Apistogramma macmasteri are a dwarf cichlid in the sub family Geophaginae and closely related to the other popular dwarf cichlid the Blue or Gold Ram. They inhabit 2 of the main rivers that run through Columbia in South America.

Apistogramma macmasteri  can grow up to a maximum of 7 cm and do well in pairs in a peaceful community tank with plenty of cover and will often pair up and produce young. Both fish can make excellent parents if you are looking to breed. This may be done as a pair or the male may reject the female and tend to the young alone.

Macmasteri are not a demanding fish and as long as the general aquarium maintenance guides are kept to they are robust and long lived. They will feed on a variety of foods including flake foods and frozen foods such as bloodworm and brine shrimp. Males are generally more colourful than females and posses slightly larger dorsal spines. When buying try to select 2 fish that may have paired up as there is less chance of aggression once moved into your own tank.

Apistogramma at Water Works are £16.99 for a pair.

Picture courtesy of ictheostega under Creative Commons.

The true dragon goby Goboides broussoneti is probably one of the most striking, beautiful and unusual looking fish available in the aquarium trade today. Their eel like appearance and purple blue colour only contributes to their appeal.

Dragon Gobies are members of the faily Gobiidae and are native to brackish waters in North and South America. Despite their unusual appearance Dragon Gobies are relatively peaceful and rarely harm other fish in the aquarium, in fact their eye sight is very poor and any attack on another fish is usually a mistaken attempt at feeding.

Usually when Dragon Gobies are found for sale they are around 3″ to 5″ and are kept in freshwater. They will require salt adding to the aquarium as they grow and suitable tank mates that will also tolerate these conditions such as mollies and other salt loving fish. Dragon Gobies grow to a maximum of 24″ but usually slightly smaller in the home aquarium. Dragon Gobies are scavengers and have an interesting was of feeding. This can be witnessed easier if you provide a sandy substrate for them as Dragon Gobies sift through the substrate for there prey which may consist of small invertebrates such as larvae and water fleas. These can be provided in frozen form and Dragon Gobies very rarely take to eating dried foods.

Dragon Gobies can be susceptible to aquarium diseases such as finrot and other bacterial problems. This is more likely when incorrect salt levels are provided in the tank.

As long as all the correct aquarium parameters are met Dragon Gobies can be a very interesting and stunning addition the home aquarium.

They grow to a maximum of 4″ (10cm) and must be fed on a daily diet of frozen bloodworm and occasionally fed a “crunchy” food such as snails to keep their beak trimmed. The beak of this puffer fish grows extremely quickly and if it is not kept in check can limit the feeding habits of the fish. The beak if left to grow too long can be trimmed by hand but this should only be attempted by a vet or someone confident in doing so.

Puffer fish do need a very well maintained aquarium with good water quality and require regular partial water changes.

“Why should we fill a form in?”

“There only fish.”

“What do you do with my details.”

Admittedly there has only been a few incidents over the last 5 years where we have had to refuse a sale of livestock due to a customer not complying and most of our customers are more than happy to fill in an animal welfare form.

The animal welfare forms came about when changes were made to The Animal Welfare Act in 2006 which included all animals with a backbone (vertebrates) and a duty of person responsible for animal to ensure welfare. The form was put into place to encourage the asking of questions to customers to ensure that the animals being sold are being sold into the correct hands and conditions underlined in the act. It also acts as a deterent to “impulse buying” of fish.

All responsible fish owners should not worry about filling in the form and the details on the form are not used by anyone. As a responsible retailer we are expected to store the forms in a locked cabinet for several years and have been encouraged by the RSPCA and the Animal Licensing Department to continue with the practise.

So next time you are in store and we ask you to fill out an animal welfare form, it’s done so for the good of the fish, the good of the hobby and the good of the pet trade in general and we encourage you to promote this ethical practice.

Feeding

Apple Snails are voracious herbivores. Devouring most plant life in your aquarium and rasping on algae growing in your tank. Although they have extremely good appetites and cannot survive purely on the algae growing in your aquarium and will require additional food. Apple Snails will scavenge for any left over foods such as flake food and pellets and can also be fed algae wafers or even vegetables such as blanched lettuce and cucumber.

Housing

Apple snails are not overly fussy about the water parameters they live in. They do require space though as they will grow to their potential maximum size regardless of the size of your aquarium. One problem that I have often seen in Apple Snails is a lack of calcium in their diet and water causing the softening and cracking of their shell. If this occurs then a good remedy is to scrape some cuttle fish, available from most pet store, in to their water and let it dissolve. This should raise the calcium levels in the water and lead to a healthier shell on your Apple Snail.

Temperature

The optimum temperature for Apple Snails is between 18 degrees c and 26 degrees c. Although they can be kept in cooler water you will find that they are less active and will eat and grow slower than when they are housed in warmer water.

Breeding

Apple snails, unlike some other snail species, need two separate sex snails to reproduce. They generally reproduce during a time of warmer water and when higher quality food is in abundance. Apple Snails lay their eggs in a medium sized, pink coloured egg case outside of the water. Usually in the lid of your aquarium. leave the egg case in position and soon enough the baby snails will hatch and make their own way into the water. Feed the baby snails well on a mixture of algae wafers, cucumber and daphnia and brineshrimp.

