Tabla de contenidos para December 2023 en Practical Fishkeeping

WITH HINDSIGHT, the bumblebee gobies of Brachygobius were one of those fish I got lucky with. My first experience with them was somewhere in the late-80s, and going by the literature of the time I had no idea what to do with them. But I loved those little gobies, and as much as they stressed me out, I kept them alive and happy. It's a delight to have bumblebees as this month's lead fish, and it's as much of a delight to note that even though I've become older and grouchier, they've remained as cute as ever. Another old school fish appearing this month is the bleeding heart tetra—or rather all three of them. Darlings of their day, not many stores seem to carry them now. Here's hoping Oliver Lucanus’…

SPECIES SHOWCASE Bleeding hearts THERE ARE SOME fish nearly every aquarist will have kept at some point in their life, either because of their alluring colours, their uniquely oddball shapes, or perhaps simply because they are easy to breed in the aquarium. Given the incredible diversity of fish available to the contemporary hobbyist, some of the older classic fish species may fall out of fashion. And yet, regardless of this, tetras continue to enjoy widespread popularity. Most of us, at some point, will have a tank featuring cardinal or neon tetras, and soon after start to look for suitable dwarf cichlids, or perhaps some high-bodied fish to compliment these colourful but predictable ‘mainstream’ fish. This is where the bleeding heart tetras come in: they too are colourful, with a unique…

Got a fishkeeping question? PFK's crack team of aquatics experts are on hand to answer whatever you need to know… questions@practicalfishkeeping.co.uk THE EXPERTS [MARINE] Is there a reef-safe butterflyfish? My reef tank holds just shy of 400 litres and is stocked with a regal tang, two tiny clownfish and a Flymo blenny. Please could you recommend a butterflyfish that will suit this set up? I have some hermits and a couple of Turbo snails with mushroom soft corals and some Xenia. The tank has been set up for four months. JOE CAMPBELL JEREMY SAYS: There is only one species of butterflyfish that I'd recommend for a reef aquarium, and that's the copperband, Chelmon rostratus. As beautiful as they are, most, if not all, butterflyfish will eat coral polyps, but the…

TROPICAL Cyphotilapia FOR AS LONG as I can remember there has always been an aquarium in the household, and I have always found it fascinating. My father had a copy of Gina Sanford's book An illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aquarium Fish on the book shelf as well as a Herbert R Axelrod's Mini Atlas which I spent many hours with my head buried in. At this young age, I used to love not just looking at the variety of different fish that had been photographed, but also loved learning about each species—notably, their compatibility with each other, and whether or not they would be suitable for my fish tank. The one image that always really stood out was a rather majestic The one image that always really stood out was a…

FRESHWATER FISHES OF CAMEROON: DISTRIBUTION, HABITATS AND AQUARIUM NEEDS BY M.C.W. KEIJMAN. Reviewed by: Nathan Hill Format: Hardback Pages: 464 (includes 403 different species, 821 photos and 32 maps) Language: English Available from: Pre-order at cefishessentials.com, or www.freshwaterfishesofcameroon.com Price: £90 (UK) or €79.50 plus shipping from Europe. Killifish and kribensis is about as much as I knew of Cameroon before this month. How that changed. Born from two years of writing, Freshwater Fishes of Cameroon: Distribution, habitats and aquarium needs is an epic tome. Hungry to read it ahead of time, I acquired a PDF copy prior to release, and may have saved myself from a hernia. At 464 pages, the printed version weighs in at just over 2kg. When I say it's an epic, I'm not exaggerating. I'll use…

NOT SO LONG ago, we ran a feature on careers within the aquatics industry. I've been brooding on that feature ever since. As wonderful as it was at exploring the role of qualifications required for entry, and expectations of pay and workload, it didn't touch heavily upon the other side of fish work: the demands on the individual. It might seem odd to ask this of folks hoping to ‘live the dream’ of working with fish, but are they really cut out for it? Practically nobody moved into the fish world because they saw it as a fast track to a comfortable life. While there are exceptions, it's safe to say the majority of workers in the diverse field of aquatics are there because of an overwhelming (and usually inexplicable—at…

SPECIES SHOWCASE Tilapia pra AFTER A REVISION of Tilapia by Dunz & Schliewen in 2013, where many species previously included in the genus were reclassified into tribes such as Heterotilapini, Pelmatolapiini, Coptodonini, only relatively few species remained as Tilapia. Post-revision, three of the remaining Tilapia species, specifically three substrate-breeding fish— T. brevimanus, T. busumana and T. pra—look to be only temporarily retained as Tilapia until further studies can assign them a genus of their own. One of these ‘not quite Tilapia’, Tilapia pra, is a striking fish originating from Ghana, and it's about that fish that I write this article. The very first specimens of T. pra were found and catalogued by Guy Teugels at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium in 1987. It was Ulrich Schliewen who…

SPECIES SHOWCASE Bumblebee gobies WHEN BROWSING THE offering in a bricks-andmortar fish store I'm usually looking for a sudden burst of colour or unusual shape to grab my attention. A tank full of bright black and yellow ‘midgets’ buzzing around definitely fulfils these criteria. Bumblebee gobies have a certain charm and their uteness is hard to resist, but purchasing them on the whim without researching their requirements could be disastrous, leading to the loss of lives. If you're sold by their uniqueness and are willing to go the extra mile, giving them your best care then please read on. You may ve just found your new favourite fish. Gobioids—the fishes belong to the suborder Gobioidei—are among the most diverse groups of ertebrae, comprising over 2000 species (and counting). here are…

FASCINATING FISH Hecq's shell-dweller I WILL ADMIT, AS long as cichlids have been tugging at my heartstrings, those from Tanganyikan never really managed to sneak their way into my home. It wasn't a matter of distaste or a lack of opportunity, either. While lagging behind their Malawian cousins, the ‘Tangs’ hold a solid presence in many aquatic stores. Shell-dwellers in particular are small and endearing enough to convert most passers-by, and have been a reliable staple in my local scene for as long as I can remember. When a fellow fishkeeper said he had brought in some unique shell-dwellers, my interest wasn't particularly piqued. He had spawned a couple too many and said I could take a few off of his hands. I guess my time had come to dip…