Tabla de contenidos para November 2022 en Practical Fishkeeping

WHETHER YOU’RE into marine, freshwater tropical, fancy goldfish, koi, there is one unifying factor for all of us: it’s not cheap, and given the current cost of living crisis, it’s not getting any cheaper. While there are ways to make things more affordable (air-powered sponge filters, low-tech, low-light, and simple substrates), there’s still an expense. Plus, in the long run, often we don’t get the ‘wow factor’ that some of us might desire. In our current reality, I imagine that a great many hobbyists — both newcomers and seasoned fishkeepers — may be re-evaluating their priorities. Do we need so many tanks? Could they be smaller? Can we afford the electricity for giant pond filters? Are marine set-ups going to bankrupt us? The answer to the last one is always…

IN RECENT years there have been many new and fantastic species of fish discovered and described. It’s hard to miss the new discoveries if you follow certain social media platforms, with ichthyologists, importers and collectors proudly showing off their finds. One of the recent new faces to catch my eye is a species of characin from South America. Let’s take a closer look at this pretty little fish, highlighting the pros and cons of Hyphessobrycon procyon. My first encounter with H. Procyon was on a Facebook forum specialising in characins, and soon after it seemed that the fish started to sporadically become available in East Asia, most likely from Indonesian breeders. My initial thoughts were that it was quite dull looking, with photos showing little more than a silvery looking,…

To create an ambience suggesting that there was more vegetation in the background, and to simulate the greenish waters of many streams and rivers I’ve explored in Brazil, I used a background light panel from The LightGround with a green-yellow foil. I add a single piece of driftwood, then I added a deep layer of Prodibio aquatic soil behind the wood, ensuring my Echinodorus will be firmly anchored and well-provisioned with nutrients. The Echinodorus uruguayensis are added one by one, with a little space between them so they weren’t too crowded. I then add Wio Cimarron Sand in a thin layer around the base of the tank. Using a clean paintbrush, I spread the sand out evenly. Brushes are a great way of smoothing sand in a hurry. A sprinkle…

TROPICAL Cichlids CICHLIDS CAN be found in many parts of the world, and in the most exceptional locations. Here, I’m writing about a small but colourful cichlid that occurs in an obscure biotope — namely two sinkholes in the extremely dry Namibia, southwest Africa. Lake Otjikoto is located around 20km from the city of Tsumeb, next to the B1 road that runs towards Namutoni and Ondangwa — the name Otjikoto, an indigenous Otjiherero name, translates as ‘deep hole’. One of only two permanent lakes in the country, it’s small with a diameter of just 102 metres. While various attempts have been made to determine the exact depth, it’s assumed to be somewhere around 75 meters deep. Alas, the lake floor tapers into a lateral cave system, making an accurate depth…

SYNODONTIS ARE by far the most regularly traded African catfish. Something like 120 species have been described, of which a good dozen or so can be found in aquarium shops. The dwarf upside-down catfish, Synodontis nigriventris, is commonly traded and a fine addition to most community tanks. Others, like the famous polka-dot catfish, Synodontis angelicus, are bigger but not particularly difficult to keep, and with care can be kept with medium-sized tankmates without problems. In fact, Synodontis are an impressively widespread group of fish with different species found across much of sub-Saharan Africa including the Congo River system and the Rift Valley lakes. Indeed, Lake Tanganyika in particular has a ‘species flock’ of closely related species that have likely evolved within the lake, each adapting to a particular niche. While…