Photographs: Corydoras concolor

While the rest of the world is out basking in the sun, I'm taking photographs of my fish....

I acquired these beauties a while back from Artane Aquatics in Dublin (thanks for holding them for me).

After a bit of a stressful acclimatization period they are now doing great. The fish are still just juveniles but are showing an impressive growth rate. I can't wait until these are fully grown as this species is very impressive when mature.

Collecting Mosquito Larva, Culex spp.

It’s summertime and with the fine weather we have access to mosquito larva which should be a welcomed treat for your fish.

 

I have heard arguments about not using these as a food source due to pollution and bacteria in the water but I have personally never had any problems deriving from the use of these.

The fish love them and it’s nice to see the fish’s natural hunting instincts kick in when they are added to the aquarium. They are also very good for conditioning fish prior to spawning.

Regarding the pollution issue it’s really up to each aquarist to decide on if they want to use them or not. I personally harvest mine from plastic containers filled with rainwater and believe this to be a safer option than collection from a pond (depending on location).

A shallow preferably dark plastic container filled with water and placed in a shaded area should be enough to attract female mosquitos to lay their eggs on the surface of the water.

Depending on the temperature the mosquito larva can be harvested on a more or less regular basis by using a fine meshed net. I do rinse them under running water after harvest and place the larva in a glass container filled with clean water or tank water (as seen above). The larva can then be fed to the fish with a baster.

Just make sure to harvest regularly and discard any larva you don’t use as otherwise you will have a mosquito problem on your hands.

Happy hunting!

Heiko Bleher visits Ireland

Last week ichthyologist and explorer Heiko Bleher held a talk in Leopardstown, Dublin, organized by Maxi Zoo Ireland and of course I could not miss an opportunity to hear the man who has brought so much to the world of fish keeping.

I really believe that these types of events are greatly needed, especially in Ireland as I think there still is plenty of room for the hobby to develop and grow here.

The event was well organized (free goodie bags for the attendants is never a bad thing). The only suggestion I would have for the next one would be to supply a few more chairs as it became a bit tedious to stand in the long run.

I was also surprised that there was not more attending the talk as I thought it was well advertised, for anyone who thought about going but didn’t I can just say that you missed a very interesting talk.

Heiko started by giving us a glimpse of his early and fascinating life, including how he, his siblings and his mother lived for six months with a tribe practicing cannibalism. We were showed examples of the more than 60 aquatic plants discovered by Heiko Bleher's mother, Amanda Flora Hilda Bleher and it struck me how much we take for granted when it comes to what is available to us in the local fish shops today.

The talk continued with a summary of his many expeditions and findings around the world.

I did find this segment the most interesting of the day, not only did it portray a number of biotopes and interesting aquatic fauna but it gave a broader image of his travels and the locations he visited. We were shown local tribes and customs which ties in very well with the understanding of these habitats. Issues regarding environmental and humanitarian problems were also highlighted.

After the break Heiko set up a biotope aquarium of Rio Jufaris, Brazil (pictured above). There were very good bits of information here but I must admit that I did miss some parts of it.

The bitope in question looked very nice, and Heiko discussed the importance of keeping fish the way they live in the wild, this included several examples of biotopes including discus set ups designed to replicate the natural environment of the fish. A point was made that numbers matters, and that as discus live in great numbers, they should be kept in numbers for them to express their natural behavior. The same was said about other schooling fish and we were shown images of tetras shooling in a fashion rarely seen in the aquarium.

I had toyed with the ideas of specific biotope set ups several times but in my mind I saw it as mainly a visual thing. Having listened to Heiko talking about the benefits for the fish and seen his photographs of many, many successful breeding results something clicked in my head and I did realise that I do have to spend more attention to detail when keeping certain species.

One of many examples shown was of a Synodontis, moving gravel to build its nest. If pebbles of the correct size were not present the fish could not exhibit its breeding behaviour.

Heiko had also set up two biotopes prior to the talk;

Biotope: Rio Mato Grosso, Brazil 

Nano Biotope: Small Creek in West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia

Heiko also mentioned his vision of fish shops that actually present their stock in appropriate biotope set-ups. This is a great idea as many aquatic shops today present their fish in a very sterile fashion. How is someone new to fish-keeping supposed to know how to care for their fish’s needs if the shops don’t present them? I am aware that most of us do our research beforehand but many do not.

I also believe it could be a great selling point as the fish would be presented at its best in beautiful set-ups and the shop could probably also benefit from sales of plants, substrate etc..

A biotope is of course not for everyone but it would be very nice if the option was there.

Overall I had a great time and there was many bits of information to pick up from the talk that I’m afraid I have forgotten half of it. 

I do hope there will be more events like this organized in Ireland, many thanks to Heiko Bleher and Maxi Zoo for the experience.

