Tabla de contenidos para July 2024 en Practical Fishkeeping

THIS IS my penultimate issue, dear readers. I am away to pastures wetter, where I shall be trading a desk-bound life for a hands-on one working back with fish. The calling is forever strong. But you do have me for one more issue after this, so let’s see if we can make it a corker. Speaking of corkers, this month isn’t exactly looking too shabby. With summer now starting to warm our backs, I’ve rolled out some features on dealing with the heat, and avoiding every pondkeeper’s nightmare: the summer wipeout. Meanwhile, Tai Strietman has definitely excelled himself with his latest creation—a black phantom biotope set to striking red Cabomba. Michel Keijman lauds a magnificent cichlid that’s all too rarely seen in stores, and Gabor Horvath takes us through some…

•50kg Finest Aquatics Natural Sand at £12.99 per bag •10kg Talawa Wood retailing at £20 per kilo •1x Packet of 12 Hobby Indian almond leaves £5.95 •1x box of 50 Hobby Alder cones at £4.99 •1x box of Hobby Catappa Bark at £8.95 •3x Freshwater AI Prime LED lights with Brackets at £285.49 per unit •1x Finestfilters Hidom WAP-6000 Return pump at £79.99 •2x Finestfilters Hidom 500w Heaters at £17.99 each •1x 500ml Seachem Prime water conditioner at £22.39 •2x 250 Litre Nictrio Goop at £19.95 each •1x 150 Litre Nictrio Goop at £14.95 each…

LOTS OF THINGS can kill pond fish. Water quality, disease, predators… or they can simply jump out. But hot spells can also come into the mix in the summertime, creating the perfect storm for mass mortalities. As water temperatures rise the metabolism of our goldfish, koi, and orfe increases, meaning they breathe more rapidly—but breathing also produces ammonia. Then you have the added problem of the fish requiring more oxygen, yet the warmer the water gets, the less oxygen it holds. Fish eat more and grow more in warmer water, they may have bred too, (or you may have added more,) so at the height of summer your pond’s health may be on a knife edge as the biological and oxygen-carrying capacity of the pool hits its limit. Thunderstorms may…

Other biotope correct species that could work in this tank include: •Apistogramma commbrae – Corumba dwarf cichlid •Apistogramma trifasciata – Three-striped apisto •Aphyocharax anisitsi – Bloodfin tetra •Aphyocharax nattereri – Dawn tetra (Requires cover glasses/hood) •Aphyocharax rathbuni – Rathbun’s tetra •Corydoras aeneus •Corydoras hastatus •Corydoras polystictus •Gymnocorymbus ternetzi – Black widow tetra •Hemigrammus ulreyi – Broken line tetra •Hyphessobrycon elachys – Sedge tetra •Hyphessobrycon eques – Serpae tetra •Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi – Black neon tetra •Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae – Red eye tetra •Rineloricaria aurata – Whiptail catfish •Rineloricaria parva – Whiptail catfish…

BETWEEN THE LAST issue coming out, and me writing this, I got married—one of several changes happening in my life right now. Those of you who follow the PFK social media channels may have seen an advert for a new editor for PFK. It’s not an additional role, it’s a full-on changing of the guard. I am hanging up my pen (well, sort of) and passing the editorial baton along to fresh fishkeeping blood. To be sure, fishkeeping is in my blood. At my wedding, my speech—surprisingly enthralling, according to those present— started as a hagiography to fishes everywhere. As I talked, it further hit home just how much they have shaped my life, from forging the direction of my education in youth, through moving me around the country in…

WE ALL HAVE our pet peeves, and one of mine is the frequent diagnosis seen online that a sickly fish ‘has swim bladder. ’ While it is possible for the swim bladder to be damaged or infected, often the problem lies with the guts of a fish, not its swim bladder. Ray-finned fishes (including virtually all the ones we keep as pets, from tetras and danios to cichlids and catfish) have a swim bladder that is placed above their digestive tract. Since it is filled with gas, when compared to the dense muscles around the spine, the swim bladder is much less dense. Overall, the swim bladder cancels out the weight of the muscles and bones, bringing the density of the fish close to that of the water it is…

Other species found in P. roloffi habitats include: Aethiomastacembelus liberiensis, Amphilius kakrimensis, Barbus macrops, Bryconalestes longipinnis, Ctenopoma kingsleyae, Epiplatys fasciolatus, Hemichromis fasciatus, Heterobranchus longifilis, Hydrocynus forskalii, Ichthyborus quadrilineatus, Isichthys henryi, Kribia kribensis. K. nana, Nannocharax fasciatus, Parachanna obscura, Pelmatochromis buettikoferi, Pelvicachromis humilis, Raiamas steindachneri, Rhabdalestes septentrionalis, Rubricatochromis gutattus, Schilbe mystus, Scriptaphyosemion guignardi, Synodontis waterloti, Tilapia brevimanus, T. guineensis, T. louka, and Tylochromis intermedius.…

While my passion is the Pantanal and the fishes and plants found within its diverse range of habitats, blackwater habitats are found across the world. You could do a busy tannin-stained coastal rainforest stream display for delightful jellybean tetras, Ladigesia roloffi, from West Africa, a bright Orinoco Basin morichal display for cardinal tetras, Paracheirodon axelrodi, or a mellow and heavily planted Malaysian swamp display for characterful red-tailed tasboras, Rasbora boraptensis. Funnily enough, these three all appear in my ‘Aquatic Habitats – Aquariums Inspired by Nature’ book, along with plenty of other blackwater displays! At the end of the day I would always say, find a fish or a plant which you fall in love with, and do your best to provide an ideal home—whether it’s a common-as-muck British stickleback and…

questions@practicalfishkeeping.co.uk WIN! Our Question of the Month letter will receive a Tetra goodie bundle worth up to £100* THE EXPERTS DR PETER BURGESS Peter is our disease expert. Send questions his way if you have pathogen problems. BOB MEHEN Bob is a master of fishkeeping general knowledge and community tanks. JEREMY GAY Jeremy is more than adept when it comes to cichlids, goldfish and marine species. JORDAN STIRRAT Aquascaping prodigy Jordan is the man to go to for all your planting issues. MAX PEDLEY Max is like a living, breathing search engine. Cichlids are his speciality. NEALE MONKS Neale is the man for your technical queries. He loves brackish fish, too. TAI STRIETMAN Freshwater biologist Tai has studied habitats all around the world and is our biotope expert. COLDWATER Can…

Swim bladders and lungs share a common origin. Primitive bony fish living 350 million years ago had ‘pockets’ from their guts lined with blood vessels. By swallowing air and filling these pockets, fish living in stagnant water could extra enough oxygen to survive where other aquatic animals could not. One lineage, the lungfish, went on to refine this system, resulting in the lungs seen in their descendants. But another lineage used the pocket as floatation device. Becoming neutrally buoyant meant these fish were free to divert more energy into propulsion and steering, becoming the fast and agile ray-finned fishes we see today.…

FIRST UP, A confessional. I’ve never been a big fan of surface skimmers. I always felt that they were sweeping problems under the rug. Specifically, if there’s something in my tank that’s causing a film on the water’s surface, I’d rather prevent it from happening than jump in with something that avails the symptoms without addressing the cause. That said, the symptoms themselves can in fact be the problem, especially where oxygen levels are concerned. Anything obstructing that delicate interface between water and air could spell big trouble for any livestock. These things have their place, for sure, but I’d still maintain that if you’re getting regular films of gunk on top of your tank, you need to have a look at what’s causing it. Pro tip: most of the…