Fish Identification

There are so many fish available for the marine aquarium. What could the aquarist do to be sure of the identity of a fish and therefore be sure it is the one for the aquarium?

The aquarist may have a ‘possible’ list and wish to reduce it to ensure there isn’t any overstocking and still be sure the fish are the ones really wanted. Maybe a new fish is being contemplated to add to existing stock and a check needs to be made.

The trouble is that many aquarists, and retailers too for that matter, use common names rather than the ‘proper’ Latin ones. Common names can lead to confusion, which could lead to the wrong fish, particularly if an order is being placed to obtain a fish unseen.

Out of the ‘possible’ list compatible fish with a good mix of colours and shapes are required. Or perhaps one fish is required for the collection. Whatever, the internet is a wonderful source of information and so it is in this case.

Following is a link to an identification database:

http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/index.htm

Having got to the website the aquarist can choose to search for the fish by species, by common name, or by type. If the common name or species is not known, then type of fish can be used. If the common name is known clearly that should be used. The fish can be seen and confirmed - or not - to be the one required. If it is the one, note the common name and also note the Latin name given. When ordering, the Latin name and common name should about guarantee the correct fish. If buying a fish already seen, a visual check will confirm the choice.

The fish list is alphabetical and a great number of fish are present so the list is long. Most of us aquarists can safely ignore the sharks and the obvious ‘not for me’ fish so it is not as difficult as it could seem. If a common name such as ‘Emperor Angel’ for example is known, scroll to the E’s and click on that.

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium-fish, aquarium-livestock, marine-fish, reef-fish, reef-tank

If A Fish Dies Should You Remove It From The Aquarium

Quick post this evening I’m afraid as I am limited for time.

Again today’s post comes from a question I was asked a while ago.

‘If A Fish Dies Should You Remove It From The Aquarium’

To me you should only remove a deceased fish from the aquarium if you can see it and do not have to dismantle to much rockwork to get to it.

If you cannot see the fish then I would not be tempted to remove the rocks in an attempt to find and remove it. For all you know it might actually not be dead but just hiding or swimming around under/behind the rocks. On top of this by moving the rocks around you may damage some of the other fish, corals etc in the aquarium.

In an aquarium a deceased fish will decompose quite quickly. There are a lot of animals in the aquarium who will ‘eat’ the dead fish and before long there will not be anything left.

What I would recommend however is that you should check your water quality more frequently for a while using water test kits to ensure that there is no detriment of water quality.

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium-fish, aquarium-livestock, Care, live-rock, saltwater-aquarium

Life Span Of Tropical Marine Fish

We look after our fish very well, don’t we. Whether it is a fish only aquarium or reef aquarium, a lot of thought goes into choice, taking into account compatibility, size and character. All in all, the fish should be healthy and happy.

The marine aquarium is a stable environment (or should be) with all the parameters at their proper levels. The fish receive a varied and appropriate diet. There is little stress I would imagine, apart from the odd squabble that usually doesn’t amount to much. Predation doesn’t exist.

On the wild reef the fish are more stressed as they hunt for food, attempt to avoid becoming food, maybe defend a territory, ensure they have a safe haven for the night and additionally have the need to breed.

Disease is a threat in both environments, but more so in the aquarium. The aquarium gallonage is really miniscule compared to the enormous gallonage of the reef, so the appearance of disease is much more serious. Just consider the entry of oodinium. The fish in the wild may meet it once or twice or not at all. If it does appear it is unlikely to cause a problem. So disease is an area where captive fish could be more stressed than their wild counterparts.

So the lifespan of fish that are commonly kept in captivity is easy to record. All that is required is for the aquarist to note the date when the fish arrived at his/her aquarium. My fish have dates recorded - for example, the flame angel (Centropyge loricula) is 5¾ years old. This excludes the period in transit and with the retailer of course.

Knowing the real age of a fish is close to impossible. How long has the fish been in the wild? Who knows, maybe there is a size related calculation that could assist? But size relates to diet and overall health to a considerable degree.

