over time, the mineral content that buffers your tank’s pH can be used up and without regular water changes this can cause a sudden crash that can wipe out fish and prevent the filter bacteria from functioning. Often the tank will limp on for months until that one week you just don’t have the time for the water change, and then that missed bucket or two of water can be the difference between equilibrium or disaster. Similarly, over time waste can build up in substrates, under decor and so on until, regardless of water changes, the crash occurs. Regular maintenance in the form of gravel cleaning, water changes, removal of dead plant leaves and replacement of chemical media and all the little chores we sometimes wish would disappear is your first call and best defence. BOB MEHEN

TROPICAL

Q. How do I cure my algae problem? Can you please tell me what has caused the black algae on the plants in my 240 l mbuna tank, and how I can get rid of it? My tank has two filters and I do 50% water changes every week. The set-up has been running for six months and is stocked with 40 juvenile mbuna, four Cuckoo cats and a Bristlenose plec. The algae is driving me crazy. All my water parameters are fine — please help!

A

Beard algae on Anubias.

fertilisers, being epiphytes, while casual aquarists might find adding the fertiliser tablet to gravel around clumps of Vallisneria and other rooted species significantly improves their growth rate. Either way, happier plants means life becomes more difficult for algae, which is exactly what you want here! Frequent water changes, moderate stocking, fast-growing plants, and the removal of any uneaten food will all be useful ways to ensure nitrate stays nice and low and algae can’t get a foothold. NEALE MONKS

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97

MIKE, HULL

prefer water that is hard and alkaline. Other than Siamese algae eaters and the more strictly herbivorous livebearers such as Ameca splendens, few aquarium fish consume brush algae, so its control is usually about getting the environment right rather than adding something to keep it at bay. Floating plants are a quick fix, but at the very least you want to make sure that your Anubias are not sitting directly under any bright light. These plants do best in shadier spots where MIKE, HULL the light is somewhat filtered through green Looking at the pictures you sent in and foliage, so you might want to think about adding some other hard water tolerant plants also from your description, the problem you are having is with black brush to your system, preferably ones that are tall and fast-growing, so quickly able to provide or beard algae. It is extremely common on plants like Anubias that have slow-growing, the sort of shade your Anubias need. Options long-lasting leaves. Like all algae, there’s a might include Vallisneria, Sagittaria, Crinum and some of the hardier Echinodorus species. mix of reasons for its appearance in an You also want to check whether your plants aquarium. Bright light together with are compromised in some way. Lack of proper relatively high nitrate and/or phosphate fertilisation and insufficient carbon dioxide levels are important factors, but the levels can cause plants to grow more slowly absence of fast-growing plants that can outcompete it for light and nutrients should than they should, and this makes the appearance of brush algae more likely. also be considered. Water chemistry may Anubias respond well to the use of liquid be important too, brush algae seeming to

Fishkeeping Answers TROPICAL

Q. Will this cichlid communit

PHILIP LOWE, EMAIL

A

Wow! That’s a lot of cichlids all being mixed together — even in your proposed larger tank. I would start by removing the non-cichlids: the corys and Red tail black shark. Corydoras need to live together in large groups, but with small, peaceful fish like tetras. There will be too much cichlid rough and tumble for them and when the Oscars grow, they will try to eat them. The corys have their own defences, including armoured bodies and erectile dorsal and pectoral fins. As soon as the Oscar engulfs them the spines stick out and the poor corys will either be engulfed and then spat out again on a cyclical basis or get stuck in the Oscar’s mouth, which could prove fatal for both parties. Red tail black sharks need a space to call their own and areas to graze. Having to fight cichlids for territory and then getting snapped at as it goes out on grazing forays will raise tension levels in the tank and is best avoided. Now for the cichlids. 180 x 60 x 75cm/72 x 24 x 30in is indeed a large tank, although you propose a lot of cichlids, and some very large species at that. The Oscars, Synspilum, Jaguars and Midas will all easily top 30cm/12in in length, so that’s seven, foot-long fish straight away and your tank will be well and truly filled. But on top of that, you want two Texas cichlids at 20cm/8in, a Parrot, which reaches a similar size, as will the two Jack Dempseys and the Salvini cichlids. Then you want two Firemouths and ten Convicts, so let’s put a conservative 10cm/4in average length on those 12. The Red head cichlids you mention may be more ‘Synspilum’ types, but they could be Geophagus, so let’s estimate those at around 20cm/8in each.

