Did you know that pets outnumber people in the United States? Recent statistics have shown that 62% of homes have a pet, and that 46% of homes have more than one pet. That adds up to 380 million pets in a nation with a human population of 290 million people.

The first three categories are cats (78 million), dogs (65 million), and birds (18 million). Also popular are fish and small animals but their number is far behind the numbers of cats and dogs.

More and more people are buying pets because they realise the great advantages of having a pet, a pet is a great companion, a loyal friend and a part of the family. Since a pet has such an important role to play in your life it is important thinking hard to pick the right pet for you.

Carefully considering what pet you will get before getting it will pay off in the long run, that way you wont pick a pet you are incompatible with, you will get on well with your pet and you wont have problems with it in future. A poorly chosen pet may eventually have to leave, and the blame for the imcompatibility will be with you.

If you are choosing a pet the real choice you are probably making is whether to get a dog or a cat, perhaps you are considering a pet that requires less effort such as a fish or bird also. If you decide to opt for a dog you must then choose what breed of dog toget, with over 150 breeds you are spoiled for choice!

A dog will probably prove to be a better companion than a cat – it will be more of a friend, however a dog will also need more care than a cat. Dogs like to be around people whereas cats are more autonomous, they will generally spend their day off by themselves. Cats are more attracted to their home then to their owners generally.

You will need to carefully consider how much space you have, cats and dogd reuire quite a bit of space, so if you live in a small apartment then even a small breed of dog or a cat will feel restricted. If you have very little space perhaps you should go for a bird or fish, or may be a hamster?

Bear in mind that a dog cannot be left alone for very long, they need feeding, walking and attention. This may be a problem if you are away often and there is no one else around to mind the dog. Perhaps a kennel or neighbour would be available to care for the dog while you are away. Cats, though independent, do not like being left alone either although they can cope better than a dog.

Dogs need a lot of attention, they must be walked at least once or twice a day, on top of that they are full of energy and need space in which to live and play. Obviously the larger the breed of dog the more space it needs, large dogs such as shepherd dogs and Saint Bernards need a lot of space. Also consider how much your dog will eat – big dogs eat big meals!

Big dogs have the advantage that if trained properly, they can protect their owner and home, while small dogs (like poodles) are more like a joyful toy at home. Small dogs are also suitable for children or for elderly people, who do not have the energy to walk a dog for miles and miles.

No matter what pet you decide on, ensure you have thought your desision through properly, a badly chosen pet will be unhappy if it doesn’t suit you, so pick carefully.

Alyssa Hallam is the webmaster and operator of AH Pet Her site has a great collection of information on all different kinds of pets, including a free newsletter, pet resources and articles. For great pet information, go to: http://www.ahpet.com

So many elements effect the raising of tropical fish. Choosing the right ones and making the right decisions is crucial for success. Setting up an aquarium, selecting the fish, plants and algae, feeding the fish and breeding the fish are the major aspects of this hobby.

Aquarium

The aquarium elements depend on the fish one intends to have. Many parts form an aquarium and they all need to be considered seriously before they are selected: Glass ? Gravel – Hood ? Heater ? Thermometer ? Bulbs ? Filters – Cleaning Equipment ? Nets ? Water Test Kit ? Small Container

Selecting the Fish

You can opt to have only one type of tropical fish. Problems are limited if you choose to go that way. But with tropical fish, many believe, variety is an essential element in raising fish in an aquarium.

One needs to be very careful when deciding which fish to raise in one?s own aquarium. It is obvious that not all fish get along with each other well, and selecting the right fish is a crucial decision one needs to make. Research on various tropical fish in respect of habits and behaviour is a must before hurrying to the store.

Buying the fish

Once at the store, there are many things to look for. Here is a list of guidelines:
1. Don?t buy fish which reside in dirty tanks
2. Watch out for white spots and eaten fins
3. Fish eyes should be clear
4. Movement should be linear with their fins in an upright position
5. No dead fish in the tank

Plants and Algae

By many ignored, but a very important aspect for tropical fish is to have the right plants and algae in the fish habitat. The ideal is to get rooted plants with roots already in place. This way, fish are provided with plants straight away and their survival rate is much higher. Ideally, tall plants are placed at the rear corners of the aquarium and the smaller and shorter ones at the front.