Perhaps a comparison could be made between wild and captive fish. The fish selected would have to be of the same type and of the same size. So taking the flame angel, it is easy to note the date the fish entered an aquarium, but the fish in the wild would have to be tagged or similar, and how would track of it be kept? No, it isn’t going to happen.

So the only lifespan that could be measured would be of fish in an aquarium. That would not reflect the potential real lifespan, of course, as there are many variables and a lot of the variables have changed.

An inquisitive aquarist keeping fish in captivity will just have to refer to a record and state to a fellow aquarist with pride ‘I’ve had this fish for x years.’

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium-fish, marine-aquarium, marine-fish, reef-fish, saltwater-aquarium

The Banggai Cardinal

The Banggai Cardinal, proper name Pterapogon kauderni, is a relatively new fish for the salt water aquarium. The fish in the aquarium is fairly sedentary, but has lovely colouring with black vertical striping on a silver body. The tail is long and forked, again being silver/black. It has become popular and can now be seen in many home aquariums.

I became concerned about this lovely fish as I thought there was a danger that supplies of the fish from the wild would dry up. Then I learned something potentially much more serious - perhaps wild stocks were in jeopardy which made my initial feeling insignificant.

As far as supplies drying up, this isn’t going to happen. First, the fish in captivity is much more helpful than many marine species in that it brings its young into the world much like a freshwater cichlid - it is a mouth brooder. Eventually the young require a defence and this is easily supplied with real sea urchins, the long spine types, or something artificial which is similar and quite easy to accomplish. So some pressure on wild stock is eased a little in that way. Only a little though, as the fish can only produce a few young in each batch. Clownfish, for example, produce far more young. But at least breeding is an option.

The second concern about wild stocks being in jeopardy as said is much more serious. It is estimated (on what basis I don’t know) that circa 700,000 of these fish is collected for the aquarium trade every year. The total population is thought to be in the region of 2,000,000. It doesn’t need a mathematician to work out that the collection ratio is high. The fish come from one small area in the Pacific Ocean and therefore is not widespread.

A proposition had been put to CITES to ban totally the collection of this fish, on the basis that the population could not be sustained with such a high collection ratio. This ban would mean that US and EU imports would cease, though presumably captive breeding would mean the fish would remain available but at a very much increased price.

However, in deliberations CITES have not imposed a ban. This is because the government of the area has agreed to a strict management programme which is to include training of local collectors and the number of fish that can be collected in view of the estimated populations. The aquatic trade is involved, and monitoring is to be carried out by an independent authority. CITES has accepted the fish is at risk, but, as said, have not banned collection.

This is good for the marine hobby. The fish will still be imported, but in smaller numbers, and the number available to the hobby boosted by commercial and private breeding programmes. The local collectors still have their income, or part of it, protected as far as possible. Above all, it appears a commonsense outcome in this day and age when there are many pressures, sometimes misinformed, to ban ‘exploitation’ of the wild.

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium-fish, Coral Reef, marine-aquarium, marine-fish, reef-fish

Clownfish Anemones

The term ‘clownfish anemone’ is an incorrect description, but it describes them well enough. These are the anemones that clownfish use as a home. Probably nearly everyone, aquarist or not, has seen the amazing sight of an unharmed clownfish within the stinging tentacles.

Some of these anemones are in fact called the Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea), the Pink Anemone (Heteractis malu), the Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), and Ritteri Anemone (Heteractis magnifica). There are others.

The anemone is more likely to settle well into an aged aquarium. In other words, a system that has been running for quite a few months as this normally means that it is stable. The bio-filtration has settled down and the rock structures have a population of some algae and tiny life. I know of one retailer who will not sell one of these anemones to an aquarist unless his/her system is at least 9 months old.

There are other points to note. The first is the often repeated one - water quality must be high. It should also be noted that lighting needs to be correct as the anemones contain symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). In a reef aquarium this is normally not a problem as the corals have the same requirement, but in a fish only system (provided the water quality is high enough) the lighting might need alteration.

