Table of contents for October 2023 in Practical Fishkeeping

INSPIRATION Cherry barbs Imagination, life is your creation. As we've established, the cherry barbs you'll buy in store are not from the wild, so how much they'd appreciate a biotope is anyone's guess. In fact, just having substrate and some décor will be a vast improvement on their time with the breeders and wholesalers who had them before you did. So, don't overthink it. In this instance, I'm aiming at a loose approximation of what a Sri Lankan stream might look like, and I'll let my imagination do the rest. Make a compromise with what looks natural, and what your own artistic tastes desire, and go from there. As long as you don't add anything that alters the water chemistry, I'm sure the fish will be fine with it… As…

BREEDING Black paradise fish THE PARADISE FISH, Macropodus opercularis, was one of the first ornamental fish species ever imported to be kept in home aquaria. In the 150 years since its initial introduction, it has been a divisive fish; much loved and hated, praised and cursed, worshipped and neglected. While magnificent on the eye, it also has a reputation of being evil incarnate, terrorising and destroying tankmates. The problem here is generalisation. Akin to many dog breeds, paradise fish aggression varies considerably by individuals and also depends on other circumstances. But it's never a given-I have kept several specimens and only very few of them turned out to be monsters. Given enough room and the right companions they behave well. They still have an attitude but it only adds to the…

Epiphyte plants (a term that causes some debate between hobbyists and terminology purists) are those species which thrive attached to hardscape such as wood or rock, as opposed to being planted in substrate. These plants can be used to amazing effect in tanks where a suitable planting substrate is either not desired, or is impractical—such as in cobbled river tanks. Anubias The Anubias genus contains a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are extremely tiny, with leaves a couple of centimetres, others boasting leaf sizes over 30cm. Brilliant for low-energy tanks (low light, no CO2 injection) where there's a need for sturdy plant coverage that isn't going to quickly grow out of control. Keep eyes open for ‘mini coin’, ‘bonsai’, and ‘petite’ cultivars for smaller tanks, and A. barteri or…

TROPICAL Horadandia A GLOWLIGHT FROM INDIA, you say? Well, yes and no. While not as bright and punchy as its South American namesake, the Indian glowlight— the glowlight carplet to give its trade name—is a low fidelity delight in itself. So, what is it? Glowlight carplets, Horadandia brittani, are danionin cyprinids, related to such treats as Inlecypris, Sundadanio, Rasbora, Danio and many more. Horadandia is most closely related to Trigonostigma (the classic harlequin rasboras) and Raboroides. There are two species in the Horadandia genus—H. brittani and H. atukoralia—and to the naked eye it's difficult to tell them apart. Indeed, for many years the two were considered the same species, and it wasn't until 2013 that H. brittani was finally formally described. At the level of magnifying glasses and calipers, you'd…

TROPICAL Catfish ID IN AUGUST 2012 I was on top of the world. At the Río Ibare (inlet of the Río Mamoré in Bolivia) we managed to catch wonderfully green shining armoured catfish, which we later identified as Corydoras latus. This classification was also supported by our proximity to the fish's known origins, as we were only 220km away from its type locality (the spot from where the first example of a species is caught). In the rainy season, the type locality and our capture locality are connected by numerous small rivers and a large intervening swamp- and lake-landscape. Such a range would not be unusual. However, since there were few live photographs of a true C. latus at the time for us to compare our fish with, some uncertainty…

IT'S ALWAYS GREAT hearing about stingray breeding successes in a private tank, but when someone contacts you to say that they've bred a marine ray you know it's something special. Aquarist Steve Webb informed me about the birth of a blue spotted stingray, Taeniura lymma, pup many moons ago, but for various reasons I had to delay my visit for a long time. When I finally managed to pop in to see his rays, I met a genuine and devoted fish keeper (and of course plenty of beautiful fish). Here's how it went. After entering the kitchen, I was greeted by a huge aquarium wall, consisting of two large tanks plus the trimmings (sump tanks) at the side. It was a strange combination having goldfish in the top tank and…

INSPIRATION Cherry barbs I'VE OFTEN WONDERED if aquarium stores can sometimes create a false impression about how abundant fish are. Not deliberately, of course, and not by malicious intent. But by the sheer volume of fish they carry, the typical customer could go their whole life never knowing just how troubled some species are in the wild. The fish we see in stores are, by and large, the products of large farming and aquaculture operations, produced in their millions overseas and streamed to us as a ready supply. Alas, in many cases the wild counterparts may be living in dire straits. Some species we take for granted aren't even found in the wild anymore. In step cherry barbs. They're a community staple and a familiar face to any regular aquarium…

TROPICAL Paratilapia IN MY YOUNGER years, I was forever a keen enthusiast of browsing every fish store I could, gazing upon the magnificent specimens I found. The fishkeeping hobby had really bitten me hard at an early age. Unfortunately for us South African aquarists, we never had many true aquarium stores dedicated to the hobby through the 90s and early 2000s. Instead, our general pet stores and hardware stores were usually the places where we could stumble upon a few aquaria. Fortunately, this has changed over the last couple of decades. It was within one of these stores in the late 90's that one fish really caught my eye. Jet black, and with iridescent spots scattered across its flanks and fins, my jaw dropped at the sheer beauty of it.…

FOR ANY FISH enthusiast it might have crossed your mind once or twice, or maybe it's a constant dream—can you work with fishes? Since the early days of my fishkeeping journey, I wanted to work with fish, although it isn't always straightforward. It's not easy to find the range of jobs available working with fish or to know what path to take to get to your desired end goal. I think it's easiest to split working with fish into three genres: scientific, veterinary, and husbandry. Each has its crossovers—for example, zoological collections and veterinary surgeons might contribute to science, while most university laboratories that work with fish often have their own aquarium and relevant husbandry specialists. Husbandry Probably the most diverse category given how vital fishes are for many aspects…

FLUVAL PLANT SPECTRUM LED NANO Reviewer: Nathan Hill Reviewe period: 8+ weeks Price: £136.99 at full RRP More info: uk.hagen.com What astounding things we get in tiny packages these days. There was a time that I'd not go near many LED lights, in part because I felt they were overhyped, but also because I refused to get a smartphone, which was needed to control the more advanced models. You need a smartphone to operate the Fluval Plant Nano. In the packaging come some instructions about installation, and on those you'll find a QR code taking you to the app. Install that, make sure your Bluetooth settings are on, and once you open the app you'll see the device right there. Connect it up and away you go. If you want…