I’m imagining 28 medium to large cichlids and I’m wincing. Potential communities could include a medium sized Central American tank including the Texas, Jack Dempseys, Salvini, Convicts and Firemouths, although I would cut the number of Convicts down to four. You could add the Parrot to that mix too. Or you could do a large cichlid mix of the Oscars, Midas, Jaguars and Synspilum, and if it’s a large specimen, you could add the Parrot to that too. A definite ‘yes’ to adding all fish as juveniles and growing them up together. I’ve mixed foot long, adult cichlids in large tanks many times and the advice of adding the Midas last is good. If you added any similarly sized Oscars, Jaguars, or Synspilum to a tank already containing a large, territorial male Midas, he would slaughter them overnight. I see what you are doing with your mixture: add lots of them and add them small, and they will all get on. But these aren’t Malawi mbuna and all prefer a space to call their own, to find mates, lay eggs and eventually raise fry. If any of your cichlids breed, chaos will ensue and the stress would be almost audible. Have you thought about keeping the old tank with smaller species in that one and larger species in the other? For algae eaters you would get away with adult Bristlenoses in with the small to medium sized species but for the big guys you would need good old Common plecs: a gibbiceps or one of the desirable, larger L-number species like adult Royal Panaque. Filtration should be in the form of two hefty external filters rated at 2000 lph each, and 2 x 300W heaters fitted with heater guards. A large air pump and airstone would definitely help too. Buy them all small, grow them up together, decorate with lots of wood and rocks, but there are way too many species and individuals of South and Central American cichlids on your list, even for your big tank, so please think again.

car. Tiger Os

TOCK SHUTTERS

I currently have a 120 x 45 x 50cm aquarium housing two Texas cichlids, a Parrot cichlid, two Oscars, a Synspilum cichlid, two cory catfish and a Red tail black shark. My new tank will be 180 x 60 x 75cm and will house all the above fish, plus two Jaguar cichlids, ten Convicts, two Jack Dempseys two Salvini cichlids, two Red headed cichlids, two Firemouths and two Midas cichlids. I’ve been advised to buy all the additional fish as juveniles, adding the Midas cichlids last. Please could you advise on filtration, heating and lighting? Some algae eaters will be useful, I’m sure — are there any additions you see fit to make to make the most of what I have?

Midas cichlid.

JEREMY GAY

Suggested stock MEDIUM-SIZED CENTRAL AMERICAN CICHLID COMMUNITY  Texas cichlid  Jack Dempsey  Salvini cichlid  Convict cichlids  Firemouth cichlid  Parrot cichlid

LARGE CICHLID COMMUNITY  Oscar  Synspilum cichlid  Jaguar cichlid  Midas cichlid (this should be added last, to prevent aggression towards new fish).

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PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

. Synspilum cichlid

SHUTTERS TOCK

Jaguar cic hlid.

ALAMY

ALAMY

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Tetra UK 99

U

Fishkeeping Answers PONDS

Q. How do I build this mini pond?

I’d like to add a water feature of some kind to my tiny back garden, but I don’t have space for a pond. I came across a large rigid tub at a garden centre recently and I wondered whether this would be suitable for using as a water feature. If so, please could you

give me some advice on how best to set this up as a mini pond— and is there a way to disguise the black plastic edges, please? I want to add a few plants, but due to the size of the tub, there won’t be any fish in this pond.

Make a bed of sand at least 5cm/2in thick and rake it level. Check that it’s perfectly horizontal using a spirit level, or it will be obvious once it’s filled with water.

5

1

KATIE LEWIS, EMAIL

Cover the surface with gravel to stop the compost floating free. Place the baskets on bricks to achieve the correct levels for the marginal plants.

A

This kind of project is very simple to do, doesn’t take up a lot of space and can look really effective. There are several ways you can go about doing this, but here’s how Melissa Mabbitt of Modern Gardens magazine, did something similar in her own garden.

Add a free-floating plant for a finishing touch. We’ve used Water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes.

6

The completed pond — we’ve positioned this one in a border.

7

Place the container you are using on top of the sand and re-check the level with the spirit level in all directions.

2

Build up the sides using bricks or stone. We used limestone for a dry wall effect, with dabs of mortar to firm the shell. Try to hide the edges of the container.

4

Plant miniature lilies and marginals in baskets using aquatic compost.

