The Red Tailed Black Shark (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor)

An example of a red tailed black shark.

Underrated? Misunderstood? Of course as long as it has shark in it's name the idiots of the aquarium society will want it. The red tailed black shark is common in the aquarium but not in the wild as it is extinct in the wild due to farming for pets. This fish is not called a shark for no reason it will bully other fish to death. It is NOT a community fish, even if you find one that's not aggressive they become aggressive with age. These are cool pets to have if kept alone, with a striking red tail and a body as black as ebony, they turn heads constantly! Rtbs need a tank of around 50 gallons, they also don't get on with their on species, so please no 10 gallon red tailed black shark tanks, yeah? They are bottom dwellers so they love their own cave/place to hide. Ph - fairly soft, slightly acidic preferred (pH 6.5-7.0), but not essential. For diet they are omnivores which enjoy algae wafers, please if you a considering one feed it peas every once in a while, they clean their systems out, which helps against a lot of causes of death. For temp they prefer 22-26 ° C Now here's another picture of these lovely sharks!

This is an albino which is less common than the black variety.

Pet Shrimp

Shrimp are great pets in the community tank or a species only tank. In a community tank not only will they look great but they'll clean up your tank, eating leftovers and cleaning your plants. In a species only tank you can breed the majority of shrimp pretty easy. They come in many different colours and sizes. Red cherry shrimp are great pets and look awesome in the aquarium.

An example of a Red Cherry Shrimp

 Or if red doesn't take to your liking why not have some green midget shrimp?

An example of a Green Midget shrimp.

Or even blue shrimp?

An example of a blue coloured shrimp.

Although shrimp do tend to 'ping' off surfaces in the tank so you'll want to have a secure lid for your tank or else you'll find them on your floor. They don't have much bio load either so you can keep quite a lot of them, but they do need a filter and a heater (depends on where they are from). Do you remember the saltwater shrimp from finding nemo? Well pretty much all freshwater, saltwater and brackish water shrimps are clean freaks! They eat pretty much anything but if you have a filter feeder you'll want to take a closer look into feeding them. If you have any questions please feel free to comment below and I will reply asap.

The Green Spotted Puffer fish (Tetraodon Nigroviridis)

Well recently I bought a puffer fish named Buttercup, after the green and black powerpuff girl. Turned out she had fungus but she's all better now. With green spotted puffers I would only house one by itself as they are very aggressive and will tear other fish in two with it's sharp 'beak', even if you kept another gsp with it they would still nip and fight with each other, and puffers are poisonous to eat so you don't want to get a huge fish that will eat it. They need to be fed something hard e.g. a snail regularly to keep their teeth trimmed if not you will need to do that for them which is a very tricky business, they can live up to 10 years old so a lot of tricky trimming. They prefer a temp of 24-28^oC... 7.5 to 8.5 for ph.These fish are more like dogs than fish, they are very smart and curious, they will also soon recognize their owner. They NEED brackish water.. Most pet shops that aren't worth their salt will keep them in freshwater (pardon my pun) but the gsp will slowly die (over months) in freshwater, they need brackish water, which is in between freshwater and saltwater. As the puffer gets older you will want to increase the salinity until you have your puffer in marine water (when your puffer is a few years old). These little guys are worth their weight in salt and I would advise them to anyone!

Awesome alert!!

I thought I would upload this for a friend..
This is not his permanent home, he lives in a 48 gallon, this is my training tank :)

Jack chatting away to Mr. Alfresco and Mr. McGills on the phone.

A lesson I learnt the hard way...

Well, if I were to buy a fish from a local pet shop I know the fish would be in bad condition, so that's why I don't buy from local pet shops. I sought out the best pet shop I could, well it's not really a pet shop it's a garden center that has some extremely amazing and rare fish, I have bought from them for two years now, not to find a sick fish in my tank from them, up until a few months ago. I bought two lovely young glass catfish to keep the older glass catfish company which I had been given due to a friend giving up the hobby... Less than a day later one of the youngsters was seriously ill, bloated until I thought she would burst, seriously! Due to the species I could see blood streaks inside her body, which I could not see before and of course the other youngster fell ill, luckily they're still with us, zipping about the 48 gallon. Happy and Healthy. About two weeks ago I got three corydoras, one fell ill the next day.. Fin rot, a really bad case too but he's all well now, except one of the other corys got a fungus just after the other corydoras fell ill.. I was shocked and I put in his medicine but it was too late he had passed it onto the first fw tropical fish I had ever got, Oreo my one corydoras'. Luckily they are both on the mend thanks to Blue Methylene!! Then three days ago I saw a CROWN TAIL betta when I was getting live plants, he was so beautiful I couldn't resist! I started training him right away, but two days later I woke up, heartbroken to find him with ich (white spot). I had no salt and my heater will not go up any higher, we were sure to be doomed. But right now he's been treated with anti white spot, who knows if he'll make it, but I sure hope he does he's a little smartie, here he is. He's such a beaut , don't you agree? P.S. always have a QT (if you are able).  In this hobby bad things happen overnight, good things take time. Thanks for reading.