Several types of plants and algae exist, and choosing will always depend on your likings and on the character of the fish one intends to have.

Feeding the fish

Feeding tropical fish is an art in itself. Many fish don?t die because of lack of food, but as a result of food abundance. Giving the right amount of food is important as selecting the food. The market for tropical fish food is quite large and there are foods for several types of fish.

Breeding

There is only one way fish can breed in your aquarium, that is, giving them the right environment to do so. There isn?t better proof that the aquarium is in good shape than having fish breed in it. You can see when one has done a good job by the results the fish themselves will give to the owner.

There are so many tropical fish that one can never feel completely fulfilled as there is always some species one would like to have as part of his/her collection. The other items that form part pf having tropical fish, like the aquarium itself, the plants involved, and the various accessories, make this hobby a vast and interesting one without ever getting bored.

Sandro Azzopardi is a professional author who writes several articles on various subjects on his web site and local newspapers and magazines. You can visit information about this article and others on: http://www.theinfopit.com/science/animals/tropicalfish.php

If your past attempts at beginning a cichlid-oriented aquarium have been unsuccessful, you might doubt your abilities as an aquarist. Setting up a perfect tank and watching it fail can be very frustrating and repeated failures have led many to give up on the hobby completely. This is unfortunate, because in many cases disappointing results have little to do with the hobbyist and everything to do with the health of the fish at the time of purchase. Buying healthy cichlids is one of the best ways to increase one?s chances of success. Let’s look at three things you can do to improve your odds of stocking an aquarium with hearty, healthy cichlids.

First, know your source. Many people reflexively drive to their nearest large pet store and select a few fish for the tank without doing their homework first. You can increase the likelihood of finding healthy cichlids by investigating potential sources of stock first. Visit the store repeatedly over the course of many weeks and take notice of how often (and how well) the store employees clean the tanks. Observe tank temperatures and make sure the store is treating the cichlids correctly. Investigate how many clearly sick or dead fish you spot in the tanks over time. In some cases, a nearby big box store may meet your needs. In many situations, however, aquarists have learned that it is worth a longer drive, or spending a bit more, to purchase cichlids from a professional operation.

Second, know your cichlids. Research before you buy. You should understand how the cichlid varieties in which you are interested behave and appear when healthy. Too often, buyers simply assume that the behavior or appearance exhibited in the store is natural and overlook potential signs of illness. If the fish seems to have problems breathing, appears to be limited to the upper portion of the tank or is swimming with a lilt or odd angle, illness is a distinct possibility. Before you purchase a cichlid, make sure you know what a perfectly healthy version of the fish looks like and don?t settle for less.

Third, ask questions. You will want to ask questions in order to increase your own knowledge base, but also as a means of testing the knowledge of the seller (which is a strong indicator of how well they are probably caring for the cichlids). Ask about feeding tendencies, growth possibilities and any other issue in which you may be interested. Also, ask questions to which you already know the answers in order to test the seller. It makes sense to place more trust in a cichlid seller who has a strong understanding of the fish than in someone who is merely interested in punching the clock and grabbing an hourly wage from the Mega Pet Super Store.

If you have had a bad experience with setting up a cichlid-based aquarium, don?t give up. First, make sure you understand what you need to do to be a success. Then, follow the tips outlined here to help insure that you purchase very healthy cichlids. A great aquarium featuring cichlids is possible and starting with healthy fish is an essential part of every success story.

Justin has been keeping African and Neotropical cichlids for many years; at one time having over 15 aquariums going at once. Justin contributes regularly to AllCichlids.com, a resource for hobbyists to share their experiences, and get paid to write about their cichlids!