NEIL HEPWORTH

3

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PLANTS

Q. What kind of flower is this?

I have had a flower bloom from an aquatic plant in my tank, which is attached to half a coconut shell. It’s beautiful — but what is it? I tried researching underwater flowers on Google but could not find a relevant picture. I have had this plant for 18 months, and it did something like this a year ago, but the flower was not as big. JOSHUA GRAVES, EMAIL

A

it still puts on a good show! Quite what triggers flowering is unclear, possibly changes in day length or temperature, but really, this does seem something that happens with some specimens but not with others. I’ve had Anubias that bloom once most years, while others did nothing. Because these are marsh plants, optimal conditions would probably be a paludariumtype set-up that allowed the plant to extend above the waterline across wet rocks or bogwood. But as I say, getting Anubias to flower on demand isn’t easily done, and you might have to content yourself with simply enjoying what is an occasional, but interesting, occurrence. NEALE MONKS

SHUTTERSTOCK

This is an Anubias species, almost certainly Anubias barteri, var. nana, a member of the Araceae group of plants, often called the Arum lilies. The Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum spp.) often kept as houseplants belong to the same group.

All of them have this very distinctive single, scoop-shaped petal-like structure called a spathe that looks like a petal but isn’t; the many tiny flowers are on the stick-like structure on the inside that is called a spadix. This group of plants is remarkable for including some of the largest flowers known, the spathe and spadix of the Titan arum can measure up to 3m in height! Getting back to your Anubias, one of the things to realise about this plant is that it is really a marsh plant rather than a true aquatic, and this flower is meant to attract insects that will carry pollen from one flower to another. Under aquarium conditions the flower eventually rots, but

MARINE

Q. Why has my Scarlet hawkfish turned pink? I have a 300 l fish-only marine tank. About a week ago my Scarlet hawkfish started to lose some of its pigmentation, and within a further couple of days, it was pale pink. It has since recovered some of its colour, but its fins are ragged. It has been a little reclusive over this time but is still eating. I should point out that this fish and its tank mates — a Regal tang, Foxface, Eibli angel and Azure damsel — are all over 15 years old. None of the other fish have lost any colour and are behaving normally. Is this loss of pigmentation simply old age, or could something else be going on?

could indicate secondary bacterial infections. Unless these look to be an issue it’s probably not worth risking stress to the fish by moving it to a quarantine tank for isolation or treatment. Instead, continue to provide the obviously excellent care you already have been by maintaining optimal water quality and offering a varied diet (including different crustacean-

based foods such as Mysis and Krill). If you’re not already, additional supplementation of the feed with a vitamin/ HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acid) preparation could help to give it a boost, and this certainly wouldn’t hurt the hawkfish’s tank mates. DAVE WOLFENDEN

Fifteen years is a good age for a Scarlet hawkfish.

WILFRID GALE, EMAIL

Fish can lose colour for a number of reasons, such as stress due to bullying or ill health. The colour loss, change in behaviour and frayed fins may indicate some illness or aggression from tank mates but if this fish is over 15 years old that’s good going, so it could simply be old age. Even so, do look out for any bullying and give the fish a thorough visual check to eliminate any parasitic diseases and check for obvious reddening of the fins, which

NEIL HEPWORTH

A

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PFKNew The latest fishkeeping product ON TEST

Kessil A80 LED Luminair Dave Wolfenden checks out K dinky little LED luminaire for t With distinctive design and passive cooling, Kessil’s latest offering could be just the ticket for small fish-only tanks or nano systems with relatively undemanding invertebrates.

What’s in the box? The luminaire comes with a generous 24V DC power cord and a mounting bracket. The A80 is a cute little thing, measuring just 12cm across, and 2.5cm thick. The most striking thing about the design in terms of functionality and aesthetics is the clever use of the powder-coated aluminium body as a heat sink. A scallop shell apparently provided inspiration for the unusual design, and the unit certainly does have an almost ‘organic’ shape. This is quite a departure in terms of design compared to Kessil’s other, larger models. Whereas ‘cannon’ models like the A160 and A360 feature fan-assisted active cooling, the A80 is purely passively cooled. I’ve never had any issues with the reliability of Kessil’s fans, but if it’s possible to ditch them in favour of passive cooling, then why not? Removing any moving parts means no noise, should increase reliability and will improve resistance to water splashing and salt creep. Presumably this is made possible due to the relatively small power draw (15W at maximum) of the luminaire’s array compared to larger units, making passive cooling a viable option without resorting to excessively large and heavy heat sinks. The array itself is tiny, and comprises 15 individual LEDs arranged in a tightlypacked cluster less than 10mm across, with secondary lensing.

