Blue Algae ( cyanobacteria )

Most aquarium hobbyists know and fear this type of algae, well actually it's the organism cyanobacteria. The appearance of the blue algae is often a slimy blue green carpet, quickly spreading throughout the aquarium surfaces. It easily comes of in sheets, that smell rather nasty. Blue algae can make your aquarium look like a sewer within a week, and they especially develop in new aquarium setups. In most cases blue algae are a clear sign that something is terribly wrong with your aquarium water.

Clean the aquarium gravel ( or sand )! On the bottom of the aquarium all the organic waste from dead plants, feeding and so on are collected nicely in and on the gravel, an excellent place for blue algae to develop. In one of my tanks I had a blue Algae problem on the aquarium sand. The water was clean, no overcrowding etc... but the nasty stuff always came back. The tank was inhabited with only large fish, no bottom dwellers to eat the small leftovers. I added a group of 9 Corydoras Sterbai and the aquarium bottom was clean and without blue algae within a few days. You could also try apple snails for this purpose.

Corydoras Sterbai

Things to try to get rid of Blue Algae
If the above did not do the trick you could try the following things, over the years I tried them all with different results. Be sure to remove as much of the stuff as you can before you give them a try.

Bright lightning can stimulate the growth of the cyanobacteria, so an easy thing to try is turn of the lights for about 3 to 4 days. The fish don't mind and the plants can take the darkness for a few days.

Although I'm not that eager to use all kinds of chemicals in my tanks I tried adding phosphate to the aquarium water. It worked, but the algae did come back after treatment.

Stop feeding your fish for a few days, and after that give them only a small percentage of the normal amount. This is one for the long run, don't expect results within a few days. It's usually no problem for the fish to eat less for a few weeks.

Reduce the amount of fish in the tank, you can add them again when the tank is more established.

Things NOT to do when you have a blue algae problem
Don't clean your filter! If you clean the filter you will remove all the 'good' bacteria from the filter substrate, these little guys are very important to get rid of the waste products of the fish.

Buy algae eaters, most of the so called 'algae eaters' don't even eat algae that much, but they surely don't eat the blue one, because it's not an algae but a bacteria.

Buy the algae potions, chemicals etc... from the petstores. If your lucky they will kill them for a few days, and some fish and plants in some cases, but it only cures the symptoms. The blue algae will come back in a few days and because they often kill the whole bacterial environment in the aquarium you are right back where you started.

Every successful breeder of tropical fish knows that feeding live foods to their charges is one of the best ways to maintain healthy and active fish.

Live foods are overall high in protein. They stimulate spawning, and help to intensify coloration. Live foods enhance the natural tendencies of fish to forage for their food as they would in their natural environment.

Nick Lockhart, breeder for King Discus feeds white worms twice weekly to our breeding discus and juveniles. His goal is to provide a wide variety of food to keep the fish interested and feeding to stimulate breeding.

White worms are easy to raise. A plastic shoebox from the dollar store will meet the needs of most aquarists. As worms need to breathe, the container shouldn't be air tight. Cutting a small hole in the lid and placing a piece of breathable foam in the hole will suffice to allow enough oxygen to reach the worms.

Fill the container about 3/4 full with peat moss as the medium. The peat moss should be wet, but not soaked. Test by squeezing a bit of the medium in your hand. If a few drops emerge, then you have it right. If water emerges from the mass in a stream, you have it too wet.

Add your starter culture of worms. Finding a suitable starter culture can at times be difficult. A good source can be from auctions at local fish clubs, or from a fellow enthusiast. Also, looking in the classified in the back pages of magazines like Aquarium Fish Magazine or Aquarium USA can sometimes lead to a good resource.

Place a piece of wet crustless white bread on top of the medium for compost. Cover this with a sheet of plastic the size of the slice of bread. The plastic aids in keeping the bread from drying out. It is a good idea to bury the piece of bread in the medium when first starting a culture to prevent mold from occurring. Allow the worms a week to establish before feeding them. Check on them on a daily basis to insure that they are eating the bread.

White worms will need to be housed in a cool dark place, free from insects. We use an apartment sized refrigerator with a temperature control sensor that maintains the temperature at 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of the best foods for white worms is Gerber's Baby Oatmeal. Add a pinch of active dry yeast to the mixture. The trick is to feed the worms enough to insure they thrive, but not so much that it will begin to mold. A good rule of thumb is to feed only what they will consume in three days. A little trial and error work is needed here. If mold occurs, simply spoon it out of the medium, and replace the food, using less the next time.

