Fresh Aqua Fishes : March 2015

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Parrot Fish

Picture:

Image result for freshwater parrot fish

About:
These are Hybrid fish.they are well known as blood parrot cichlid ,parrot cichlid and bloody parrot .The fish was first created in Taiwan around 1986.Parrot fish are not a naturally occurring fish. Instead they are a man-made cross-bred fish, and a controversial one at that. Blood parrots are often bright orange in coloration, but there are other colors that they can have naturally, such as red, yellow or gray. Other colors may be produced by dyeing the fish, which can shorten life expectancy. Some fish have been injected with a colored dye by the breeder. Another modification, generally considered inhumane by enthusiasts, involves cutting the tail while small which causes the fish to grow into a heart shape and are usually sold under the name of heart parrots. As the press has brought this practice to light, the majority of fish stockists will no longer sell these modified fish. Adult fish can grow to a length of 8 inches (20 centimeters) and reach an age of 10 years or older.^[1] Various breeds of blood parrots have been developed such as the king kong parrot which typically vary in color from red to yellow. They have fully functioning mouths with less of a nuchal deformity and grow larger. They are usually considered more valuable than blood parrots.
Breeding:
Male blood parrots generally are infertile, but successful breeding has occurred. Normally, a female blood parrot lays eggs on a hard surface, and both parents guard the eggs unless the brood develops fungus, at which time the eggs will be consumed by either the parents or other fish.However, fish farms have begun introducing male blood parrots injected with a hormone to increase fertility. Most female blood parrots are fertile

Thursday, 12 March 2015

Silver dollar fish

Classification:
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class :Actinopterygii
Order :Characiformes
Family :Characidae
Subfamily :Serrasalminae
Genus :Metynnis
Picture:
Image result for silver dollar fish

Image result for silver dollar fish aquarium

About:
The Silver Dollar Metynnis argenteus was described by Ahl in 1923. This species is not listed on the IUCN Red List. They are found in South America. There information about their occurrences vary. Atlas references say they are found in Guyana, the Amazon east of Rio Negro, to Paraguay. This may actually be the occurrence of its close relative Metynnis hypsauchen, also known as the Silver Dollar Fish, as other sources suggest M. argenteus is possibly endemic to the Tapajós River basin in Brazil. This species is a schooling fish, mostly inhabiting heavily grown smaller tributaries and feeding primarily on vegetable matter. In nature they are normally a herbivore in the wild but will eat meat if an easy meal presents itself.The silver dollar is a peaceful schooling species that spends most of its time in the mid- to upper-level of the water. Its maximum lifespan is more than ten years. A chin-layer, the adult fish will spawnaround 2,000 eggs. This breeding occurs in soft, warm water in low light.
Breeding:
The best way to acquire a breeding pair is to purchase a half dozen juvenile silver dollars and raise them together. The parents will not consume the eggs or fry, although other fish will, so when spawning them it is wise to place them in a separate tank. To facilitate spawning, make sure the water is soft (8 dgH or below) and warm (80 to 82 F), keep the lighting dim, and provide fine-leaved plants.Eventually a pair will spawn, and the female will lay up to 2000 eggs. The eggs will fall to the bottom of the tank, where they will hatch in three days. After approximately a week, the fry will be free swimming and able to eat fine foods such as commercially prepared fry food,

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Guppy fish

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordita
Class: Actinopterygii
Oder: Cyprinodontiformes
Family:Poeciliidae
Genus: Poecilia
Species: P. reticulata
Picture:
Image result for guppies

Male

Kinds

Female
About:
Guppies fish are also known as million fish,rainbow fish.These are warm water fishes.These are live breeders .There male is smaller than female.They are mostly keeped in aquarium because they male are beautiful.they can cross breed with mollies.they are most reproductive fish females are always/mostly pregnant.
Size:
They are small fishes about 2 -3 inches.
Breeding:
Guppies have the mating system called polyandry, where females promiscuously mate with multiple males. Multiple mating is beneficial for males because the males' reproductive success is directly related to how many times they mate. The cost of multiple mating for males is very low because they do not provide material benefit to the females or parental care to the offspring. Conversely, multiple mating can be disadvantageous for females because it reduces foraging efficiency and increases the chances of predation and parasitic infection. However, females gain some potential benefits from multiple mating. For example, females that mate multiply are found to be able to produce more offspring in shorter gestation time, and their offspring tend to have better qualities such as enhanced schooling and predator evasion abilities.

Female guppies mate again more actively and delay the development of a brood when the anticipated second mate is more attractive than the first male. Experiments show that remating females prefer a novel male to the original male or a brother of the original male with similar phenotypes. Females' preference for novel males in remating can explain the excessive phenotypic polymorphism in male guppies.

Feed:

These are herbivorous fishes and nano feed is given to guppies.

