Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

The Care and Breeding of Cherry Shrimp

As many hobbyists have noticed, invertebrates are making a comeback in the hobby.  Many hobbyists are keeping invertebrate tanks only due to their interesting characteristics and funny behavior.  The popular invertebrate on the scene are the cherry shrimps, Neocaridina heteropoda.  These fun little shrimps are creating a storm around the globe along with other color morphs.  This is a simple guide to highlight the care and requirements of these intriguing shrimp and to give key points on how to breed them. (photo from: http://www.smartblue.net/akvateam/card_images)

  

Introduction to Saltwater Puffers

 

Due to the popularity of my An Introduction to Freshwater Puffers I decided to do one for saltwater because everyone should be able to experience the joy of having a puffer.  So, lets quit messing around and bring on the puffers!

 

But, before I start introducing these amazing saltwater puffers I want to make a few points that every hobbyist should keep in mind before purchasing a puffer.

Re-homing Fish?

We have all done it.  Just had to drop in on your favorite fish store to see their new stock and you end up purchasing a fish you knew nothing about and now the "cute litte fish" is 15 inches, eats everything in the aquarium and is messier than your kids.  Where do you go from here?

What You Should Know Before Purchasing an LED Light

The following musings began as a simple post on 3reef and ended up being quite long.  However, I think the info is valuable to anyone in the market for LED lighting.



There is much, much more that goes into an LED unit besides the diodes used. Top quality emitters can be used, but if you have supbar electronics, drivers, etc on the inside, then you have a subpar light. Sure, the diode might be rated to last 50k hours with a 30% output loss over that period, but what if the drivers used are only rated for 10k hours (plus, what are the specs of said driver: is it constant-current, constant voltage, what is the tolerance, variance range, etc?).

An Aquarium as a Christmas Present! Now What?

Christmas is one of the best times to purchase an aquarium for any interested hobbyist.  Especially since many aquarium providers offer special deals on entire aquarium packages that are a great start for any hobbyist to be able to geat into the magnificent aquarium hobby.  But, once having all the materials to setup an aquarium can be overwhelming especially if you are not complely sure how it all works.  Well, lets clear up that confusion and I will add some tips too!

 

"Saving" Fish: Don't Do it

Ever since I started in the hobby, I have been "saving" fish or invertebrates.  When I "saved" a fish, I would purchase a fish that was in poor health (clearly going to die at the store) and nurse it back to health at my home.  This may seem heroic, but it is not.  In reality the act of saving a fish hurts more than it helps.