White worm cultures will "crash" if the population becomes too large. This can be noted by the worms attempting to crawl up the sides of the container. Simply dump the medium onto a sheet of newspaper, separate the medium into two parts, and you have another culture to fall back on if the first crashes. Get another shoebox, top to 3/4 full with dampened peat moss, and you have the insurance of a supply of white worms.

To harvest white worms, simply wait until a nice clump of them are underneath the sheet of plastic, pluck them out with tweezers or your fingers, and clean appropriately before feeding to your fish. rinsing with dechlorinated water, by pouring from one container to another will do the trick, removing any soil or left over food. You can then feed the worms to your fishes.

The biggest thing to remember about growing white worms is to never let the medium dry out. It is also a good idea to have two cultures growing at the same time, in case one of the cultures "crashes." Keep an eye out for mold, feed the worms appropriately, and you will have happy, vigorous fish!

Alden Smith is a published author who has been marketing on the internet for over 7 years. His website, http://www.kingdiscus.com, is a resource for articles, software and information on the tropical fish hobby. Visit his website for more information on live foods, tracking software, and articles on the tropical fish hobby, especially if interested in raising discus fish. weekly articles are posted, along with updates for Fish Minder software.

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The benefits of feeding live food to fish in a community tank are many: live food will improve vigor and color, and more closely resemble the food found in the fish's natural habitat. Live food is easily obtained.

Some drawbacks include the transmission of diseases or parasites to the aquarium, it is time consuming to maintain the cultures, and a lot of space needs to be devoted to raising live foods. The cost of equipment and supplies needed to maintain cultures is also a consideration for the beginner.

In this article I will discuss how to raise Daphnia. This article will be part of an on-going series on live foods. You can find many more related articles at http://www.kingdiscus.com.

Daphnia belong to a group known as the Daphniidae, and are close relatives of the freshwater shrimp, and the brine shrimp (Artemia). Their generic name is generally referred to as "water flea." This common name is derived from the jerky movements of Daphnia in the water. The over 150 different species can be found in North America, with a similar amount of species growing in Europe. Some of these species find common ground on both continents.

Daphnia are a small crustacean, and are great to use as a fresh food because they will exist in the tank water until eaten by the fish. Daphnia can also be sterilized if it is felt necessary by placing in a 5% solution of Clorox for 3 to 5 minutes. Very few micro-organisms can survive this. Be sure, however, to rinse them thoroughly before feeding!

Daphnia can be raised both indoors and outside. Many people raise daphnia in a small children's wading pool. A more controlled environment, however, is done indoors, and can be done year round if one lives in northern climes. This can be as simple as a couple of two liter bottles, to a 20 gallon tub purchased from a store such as Menard's. The ideal situation is to have as much oxygenated surface area as possible, so if there is room for a larger container, by all means use it. A shallower environment suits daphnia best for prolific growth.

Setting up the environment for daphnia is quite simple. Many methods are used for collecting the water to use for the culture. The best advice I have heard is from Joe F. of Circle City Aquarium Club in Indianapolis, IN. He gave a presentation at the August meeting of Southwestern Michigan Aquarium Society, and recommends using tank water saved from a tank change. Joe has been raising live foods for a long time, and has had good success. His video presentation was top notch.

PH levels for successful Daphnia cultures should be in the range of 6-8, and should be more alkaline than acidic. If raised outdoors, no aeration is needed. If raised indoors, aeration should be adjusted to produce large bubbles. Small bubbles in the daphnia culture will cause the bubbles to become lodged in the carapace of the culture, and they will die.

Water temperatures for Daphnia magna are not a high requirement, but the optimal temperature should be in the 64-72 degree range. they are very tolerant to changes in temperature, and can withstand fluctuations down to freezing. In fact, Daphnia can be frozen and kept in the freezer, and then revived when needed. Moina withstand a higher fluctuation in temperature than do D. magna.

Lighting should be in the neighborhood of eight or more hours light per day and light intensity equal to or greater than 850 lux. A simple light and a timer can accomplish this indoors.

Feeding the Daphnia is where most aquarists fail. Daphnia feed on dissolved organic matter, yeast, various groups of bacteria, microalgae, and detritus, or mulm. Organic fertilizers, such as fresh cow manure. It is not recommended by our breeder, though, because of the antibiotics and supplements fed to dairy and beef cattle. A much better mixture is a combination of one tablespoon each of spirulina, soy flour, and active dry yeast, added to a pint of water. This mixture should be added so that the water is cloudy, but you are able to see the bottom clearly, and observe the Daphnia swimming in the culture. This mixture should be added carefully every two or three days, being careful not to over feed. At this time, you should see an abundance of Daphnia, and they can be harvested to feed your fish.

