My Tanks: 13 Dec Update

A lot has happened since my last tank update. Basically something has changed in every single tank. Most of the changes have been for the better. This will probably be my last tank update of the year as I'll have to wait until after Christmas to add any more fish because we will be leaving on vacation. I don't like to have fish in QT while I'm away.

I bought a new goldfish buddy for my remaining ryukin. She went through a 3 week QT just fine, and they are now swimming together in the large 55 gal. I've seen the breeding tubercules on the ryukin, but I don't see them on the new redcap oranda. And I've seen the ryukin nudging the oranda's vent. I've come to the conclusion that the new goldfish is a girl. I'd really rather have all males to avoid the breeding issue, but it's done and over with. Plus, my new oranda is just precious and outgoing as ever! How could I not love her?

My newest goldfish, a redcap oranda named Burbbles

Burbbles and Magikarp playing together. It's so hard to get them both in focus.

My 29 gal community has undergone the most changes. I added a new large piece of driftwood that I ordered from Aquariumplants.com as well as about 2 more species of plants. I've added green tiger lotus (Nymphaea lotus)  and Cryptocoryne undulata. I ordered them from PetsWarehouse.com, and I can't say I'm too pleased with the packaging. The plants weren't protected very well; there was no padding and the plants were just in plastic bags. The box was visibly crumbled, and some of the plants look damaged. It remains to be seen if they will recover.

Anyway, this complete the aquascape and hardscape. I'm going to let these plants establish for about a month before I begin stocking the fish. I still haven't decided on a final stocking plan, but I do know I will have a tetra species, a gourami species, and a twig catfish (Farlowella spp).

The crypts are small and hardly visible,
but the lotus is that large reddish leaf in the center.

Since I have written you, I've lost one of my bettas, Knucker. He was my oldest and had the worst health due to inbreeding.  During his last months I noticed he lost control of swim bladder and could not maintain neutral buoyancy, a problem common in double-tail bettas. While not a double-tail himself, I believe he carried the genes as I saw a lot of bad hallmarks of the double-tail like scoop head, a huge dorsal, and massive fins. I placed him in a breeder box in the 29 gal. I returned from a Thanksgiving vacation to find him dead, but I take heart in knowing that I gave him the best care and he probably wouldn't have gotten the same if another person had picked him up from the shelf.

Goodbye, Knucker. The picture on the left is from when I first bought him.

The last major change I made was for the plants. I've noticed rather stalled growth in many of my plants. I dose weekly with micronutrients using Seachem Comprehensive, but I still didn't get good growth. After a little research I figured out it is because my water is so soft. I started adding Seachem Equilibrium to raise the GH up to about 6 in each of my softwater tanks. I use it to raise the GH to around 10 in my goldfish tank as they are hardwater fishes. As of right now I haven't seen a large increase in plant health, but I didn't expect it so soon as I've only been using Equilibrium for two weeks now.

Goldfish Garden

Good Idea... Wrong Fish!!

Aquaponics is a type of sustainable agriculture that combines traditional aquaculture of fish with  hydroponically grown plants (plants grown with roots submerged in water). The fish are grown in large holding tanks, and the waste they produce is pumped to the plants in the hydroponic systems. The plants use the nutrients and send the "clean" water back to the fish. That is the general idea behind aquaponics, but there are a few variations. Recently, I have seen a few products come on the market aimed at home aquaponics systems. Some are good, and some are bad. This is one of the bad ones I recently stumbled upon.

Artist's rendition of proposed Goldfish Garden

Some quick facts about this product: it holds 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water; is powered by a 1.5W air pump; is 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) wide; and can come with a light if it cannot be placed near natural light. More information can be found on their kickstarter page.

The entrepreneur claims that goldfish are the best candidate for the bowl because of the amount of waste they produce, but he neglects to mention that they will outgrow a tank like this in a matter of months. He also fails to state any need for water changes. Not only do fish need clean water, but plants need it, too. Plants use up minerals that are in the water like calcium, magnesium, and iron. The only way to replace these minerals is with a water change, something that is rather commonplace in normal aquaponics operations. He also fails to mention any additional fertilizer that will likely be needed for healthy plant growth. Fish only produce nitrogenous wastes, but plants need many other micro and macro nutrients for complete and healthy growth.

He does mention that other fish can be used in the system and even mentions a slot for a heater to enable tropical fish to be used in his system. This is a very smart idea, and I believe this product could be better marketed and used with creature suited to living in a (relatively) small environment their whole lives such as betta fish, small snails, or shrimp.

Or you could save a few hundred dollars by buying a 10 gal tank with a single T8 and putting the plants in with your fish. That's where my vote is!

Amazon: Secrets of the Golden River

A great deal of common freshwater fish in the hobby come from the Amazon River Basin, and with good reason as it's the second largest freshwater river system in the world. Angelfish, discus, and many species of cories and tetra are all only found in the Amazon. Due to the wide variety of species Amazon biotopes are very common. This documentary includes footage of many of these and other Amazon fishes in the wild.

