What's in this issue?

 This month we look at:

• L397 L# Catfish Profile.
• Driftwood how best to use it
• A Basic Guide to Breeding Cyphotilapia sp Frontosa
• Did You Know? - Fishy Facts
• Benandy Breeding - September 2010 'SPECIALS'
• Around the Boards

SOMETHING FISHY!

 "Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are made for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration."

Izaac Walton

DID YOU KNOW? 

The Big and Small

The World's Biggest Catfish
Fishers in northern Thailand netted a huge catfish in the Mekong River on May 1. Nearly nine feet long (2.7 meters) and as big as a grizzly bear, the behemoth tipped the scales at 646 pounds (293 kilograms). Experts say the fish, which belongs to the species known as the Mekong giant catfish - (Pangasianodon gigas), may be the largest freshwater fish ever recorded.

The World's Smallest Fish
The world's smallest fish has been located living in an acidic peat swamp on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
"Paedocypris progenetica" and is a member of the carp family.
Despite being only .31 inches (7.9 millimeters),
the males have "exceptionally large muscles" and "enlarged pelvic fins".
Boffins speculate these are used for the things you don't want to think about as you're drinking water.

Diet:
This is a wood-eating catfish, like all species from the genus Panaque (including those known to some as Panaqolus) and Cochliodon. Therefore, a good supply of bog wood is necessary in the tank: not only does this fish extracts certain elements and nutrients from the organic layer which forms on the wood over time (also known as "Aufwuchs"), it actually eats the wood itself, possibly for digestive reasons. As wood does is not very rich in nutrients, it means the L397 consumes vast amounts of it, and produces an almost equal amount of waste (because of which a very strong filtration system is an absolute necessity).
Besides wood, the diet can be supplemented with vegetable matter (cucumber, lettuce, egg plant/aubergine, zucchini/courgette, etc. as well as algae and catfish pellets)

Sexing:
The male has a larger head and much more odontode growth on the body and pectoralfin ray.

Further Details
This is a peaceful and unproblematic fish, suitable for community tanks and show tanks with easy to stress fish like Discus or Angel Fish, as well as other bottom-dwelling fish. The L397 may become a bit pushy during feeding time, or if not enough hiding places are offered, but if the tank is properly aquascaped it is unaggressive, even towards its own kind.

CREDITS:
Image by Mooo  

 'Driftwood - How best to use'

Introduction
The ultimate aquarium practice is that of making it appear as close to the fish’s natural habitat as is possible.
All too often the aesthetic quality of driftwood is over looked.
While it is true that not all types of wood are suitable for the purpose, they can harbour such unwanted elements as a cloud of infusorians or dead fish, there are several types that are equally beneficial in making your aquarium both attractive to the eye and a comfortable home for your fish.

The important principals in selecting and using driftwood for our tanks are as follows:
1.Green (unseasoned) woods are completely unsuitable.
2.The longer the wood has lain underwater, the better it is for the aquarium.
3.Acid woods are to be preferred to all others.

 This last point warrants some further discussion or explanation. Botanists have recognised the relationships between plants and pH in various forms. The Acid woods refer, in this case, to those trees and shrubs which are more closely associated with acid soils.
Unfortunately for aquarists the majority of trees and shrubs do not fall into this classification.
Some very desirable species of wood are:
-Birch
-Oak
-Alder
-some of the Willows
-Cypress
-Magnolia and
-Chinese chestnut.

 Alkaline woods include:
-Apple, Plum, Pear and other types of fruit trees
-Maple, Ash, Black Walnut, Elm and a host of others.
To be certain the aquarist can gain further details in regards to types and pH values of Trees and Shrubs from good gardening books/magazines.

 A Golden Rule
No matter what type of wood you choose, it MUST BE “cured”.
This means boiling it in a strong salt solution for several hours, followed by a soaking period of 1 to 2 weeks (at which time the water should be disposed of and replaced with fresh water).
This treatment will leach the soluble organic matter from the wood, colouring the water dark brown (due to Tannins etc).
Repeat the soaking in clean water until such time as the water remains clear.
In the case of wood that has been submerged for a long period in water, the curing may be omitted.

However, the salt treatment should still be implemented to ensure that all unwanted parasites etc. have been eradicated prior to adding the wood to your aquarium.
Dry wood needs to be thoroughly soaked to displace into the air in the wood and replace it with water.
Though prolonged soaking will achieve this, we sometimes do not want to wait that long and it is here that a short cut can be used by placing pieces of slate etc. into holes drilled in the wood where they can not be noticed, or can be tied together using nylon or heavy linen thread.

