easy Fish, freshwater Aquarium begin,advice,viviparous,oviparous, breeding, behaviour,drawings,pics.

The freshwater aquarium

Part 3 Easy exotic warm water fish.

Viviparous, oviparous tropical fish,
modes of reproduction,
behaviour,
what fish to choose,
the water hardness, pH,
drawings.

livebearers
(ovoviviparous)Among the ovoviviparous (Guppy), eggs are fertilized by the male in the female's belly and embryos develop (incubation) in eggs in the mother's belly to their maturity.

Guppy

Platty

Molly

Our first exotic fish. viviparous (ovoviviparous)
When we begin in aquaristic we are always eager to have fish babies.
This is why we start with livebearers fish, which means they make fish babies born alive, large and already well formed.
While oviparous lay tiny eggs that give the fry (baby fish) no bigger than a comma (,) and whose breeding is not always accessible to the beginner.

Guppy. Lebistes reticulatus.
The guppy fish is probably the best known of our aquariums. It is often chosen for its varied colors and its vivacity.

It is also a very strong fish that is able to acclimate to any aquarium, I even saw one in a seawater tank. Do not try, you need to get some experience to do this.
This fish is very nice but what a horny beast! how much it runs after girls!
It is essential to put several females for 1 male (3-4) or they may die of exhaustion by their relentless prosecution.
We must therefore have a well planted fish tank, so that females can hide the time to recover.
It is not for nothing that the guppy fish is nicknamed the million fish, because from a couple (mathematically) you can get one million small fish in one year, we must count that fish babies grow quickly, and in turn make babies.
When and how many guppy babies? Females gives birth, according to the temperature, about every month and each time between 25 and 50 young (fry). The higher the temperature, the faster the cycles, and the faster the fish become old.
Fertilization accounts for several times.
Temperature about 25°C
The easier fish

The Platy. Xiphophorus maculatus.
The platy fish is peaceful and dynamic as the guppy. Same behaviour, and must also have several females.

Same mode of reproduction.
Male size 3-5 cm. female 4-6 cm.
Temperature about 25°C

Molly. Poecilia sphenops.
The molly is very quiet but a little larger than the Guppy or Platy. Same reproducing mode and at least two females.

Molly loves grazing the algae, it requires a little vegetable. You can give it a piece of cooked salad or cooked spinach.
In the wild they live in brackish water, and if we want to keep them healthy we should add a little sea water (5%), or about 1 tablespoon untreated coarse salt for 20 liters of water.
Male size 5-7 cm. female 6-8 cm.
Temperature about 28°C

The size of fish varies depending on the size of the tank. The larger Is the aquarium, the larger the fish become.
The Lifetime depends on the temperature.
In warm water, fish live faster , in cold water they live in slow motion and therefore they live longer.
But we must still try to keep the temperature that suits them.

The size of fish varies depending on the size of the tank.

The lifetime depends on the temperature.

  Some clarification on words oviparous, viviparous and ovoviviparous. (in fish)

The oviparous.  Eggs are fertilized by the male after the expulsion (spawn), depending on the species they may hatch between 36 hours (zebrafish) and 6 months (Aphyosemion).
Ovoviviparous.  (e.g. Guppy) Eggs are fertilized by the male in the female's belly and embryos develop (incubation) in eggs in the mother's belly until their maturity, it may take one month .
Why guppies born in ball?
   At the moment of the expulsion, by maturity, egg rips and releases the baby (fry) curled in ball. After 1 second the coiled baby unrolls and flees wriggling and squirming like a maggot, and quickly finds the normal swimming.
Viviparous.  Viviparous embryos do not develop into eggs but are fed by an umbilical cord in the mother womb.
For practical reasons of simplification is often said "viviparous" instead of "ovoviviparous".

Oviparous fish.

The
oviparous

Neon

Scalare

Carnegiella

Corydoras

Danio

Some oviparous fish that attract or intrigue us by their shapes or colors.
These fish lay eggs, and they are not always easy to reproduce.
Several factors come into play : the hardness of the water (almost all these fish require very soft water), a pH below 7 to about 6.5, therefore an acid water, and little light in a dark water.
When you finally succeed in having eggs, problems are just beginning.
Some fish eat their eggs after spawning, others take good care of the eggs, and eat them after hatching, and others protect them until they are big enough.

Neon. Paracheirodon innesi,
or Hyphessobrycon innesi all aquarists are seduced by its metallic blue color bright and shiny like a neon light in the night.

