Table of contents for June 2023 in Practical Fishkeeping

YOU BELONG TO a huge family—the biggest in fact— that boasts an impressive nonillion members (at least). That’s 1,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000, 000,000 individual organisms alive today you are related to. That’s the population of planet Earth—and that’s being conservative. Admittedly, most of these relatives are microbes, and 100 trillion of them are in your body, with even more having never left the ocean. But the most notable kin, in respect to our own emergence from the depths of our breathtaking blue marble, would be Sarcopterygii—the lobe-finned fishes. Some had the ability to breathe atmospheric air, and could navigate with fleshy ‘lobed’ fins, giving them the ability to gradually transition to a life on land. Of all the lobe-finned fishes surviving today (the ones which remained in the water), eight known species…

SUBTROPICAL Channa I CAST MY MIND back to my workplace several years ago when I recall being informed by a colleague that a customer had brought in some fish, the result of a tank closure. Keen to see the goods, I went to get acquainted with the new arrivals. Upon inspection I was greeted with a fish that was not only elongated and slender, but also festooned in electric blue and gold. It was a ‘wow’ moment. What was this beautiful species that I had come face to face with? A quick glance at the name tag revealed it was a golden cobra snakehead, Channa aurantimaculata. My inner fish breeder’s passion was instantly ignited—from that moment I knew that I had to keep and breed these amazing snakeheads. My new…

MEET THE AQUARIST JamesDale 39 ChesterUK 21Years Coelacanth AnOlympicswimmingpoolsized Amazon biotope paludarium complete with inflatable lilo and snorkel. SINCE CHILDHOOD I was taught never to get in cars with people I didn’t know, so when the opportunity for exactly that came up—with the promise of a visit to Askham Bryan College to see some new aquaria— decades of indoctrination went out of the window and I couldn’t jump in that passenger seat quickly enough. Askham Bryan is one a handful of colleges around the UK that teaches animal management courses, and the mystery man inviting me on a tour was no less than James Dale, founder of Aquatect. To facilitate the teaching of aquarium husbandry, Aquatect had been called in to install a whole range…

SICCE JOLLY HEATERS Reviewed by: Gabor Horvath Price: £15 -£18 for the Jolly fix heater, £20-£25 for the Jolly Preset More info: https://www.sicce.com/en/ I was relatively surprised to read a recent article about the resurgence of vinyl records and their increasing sales. My thinking was that when you have easy access to tonnes of music from streaming services and you can play, shuffle or even mix them from the comfort of your armchair then why would someone bother with an antiquated, cumbersome disc and all the difficulties of operating a turntable? A similar train of thought arose when I learned that Sicce has brought out a new heater range in which some of the models have no temperature control at all. Who would want a heater that can’t be adjusted…

Sometimes you HAVE to travel long distances to see unusual fish species in the flesh. But at other times they can surprise you by living just down the road. This was the case with Lee Harrison’s livestock. I have known Lee for quite some time as he is a regular visitor to my fish house and we always have a great ‘fishy’ chat. Yet, despite this, I had never had a chance to see his fishes. When I heard about his River Xingu tank, I simply had to visit him. Here is what I learned about his special setup. Gabor Horvath: When did you start the hobby? Lee Harrison: My dad had eight tanks. He mainly kept marines and I found them fascinating, and so I got involved with fishkeeping…

WITH A TOUGH exterior and pectoral fins that wouldn't look out of place on the side of a commercial airliner, the flyer pleco, Pseudolithoxus anthrax, often sold simply as L235, is an odd one, but it’s a must for anyone interested in unusual Loricariidae. Getting hold of this fish isn't particularly difficult, although like a lot of South American species its presence in the trade is at the behest of the seasons, in keeping with the drier months of the continent. When available, expect to see it in many shops, and don’t expect it to be particularly expensive—usually setting you back between £30-£50. Not being overly large, Pseudolithoxis anthrax is much easier to house for a lot of shops and make for an unusual addition to a livestock list. Keeping…

AREN’T PRAWN GOBIES amazing? The unlikeliest example of symbiosis, between fish and shrimps, one guarding a burrow and alerting of dangers, the other keeping it clean. What a shame this fish isn’t one of them. Enter the misnomer that is the flaming prawn goby, Discordipinna griessingeri. We’d be wiser using the alternative common name, the spikefin goby, given that the species is something of a lone ranger. Whatever the name, it’s gorgeous, and it could be your next nano tank project, Discordipinna griessingeri is tiny. In an everyday reef tank, it’s nothing more than an (astonishingly) expensive snack. It tops out at 3cm, and I’ve yet to see one comfortably over two-thirds of that. Try to keep one in a big system and you’ll lose it, either to another fish’s…

Win The Question of the Month gets a Tetra goodie box! MARINE Is my coral receding? I have had a Trachyphyllia coral for two weeks and it was inflating beautifully with feeder tentacles at night. But it was tilted on its side this morning and I've noticed a white patch that looks like exposed skeleton. The top of the coral still looks okay but I'm not sure what's happening. Might this have been caused due to incorrect lighting, flow, or something out of check in the water parameters? ZAK HARRISON JEREMY SAYS: Trachyphyllia naturally inhabit mud, silt, and sandy areas in shallow turbid, coastal waters. I wouldn't worry too much about that side of the skeleton because in nature it would be buried in the sand. The flesh shouldn't cover that…

SPECIES SHOWCASE Hemirhamphodon tengah LIKE MANY AQUARISTS, my exposure to halfbeaks has been limited to very few encounters, and all of those were with just one species: the wrestling halfbeak, Dermogenys pusilla. Fans of this species will know it as a fish that’s highly tolerant of water chemistry, from stagnant freshwater ditches to flooded brackish mangroves. Although still very much on the uncommon side, I had at least seen them in a few shops and one friend’s aquarium. As awesome as this species is, that is as much as I’ll write about it today. Instead, my focus is on a fish slightly more suited to my usual water chemistry, and certainly a fish less often seen. A family peculiarity I began planning a new tank almost half a year before…

MARINE Anemone symbiosis ANEMONES ARE OFTEN considered the underwater standard for mutualistic symbiotic relationships, with these soft-bodied cnidarians seen as a safe haven against predators. But far from operating an open-door policy, this goodwill is only extended to a select group of creatures. For the rest, those stinging tentacles prove an impenetrable barrier where an intruder can end up becoming a meal. Happy clowns clownfish undoubtedly feature at the top of the guest list. Being comparatively slow-swimming prey fish, anemones provide a muchneeded sanctuary. Protected from stings by their mucus coating, they also clean and feed off scraps left from the anemone’s meals. In return, anemonefish can act as a lure, enticing predators into the anemone’s stinging embrace. The movement of clownfish also increases water circulation and aeration amongst the…