When purchasing an anemone be sure that there aren’t any signs of damage, particularly on the foot. Sometimes there is damage in that area as getting the anemone off its rock is very difficult. It is much better if there is a rock attached. It is a good idea that when the anemone has been chosen at the retailers, research the natural colour. If the anemone is not this colour, but pale white (unless its meant to be white) or translucent, don’t buy it.

Also these anemones can grow large. I had one which completely outgrew my aquarium and I had to sadly let it go complete with clownfish (I couldn’t bear to separate them). Research will indicate the chosen anemone’s potential size.

Make sure pump intakes and overflows are guarded. If the anemone does wander as it might (see below) it could get sucked into a pump or overflow and be badly damaged.

Placement in the aquarium is very important. If the anemone is not happy with its position it is likely to wander until it is. Much to the irritation of the aquarist it may decide the perfect spot is on the front viewing glass, or somewhere else that is inappropriate.

The anemone should be placed fairly high on the reef, even on the top. The foot should go in a hole or crevice, as the anemone should be happy with that from a defensive point of view - they can contract into it, at least to an extent for protection. If there is a rock attached already to the anemone, don’t try to take it off. The anemone’s grip is very strong and damage to the foot is likely. Just make a hole for the rock to go into, leaving a suitable crevice or such above as described. If there isn’t a rock attached, the anemone should be placed into a crevice etc and given time to attach. To facilitate this circulation pumps may need to be turned off for a few hours (not the bio-filters if these are pump driven). The anemone should attach quite quickly - much more rapidly than a coral.

So the anemone is in place and has adequate lighting. There is one more requirement, and that is water movement. The surface of the anemone should be disturbed by random water movement (that is, not continuously one-directional). The flow need not be powerful, but moderately so. This can be judged by the tentacles when the anemone is expanded, they should wave about like flowers in a moderate breeze.

It seems anemones are fussy. Perhaps they are, but once settled they will give little trouble if water and lighting quality are maintained.

Feeding couldn’t be more simple. It is reported that the anemones can survive but not grow and multiply from the products of the zooxanthellae only, they need additional food. They are well equipped for this, as they have stings in the tentacles (nematocysts) which are fired into the prey when stimulated and poison is delivered. The food can be a small part of a frozen fish etc, the normal aquarium food used for feeding other livestock. The food should be cut fairly small, defrosted (not in a microwave, use seawater or R/O water) and placed in the tentacles. The anemone will move it to the mouth. If there is a resident clownfish it may well steal the food, even though it is too big for the fish to eat. In this case, place the food as close as possible to the mouth of the anemone and ensure the tentacles take hold. Recalling my clownfish, it would even do its best to pull the food out from the anemone’s mouth. It was always interested in the anemone’s food, even though it had been purposely fed beforehand. Don’t overfeed the anemone, once or twice a week should suffice.

Clownfish will not always take up residence in an anemone, much to the aquarist’s disappointment. Some aquarists declare that this is because they are tank bred, and do not recognise the anemone. I don’t dispute this, but what of the young in the wild, they have no formal education that ’this is an anemone’ but find one nevertheless. In addition, tank bred clownfish are known to adopt an anemone, it has been reported often. Perhaps it is instinct.

I would suggest that failure to adopt an anemone could be because it may be the wrong type of anemone. It is known that different clownfish favour different anemones. In view of this I have added a link at the end of the text so that a check can be made.

Bear in mind when considering an anemone that they are equipped to catch prey. The fish in the aquarium are prey for the most part as far as the anemone is concerned. This could occur when a fish swims close to the anemone and gets ‘blown’ in by the water currents. I recall having my heart in my mouth a good few times at how close some fish ventured, but fortunately a mishap never occurred.