Scientific Name: Botia macracanthus
Other Scientific Name(s): Cobitis macracanthus, Botia macrocanthus
Common Name: Clown Loach

Clown loaches are very popular aquarium fish; however they are not always easy to keep successfully since they easily succumb to ick and are sensitive to poor water conditions. This article is intended to help new clown loach owners provide a good home for their loaches. Clown loaches are found in Indonesia (Sumatra and Borneo), and almost all clown loaches in aquariums are wild caught and distributed around the world before being sold. This can put considerable stress on the fish, and a vital step in getting a healthy clown loach school in your aquarium is choosing healthy fish. But how to make sure that you get healthy fish?

- Check the general conditions in the fish store. Are there dead fish in the aquariums? Is the water clean? If some tanks are mistreated there is a good chance that there might be unfavourable conditions in others too. Only buy fish from stores that take good care of their aquariums.

- How do the clown loaches look? Clown loaches can give you an indication of their condition based on their coloration. A healthy clown loach shows clear distinct colours, while a stressed one loses its colours and becomes whiter. Only buy loaches that show their correct colours.

- Are the clown loaches well fed? Those that haven’t been fed correctly are hard to nurse back to health, and it is more than likely you will end up with a dead fish if you buy one. Look at their bodies and see if they look well fed, and ask the shopkeepers how often and what the loaches are fed.

- Are the clown loaches active? Healthy clown loaches are very active and full of energy. A healthy clown loach should be hard to catch.

- Do the clown loaches have hiding places? Hiding places are very important to relieve stress in clown loaches, and you are likely to get higher quality fish from aquariums with hiding places.

- Don’t buy clown loaches smaller than 2 inches/5 cm if you haven’t kept clown loaches before, since they are much more sensitive when they are younger.

So ideally you should look for the most coloured, most active clown loaches you can find, and buy these to have the best starting point possible. You should also consider the water conditions in the store and try to find one that keeps their clown loaches in water condition similar to the water conditions in your aquarium, to reduce stress on the clown loaches. It should also be stated that clown loaches like resting on their sides, looking almost as if they were dead. However this is completely normal and should not be seen as a sign of poor quality in the fish but rather the opposite. When you have decided where to buy your clown loaches you should buy at least 3 (preferable 8-10). Clown loaches are schooling fish that should never be kept alone!!!

Once you get home with your new clown loaches you should let the bag float on the water surface for 10-15 minutes, and then slowly every 10 minutes add a little water from the aquarium (a coffee cup). Repeat this 4-5 times before you release the fish into their new home.

Tank setup
Clown loaches can be kept in aquariums of 100 L / 20 G or more. Keep in mind that even though clown loaches grow very slowly they will get big eventually and need an aquarium of at least 540 L/ 125 G, and that should be considered a minimum.

Decorate your aquarium using a bottom substrate of sand or fine gravel that allows the clown loaches to dig . I recommend keeping your clown loaches in a planted aquarium, however the choice of plants differs greatly depending on whether you keep juvenile or adult clown loaches. Juvenile clown loaches can be kept with most plant species, while adults can be kept only with hardy plants such as Java fern and Anubias. All other plants will be destroyed and/or eaten by the adult clown loaches. I also recommend using floating plants to dim the lighting, which makes the loaches more active during the day.

Clown loaches want a setup with a lot of caves and other hiding places, preferably so narrow that they can just barely squeeze themselves into them. Don’t be concerned if your clown loaches have squeezed themselves into caves they dug under rocks or aquarium equipment. Odds are they are not stuck – they just like it that way.

Hiding places can be created with rocks, roots, PVC pipes, flower pots, coconuts and different kinds of aquarium decorations. Sharp objects should not be used to decorate aquariums for clown loaches. You can not create too many hiding places and you should create several for each loach.

Clown loaches are sensitive to poor water quality, and they require good filtration. Higher water circulation is also appreciated since clown loaches live in currents in the wild.

Clown loaches are excellent jumpers, and you should make sure that your tank is properly sealed.