Harvesting is quite simple - simply use a small aquarium net, observing that the smaller Daphnia fall through the netting to grow further. In this way, the adults are harvested, and can be fed to your fish. The younger Daphnia can go on to produce still more fish food. Harvested Daphnia can be kept in the refrigerator for several days in clean water.

Daphnia are high in protein, and a very good diet for tropical fish. Some aquarists feed them exclusively. They provide up to 70% protein to your tropical fish, and are an excellent source of live food for the aquarium.

Much can be written on the culturing of Daphnia. This guide is only meant to help the beginner to live foods to establish a colony, and feed live food high in protein to their fish. A series of article on live foods is forthcoming, and can be viewed at http://www.kingdiscus.com.

Alden Smith is a published author, and has been marketing on the internet for 7 years. Read more articles at his website, King Discus, an active gathering place for discus breeders and lovers of discus fish. His wife Betsy is the administrator of All The Best Recipes a site rich in free online recipes and cookbooks.

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Corydoras aeneus

The large corydoras family contains at least 120 different species, and a lot of these are widely available in aquarium shops all over the word. Their popularity is not surprisingly, they have nice coloring, are very outgoing and are always busy foraging the bottom of the aquarium for food. In a tropical community aquarium they are an excellent choice as a schooling fish for the lower areas, and if you are looking for a good bottom cleaner for your discus or angel tanks, you could give it a try. In my discus tank a small group of Corydoras aeneus is cleaning up the bottom nicely, they even recycle the poop of the discus.

Always keep them as a group of at least 5 fish, the more the better.

Although they come from different environments, they are rather tolerant when it comes to water values like PH and temperature. For basic keeping any temperature between 24 to 27 degrees Celsius and a PH between 6 and 8 will do.

They eat almost anything, but frozen foods like bloodworms and tibifex should be a part of their diet. They also like the pallets especially for ground dwellers, this way you can be sure they get enough to eat.

In a community tank you can keep different species of corydoras together as a group.

Provide some hiding places, you can often see them rest in such a place as a group.

Breeding Corydoras

Recommended corydoras species

Corydoras aeneus
Corydoras acrensis
Corydoras ambiacus
Corydoras burgessi
Corydoras metae
Corydoras rabauti

These are just a few of my personal favorites, the list of species is really endless, If you have a small aquarium you could have a look
at the Corydoras pygmaeus the smallest member of the family.

Recommended reads about Corydoras
The Bronze Corydoras
Corydoras pygmaeus
Corydoras World

White & warm white standard fluorescent lighting

The ultraviolet fluorescent tubes

Underwater Submersible Light

Reef aquarium Lighting

Java Moss : Vesicularia dubyana

The aquarium background is one of the most challenging decorations to create or buy, when properly setup it has both an aesthetic and a functional value. There is a wide range of commercial products on the market, some are absolutely stunning imitations of a river bank or a rock formation. But there is also an excellent natural option by using Java Moss
( Vesicularia dubyana ) to create your aquarium background.

The hardest part of creating an Java Moss background is getting the moss itself. Over here in the Netherlands it was not available at any petstore I visited, but luckily their are some plant distributors selling it on online. But first you need a foam background, preferably a dark colored one, and setup your tank. When the water is cleared enough start putting some small dots of moss on it, spread it as much as you can. I use paperclips to attach the moss to the background and remove them later on when de java moss has developed enough, that's all. The moss will grow very slowly in the beginning but when it is established you can weed it a few times a month.

Angel Fish Pterophyllum altum (back) & scalare (front)

After keeping and breeding Angel fish for a couple of years I decided to replace them for a group of discus fish, that was about 10 years ago. At that time the beautiful Altum Angel fish ( Pterophyllum altum ) was widely available and also the 'natural' colored Scalare Angel fish ( Pterophyllum scalare ). After setting up a new south American community tank a group of Altum angel fish was number one on my wish list, so I started looking around for a group of semi adult Altum's.