102

Thanks to that lensing, the spread is ample for the recommended 35 x 35cm for medium-demand systems. The blending is spot on, so no disco effect — and you’ll get shimmery glitter lines galore with suitable surface water movement.

In use Kessil doesn’t provide PAR readings for the A80, which is a shame. It’s bright, but even on full power it’s not going to cut the mustard as the sole light source for most SPS given the 15cm+ height you’ll usually be mounting it to get the desired spread. It’s obviously beefy enough for smaller fish-only and FOWLR tanks, and will be suitable for mushrooms, soft corals and LPS in tanks around 35cm deep. But at only 15W, it’s a stretch to ask the A80 to satisfy very light-hungry corals; you just won’t get enough penetration. To be fair, Kessil suggests that to maintain SPS, the A160 and A360 (at 40W and 90W respectively) are the way to go. In this case, the A160 is good for a 45 x 45cm cube, and the A360 for a 60 x 60cm cube. In terms of controllability, you’ve got all the same gubbins as the larger Kessil models. The A80 is adjustable in terms of colour temperature and intensity, courtesy of two dials on the luminaire’s upper surface. On the marine ‘Tuna Blue’ model, the colour temperature can be adjusted from around 10,000°K to an intense, coral-popping actinic. There are also input and output ports: if you want to ditch manual knob-twiddling and programme a custom schedule, the A80 can be used with Kessil’s nifty Spectral

C co T d ou in ‘U v th b m th 6 T o p sp d op w H

FREE GOOSENECK The dedicated Gooseneck is being offered free with the A80 luminaire.

15-LED ARRAY Secondary lensing gives a spread of 35 x 35cm.

white option to its very popular Flex distinctive curved front and is equipped tration in its rear compartment. The ed with the Flex Pad remote control, colours as well as special effects. Flex d cut out opening and multi-directional

A scallop shell provided the inspiration for the unusual design.

Mounting options include the ‘top mounting adaptor’ (a simple bracket allowing the luminaire to be screwed into a suitable surface such as a hood), or the Gooseneck, which will be the choice of open-topped tank owners. The A80 has a dedicated miniature Gooseneck (currently offered for free, bundled with each luminaire). Attaching the luminaire and installing the

positioning and angling the light to your requirements, but be careful when adjusting it (especially with thin glass) as there can be a fair amount of leverage on the base. A complaint from some about the Gooseneck is that the luminaire’s cable is simply attached along its length with zip ties rather than being discreetly hidden away, but this doesn’t bother me.

Verdict

4/ 5

For smaller tanks with less demanding corals, the A80 is worth checking out. It isn’t exactly a steal at this price but it’s well-made and stylish, and there’s that free Gooseneck... OEase of use: 4.5/5 OFeatures: 4/5 OValue for money: 3.5/5 OOverall: 4/5 OPrice: A80 luminaire £149.95; A80 Gooseneck £29.95 when purchased separately, although a permanent offer includes a free Gooseneck with every A80. OMore info: Contact Evolution Aqua on 01942 216554, or visit www.evolutionaqua.com

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

ums are available in 34 l and 57 l sizes. matching stand. 49.99; Stand (57 l) £92.99. quatics on 01977 556622 or visit www.fluvalaquatics.com

Fluval Stratum for plants and shrimp Collected from the mineral-rich foothills of Mount Aso Volcano in Japan, Fluval Stratum is an alternative substrate for planted tanks and those with shrimp. It encourages strong plant growth — the roots easily penetrate and spread throughout the substrate to obtain key nutrients — and the porous structure allows rapid colonisation by beneficial nitrifying bacteria. This substrate helps support neutral to slightly acidic pH — ideal for most plants, tropical fish and shrimp — and provides newborn shrimp with a refuge. It won’t discolour the water and actually helps control organic discolouration when natural driftwood is present. For use in freshwater tanks. Price: 2kg £9.99; 4kg £18.99; 8kg £35.99. More info: Contact Fluval Aquatics on 01977 556622 or visit www. fluvalaquatics.com

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PFKNewGear FIRST SIGHT

Hugo Kamishi Bio Sponge filter A few years back, a company called Algarde broke my heart. I downloaded their latest catalogue, a catalogue that had been a steady part of my life for decades, and two filters were absent. The air-driven Biofoam 45 and 200 models were gone. Since then, my lo-fi fishkeeping world sort of fell apart. I mean, the Biofoams had their flaws (call it charm if you like, but charm doesn’t cause something to split down the middle and stop working) and were as ugly as bulldogs eating mince, but they were a breeding tank staple. They were the filters I’d reach for in a powercut, proud of my resourceful preparedness as I rooted about for batteries to stick into a temporary air pump. Biofoams were as much fishkeeping heritage as functionality. So, when I visited wholesalers ALF a few months back, I performed a merry jig when I spotted these Hugo Kamishi versions on a shelf. Snatching them up in both arms and snarling at staff that I was taking them, I’ve coveted them ever since. If you’re newish to fishkeeping, you probably have no idea why these are so good. I mean, they look like primitive filters from the hobby’s dark ages, right?