Health
As I said earlier, clown loaches are very sensitive towards poor water quality and are usually the first fish that get ill or die if the water quality drops. Water changes of at least 25% a week are recommended. Because of their low tolerance to poor water qualities they are sometimes called indicator fish, since their health indicates the status of the aquarium. Clown loaches are very sensitive to chlorine, and even small amounts can cause a mass death of loaches.

This species are very prone towards getting ick if the water quality isn’t good enough, and are sensitive to most ick medicines and salts. So keep an eye on your clown loaches and only use half the recommended doses of medicine, otherwise you risk the medicine killing the loaches.

Food
Clown loaches are carnivores and only eat vegetables to complement their diet. It is therefore recommended that they are given food that reflects this. To get your clown loaches to grow, optimal feeding 3-5 times a day is recommended. (They still grow slowly). Their diet should contain a variety of foods, and can include almost any carnivorous food. A good base may be shrimps, different sinking wafers, different frozen foods, and as they grow older, fish slices. Clown loaches can make a clicking sound, and they will do this when they are content. Therefore you will soon find out what is your loaches’ favourite food by them clicking when they receive it. Like most other fish, clown loaches might need some time to accept new foods, however once they do it might become a favourite. Clown loaches are one of the few fishes that eat and like snails, and can therefore be of good use in snail control.

Breeding
Clown loaches have been bred in aquariums, however it is very rare. Sexing clown loaches externally is hard, but possible by looking at the tail fin. The tail fin tips on the male are slightly bent inwards, making the fin look a little bit like a claw. The tail fin tips on the females aren’t shaped like this.

Clown loaches have to be quite old and at least 7 inches / 17 cm before they are sexually mature. In the one good account of clown loaches spawning they spawned under the following conditions:

- Temp: 84F
– pH: 6.5
– Ammonia & Nitrite: 0
– Nitrate: < 25

Four large clown loaches (over 25 cm /10 inches) were kept together in a planted aquarium, and a few weeks before spawning they changed their behaviour and started eating live fish as their only accepted food. The females in the group grew very fast on this diet, and had doubled in girth by the time of spawning. The night during which the spawning took place, two clowns were swimming close beneath the surface entwined in each other and clicking. The next morning, 450 eggs were found spread about the aquarium. Clown loaches eat their own eggs, so it is recommended moving the parents if you wish to succeed in spawning them.

The fry were fed liquid fry food for the first two weeks, after which they accepted crushed flakes. They grew relatively fast, to 2.5 cm/ 1 inch in 6 weeks. After that the growth rate slowed down.

It’s suggested that older fish are essential for breeding since this fish might have to be quite old to be sexually mature. Clown loaches live to be about 50 years, so it is quite feasible that they may spawn later in life than many other species.

William Berg has over 20 years of aquarium experiences and runs an aquarium website with a lot of information about aquarium decoration and all other aspects of aquarium keeping aswell as different fish species such as cichlids, bettas, catfishes and even crayfish.

This article was originally written for a site about clown loaches.

The Comet goldfish is ideal for novice goldfish keepers since it is tough and adaptable and do not require a lot of pampering to do well. It can be kept in outdoor ponds as well as in big cold water aquariums. The Comet goldfish can grow quite big as an adult and a length of 14 inches is not uncommon.

There exists several different variants of the Comet goldfish, but they all have long and slender bodies and a big and elongated single tail fin. The large tail fin gives the Comet goldfish a very stylish streamlined body shape. The name Comet is probably derived from how they resemble comets in the sky with long and flowing tails. You can find multicoloured Comet goldfish variants as well as specimens with single coloured bodies.

The home of a Comet goldfish should contain densely planted regions as well as big open areas where the Comet goldfish can swim around without being entangled in aquatic plants. If you keep your Comet goldfish in an aquarium, you can for instance use Elodea and Java moss. Keep in mind that many popular aquarium plant species can not tolerate the low temperatures in a goldfish aquarium. In an outdoor pond, you must select aquatic plant species suitable for your particular part of the world and it is therefore difficult to provide any general recommendations.