I do not own or claim to own this video.

Differences Between Goldfish and Koi

I know there are a lot of similarities between these two fish, but getting them mixed up is one of my largest pet peeves. Maybe this is because I’ve kept both species of fish for many years. Maybe it's because I dislike people who don't bother to think about what they are seeing. Either way, I would like to point out the major differences between koi (Cyprinus carpio) and goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus).

Size

This is the most obvious difference between adult koi and goldfish. If you see a colorful fish in a pond that is larger than 15 inches, it is a koi. Fishbase.org lists 12.5 in (32 cm) as the maximum size for goldfish while it lists 43 in (110 cm) as the maximum size for koi. Younger specimens in ponds can be more difficult to tell apart, though, so this isn't always reliable.

Coloration

Goldfish are pretty limited in their patterns and colors whereas koi have a much wider variety. Goldfish tend to come in solid colors of orange, white, black/blue, or red. Yellow can be seen but is very uncommon. White and black combinations and red and black combinations are also possible but rare compared to the common red and white combination. Koi come in a much greater variety of common combinations. The base colors are red, white, black, yellow, orange, and blue. The chart below illustrates some common koi colorations and the names of the patterns. 

Koi color varieties (credit in picture)

The barbels (sometimes called whiskers)

This is the most obvious difference between koi and goldfish. Koi will have these barbels and goldfish will not. If you can see these on a pond fish, that fish is a koi. However, these aren't always easily observable. 

Barbels on koi (Stan Shebs @ Wikipedia)

The Tail

Both koi and goldfish can have elongated tails, but only goldfish will have the signature double-tail. This is where the caudal fin (tail fin) is doubled. From above, this will often give the tail a three-pronged or a four-pronged appearance. This characteristic is only found in goldfish. 

Typical split caudal as seen on wakin goldfish (fishsempai.com)

Other less obvious physical characteristics

This illustration below points out more of the morphological differences between koi and goldfish. Often times these aren't visible unless you view two fish side by side or have looked at a lot of koi and goldfish. The difference in mouth is often visible when you feed them. Sometimes it will give you a chance to look for barbels, too. 

Physical differences in koi and goldfish (credit unknown)

 

Can they interbreed?

Yes. When found in the same habitat (either in the same pond or in the wild), the two species will hybridize, but the hybrids are infertile. Often times these hybrids will be the natural brown, but some can come out a beautiful solid black. When these are found in the aquarium trade, they are often breeding mistakes. 

Genetically verified hybrid carp goldfish found in the wild (Jim Negus)

I hope you now have a better understanding of the differences between goldfish and koi. These are two beautiful fish that deserve to be recognized for their own merits.

Color Changes in Bettas

As anyone who has keep bettas for a long period of time knows, they are apt to change colors. What you see in the cold cup in the store is never what you will see after a few days of warm, clean water in your tank. For this reason, bettas bought in pet stores are often gambles. You can buy a pretty white one in the store and it will turn a peachy-yellow in a few days. There are three reasons why bettas change colors: stress, age, and genetics.

Stress

All fish are known to change colors when stressed. Most of the time this is a whiting out or a dulling of their colors. In pet stores almost all fish are stressed. The tanks are crowded and often contain diseases. While the cold cups may not always contain disease, they will stress tropical fish like betta. And just like any other fish, the colors of the betta will dull and fade. The transformation from stressed fish to unstressed fish can take a matter of hours or sometimes days. This is the main reason betta change color when you first get them. 

This is the same betta. On the left is the betta in a cold cup in the store.
On the right is after a month of being in clean, warm water.

Age

Often the fish you see sold in store aren't very old. Typically the smaller they are, the younger they are. Their colors haven't fully developed yet and neither have their fins. So essentially what you are buying is a "work in progress." Some will change more than others as not all bettas being sold are the same age. Below is a very young betta that I bought in July 2011.

This image shows the same betta from July 2011 to February 2012.
Notice the longer fins and more pronounced color.

Genetics

Some betta carry what is called the marble gene. This gene sequence causes the betta's colors to  changing even after they should have stabilized with age. Sometimes the betta will continue to change his whole life even looking like a whole different fish a year after you buy him or her. Sometimes the betta will "marble out" and become a cellophane, and some "unmarble" and turn a dark, solid color.  There is no way to predict what you will end up with. This presents an interesting challenge to breeders, and they can be a neat fish to have as a pet. A month later you can end up with a completely different fish than you started with!

This is my marble plakat. The image on the right is from July 2012. The middle image is a
month later. The far right image is from October 2012. My marble has unmarbled
to a beautiful solid blue.

 

Works Referenced

Parnell, Victoria. 3 Mar 2006. "The Ever-Changing Marble." bettysplendens.com. Retrieved 4 Nov 2012.