Flake Food

Flake food is a good all round daily food for most fish. It usually contains all the ingredients, minerals and vitamins that fish need on a daily basis. Flakes will float initially for the surface feeding fish and eventually slowly float through the water for the mid water and bottom feeding fish. Be sure that all the flakes are not consumed by the surface feeding fish if flakes are all that you are feeding. I would highly recommend buying a well known, reputable brand of fish flakes as there are a lot of cheap alternatives that may contain harmful ingredients and I have heard a few horror stories of whole tanks of fish dying after being fed cheap flake food.

A few different colour variations exist in captivity including the wild type colour which can be olive green to dark brown or grey, black, gold and albino colour variations also exist. All axolotls stay in their larval stage for the entirety of their lives and remain fully aquatic throughout., this is called Neotony.

Axolotls can grow up to 30cm in length at maturity and in the right conditions can live up to 15 years so are a long term pet. They require a good sized aquarium of a minimum of 3 ft in length for a pair. Axolotls are messy, carnivorous eaters so therefor they need very good filtration such as an oversized external canister filter and plenty of regular water changes with dechlorinated water. They do not require heat and in fact water that is too warm, over 20 degrees c,  can cause problems such as bacterial infections so cold water is fine. Tank decor can range from live plants to just rocks for hiding places. Axolotls are inquisitive and like to explore their surroundings. Axolotls will predate on fish if they can catch them, therefor we would recommend always keeping Axolotls in a separate tank and try to keep all Axolotls of the same size if housing more than one. Axolotls may squabble with one another and occasionally injuries such as lost limbs can occur. Axolotls have an amazing ability to regrow tissue such as lost limbs but care should always be taken to avoid injuries becoming infected.

Feeding axolotls is easy as they will take most meaty foods such as bloodworm, earthworms, crickets, mealworms or Hikari Massivore. Be sure to keep your axolotls well fed but also keep a regular eye on the water quality in your tank as these high protein foods can cause high nitrate and phosphate problems.

Breeding Axolotls is a little tricky. Inducing breeding is the easy bit as a good dose of really cold water usually triggers spawning. This can be achieved by undertaking a big water change with colder water that is in the tank or by dropping some bottles of frozen water in the tank overnight. Spawning will usually take place on the live plants in the tank and will look like small frogspawn. The difficult part is feeding the hatchlings. They will require feeding around 24 hrs after hatching and can be fed the same as the adults but chopped up very finely. Cannibalism is not an unusual occurrence so separating the babies may need to be separated.

Axolotls are a great beginners amphibian and make great pets for kids and adults alike. As long as these basic guide lines are followed Axolotls can live a happy and healthy life in you aquarium

The aquarium hobby as it stands is fairly steady and we are always seeing new customers taking up the hobby whether it be in the home aquarium or the garden, it’s always great to see. Indoor aquatics has always been a passion of ours and now we are taking the plunge and expanding our already well stocked range of tropical fish, aquariums and accessories. By early 2012 we will have installed a brand new, state of the art tropical fish house with an extra 40% tank space meaning we can offer a larger range of tropical fish and fancy goldfish. We will also be displaying some great aquariums to inspire your aqua-scaping imagination. The new tropical fish house will be designed in such a way that you will feel extremely comfortable browsing the fish and aquariums and we invite you to do so at your hearts content.

Apologies in advance for any disturbance caused whilst the changes take place.

We look forward to inviting you to the opening of our new tropical fish house in the future and would be extremely grateful if you would share this post and please add any suggestions you may have for the fish house by commenting below.

When considering keeping gouramis in your aquarium it is important to select the right species. The most commonly found species in the aquarium trade are the Golden Gourami, Blue Gourami and Opaline Gourami which are all colour forms of Trichopterus trichogaster. Pearl Gouramis, Trichogaster leerii, Honey Gourami, Trichoptherus chuna a very pretty dwarf gourami and Colisa lalia another dwarf gourami of which many colour forms now exist. Trichopterus species are the largest, excluding the Giant Gourami Osphronemus gouramy which is a real tank buster and should be avoided unless an extremely large aquarium is available. Dwarf gouramis go very well in a smaller set up. The fish tank set up for gouramis should include an aquarium heater set at around 24 degrees c, a good quality aquarium filter that maintains good water quality and lots of natural live plants. This will ensure that your gouramis live happily and show their best colours and personality.

All gouramis will live very well on a diet of good quality flake food and frozen foods such as bloodworm and brine-shrimp. It is always wise to buy gouramis in pairs or 1 male to 2 females as the males will often fight over territory or the females themselves. The larger gouramis of the Trichopterus family can be sexed by the overall length of their dorsal fin, the males being noticeably longer than the females. Dwarf gouramis such as the Colisa lalia are sexually dimorphic, meaning the females are visibly different in colour to the males and it is tempting to keep all males as the females are a bit drab. Although males when housed with females will show the best of their colours as they display to females in an attempt to form a breeding partnership with them.

There really is a gourami for any tank and an aquarium in the home without gouramis would surely be a less exciting one.