fshfanatic’s Blog

It’s a sad fact of fishkeeping that sometimes, fish take a long time to let go of life. Watching a beloved fish struggle to breathe is tragic and helps no one, including the fish. In some cases, a fish may be carrying a contagious disease that needs to be ended as quickly as possible. Often, putting the poor thing out of its misery is the only humane thing to do. There are several ways to euthanize a fish, some more humane than others. Continue Reading »

Common Name: Mudskipper
Latin Name: Periophthalmus barbarus
Origin: India, West Africa, Australia, and other areas with mangrove swamps
Temperature: 80 °F (27°C)
Ease Of Keeping: If needs are met quite hardy
Aggressivness: Agressive, best kept in a species tank
Adult Size: 4.5 inches (11cm) to nearly 12 inches (30cm)
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Feeding: Frozen food, or live crickets.
Spawning Method: Mudskippers have yet to be bred in captivity Continue Reading »

I have been keeping dwarf shrimp for about 5 years beginning in late 2003. At first I only had Amano and Cherry Shrimp since they were the most commonly available species at the time. In December of 2006, I set up a shrimp rack that would hold twelve 10 gallon tanks for breeding shrimp. In addition to the Amanos and Cherries I collected several varieties of shrimp including, Crystal Reds, Yellows, Blue Pearls, New Bees, Blues, Snowballs and Dark Greens. For some reason, I was not getting many baby shrimp even though most tanks had at least one berried female in them at all times. All of my tanks had planaria in them and I had been assured by some local hobbyists that planaria were harmless to shrimp. I have since found this article: TheTrouble with Planaria, and have come to the conclusion that the planaria were indeed detrimental to my shrimp population. Continue Reading »

Tags: Hydra, Planaria, Shrimp

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Gravel
Substrate is the stuff at the bottom of the tank. Call it gravel which it should not be as normally gravel has a grain size in excess of 4.5mm and for a planted tank you really want to stick with a grain size in the 1-3mm size which is normally what one would call coarse sand. The epoxy coated stuff they sell in bags at the Local Fish/Pet Store is not what one would want for a substrate. Uncoated gravel/sand works much better and if you look around you will find it’s much cheaper. I can get 100 lb bags of coarse sand from an industrial supply house for around $13. Not a bad price, it works great and looks great. If you want Clown Puke (coated colored gravel) in the bottom of your tank that’s your choice, just don’t come crying to me when people laugh at you. Continue Reading »

Tags: dirt, gravel, sand, substrate

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I have integrated a discussion forum into the site blog. You can reach it by clicking the Forum link in the nav bar or by going here.

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Scientific Name: Tetraodon biocellatus
Family: Tetraodotidae
Origin: Freshwaters of Southeast Asia
Adult Size: up to 2.5 inches (6 cm)
Social: Best kept alone
Lifespan: 5 years
Tank Level: Mid, bottom dweller
Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallon
Diet: Live foods, prefers snails and shellfish
Breeding: Egglayer
Care: Intermediate
pH: 7.0 – 7.5
Hardness: 5 – 12 dGH
Temperature: 72 – 79 F (22-26 C)

Description: Very few people can resist a puffer fish once they’ve seen them. Their expressive faces, and propeller like fins make them an interesting addition to a freshwater aquarium. Puffer fish derive their name from their ability to inflate themselves with water or air when startled (a defensive mechanism – it’s harder to swallow a large fish than a small one).

Even when not startled, they have a rolly polly appearance. You can easily spot a well fed puffer by it’s rounded belly. Puffers have two pairs of teeth, each of which are fused together giving it a beak-like appearance. This unusual arrangement of teeth gives it the ability to crush hard materials such as the shells of crustaceans.

Habitat/Care: Controversy exists over whether or not any puffers are actually true freshwater fish. I believe the figure eight to be one of the few that falls in that category. They originate in the freshwaters of the Southeast Asia region, and although they tolerate brackish or even full saltwater, mine have always done best in freshwater. They prefer a neutral pH and soft to moderately hard water. They require ample open space to swim, but also need places to hide.

Generally puffers are not well suited to a community tank because they tend to be aggressive. Even puffers who have previously been docile can become aggressive as they age, or if they are not well fed. I’ve had puffers who got along very well for long periods of time and then suddenly turned on their tankmates and chewed them to pieces. On the other hand, most owners have found figure eights more peaceful than any other puffers and some have successfully kept them in a community tank.

I currently have a figure eight puffer in a 55 gallon community tank with a wide variety of other fish. She has not bothered any of them during the past several years. In fact, she is so tame that she can be hand fed with the other fish, as you can see from the photo linked above under Related Resources. While I cannot recommend the figure eight or any puffer for a community tank because of the potential for trouble, they are a comical and interesting fish that are worth owing.

Diet: Their dietary needs are perhaps one of the more demanding aspects of keeping this fish. They will not eat flake or dried foods. Instead they must be fed live or frozen foods such as snails, shrimp, worms, daphnia, clams, and oysters. Some owners, myself included, have had success training their figure eight puffer to eat frozen foods.

Breeding: Little is known about how to breed Figure Eight puffers. If you have successfully spawned them, please write to me and share your experience.