For more about Heiko Bleher visit: www.aquapress-bleher.com

Andreas

Tank Presentation: Custom Corner Tank

Update 2013.11.04

Update: 2013.09.17

The 125 litre corner tank above has changed quite a bit (don't mind the algae), the breeding pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus "nigeria red" had to move to a separate tank. The pair was moved as they were getting to aggressive during spawning to let me keep community fish in this tank.

One Red Tiger Lotus, Nymphaea zenkeri which had outgrown one of my smaller tanks has been added and I think it really makes the difference.

12 Ember Tetra, Hyphessobrycon amandae moved in and they really seem to enjoy this environment and are constantly schooling. The colour of this fish also matches that of the Red Lotus plant very well.

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I got this tank around Christmas 2012 and thought it would be a good idea to record the evolution of the set-up, something I wish that I would have done with other tanks.

As I noticed that my set-ups had become more and more functional and less nice to look at, I wanted something nice for the living room.

There was a perfect stand for a tank in the house and I decided to get a unique  custom built tank to fit it.

 

The aquarium was designed and built by Rainbow Aquatics in Dublin and they did a very good job.

Tank dimensions; 

62 x 62 x 40cm with one corner “cut” off, holding roughly 125 litres.

Filtration:

600 l/h powerhead with a large sponge attached for both mechanical and biological filtration plus an air-pump running a smaller sponge which rarely is cleaned.

Heating:

Jäger 125W

Lighting:

Standard bulb for a 54l tank

This is the most recent photo of the tank, the interior comprise of two roots and two branches, one of the roots and both branches were picked (and treated) by myself from the beach.

The substrate is a mix of very fine sand and small pebbles, the layer is not thick enough to support any plant which means that there are several plastic pots containing clay and pebbles supporting the rooted plants.

Plants include:

2 Vallisneria

2 Echinodorus

1 Microsorum

2 Anubias

Fish list;

Pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Nigerian Red",

group of Corydoras panda,

various Guppies,

two juvenile Ancistrus

At the moment the Pelvicachromis are raising their first batch of fry in the tank, I'm extremely impressed with the parental instincts of this fish, fighting of two hungry Ancistrus is not an easy tank.

The above photo was taken just after that the tank was set up, as you can see allot has changed since. 

 

Photo of the tank just after that the background was painted. The photo gives an idea of the shape of this aquarium.

I will try to update this post every now and then to show what is happening in the tank.

I have thought about adding either a large school of Cardinal Tetras or Ember Tetras, an other alternative would be to go complete West African as that is something that I have never done but for the moment I'm happy with the tank as a general community.

Thanks for watching,

Andreas

Back to Basics / New Additions; Platys

I just had to share a picture of this beauty.

After having spent so much time on my plecos and Corydoras it was refreshing to get these little Platys  the other day.

I had not planned to buy anything but as I saw these I was sold. Unfortunately they only had one female at the LFS so I ended up just getting the pair.

As I understand they are of either the marigold or sunset variety, or is that two labels used for the same fish?

In the photo you can see the stringy poo which indicates possible worms but they have now undergone the de-worming treatment like all my new fish do.

They are doing really well and are  rapidly putting on weight.

Melander

D.I.Y Insulating a Fish Tank

There are many ways to save bit of money in this hobby and it is perhaps more important these days with increased energy costs and upcoming water charges. Insulating your tanks might be one of the easier methods.

The heater of a tropical aquarium is probably one of the necessities that have the highest energy consumption (unless you are packing some impressive light system), by simply insulating a tank you can save a few buck in the long run. It all ads up especially when keeping several tanks. Another positive side is that as the tank will retain the heat longer you will have more time to sort out a malfunctioning heater.

What you need: suitable amount of styrofoam or another insulating material, a carpet knife, a measuring tape, silicone and paint (optional)

Sheet of Styrofoam:


 

If you want a background (painted or not) on the outside of the tank now is the time to apply it. I choose to paint the back and sides of the tank before attaching the styrofoam. Make sure to leave a square free from paint around each piece of glass for the silicone, see the masking tape in the picture below:

 

Cut out the pieces of insulating material that you need and attach them to the rear (and sides) of the tank using silicone:




















Detail of the silicone binder (a rough job i know:)):

The next step i optional. I decided to paint the styrofoam just to make it look less intrusive:

My tank is not a display tank but If your tank is a centerpiece it is worth to hide the insulation for instance in a rack or by lining it with wood panels.
 

Finally, it's never a bad idea to use styrofoam below the tank as well for a minimun heat loss:

That's all, a quick easy and cheap solution.





Melander

Videos: Pelvicachromis taeniatus Nigerian Red and Ancistrus red & black

Got my hands on a video camera and thought I would share my first two aquarium videos, there will hopefully be more of this in the future.


First of is my young pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus Nigerian Red interacting, it does look like they have paired up. These two will be interesting to follow.

Secondly, here's a horde of Ancistrus red & black from my latest batch.