It’s summer, and the heat is on in full force. Heading to the pool is one of the best ways to cool off. Ever dreamed of swimming in the pool with your fishes? Don’t try plopping a goldfish into your typical chlorinated pool. There is a new trend on the market: natural swimming pools. Instead of using chlorine to clean (or should I say disinfect) they use natural ecological processes to keep the water clean. These types of pools rely on lots of fast-growing plants, large surface area for good bacteria, and proper water movement. (Do these principles sound familiar to you?) They are basically a very lightly stocked pond with a large open area for you and your friends to swim.
The regen area is typically filled with plants like lilies and cattails. (fncponds.com)
While you won’t be able to have a whole school of goldfish or tons of massive koi in the water, between 5 and 10 fish are acceptable depending on the size of the pool. These fish should not be fed as this will add more waste to the system. Goldfish are very adept at finding their own food in a system like this. If you add fish make sure you only add one gender as they are notorious for reproducing. The aim of these systems is to create a balance. With goldfish constantly reproducing, you’ll have a hard time doing that.
Every natural swimming pool is different. They come in many designs from a traditional pool with the natural regeneration area to something that could easily be mistaken for a koi pond if it wasn’t for the diving board. I know that if I ever have the funds, I’ll be looking to install one of these beauties in my backyard.
Typical swimming pool with a regen area on the left. (Enricoslasheric @ Wikipedia)
Natural pools are functional in the summer but are still an attractive landscape feature in the off season.
Very natural-looking pool with regen area in upper right (ecolagoons.com)
I can post pictures here all day long. I love looking at these things because every single one is different. They also give me ideas for how I would design a natural pond.
Today is Betta Fish Awareness Day 2012! Time to get out and spread the word about proper betta care!
Click to enlarge (American Betta Fish Association)
This lovely brochure created by the betta enthusiasts and breeders at the American Betta Fish Association also comes in a black and white form that can be printed out. Post this brochure around town at local pet stores and vet clinics to spread the word about proper betta care. Always remember to be kind and courteous when you do. As my grandfather likes to say, you get more with sugar than you do with salt.
Another way you can participate is to sign and let others know about this petition to convince Petsmart to stop selling tanks that hold less than a gallon of water. Stores in the UK don't sell these tiny tanks. Let's help US chain stores jump on the bandwagon. Just to be clear, the petitioners have no problem with breeders keeping fish in these small tanks because breeders understand the needs of these fish. But when a large store like Petsmart markets these small tanks to new betta keepers and doesn't properly explain how to clean and safely heat tanks like this, it leads to unnecessary mistreatment of the fish.
Let's face it. There is a problem with the way most store sell bettas (and goldfish). While regulations against small tanks might do a bit, a betta in a dirty, unheated 2.5 gallon bowl isn't better off than a betta in a clean, heated 1 gallon bowl. The only way to save these beautiful fish from that horrible fate is to educate the public and pet store workers. And that is what today is all about.
So today I went to the pet store to get some plants for my goldfish tank and made the mistake of looking at the goldfish. I found an adorable little orange ryukin. He looked in great health, so I took him home. Right now he is in a 20 gal quarantine tub that is running a home-made sponge filter with media from the main tank; using this filter I don't have to worry about mini-cycles in the quarantine tank. While my new goldfish is in quarantine, he will be undergoing a prazi treatment for external parasites which most goldfish from pet stores carry. I will also be watching for signs of other illnesses such as ich and fungal infections. Now for the pictures!
He's sooo tiny!
This log is his favorite hiding spot. I only coaxed him out with food.
This is just too cute, and even tho he's hidden, I had to add it.
For plants, I bought an amazon sword (Echinodorus amazonicus). Because my substrate is so loose, I rooted the plants in terracotta pots with smaller-sized gravel that way the roots can take root. It will also make them easier to move if I decide to reposition them. I also added hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) rooted in a smaller pot. Hornwort is great for goldfish tanks because it is a fast-grower that sucks up ammonia very fast and it likes the hard water in which goldfish thrive. To boost the growth of these plants I've added Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive liquid fertilizer. The plants don't look like much now, but I'm hoping they will take off in a few weeks. Hopefully I'll have more and better pictures then.