Getting a Comet goldfish to eat is not difficult and they will accept a wide range of different food types, including flakes and pellets. A varied diet is recommended to make sure that your Comet goldfish receives all necessary nutrients. Vegetables should always be included in the diet of a Comet goldfish, and you can for instance feed it lettuce, zucchini and peas. The amount of food must be adjusted according to season, since the metabolism of the Comet goldfish is affected by the water temperature. Feeding your Comet goldfish the same amount of food year round in an outdoor pond that is affected by seasonal temperature variations can result in obesity or starvation.

Comet goldfish are not only bred in outdoor ponds; they frequently reproduce in large aquariums as well. They are naturally inclined to spawn in spring when the water gradually becomes warmer and warmer after the winter. If you do not live in a region where this happens, or if you keep your Comet goldfish indoors, you must usually simulate a winter season and a subsequent spring to coax your fish into spawning. Decrease the water temperature for at least 30 days before you gradually allow it to become warmer and warmer. Professional breeders will often separate the fry from the adult fish to ensure a high fry survival rate. If you keep your fish in a well planted pond or aquarium where the bottom is covered with large grains, at least a portion of the fry will however survive even when kept with adult fish.

Allen Jesson writes for several sites including two sites that specialize in salt water and fresh water aquariums and the aquarium site and Seapets, a leading source for aquariums and fish tanks.

The real apistogramma’s come from southern America, they all have the same characteristics, like a complex breeding behavior, as their large relatives, only their size is different. Besides the apistogramma group there are also some relatively popular dwarf cichlids from Africa, like the Pelvicachromis group. From this group the most widespread cichlid is the Pelvicachromis pulcher, also known as the Kribensis or Purple cichlid.

Generally the cichlids from the apistogramma group are more fragile and harder to maintain, and breed, for a longer period of time. In my opinion apistogramma’s are not real beginner species. They are more likely to get diseases if not all the environmental variables are properly taken care of. They need soft and acidic water with a low PH value, a PH of 5.5 to 6 is preferable. They hardly eat dry foods, best is to feed them live foods or frozen food, like bloodworms, brine shrimp and mosquito larvae. Apistogramma species can be kept in a large tropical community aquarium, but be sure the other fish are not too small, they can defend their territory very fiercely, and can be quite aggressive when they are breeding. In my opinion it is best to keep the apistogramma’s on their own, in a larger aquarium you could combine two apistogramma variants together, maybe supplemented with a small group of other fish, like some livebearers or betta’s. They also can be kept together with discus or angel fish. I always have a harem of apisto’s in my discus tanks, just to populate the lower areas of the aquarium and I really like these small dwarfs with a big attitude.

The cichlids from the Pelvicachromis group are much more tolerant when it comes to water values and feeding, I do consider these cichlids a good beginner species. They are hardened, beautiful colored and eat almost anything. The Pelvicachromis pulcher is maybe one of the most easy to breed cichlids as well. If you have an adult couple they will reproduce, in a community tank, a special species tank or in a pond, some people like to breed them in their pond during summer. Actually some of the biggest and nicest colored Pelvicachromis pulcher were pond bred and raised. The only thing to keep in mind with these cichlids is that they are capable of redesigning your aquarium, they can make huge holes and are real little bulldozers. So if you have, or want to setup, a subtile planted tank, don’t add a couple of Pelvicachromis to your aquarium.

The last dwarf cichlid I want to mention is the Microgeophagus ramirezi, or Ram cichlid. Their behavior and care are roughly the same as the apistogramma’s but they are more tolerant when it comes to water values, and in my experience they are easier to keep in good condition. Unlike the apistos they have to be kept as a couple, not a harem but that’s the only breeding experience I have. I have tried several couples, have a couple in a breeding tank right now, but I have never even had a clutch of eggs. I know from other breeders that they are kind of hard to get going, but if they do they never stop.

Auke Veenstra is keeping and breeding tropical aquarium fish, and dendrobatea, for years. He shares his experiences on the TinkerFish website.