The Neon fish swim by band, we must have at least 6 in an aquarium so that they feel good.
When they spawn, it is in the leaves, and the eggs stick to plants.
A few eggs stuck under the leaves can escape to the voracity of parents. The neon fish require very soft water at about 5° GH with a pH from about 6.5, therefore acid.
Temperature about 22°C

The scalar. Pterophyllum scalare.
The scalar is often chosen for its strange and impressive shape. But it can also reach an impressive size, the size of a hand, and gets to eat a young neon.
This is why it should not be put in a tank of less than 200 liters.

If you put several in a small tank they will fight the whole day to get the best place.
They lay eggs on a stone, an overturned flower pot, a tile, a slate, and they take good care of their eggs.
Temperature about 26°C

Marbled hatchetfish. Carnegiella strigata.
This is a vertically flat fish with two fins as wings and that can jump out of the aquarium even at night.

He always swims motionless, against the stream, near the surface and protected from light under the floating leaves, waiting for any insect that might fall into the water.
Mine have never eaten food flakes, I had to make a Drosophila breeding (vinegar flies) to feed them.
Very soft water of 5° GH with a pH 6.5.
Temperature about 26°C

The Corydoras. Corydoras julii.
The corydoras is a fish that crawls on the ground, stirring the sand with his barbels to find food.

This can be useful if you need to have the sand returned to prevent algae from growing on the ground, for example.
Very quiet he doesn't care about other fish.
Average water hardness, pH around 7.
Temperature about 25°C

The danio. Brachydanio rerio,
Also known as pajamas or zebra fish, turbulent but not aggressive. It has stripes that appear brown or bright and shiny metallic blue depending on the light, on white background.

Size 4-5 cm.
Water at about 10° to 20° GH. with a pH of approximately 7.
Temperature of about 22°C.

This is surely the easiest oviparous fish to breed and raise for the beginner.

go to: breeding of danio.

Some exotic fish require acidic water.
How to make acidic water?
To have acidic water in the aquarium you must buy special aquarium peat (turf), which is placed into the filter, this is called filtering on peat.
In this case we don't filter on coal (activated charcoal) because it would make no sense.
Do not put calcareous stones in an acidic water aquarium, since they reduce the acidity of the water.
Turf can also be placed directly in the aquarium to make a nest, some fish such as Killies (Aphyosemion) or Austrolebias nigripinnis go there to lay their eggs.
Peat (turf) gives a brown color to the water.

Living food for fish.
Often the distribution of living food launches the production of eggs among the oviparous.
There are several kinds of worms or insects that you can buy or breed and raise yourself.
In aquarist shops, you can find bloodworms and living tubifex. Personally I make culture of Grindal worms (white worms) and Drosophila (vinegar flies).

What is called filtering on peat (turf).

Some fish lay eggs on peat (turf).

peat bed.

How to feed the fish.
When and how often should I feed the fish?
Apart from the baby fish (fry) that have to eat several times a day, adult fish only need one meal a day.
Food should never fall to the bottom, if this is the case, it's because there was too much food. Then there is a risk of pollution.
Fish can fast once a week, it is very good for their health that they occasionally empty their stomach and intestines completely.

How long can a fish go without food?
In nature some fish remain without eating or almost for months.
They live then in slow motion.
In a well planted aquarium they can easily stay a month without food by nibbling here and there, pecking the microfauna like cyclops (zooplankton) that is in any living aquarium.
We can therefore quietly go on vacation for a month, otherwise it is a food dispenser that is to be installed.

What do the fish eat in our aquariums?
Except for few fish that only eat living food, for example carnegiella in freshwater, or mandarins in seawater, most of them eat the flakes sold in aquarist shops.
There are different kinds of flakes suitable for different varieties of fish.
The saltwater fish don't always like flakes for freshwater fish.
Food can be in various forms: granules, cubes (e.g. freeze-dried tubifex worms (dried)), dried micro shrimps.
But also in frozen form.
It is recommanded to give the fish living food at least once a week .
You can also find in aquarist shops: living adult brine shrimps, tubifex worms, red bloodworms (mosquito larvae), and sometimes Daphnia (water fleas).

Raising, Breeding of living food:
You can make breeding of living food of :
- artemias salinas,
- Grindal worms,
- Micro worms,
- drosophila
(Small vinegar flies).
For more
go to: cultivation: phytoplankton, zooplankton, living food, Artemia, Drosophila.