The buyers of these small angel fish have no idea that they are buying really large cichlids, mature angels can get 10 inches high easily. And besides their size it is also an schooling fish that should be kept in a small group of 5 to 7 fish, so a really large tank is required. In my opinion petstore's should have at least some mature fish in their store to show the customers what kind of animal they are actually buying, but as one petstore owner told me "people are just buying new angel fish when their old ones are getting to big, they flush them down the toilet, if they not already died before"

Cyprichromis leptosoma

The most popular African cichlids come from Lake Malawi and lake Tanganyika. The cichlids from lake Malawi are generally more colorful, but the cichlids from lake Tanganyika have a more diverse breeding behavior. Malawi cichlids are all mouthbrooders, while the Tanganyika cichlids can be substrate spawners, shell dwellers or mouthbrooders. It is best to keep the fish from the two lakes separated, mainly because of the different demands in water quality.

For Malawi cichlids I would recommend:
PH between 7 and 8,
GH 7 or higher,
KH 10-12
Temperature 25 - 27 degrees Celsius

For Tanganyika:
PH 8 - 8.3
GH 25
KH 15
Temperature 25 - 27 degrees Celsius

Malawi Ciclids are, generally speaking more tolerant when it comes to the hardness of the water, but for my Tanganyika tanks I try to come as close as possible to their natural environment. Remember when adjusting the values of the aquarium water that you have to change one third of the water once a week. The 'new' water should be prepared properly before adding it to the aquarium. If you have tap water that is near the recommended values I would not try to raise it, it makes the regular water change more easy, in my area I keep the Malawi cichlids at ph 7, GH 5 and KH 8 without any problems.

Cichlids are rather large eaters and produce a lot of waste products, a good filtering system is needed. The easiest way is to use an external pot filter, the larger it's filtering capacity the better.

African cichlids tank basics
The cichlids from the great lakes need a similar tank setup, a large tank, even for the smaller species, from 60 gallons ( about 200 liters ) and up is an absolute minimum. Create some rock formations, preferably separated by some plants or open areas, this makes building up territories more easy and reduces stress. I prefer to use sand in my tanks instead of gravel, it makes foraging for food and digging more easy for the fish. Put some large plants in the tank, maybe some floating ones as well and your tank is ready to stabilize. This means letting your tank run, without fish, for about two weeks. The plants can grow and bacteria will develop, in the tank and the filter substrate. There have been a lot of discussion among aquarium hobbyists if a stabilizing period is really needed, but I would advise to use one for at least two weeks.

Xenotilapia sima

The fish community
For both African cichlid groups it is very important to choose the right species to develop an harmonious community in the aquarium. Here are a few guidelines in choosing your cichlid species:

1) Only combine fish that have the same feeding demands. Both lakes have real food specialist. Tropeus species are a good example, they are mainly herbivorous fish, they feed on algae in their natural environment. If these fish are kept with other carnivorous fish, they will consume their food as well, but they are not capable of digesting it very well. In the long run, these Trophous species will die from diseases. Some of the Mbunas from lake Malawi are also mainly herbivorous, but these cichlids are much more tolerant when in comes to their diet.

2) Try to combine fish from different niches ( a niche is the main dwelling place of the fish, like rocks, open water or sand )and breeding behavior. This will reduce competition along the fish in finding the best breeding spots and in defending their territory.

3) add all the fish at once, this is an important one. Never add fish to an established community, they will be hunted by all, have a lot of stress and could easily die. The only exception on this rule are the big cichlids, they can defend themselves enough.

4) When it comes to Malawi cichlids it is best to overcrowd your tank a bit, it makes focusing on a few less dominant fish less a problem.

Here are some examples of African cichlid community tanks that worked very well for me in a 400 liter tank, about 105 gallons.

Malawi community
Aulonocara ( peacock Cichlid ) : 1 male, two or three females.
Labidochromis caeruleus ( yellow ) : 1 male, two females
Pseudotropheus zebra : 1 male, two or three females.
Labeotropheus trewavasae : 1 male, two or three females.

Tanganyika community
Neolamprologus brichardi or Neolamprologus pulcher : one couple
Xenotilapia sima : a group of 5 fish ( Schooling Fish )
Neolamprologus leleupi or Julidochromis transcriptus : one couple
Cyprichromis leptosoma : a group of 5 to 7 ( Schooling Fish )

or
Cyprichromis leptosoma : a group of 5 to 7 ( Schooling Fish )
Lamprologus multifasciatus in a small group ( two couples ) or Lamprologus ocellatus ( never both in one tank )
Altolamprologus calvus : one couple
Julidochromis marlieri : one couple

Food
The African cichlids I mentioned as an example are all carnivorous or at least have a good tolerance level when it comes to their diet. I feed my fish red bloodworms, artemia, and a cichlid mix ( all frozen blister packages ) I never use flakes or other dry food for my African cichlids, but there are special dry foods and flakes your could try. But I would not recommend to use it as your main food source.