Tropical aquarium fish

This article can be used for free on-line, if the origin of the article is mentioned and an active link to http://www.tinkerfish.com is provided.

I was interested in finding a pet fish for my son’s 6th birthday. We went to the fish store. The idea is that a pet fish would be an ideal tidy little pet that would not require a lot of maintenance.

Fish are beautiful and come in a lot of colors. Children respond to pets. Having a pet is said to teach responsibility to a child. Fish are the perfect first pet because a child can actually care for the fish. We decided to get some fresh water fish as opposed to salt water. This was our first time owning a fish so we did not want to buy fish that we could not care for.

Fish do not require heavy maintenance. It was easy to have the pet store show my son what he should do each day to make sure the fish was taken care of.

We purchased two goldfish. We were not trying to innovative or buy some rare tropical fish. All we wanted was a couple of healthy fish.

We chose a small Aquarium that fit the size and number of the two gold fish we selected. It was interesting to watch the transformation when my son developed from a little boy to the proud owner and caretaker for the fish.

The supplies for our little pet fish costs over $100.00, We just wanted to put the fish in a little bowl but were persuaded to purchase an aquarium that included all of the following items to make the fish more comfortable.

In addition to all those items we had to buy fish food. I did not know that goldfish are omnivores. That means they eat either other animals or plants. To think that gold fish actually eat vegetables and meat made me squeamish. I opted to purchase the little flakes. I kept this information about the meat eaters to myself. I told my son that he could be almost exclusively responsible for feeding the new gold fish. Naturally this filled him with some great delight.

We took the fish, the aquarium and all the associated equipment home. We started immediately putting the ac together. The aquarium was really beautiful with the plants, castles and brightly colored stones. We followed the instructions that we were given .

The store?s customer service representative encouraged us to slowly introduce the fish to its new environment It took over an hour to get the aquarium set up.

We dropped the fish into the tank still in the plastic bag filled with water. The fish were a beautiful gold color. We purchased a book on goldfish. I read the instructions and information about this breed of fish. I discovered that the name goldfish is a misnomer as all fish of that breed are not gold in color. Some goldfish have different patches of black or silver.

We had just added new members to our family. We were responsible for feeding these omnivores food on a daily basis. We had to keep the water clean. There are a lot of health hazards that we needed to be aware of and the fish food needed to be of high quality. The temperature in the house had to be level.

Pets are a great way to bond a family. My son and I take care of the fish together. The fish are happy and healthy My son loves watching the fish swim in the new aquarium. They are thriving in the clean fresh water. My son is diligent about feeding the gold fish. I thank son for that.

For more information on freshwater pet fish please visit Pet-Fish-Super-Guide.info where you will find helpful information on saltwater pet fish, saltwater tanks and freshwater fish tanks

The trouble with keeping Koi is that it’s one of those hobbies where you need to know everything about it before you begin doing anything.

This is because the consequences of making a mistake, one that is fundamental, right in the beginning are considerably more onerous than with many other hobbies. If your pond for example, is badly built and develops a leak, say after a year, it will cost you substantial money and effort to resolve the problem. Not to mention the strain your Koi will take during the process!

Do not jump in and build your pond until you are intimately familiar with the following terms:

Notice that I said you! Not your dealer and not your pond builder. You and only you! You are the one who has to live with the results. Your dealer will sell you more kit, your pond builder will build you another pond but the success of your pond rests with you! References to other systems that the dealer has sold, or other ponds and filtration systems that the pond builder has built count for very little. Plenty of people before you have bought the wrong thing – that doesn’t mean that you should too! The Koi keeper in each of these ‘references’ is the ultimate determination of success or failure and this can only be measured in years or better, decades.

I will cover these issues in upcoming articles. Once you understand all this, you will be far better equipped to tackle Koi keeping. In the worst case scenario you may decide to settle for a small aquarium, but rather that than end up with a disaster and poorer in both spirit and pocket.

