September 2, 2009
Tropical Fish Species
So how can I choose my first fish or maybe I need to change my current aquarium population? There are many families of tropical fish, tangs, catfish, bottom feeders, Characins, cyprinids, labyrinth fish, rainbowfish and many more. Make sure that your wishful tropical fish suit to your fish tank size and pick one. The Betta splendens is good selection; it is very hardy and tolerates species.
In nature, this specie's males have shorter fins that those we usually see in shops, these are called by the Thai "Plakad" (meaning- "Fighter"), and are used in Thailand for show-fights (just like roosters). This fish is durable to low water conditions, though; long-finned strains are more susceptible to high amounts of nitrogen compounds in water and will quickly suffer from fin-rot, dropsy and other illnesses. In large aquariums these fish need good filtration system with low to moderate water flow. If water flow is too strong, the fish will settle in a spot where flow is lowest and will hardly move from it. When kept in a jar, water should be changed every week- the amount of water changed, depends on the jar's volume. Some people buy dry leafs of a tree called Ketapang/Indian Almond-tree (Terminalia katappa) and insert them to the fish's jar. It is said to help preventing infectious diseases and getting the fish into breeding-mood. When feeding these fish, avoid over-feeding, as these fish tend to gorge itself, which might end up in a bloated fish suffering from deadly incurable Enlarged-leaver.
Another amazing freshwater fish is the Labidochromis caeruleus or by its common names yellow lab and lemon cichlid. The yellow lab is one of the most amazing Mbuna species that exist in the hobby, its yellow and black colors along with the fact That it is one of the least aggressive cichlids makes it very popular all over the world. The Labidochromis caeruleus requires at least 25 gallon tank size.
The Labidochromis caeruleus should kept in large community fish tank with other small Mbuna type fish like the species from the Labeotropheus Melanochromis. Decorate the tank with rocks, caves and other hiding places. These fish prefer hard alkaline water with a fairly high PH. The lemon cichlid will appreciate water changes on a weekly basis and well filtered water.One of the easiest Mbuna to breed.The Labidochromis caeruleus known as mouthbrooder. In order to maintain male Aggression they should be kept in ratio of three females to each male in the tank. The Preferred spawning site is on a flat stone, the female will take the unfertilized eggs in her mouth, eggs will be fertilized after the male release his sperm into her mouth.
The last one but one of my favorites, belongs to the livebearers family, the well known Guppy fish. The guppy is an elongated tropical fish that available in many different colors. The guppy is one of the most popular aquarium fishes all over the world with many standardized varieties. This species offers a large selection of colors with no two fish look alike. It is a small member of the Poeciliidae family (and like all other members of the family, he is livebearer). The most notable characteristic of this group is the presence of a copula-tory organ in males the andropodium or gonopodium, this organ is formed by the anterior rays of the anal fin. It is very easy to distinguish between male and females, Females are dull grey while the males are very colorful and have large fins.
There is nothing special to setup if you want to breed this amazing fish, the only thing you should do is to keep a ratio of one male and three females, the reason you need to bring more than one female for the male not harass the females to the point of exhaustion. Like all livebearers when the female is in pregnant it will develop a dark triangular shaped gravid spot near her anal vent. As the pregnancy advances the gravid spot will get bigger and darker. At the time the fry comes out it is recommended to move them or the parents to another fish tank or else the parents will eat their own fry. These fry can be fed with crushed commercial foods.
Rotem Gavish is a fish expert. Dedicating his life to this beautiful hobby, his expertise is in all related to aquarium world such as tropical fish, reef tanks and marine fish. Rotem established in his site a section dedicated to fishing games and for fish games.
Filed under About Aquariums by Gavish Rotem














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