An anemone, particularly if it has an attendant clownfish or two, is a really interesting addition to the aquarium. They need good husbandry and they could get large!

http://www.fishlore.com/clownfishanemonechart.htm

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Tags: anemone, aquarium, aquarium-fish, aquarium-livestock, marine-fish, reef-fish

I’ve Lost A Fish!

The fish only aquarium or reef aquarium has been stocked. The aquarium may be fairly newly set up, or may have been running for months or years. Sooner or later, a fish is going to disappear.

How can I be so sure? Well, fish are living organisms and therefore have a timed lifespan. On the wild reef this could be cut short by a predator. In the [tag-tec]home aquarium[/tag-tec] there aren’t any predators capable of taking other livestock, or there shouldn’t be. So how does the fish disappear?

The aquarist quite rightly checks the fish when doing routine maintenance or feeding. It is at this time that the absence is noted. Has the missing fish previously not been quite right - swimming strangely, breathing badly or similar? Are the other fish up for their food as usual, and swimming around as usual at other times with good colours? Are the water parameters normal and up to spec? Definitely no sign of ammonia or nitrite?

If there’s nothing wrong as in the previous paragraph then the fish has either been suffering from some malady that does not affect the others or, simply, its time has arrived. Apart from size, it is difficult to know the age of a wild caught fish. It may be months old, or years. Also, I am not aware of the expected lifespan of fish. It seems reasonable to assume that they might live longer in a well managed aquarium, with the lack of predators, but the potential lifespan, how long is it?

[tag-ice]Reef fish[/tag-ice], when faced with a reduction in health, often swim into the rockwork to find safety. This is their natural response. Of course, it may well be that the fish never comes out again. The aquarist has to assume after a few days that the fish is lost. Is there anything to be done?

There is no need to dismantle the reef in an attempt to locate the fish, and I doubt many aquarists would be tempted to do this. Leave the reef as it is. However, do not go out and purchase a replacement, at least not yet. In a mature reef aquarium the tiny life forms present can dispose of a dead fish very quickly. In a less mature system these life forms may not be present in number so disposal will take longer. The aquarist should not alter the routine [tag-self]aquarium maintenance[/tag-self] schedule, but ensure that water changes continue and the schedule includes regular ammonia/nitrite checks. These checks should be done daily once the fish is known to be lost. After four or five days reduce to every two days. After around a week and a half all should be well. This period is there to allow any consequence of the sudden appearance of a dead fish to appear. If it does not, all is well. If ammonia or nitrite is detected, observe the fish and ensure they are comfortable and not displaying signs of stress. Be prepared to do additional water changes. The bio-filtration is tuned to the normal load, and the additional load may not be successfully fully dealt with.

Once the period of water quality stability testing has passed, then a further fish can be considered and purchased.

The loss of a fish is a sad occasion for the aquarist. Even with excellent water quality and excellent nutrition, and the aquarist carrying out maintenance diligently and correctly, these losses occur. The fish however may have lived longer than it would have done on the wild reef.

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Tags: aquarium-fish, marine-aquarium, marine-fish, saltwater-aquarium, saltwater-fish

Stress, A Potential Killer

With a successful marine aquarium, be it a fish only aquarium or reef aquarium, the term ’stress’ seems inappropriate. Beautiful fish gliding about, corals swaying in the currents, shrimps on their eternal quest for another morsel to eat. Aquarists sit and watch the living picture with a sense just the opposite to stress.

In the human world stress is well known. The so-called rat-race, people getting to work, then being overworked, then sitting in traffic jams on the way home again - and all the rest. Stress is recognised medically as a problem, and it can lead to complications if not dealt with.

The marine aquarium world is not different. There is a difference in cause, but the affect on the afflicted can be no less catastrophic.

On the wild reef natural stress is part of the daily routine. Fish can be chased by and perhaps escape from predators. Predators create the need to hide for security. In breeding periods there is competition. There may be brushes with disease. Life on the wild reef can generally cope.
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Tags: aquarium-fish, marine-aquarium, marine-fish, saltwater-aquarium, saltwater-fish

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