The principle of avoiding fundamental mistakes applies equally with filtration systems. As a Koi keeper you are bound to make mistakes but don’t make the expensive ones that are the toughest to cure. Seek advice and search for facts. Koi keeping is not about smoke, mirrors and snake oil. It is in fact a highly scientific hobby which means that it is in fact easy to establish whether you are being led by the nose or not. Facts are either scientifically provable or they’re not. Getting to the facts can sometimes be a challenge on its own! Try a sand filter salesman to see what I mean.

The real crunch in the hobby though is that Koi are tough fish. If Koi were as flimsy as say an exotic species like Discus, which require highly specific water conditions, it is doubtful that the hobby would ever have taken off. It takes a lot to kill off a Koi and a less than adequate filtration system may only strike in years to come, when something completely unrelated sets off a chain of events that culminates in weakened Koi that are then simply wiped out by the inadequate filtration system.

The poor Koi keeper is left wondering what happened. He then proceeds the way of many before him, with a shovel, lots of sand and a determination to fill in what was once a treasured feature of his garden, his Koi pond.

I am not a Koi pond builder or construction expert. I do however know what is needed in a Koi pond and would suggest that if you are serious about keeping Koi your pond has to be at least 10 000l. Smaller than that please consider keeping goldfish if you don’t want to regularly bury Koi. Koi grow too big to be kept confined in smaller environments than 10 000l.

As with all things Koi, bigger is better. Size counts for everything, even with the Koi themselves. Bear this in mind when it comes to selecting your filtration equipment. If you do your homework into the hobby and you do things properly the first time, your Koi will live and prosper and they will grow. This increase in growth places an increased demand on your filtration system. It sounds obvious, but a 40cm Koi 665 grams on average is very different from a 90cm Koi that can weigh 8448 grams on average. That’s twelve times the weight of Koi and twelve times more filtration load!

It still amazes me that people still buy bio filters that are ‘rated to treat XXX l of pond water’! Such a rating is completely and utterly meaningless. My biggest problem with it is that it is deliberately misleading to the detriment of the purchaser. What if there is only one single fish in this pond? What if there are a hundred? What if these fish are all 10 kg or heavier? What if they’re Koi and not goldfish?

The only meaningful rating is one which indicates how many kilograms of Koi fish weight the bio filter is capable of handling, and at what speed (rate) the bio filter is able to breakdown wastes. It’s no good if the bio filter takes three days to remove the wastes produced by Koi – no Koi would be very happy at only being fed once every three days! Remember too that Koi on a weight for weight basis produce about twice as much filtration load as goldfish do – Koi are not known as the ‘pigs of dams and rivers’ without good reason!

My advice is that any bio filter offering a rating based on pond volume is seriously flawed. Stay away. The designers of these so called bio filters have made a guess as to how many fish would be living in such and such a pond volume, and worse, they’ve guessed how big these fish are. Even worse, if they have made all these guesses, do they in fact know how many milligrams of ammonia the filter is capable of removing per hour at a specified flow rate and under what conditions? My guess is that they have no idea. In modern Koi keeping, this is nothing short of genocide. The one thing that I can promise you is that once your fish load exceeds these guesses, the only certainty is that your local Koi graveyard is going to be doing a lot more business!

There is no substitute for homework when it comes to Koi keeping. It’s a lot of fun and tremendously rewarding to see the results in action. Don’t be put off, the processes are not that complicated to understand. All it takes is time. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get second opinions.

Do your homework and be rewarded. Fail to do it, and be condemned!

William Kelly

William Kelly is a Koi hobbyist dragged into the business kicking and screaming. He runs http://www.happykoi.co.za/article.htm as a koi keeping information website hopefully that helps with a deeper understanding of what it takes to keep Koi happy and healthy.

The Black clown fish is also known as the Yellow tail clown fish, and can be obtained in several colour variations. The most common form of Black clown fish is black and yellow with white vertical stripes. Just like the other clown fishes, Black clown fishes form a symbiotic relationship with anemones and are therefore also known as Black anemone fishes.