Well, yeah. Kind of. They’re also the hobby’s best kept secret. If you’ve tried to spawn a fish, for example, you’ll have soon discovered that a gutsy internal canister filter is a great way of sucking up weak-swimming babies and emulsifying them. If you’ve put together a hospital tank, you’ve probably been perturbed at the way your powerful pump is buffering about your dying patient. Air driven filters have a few benefits. They are cheap, and

ROTATING RETURN The return nozzle can be rotated through 360°.

CORRUGATED FOAM The design of the foam increases the surface area.

What’s my favourite feature of air driven filters? Their surfaces promote the growth of tiny organisms feeding on biofilm. Yep, the slimy skin that grows over the foam produces all kinds of aufwuchs, which shrimplets and fish fry will graze on. 104

cheap to run — a good sized air pump with a network of airline and valves can run several at once. They are light on flow but heavy on biological activity. They take up surprisingly little space. And my favourite feature — their surfaces promote the growth of tiny organisms feeding on biofilm. Yep, the slimy skin that grows over the foam produces all kinds of aufwuchs, which shrimplets and fish fry will graze on. The Hugo Kamishi design even has a

corrugated foam, increasing the surface area. Small details, big impact. Despite looking like a rigid, moulded piece of pipe, the Hugo design has some features. The neck can be extended, allowing for a total height of 34.5cm. Or you can squish it down to 23cm, for a shorter tank. The default position is to have the foam jutting forward from the uplift, but you can rotate the uplift 360°, allowing you to position the foam either side of it. And the 90° bend that supports the foam can also be rotated through 360°, meaning that you can have it flat, upright, or pretty much anywhere you choose. The return nozzle also rotates through 360°. Removing the foam to clean it is as easy as pulling it off of the central support, washing and replacing.

ADJUSTABLE NECK Depending on the height of your tank, you can extend t from 23cm up to 34.5cm.

FIRST SIGHT

Hugo Kam filter pad To clarify, this is unlikely to be your main filter on a community set-up. Rather, this is the domain of the fish-house keeper and hobbyist running a dozen projects at once. My own history of working with filters like this goes back a long way — in my public aquarium days we had similar filters in our seahorse and octopus rearing tanks. On a personal level, these designs have been with me through numerous tricky spawns. In addition to the single sponge, Hugo also makes a twin sponge design. Same height, same foam size (just two of them) but slightly less in the way of orienting features. Which is pretty obvious when you think about it. You can still tilt the foams down through upright to flat, though. Suppliers ALF run a ‘click and collect’ service on this one, which means that you can buy it online from home and either collect it from your local retailer (as long as they are an ALF stockist/participator), or have it delivered directly to your home. NATHAN HILL

shkeeping.co.uk

Verdict

5/ 5

There’s a paradox which is that if you want to up your fishkeeping game, you need to downgrade your technology. Air-driven bio sponge filters will be your friend if you want to have a stab at all manner of fishy projects. In fact, filters like these are ideal for the Nothobranchius we feature as Fish of the Month in this issue (see page 8). OEase of use: 5/5 OFeatures: 5/5 OValue for money 5+/5 OOverall: 5/5 OPrice: Hugo Kamishi single Bio sponge filter, £8.99; double filter £10.49. OMore info: hugokamishi.com. To purchase via ‘click and collect’ visit www.alfltd. co.uk and use code 032130 (single) or 032133 (double).