But the ocean really is full of amazing and sometimes terrifying creatures. No doubt that a few sightings of some of these beasties contributed to many ancient tales of sea monsters. Here I'll count down the top 15 weirdest bony fish in the ocean. I didn't count in sharks and rays because that's a whole different article. So here we go!
# 15 Mackerel Icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari)
Mackerel Icefish (fishindex.blogspot.com)
This unique little guy spends his life deep in the
Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica where the water often approaches
freezing. Their blood lacks hemoglobin and red blood cells earning them their
clear appearance as seen in the pictures above. They are able to survive
without these oxygen-carrying proteins because the oxygen content of the water
is so high. They also have an antifreeze protein in their blood to prevent the
buildup of ice crystals.
These fish are amphibians. They move more efficiently on
land than they do in water. They still need water to survive, but using their
powerful pectoral muscles they can "skip" around on land. And they
actually prefer land to water. They can breathe through their skin, but it
needs to be moist to do so. They even lay their eggs on land. These fish can be kept in very specialized home aquariums; the water should be brackish and these fish need an area of land to hop about.
# 13 Ocean Sunfish (Mola
mola)
Sunfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium (Fred Hsu)
This fish is widely considered the largest bony fish.
They average about 5.9 ft (1.8 m) in length and 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) in weight,
although individuals up to 10.8 ft (3.3 m) in length 14 ft (4.2 m) across the
fins and weighing up to 5,100 lb (2,300 kg) have been observed. It can grow so
large because the fish displays delayed calcification of the bones. Their
caudal fin is distorted into a psuedo-tail called a clavis which gives them
their distinctive shape. They swim using their dorsal and anal fins. These fish
got their name from the tendency to lie on their side near the surface and
allow birds and cleaner wrasse to remove parasites from their skin. While they
may be huge, they eat relatively small jellyfish and are very peaceful fish.
# 12 Longhorn cowfish (Lactoria cornuta)
Cowfish (Dein Freund der Baum)
Don't get out your lasso just yet. This guy is only about
1 foot long. They live in tropical reefs in Indo-Pacific. They are in the same
order as puffer fish and the Ocean Sunfish. They are known to produce a toxin
similar to pufferfish when stressed. This is because they are closely related
to puffers.With the right size setup, this is one of two fish in this article that can be kept in home aquariums.
# 11 Giant Oarfish (Regalecus
glesne)
Giant Oarfish that washed ashore in Oregon in 1996 (public domain)
Sometimes known as the "King of Herrings"
although it is not related to herrings. It has the title of being the longest
bony fish in the world with a max reported length of 65ft (17 m). This other-worldly
creature is one that surely spawned a lot of sea monster legends. Just look at
the pictures and you can see why. Live specimens are rarely seen as they spend
a lot of their time at deep depths, which adds to the mystery of the creature.
# 10 Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus
eques)
Leafy sea dragon (public domain)
While it has dragon in the name, this seahorse relative
is nothing like the mythical beasts. It floats along using its fleshy
protrusions to camouflage itself. The leafy seadragon can also change its color
to better camouflage itself. It is one of the most spectacular examples of
camouflage: neither prey nor predators recognize it as a fish. Its long snout
is used to suck up small fish and shrimp.
It's found on reefs with kelp in the south of Australia. Like most seahorses, the father broods the eggs in his pouch. But
unlike most seahorses the tail of the leafy seadragon is not prehensile.
Lumpsucker is a very appropriate name for this little guy
as it looks more like a lump than a fish. Its pelvic fins are modified into an
adhesive disk that allows these strange fish to maintain a firm grip on rocks
because they don't move around a great deal. They catch food as it passes by.
# 8 Spotted Handfish (Brachionichthys
hirsutus)
Spotted handfish showing off his "hand" (credit in photo)
Ever seen a fish with hands? This strange little guy
doesn't have hands, but his modified pectoral fins look really close. This guy
uses his pectorals to "walk" across the ocean floor. They only live
in Australia and are in big trouble due to an introduced starfish that consumes
its eggs. They are only being recorded in the estuary of Derwent River, Tasmania,
and nearby areas. The IUCN lists them as critically endangered.