The Black clown fish is one of the most frequently kept clown fish species and you can find these fishes in numerous saltwater aquariums all over the world. The native region for the Black clown fish is the warm West Pacific Ocean. Populations of Black clown fish are found from the Persian Gulf to the Western coast of Australia. They inhabit the Australian archipelago, the many reefs of Melanesia and Micronesia, and you can also find Black Clown fish up to north Taiwan and south Japan.

The vibrant coloration of the Black clown fish makes it very easy to spot for predators, and it would not survive long in the wild if it was not protected by the tentacles of the stinging anemone. The Black clown fish will keep the anemone clean by eating left over food. When a Black clown fish is kept in an aquarium without any natural enemies and is provided with food by its keeper, it does not need an anemone to survive. You should however make sure that the aquarium set up provides the Black clown fish with suitable hiding spots, since it can be very stressed in a barren aquarium, especially when no anemone can be found.

In the wild, the Black clown fish is known to co-habit with a wide range of different anemone species. If you keep your Black clown fish with an anemone species that it has not encountered before, the Black clown fish must gradually acclimatize itself to the anemone to avoid begin injured.

The Black clown fish can be kept in a comparatively small aquarium since it grows no bigger than 5 inches (13 centimetres) and claims a very small territory. A 20 gallon (75 litres) aquarium will be enough. You should however keep in mind that the Black clown fish requires supreme water quality and keeping the levels of soluble waste down will be much easier in a bigger aquarium. In the wild, the territory of a Black clown fish group is limited to the immediate area around an anemone. The Black clown fish is however known to occasionally leave its host anemone to attack nearby fish. This habit makes it more aggressive than the other clown fish species. Since the Black clown fish is native to warm, tropical parts of the world it can only be kept in tropical aquariums. The temperature must be in the 75-82? F (24-28? C) range for the Black clown fish to do well. The pH should be around 8.3-8.4. Your Black clown fish should be provided with a meaty diet in the aquarium, since it is used to feeding on the scraps left by the predatory anemone. Chopped fish and shellfish is usually appreciated. The Black clown fish will also require some vegetables and algae to stay healthy. You can usually get a Black clown fish to accept flake food, but keeping it on nothing but flakes is not recommended.

Allen Jesson writes for several sites including two sites that specialize in salt water and fresh water aquariums and the aquarium site and Seapets, a leading source for aquariums and fish tanks.

If you want an aquarium that’s easy to maintain and a popular choice with most households, then a freshwater aquarium is what you’re looking for. It can be used to house freshwater fish and plant life. You can choose between a glass or an acrylic tank for your freshwater aquarium. Glass tanks are heavy and need to be housed on a sturdy base. Acrylic tanks are much lighter and come in a wider range of styles.

Freshwater aquariums generally have a capacity of between 30 and 60 gallons. You need to have an inlet, pumps, a filtration system and an outlet. It’s very important to keep the water cycling through a filtration system in order to maintain the fine ecological balance of your aquarium. The pump is used to keep the water circulating. You can use normal tap water when you fill up your tank initially, or to top it up, but it’s important to make sure it’s of good quality or has been filtered first.

When you’re deciding on a filtration system for your freshwater aquarium, there are three main types to choose from. These are:

Usually, a mechanical filtration system is used to remove particulate matter from the aquarium. Many mechanical filters also contain activated carbon, which functions as a biological filter. The chemicals in your freshwater aquarium need to be kept in balance, so zeolites are used to remove ammonia, and water hardness is reduced by ion exchange resins. A biological filter also recycles nitrogen, which is an essential requirement for keeping your fish alive. It’s also a good idea to have an air pump, which increases the circulation of oxygen and its concentration.

When youre first setting up your freshwater aquarium, it’s a good idea to buy healthy, young freshwater fish. If you want to add more mature fish later, that’s fine as long as your system has had time to stabilize. You might also like to cheer up your aquarium with some plants. They add a touch of beauty, but also help with the ecological balance in the aquarium. Some popular plants include:

Take the time to set up your aquarium correctly, and you’ll have a lot more success.

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