at carbon n acts as a orbing from water, avy metals, ls (those ally ‘yellow’ esn’t touch r nitrate — and it leaves water chemistry alone. No hardness swings from this stuff. Filter carbon usually comes in a couple of forms. One is loose, like gravel, and you have to bag it up for use in an external (or sometimes internal) canister filter. The other main form is the carbon pad — a carbon impregnated foam filter. The second form is where the Hugo Kamishi pad comes in to play. I’m not going to try hiding the fact — a lot of dedicated carbon pads for canisters are expensive. Like silly expensive. When I’m forking out over £10 for three meagre strips of black foam, I feel put out. The Hugo pad is a sizeable

slab of 20 x 20 nd 12mm thick. It doesn’t hav any holes, but if you’re not after too technical a shape, you can easily cut a piece out to fit most filters. Get sharp scissors though (the kind you’d want if you were fighting for your life against a bear) because the fibres put up a hell of a pushback. Like all carbon filters, you need to swap it every 4 to 6 weeks (otherwise it can, indirectly, end up dumping some of the collected waste back into the tank) and how long a pad lasts depends entirely on how big your existing foams are. Note that the density may differ from the brand you’re currently using, which could potentially clog more slowly or quickly, and could affect flow. Monitor closely if you’re swapping over for the first time. The biggest benefit is the price. At well under £5 for a sheet, you can afford to stock up for the year. NATHAN HILL

Verdict Hugo Kamishi hasn’t reinvented carbon, and even the concept of carbon pads has been around a long while, but this offering is delightfully cheap compared to some I’ve seen. OPrice: £4.25 for a 20 x 20cm sheet. OMore info: hugokamishi.com. Click and collect available using code 032110 via alfltd.co.uk.

105

PFKShoptour This month we visit shops in East Yorkshire and Bristol.

Brough

Bristol

Octopus 8 Aquatics Address: Unit 6a, Welton Business Park, Wiske Avenue, Brough, HU15 1ZQ. Tel: 01482 662200. Website: www. octopus8aquatics.co.uk Opening hours: Mon closed; Tues–Sat 10am–6.30pm; Sun 10am–4pm.

W el to n

Rd

Rd lton We

Wiske Ave Way Loxley

Octopus 8 Aquatics

What is it? Octopus 8 Aquatics is a new shop — six months old at the time of writing. It’s a small, 1,000 square foot family run store and is very well laid out with a clean and contemporary feel. It’s quickly gained a strong reputation for high-end marine dry goods and healthy livestock, as well as a good range of freshwater oddballs and aquascaping products. Manager, Louis Gregory, has had plenty of experience in the trade, successfully managing a large aquatic store before living his dream of running his own shop with the help from his mum and step-dad.

At just six months old, Octopus 8 has already gained a loyal customer base.

Snowball plec.

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE FARMER

High points If you like a modern-feel then this shop will be right up your street. The interior is mostly black and grey with clever spotlighting to give a pleasant ambience. All the selling tanks have black backgrounds and black substrate, making the fish colours really pop under the LED lighting — a mixture of Kessil, TMC and Ecotech Radions. Louis is a passionate hobbyist with a professional yet personable nature, which became clear as I heard him deal with his customers. Despite his main background in freshwater with a particular passion for oddballs, the main attraction was the marine section of the shop. Stocked with a huge range of dry goods

STAR RATING: Excellent 11111 106

and stunning livestock, I could see why this shop is the talk of the area for reef hobbyists. Freshwater livestock was dominated by various oddballs but with a selection of bread and butter community fish to suit all levels of fishkeeper. It was a nice change to see the selling tanks much larger than usual, which Louis says helps to make the fish more comfortable, despite them being harder to catch! It was great to see Louis also investing in the aquascaping side of the hobby, with a great planted display greeting you as you enter the store. Plenty of decent hardscape materials and other dry goods give budding

Dwarf hawkfish.

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

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Dracula goby and shrimp pair.

Colourful zoas.

aquascapers plenty of options. Octopus 8 also had some of the best labelling I’ve seen.

Sales tanks are larger than normal to allow the fish to feel more comfortable.

Low points If Discus, African cichlids and ponds are your thing then you’ll need to go elsewhere. As an aquascaper, I would have liked to have seen a healthier selection of aquarium plants on offer to compliment the excellent choice of aquascaping dry goods. However, Louis is looking at investing in a bespoke hydroponic plant holding system that will reflect the modern nature of the shop.

Verdict This shop is a gem. It’s early days for Octopus 8 but I can see the store is off to a great start with a loyal customer base already. The forward-thinking nature of Louis combined with his passion and drive is great to see and is reflected in the whole atmosphere in this excellent little shop. In time, I can see Louis taking on more staff, although he does have a good friend, and marine expert, that helps regularly on a voluntary basis. One of the best small shops I’ve visited, highly recommended and well worth a long drive if you’re not local.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

What stood out: G Dracula goby and shrimp pair £90 G Purple firefish £35 G Algae blenny £20 G Various coral frags from £10 G L82 Snowball plec £30 G Barred goodied £2.50 G Tiger teddies £3.50 G Green neon tetras £4.50

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

This isn’t a huge shop, but space is used wisely and there’s plenty to see.