Cruelty.

Imagine this. You're in a small room, you can stand up straight but barely, it's so small you can't even walk about. The air has a low concentration of oxygen as you've been in there for a while. Sometimes it can be extremely warm other times it can be really cold, you have no jacket, you're wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The room gets swung around a lot and shakes, making you feel really dizzy. It gets better.. There's no food and you're able to see through the walls like glass, sometimes weird things will make strange loud noises while staring right at you. Wouldn't you be stressed, petrified and hungry?

 

It is reality for this little guy.

 

He's a fish, so what? It doesn't matter what you put them through, they're stupid, ugly, pathetic and boring. Why would anyone care? Believe it or not he has feelings too, he's a living organism. Oh my cod, right? When I first saw this photograph it almost reduced me to tears. Why does this fish deserve to be treated this way.. Please help stop animal cruelty, not only to horses, dogs and cats, but rabbits and fish etc too. Keep in mind that when you're going to buy that fancy pedigree pet there's pets in need of homes, a lot of good animals are  being put down each year in lack of finding a home, even some pedigrees need re-homing. If you see animal cruelty, speak out you're the only voice they've got.

Did you listen to the fish store employee and run your filter for 24 hours before adding fish?

 At the very basic level, cycling a tank is allowing bacterial colonies that consume harmful compounds to grow to a level to keep your fish healthy. The first bacteria to appear consume Ammonia and excrete Nitrite. The next to show up consume Nitrite and excrete Nitrate . Both Ammonia and Nitrite can hurt your fish long term or short term (deadly). Nitrate is less harmful and fish can acclimate to it. Up to 80 PPM can be safe for your fish. 

Where does the Ammonia come from? 

Fish produce it in their waste and any left over food/rotting plants decompose into Ammonia. A fishless cycle, which is preferable by most standards, involves adding an ammonia source and allowing the bacterial colonies to grow before fish are added. 

But what if you didn’t know about any of this before buying those beautiful fish?

This is the point that a lot of people start to get a bit overwhelmed. There’s really no need for it though. Get a liquid test kit and follow the directions. Don’t waste your money on test strips as they are more expensive in the long run and a lot less accurate. The test results will tell you what to do.
If Ammonia or Nitrite equal .25 PPM or higher, it’s time to do a water change. Remember to use a good dechlorinator. If you measure .50 PPM and do a 50% change, you will be at .25. 

I already have fish, what should I do! 

Think about returning some or all of your fish and doing a fishless cycle. If you absolutely can’t bear to part with your new finned friends, it’s time to get dedicated. Test your water daily or more and change it as needed. You may need to do this more than once a day so don’t be surprised. This regimen shouldn’t last longer than a month or so. Despite misinformation, changing water wont slow down your cycle and will keep your fish healthy. The bacteria that we need for a healthy cycled system live in the filter media, gravel, and décor, but don’t really exist in substantial amounts in the water itself. 

Can I do anything to speed things up? 

Yes! Get some nasty old filter media or a handful of used gravel from a healthy established tank and put it into your filter or in your tank. This will “seed” your system with the bacteria needed and significantly speed up cycling for you.

How do I know when my tank is cycled? 

Your Ammonia levels will gradually give way to higher Nitrite levels. Nitrite will lower to zero and Nitrates will start to rise. When you consistently test zero for Ammonia & Nitrite and have increasing Nitrate, you have a cycled tank! Remember that each fish you add will add more Ammonia and that time should be allowed for the bacteria to catch up. Add slowly and responsibly and you will enjoy the hobby even more and your fish will thrive. Beware this isn't just a hobby it's an addiction!