# 7 Barreleyes (Macropinna
microstoma)
Image of Barreleyes captured on deepsea dive (MBARI)
Otherwise known as the fish with a glass head, this
strange fish hangs motionless in the waters between 2,000 ft (600 m) to 2,600
ft (800 m), in the depths where almost no light reaches. The top of its head is
filled with a clear liquid. It turns its barrel-shaped eyes skyward and watches
for food to fall. When it sees food, the eyes swivel back into place and it
swims toward its food. Creepy, no?
# 6 Fangtooth (Anoplogaster
cornuta)
Fangtooth (PBS online)
This tiny terror of the deep has the largest teeth
relative to body size of all the fishes. In adults, the largest two fangs of
the lower jaw are so long that the fangtooths have a pair of opposing sockets
on either side of the brain to accommodate the teeth when the mouth is closed.
Juvenile fangtooth look so different from adults that they were once classified
as a separate species.
# 5 Gulper eel (Eurypharynx
pelecanoides)
Gulper eel (National Geographic)
Another oddity of the deep. This fish is almost all mouth
and can swallow fish much larger than itself with its loosely hinged jaw. At
the end of its whip-like tail are organs that glow presumably to attract prey.
This fish only grows to 3 ft (1 m) so you only have to worry about it gulping
up your dogs and children ;)
# 4 Blobfish (Psychrolutes
marcidus)
Blobfish on the surface (fishindex.blogspot.com)
Dubbed the "most miserable-looking fish" the
blobfish is the result of the high-pressure environment in which it resides.
With pressures being several times that what occurs at normal sea levels
buoyancy via a swim bladder is inefficient. The blobfish remedies this by being
a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than that of water. It has
almost no muscle mass, but that doesn't both it because it just gulps any edible
matter that floats in front of its face. Unfortunately this sad little blob
could one day become extinct. Because of its inability to swim rapidly it often
gets caught in deepsea trawling nets. It is only known to exist in one area off
the coast of Australia where trawlers fish for crab and lobster. Sadfish is
sad.
# 3 Fanfin Seadevil (Caulophryne
jordani)
Fanfin seadevil female (MBARI)
This is the stuff nightmares are made of. This member of
the anglerfish family rightfully earns the name seadevil. But the fact that it
only grows to 4.3 in (11 cm) takes away a lot of the fright factor. The Fanfin
Seadevil is distinguished from other anglerfish in that it does not rely on
biolumincense to attract prey. Male anglerfish are also a neat thing (ladies,
you'll like this one). Male anglerfish don't grow nearly as large as female
anglerfish. Their sole purpose in life is to seek out the females. Once they do
they latch onto the female and become parasitic. Their bodies whittle away to
nothing but testes with their only purpose being to provide sperm for the
female's eggs. This is because mates are so hard to find in the deep sea, that
once you have one its best to stick with that one until it’s all over.
# 2 Red-lipped Batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini)
Red-lipped batfish (National Geographic)
This guy gives the blobfish a run for its money as the grumpiest fish in the ocean. Found
only around the Galapagos Islands this strange creature doesn't swim across the
ocean floor; like the handfish, it walks across it using its pectoral fins. In
adulthood the dorsal fin modifies to become the fleshy protrusion in front of
its face. It's used to attract prey and give it the appearance of a nose.
Personally, I think this is the ugliest fish in the ocean. The handfish, batfish,
and seadevil are all types of anglerfish (Order: Lophiiformes) and have many
more creepy cousins. The first minute of the video below shows this strange fish in action.
No you are not tripping. This is an actual fish. This
recently described fish earns the title of weirdest fish in the ocean not just
for its groovy pattern but its mode of locomotion. While it often walks along
the bottom using its pectoral fins, it can also shoot a jet of water through
its gills and jettison itself. During this motion it takes on a ball shape and
literally bounces along the ocean floor. You can see this in the video below.
The odd shape of its face also gives it depth perception believed to be similar
to that of humans. It's associated with coral reefs and has only been found on
Ambon Island in Indonesia thus far. Don't stare at its eyes too long.
So that concludes our tour of weird fishes of the sea! If
you think I left out something else strange post it, too! Fishbase.org was my
main source as well as numerous other sites such as National Geographic, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Arkive.org.