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PFKShoptour Southwest Marines Address: Vine House, Northwick Road, Bristol, BS35 4HA. Tel: 01454 633633. Website: www. southwestmarines.co.uk Opening hours: Sunday 10am–4pm; Monday closed; Tues–Wed 10am–5pm; Thurs–Fri 12–8pm; Sat 10am–5pm.

The original owner leaves the day to day running of the store to part-owner and manager Matt and assistant manager Jamie. Three other members of staff give a huge wealth of marine experience totalling over 50 years.

High points

WORDS: KAREN YOUNGS, PHOTOGRAPHY: NATHAN HILL

No rth wi ck rd

North wick rd

If you’re a reefkeeper you’ve probably heard of Southwest Marines. If you haven’t then I suggest you pay the store a visit. The quality of the livestock was excellent on our trip, with the ne am La three display tanks all looking tip M4 Redh top and highly inspirational. Southwest Marines The variety of soft, LPS and SPS corals was among the best I’ve seen, interestingly many being lit with T5 lighting, that assistant manager Jamie believes is still the best for many systems. What is it? At the time of our short notice Southwest Marines is a visit the fish stock was on the low well-established marine side, having had a bumper few specialist shop that is highly days beforehand. That regarded in the industry said, what was on for its wide choice of offer was super high-quality rarer The quality of healthy and fish and the corals was excellent active, and inverts. It’s on our trip. reasonably located next priced with to the good owner’s labelling. trailer park Reef business specialist on the dry goods outskirts of were plentiful Bristol. with some rarely The shop has seen higher-end two distinct products alongside a sections with the first, as you walk in, housing the vast budget-friendly selection, to suit all levels of marine hobbyist. majority of livestock and the A nice touch was a ‘help second stocking all yourself’ coffee machine and sofa of the dry goods and two opposite a lovely large soft-coral display tanks, with an display tank. additional invert system. Behind the scenes I was shown how the shop’s livestock is quarantined and disease treated, Star rating NS Tropical fish as well as Southwest’s own NS Discus production of phytoplankton NS Cichlids live food. NS Oddballs NS Indoor plants Low points NS Pond plants The shop is a little rough around NS Koi the edges and showing signs of NS Pond fish needing refurbishment. NS Fancies I loved the idea of having a ‘wall NS Indoor coldwater of honour’ displaying various 11111 Marine fish customers’ amazing reef tanks 11111 Marine inverts but many were a good few years 11111 Indoor dry out of date with the photos NS Pond dry looking faded. NS Freshwater inverts 11111 Labelling Sever n road

Purple tang.

STAR RATING: Excellent 11111 108

Verdict

An excellent specialist marine

The team here is hugely experienced and there’s something to interest marine fishkeepers of all levels.

retailer worthy of its good reputation. There’s something in the shop for every level of salty hobbyist whether it’s a Common clown or a super rare wrasse. The hugely experienced team were a pleasure to deal with and their passion and knowledge was infectious, with each member having their own niche. The manager, Matt, has done a

superb job at making the shop so successful in an age where many bricks and mortar shops are struggling. No doubt a testament to his outstanding leadership and management. Highly recommended, whether you are a complete marine beginner or an advanced reefer, there will be plenty here to interest you.

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

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

Golden puffer.

Rock beauty angelfish.

Sailfin tang, Zebrasoma de sjardinii.

What stood out  Golden dogface puffer £550  Cuban hogfish £110  Harlequin shrimp £30  Flame wrasse £275  Emperor angel £150  Yellow tail basslet £50  Boxer shrimp £18

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

109

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NEXT MONTH in the Octobe issue of On sale August 30th 2017

ALAMY

COLOUR YOUR REEF There’s no doubt that the main draw for many reefkeepers is the amazing range of corals in so many shades. So how do we make the most of all that colour?

A MATTER OF COURSE Now you can get your very own PFK Diploma in fishkeeping — don’t miss the

PEACE OFFERINGS ALAMY

African cichlids are notorious for turning on one another — but can this aggression be reduced by a change in how we feed them? More next month.

GOLD LEAF AQUARIUM We spotlight this gorgeous group of dwarf rainbowfish.

ALAMY

TAI STRIETMAN

We set up a community tank based around a Guyana stream that includes some of the most popular tetras in the hobby.