Credits
Adapted from: - ‘Wood in the aquarium’ - Author: Jim Toney
Ciclid Circular - Vol 13 Issue# 1 - Nov 1993 - Page 10

 Choose wood with good structure

 NOTE: This a is guide only and is based on my experiences

with breeding WC Frontosa

 Species background:
The Frontosa Cichlid is a fairly typical member of the Cichlidae family.
Both sexes are characterized by a large frontal hump which will develop as the fish reaches maturity, or attains a length of around 4 inches.
It is known by the scientific name of Cyphotilapia frontosa, but may also be known as Paratilapia frontosa, and Pelmatochromis frontosus.
Originating from the deep waters of Lake Tanganyika, Africa, wild-caught specimens are not seen as often as captive-bred specimens in the hobbyist's aquarium.
In their native Africa, Frontosa African Cichlids are considered a delicacy on the table.

 Breeding Frontosa:
Breeding Cyphotilapia Frontosa is not as easy as some other Cichlid species because of the costs it incurs.
Buying a group of breeding Frontosa can be quite expensive and it is much cheaper to get them young, watch them grow and then try to spawn them.

 The breeding process itself is not that difficult.

Sexual diphormism is not obvious. Females' hump is somewhat smaller than males but this should not be used as the only criteria for differentiation, experienced breeders will also use vent checking of the fish’s sexual organs as a sexual indicator.
Males are also usually larger.

To successfully breed these fish, it is important to have a group of Frontosa Cichlids as they are typical harem spawners. 1 male for four or five females is the optimum ratio. Although some hobbyists have reported using the 1 male for 2 female ratio in a 50 gallon tank, it is recommended to use a larger tank (at least 100 gallons). Males become active breeders when reaching 7" and females 5". The breeding cycle occurs approximately every 2 to 3 months.

Conditioning the fish:
When attempting to breed Frontosa there are two things that are vital to the success or failure of your attempts. Firstly, their water should be kept at 25ºC and a pH of around 7.8. Secondly, the fish should be fed on a diet of good quality pellets and flake food; I also, feed them on a Frontosa Frozen Food recipe about three times a week, along with White Bait as an added conditioner. [These are small soft fish about 2" long, which can be bought at most fish co-operatives fairly cheaply. They are seasonal, so when they are available, I usually buy a couple of kilograms and freeze them in a thin block and just break off whatever I need to use]. It is a much more natural food than beef heart, which I never use, and the Frontosa certainly relish them. In my opinion the food value of the beef heart isn't worth the risk of bloat.

 Perhaps one of the biggest factors in success with breeding Frontosa is to provide the right environment both for spawning and for the female’s safety.

 Spawning Signals:
The male will become very aggressive towards the females if they aren't ready to breed, so you'll need to provide some places for them to escape the attentions of the male. Objects such as lots of pieces of ceramic pipe or terracotta pots laid on their side in the tank.

These are big enough to allow the females in, but too small to let the male into, so they provide a save refuge for brooding and sexually inactive females. [Be sure that nothing you put in the tank to protect the female can harm her instead that is that they don't have sharp edges etc. as Frontosa (particularly wild caught fish) are naturally flighty and more so during spawning activity].

The male will spawn with a different female every few days. Sexually active males turn blue, especially the snout region.
He will select an open, yet secluded area which is only weakly defended. When he has a willing female's attention, he will slowly pass over the spot with his fins folded. Spawning is very inconspicuous - no shaking, no flashing of fins, or sparring with conspecifics. As the male passes over the selected spot, he releases his milt, showing the female where to go. Some have people have said that the milt may serve to encourage the female to lay her eggs. She will then pass over the spot in the same manner as the male, slowly and with fins folded. After dropping an egg, she will back up - not turn around - to pick it up. She will repeat this procedure, "rocking back and forth" four to six times. Apparently, the male's milt is powerful enough to fertilize eggs several minutes after it is released.

 Note:
I have found that to get a good fertilization rate, a tank with very little or infact no water movement appears to be the most productive as I believe that, although the males milt is indeed strong it still needs to be viable at the point where the female deposits the egg for fertilization to have the best chance to occur.

There is little advance warning before spawning occurs. The Frontosa is a mouthbrooder and given the right water quality and water changes, there is a good chance that a pair will spawn. When a pair does decide to spawn, the male may decide that he doesn't like others in the selected area, and may become aggressive towards any other fishes in the tank. The eggs are quickly laid, fertilized, and scooped up by the female in her mouth. The number of eggs can range from just a few, to more than thirty, but it mostly depends on the size of the female. The eggs hatch after five to six weeks, and the fry may still live in the female's mouth for the next week. It is advised to provide the fry with rocks for hiding places.

CREDIT:

Article By: 'Sicklids' 

Images By: 'Sicklids'

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