Sunday, 8 March 2015

Moorii (fresh aqua dolphin fish)

Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum : Chordata

Class : Actinopterygii

Order :Perciformes

Family :Cichlidae

Subfamily :Pseudocrenilabrinae

Genus :Cyrtocara

Species : C. moori

Picture:

About:

The Malawi Blue Dolphin is also known as the Moori and is a hap cichlid originating in shallow waters and sandy substrate of Lake Malawi in African.The blue Moorii is called the 'Hump-head' because it will develop a pronounced bump on its head.Its scientific name is cyrtocara moori, but it was previously known as Haplochromis moorii. The reference to ‘dolphin’ in its name is related to the nuchal hump on its head and the shape of its mouth. Although fairly rare in Lake Malawi, it has become fairly common in the aquarium trade and is popular for its appearance and its less aggressive nature as a Malawi cichlid. The nuchal hump becomes larger as the fish grows and is found in both males and females. Malawi Blue Dolphin’s will bury themselves in the sand to avoid danger.

Care and Feed:

The Malawi Blue Dolphin’s large size, a tank of 125 gallons is recommended. As this is a timid fish, it should have a few rocks and hiding places. It should also have large open areas with sandy substrate to mimic its natural environment. Spiral val may be a good live plant choice however it may be uprooted quite often. In the wild, the Malawi Blue Dolphin follows behind other cichlids that disturb the substrate and it then feeds on the organisms that are released. In an aquarium, it can be fed cichlid pellets, cichlid flakes, spirulina and frozen brine shrimp. Although it burrows in substrate, it will not eat plants.A single blue dolphin with several females is a good combination. Other tank mates should be mild mannered haps and peacocks. Mbunas should not be included in the tank.

Breeding:

Males are slightly larger than females and may show enhanced color during mating. The silver colored juveniles grow slowly and take nearly three years to reach half their size and mature sexually. They then breed quite regularly after that. Malawi Blue Dolphins tend to breed when no other species are present in the tank. They are typical mouthbrooders. The female places eggs in a nest or against a flat stone. The eggs are fertilized by the male and the female quickly scoops them into her mouth. Young females will hatch 15 – 25 young, while older females may hatch as many as 80. It takes about 3 weeks for the eggs to hatch. Unfortunately the trick of removing a female with eggs in her mouth to a separate tank doesn’t work well with Malawi Blue Dolphins. The female tends to drop the eggs when frightened. She may pick them up again in the new tank, though. The fry should be started on brine shrimp.

Saturday, 7 March 2015

Fresh Aqua Crabs

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum : Arthropoda
Class : Malacostraca
Order :Decapoda

Suborder: Pleocyemata

Infraorder: Brachyura

Picture:
Image result for fresh water crabs

About:
There are around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs, distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eightfamilies. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs which release thousands of planktonic larvae.
Common species:

Red-Clawed Crabs

The red-clawed crab is a popular one. It thrives best in brackish water with fish that will not try to eat the crab. Red-clawed crabs grow to up to 2.5 inches and live about four years. They are not picky when it comes to food and make great scavengers, but you may need to offer a dry food or vegetable to supplement their diet. Be careful about keeping the lid on tight, because the red-clawed crab may try to escape.

Fiddler Crabs

The fiddler crab is also referred to as a mini crab. The species thrives best in water that is slightly brackish and in an aquarium with an internal filter. Mini crabs will grow to up to 2 inches. They are usually peaceful crabs that are fairly easy to care for; they can be quite interesting to watch while they are scavenging for food. Fiddler crabs spend most of their time climbing and hiding in driftwood, rocks and other decorations on the aquarium floor.

Gold Claw Crabs

Gold claw crabs have one claw larger than the other and will wave it at other crabs to communicate and as part of its mating ritual. These crabs live up to 2 years, as long as the water is kept clean and plenty of decaying material is available for them to scavenge. This is a small crab species, topping out at 1.5 inches, but it can be somewhat aggressive with tank mates. Gold claw crabs need some land in their environment, but be careful of the aquarium lid, because they will escape.

Soap Dish Crabs

The soap dish crab gets its name because it is often shipped in a soap dish, each crab by itself to prevent one from killing another. It has many aliases, being called rainbow crab, moon crab, patriot crab and other names. These crabs can be quite aggressive, and will eat other crabs and fish. Many fish keepers still enjoy them because of their brightly colored bodies, feeding them live fish, black worms, shrimp and other creatures. These crabs thrive best in brackish water.

Keeping in Aquarium:

When designing an aquarium, you want to make sure the ratio of land and water is 50/50. In order to be able to create adequate housing area, you'll need an aquarium of no less than 10 gallons for up to four crabs.Once the water and land areas of the aquarium are set up, you want to make sure the temperature is accurate. Use a digital thermometer with a probe to ensure the temperature is between 75 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. If the aquarium needs supplemental heat, use a reptile-specific heat bulb. You can place the fixture above the land area so the fiddler crab can climb out of the water and bask to warm up.

Feeding:

Feed a crab a variety of commercial foods, including algae wagers, sinking pellets, specialized crab food, dried bloodworm's, shrimp and krill. You can offer blanched zucchini, blanched peas and raw or boiled fish.

Reproduction:

Male

Female