PLUS: OReader visit OFish in the shops ONew gear reviews OYour questions answered by our experts — and much more. 111

PRACTICAL FISHKEEPING

BRISTOL

LONDON

The Fish Bowl Ltd

From plants to Cichlids, Stingrays to Snakeheads

133 Dawes Road, London. SW6 7EA

14

The Aquatic Store Really does have it all! www.theaquaticstore.co.uk 01179 639120 28 North Street Bedminster Bristol BS3 1HW COUNTY DURHAM

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when responding to adverts 113

TONY GALE

Tailpiece with Nathan Hill

“

Poor pump maintenance is a sin. I visit a lot of pump and filter manufacturers, and the worst thing about the returned, faulty goods is that very few of them are faulty. They’re just dirty...

”

C

licka… clicka click… CLICKA!’ We’ve all been there, right? At the end of the evening, when you’re just killing the house lights and getting ready for bed, your filter decides it’s going to toss out the aquarium equivalent of whooping cough. It’s a crushing moment, because you could really do without getting elbows deep in filters at five-to-midnight, so you stand there and just listen to check that it was a complete one-off and not a problem. Thirty seconds of silence. Then, ‘clicka clicka…’ My gear habitually chooses really unfortunate moments to croak. I’ve been in my tank after lights out at least five times this month. I don’t even have fish in this aquarium yet, but something in there keeps putting sand in my impeller in the small hours. It was the same in retail. On Christmas Day years ago, I went to my store and heard a sound like a thousand dying donkeys — a 0.5 horsepower Argonaut pump had decided that the day of festive cheer would be the perfect moment to turn red hot and start eating its own innards. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried disassembling an oven while it’s running, but that’s pretty much what it was like. I had hot metal, melting pipework, with a few thousand fishy lives on the line, and all I wanted was to get fat on an Aldi three bird roast and drink my own bodyweight in scotch.

Ramming the beach As for public aquaria. Damn. At Hastings Sea Life (as it was back in the late ‘90s) we had these outrageous pumps that were so terrifying that I didn’t even like being in the building when they came on. The way that water changes at Sea Life would work involved us using actual seawater that we kept in colossal, underground chambers, which held something like 25,000 l. To fill them, which we could only do at high tide, we had a huge pipeline going from the chambers, under the car park and all the way down the beach to below the high tide mark, where there was this big screen set up under the shingle. Come high tides, the pumps would be timed to activate, sucking up enough water

114

Hastings is a fishing port — but there’s no harbour.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Hot metal

pre-filtered through shingle to fill the vats, and then we were good to water change the next day. Hastings has an inshore fishing fleet. That means there’s no man-made harbour. To get ashore, the boats literally ram the beach at full pelt, while another person races to meet it with a whacking great steel cable on a winch, to haul the thing up out of the sea. One night a fisherman (we think) rammed the beach right on top of the Sea Life water-inlet screen, smashing it to bits. Then our pumps activated, these horrendous, steampunk style pumps with massive belts and howling motors – the sort of thing you’d expect to find in the bowels of a warship. Did they die? You know it, but only after they’d filled the chambers with about 20 cubic metres of shingle. And that is how you have a really bad day in public aquaria. All because we didn’t check everything before firing the pumps up.

On an eco-mission

magnetic mascot with a cheeky face and plastic vanes for a hat. Poor pump maintenance is a sin. I visit a lot of pump and filter manufacturers, and the worst thing about the returned, faulty goods is that very few of them are faulty. They’re just dirty, impellers clogged with gunk from a lack of cleaning, returned indignantly to retailers with a torrent of vitriol, and duly replaced. And just like my Sea Life experience, it’s avoidable. The difference is, we managed to repair the Sea Life pumps. Nothing wasted, aside a few new bolts. Every time a pump is replaced because it hasn’t been cleaned properly, you’re wasting magnets and copper — valuable resources. Even when smelted and re-used, that’s a big carbon footprint, just because you couldn’t be bothered to get in the impeller well with a cotton bud. Now, when was the last time you cleaned yours? It’s fine, feel free to go and check now. The mag will still be here when you get back.

Why am I banging on about all this? I want to sow some seeds. I’m on an eco-mission. If I could start one campaign, it would have a title as obvious as I am frustrated. ‘Maintain your pumps’ I’d call it, featuring a

Nathan Hill is Practical Fishkeeping’s features editor, photographer, videographer, wannabe aquascaper, closet killifish admirer, freestyle skater and beatmaker with a deep-seated fear of any pump bigger than a large dog.

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