There are several species of shelldwellers in lake Tanganyika, but this one is definitely my favorite, Lamprologus ocellatus. Shelldwellers are maybe not the most colorful fish form the lake but they make up for this lack of color trough their really interesting behavior. The Lamprologus ocellatus is a small fish of about 4 to 6 centimeters ( about 2 inches ) but they can easily be kept in community tanks with much larger fish, I keep them in my community Tanganyika tank with nearly adult Frontosa's without a problem. If a big Frontosa comes to close they will attack it, most of the time the couple will atack together, and if the Frontosa comes to close they just return to their safe shell's to hide.

An in depth article about Lamprologus ocellatus on Cichlidae.com

Thanks to Disney's Motion Picture 'Finding Nemo', almost everybody is familiar with clownfish.
Clownfish, or Anemonefishes, from the family Pomacentridae, are one of the easiest tropical marine aquarium fish to breed. Clownfish regularly lay eggs in aquariums. They have quite large eggs and larvae, and since the larvae easily eat cultured live foods, raising them is somewhat simpler than it is with many other marine species.

The next thing is to set up the tank. The tank should be large enough, approximately 200 liters for the breeding pair. It is better to keep a pair alone in an aquarium when trying to spawn clownfish.

The aquarium should be furnished with a nice anemone, a few live rocks and other rocky substances with a vertical surface, a layer of coral sand on the bottom, bright lighting, good filtration, and a protein skimmer. Your clownfish should be stress free, which means no aggressive tank mates and good water quality. As for feeding, clownfish need a mixed diet of fresh raw seafood and vegetables. A good diet includes prawns, mussels, and squid. It is best to feed small bits at regular intervals.

Spanning can begin 1 to 12 months after the fish have settled into their new home. When the fish are ready to spawn, they become very aggressive. The male clownfish will dance up and down in front of the female (also known as "clownfish waggle"). They will also start to clean their selected rock by robustly biting it. The spawning itself usually occurs in the afternoon or early evening. Once the spawning is complete (within several hours) the male takes on responsibility for attending the eggs, whereas the female acts as protector of the eggs and supervisor of her male.

Spawning is likely to occur again at intervals of 12 to 18 days. The eggs should be left in the care of the parents and not removed, unless the parents are known to be egg eaters. At first the eggs are a bright orange colour, but after several days this diminishes and the eyes appear. Hatching usually takes from 6 to 15 days, depending on temperature.

The most critical stage of the fry is the first 10 days of their larvae span. If you can get your fry to survive this period the rest of their raising should be easier.

About The Author

Article by William Berg writer for Aquatic Community with more then 20 years of aquarium experience. Find more of Williams articles about Piranhas or maybe something completely different like a Clown loach

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Luck and Feng Shui

Flowerhorn cichlids are in Asia considered to bring good luck and good Feng Shui. They are not the only fishes that are thought of in this way. The Asian Arowana is another fish that brings good fortune to its owner and that is being breed and sold at high prices in Asia. The pattern of thought behind the thought that Arowanas are bringers of good fortune can be found in the fact that they are considered to resample dragons. Dragons are powerful creatures in the Asian mythology. The foundation for the belief that Flowerhorn cichlids are bringer of good fortune can be traced to the fact that the hump that the species develop as it matures are considered to resembles the Chinese God of Longevity. If the hump grows so does the good fortune of the owner. This good fortune can affect all areas of life.

The Black marking on Flowerhorn cichlids also plays an important role in this species reputation as bringer of good fortune. These markings can sometimes create patterns that resample Chinese signs and fish that displays these patterns are considered to be the most fortune bringing of all. Examples of this are that some Flowerhorn cichlids display Chinese numbers on their sides and the owner of these fishes often play the number their Flowerhorn displays on the lottery. The reason behind this is an incident where a woman won 1 million dollars and claimed that she had the play the number her fish displayed. Another fish that is worth mentioning is a Flowerhorn cichlid that displays the Chinese sign for luck on its side and that fish is hardly surprising considered as extra lucky.

Flowerhorn cichlids has ironically enough brought bad luck for many investors that invested in Flowerhorn cichlid when the hype was at its peak and who lost a lot of money when the market plummeted to more reasonable levels.

Written by William Berg for Flowerhorn Cichlids

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