Practical Fishkeeping February 2024

I'VE TAILORED this issue to be both an inspiration for potential projects, as well as a chance to brush up on some areas that many of us take for granted. To kick things off, I've a short guide to the importance of water hardness. Having always lived in hard water areas, I never really understood how much people in soft water areas can struggle too, until I moved into one myself. So, there's a bit of advice on p.50 for anyone who's naive to the subject. I've also teamed up with Finest Aquatics again this issue to put together a tank for threadfin rainbows. What I liked about the tank was just how little effort it took to make something really very pretty. Go find it on p. 16. There's…

CATFISHES ARE POPULAR in aquariums across the world, with Corydoras and Loricariids (plecs) leading the way. However, the order Silurformes (the catfishes) contains around 4,200 valid species, with Corydoradinae and Loricariidae only accounting for less than a third. This leaves a few thousand species as potential alternatives, if the keeper is willing to also include the more unusual and nocturnal species. One such family of catfishes is the Amblycipitidae, which contains just under 50 valid species (with more to be escribed). Restricted to Asian waters, they are sometimes called ‘torrent catfishes’ or ‘biting catfishes’, but don't those names put you off. Amblycipids are occasionally imported into the UK, most usually as Amblyceps mangois. This is the oldest Amblyceps species known to science and swims in waters of the Indian subcontinent.…

ODDBALLS Ctenopoma THE NOT SO TERRIBLE Aquarium journalist Chris works in conservation research when not writing. I ADORE MY CTENOPOMA acutirostre. Purchased from my local Maidenhead Aquatics eight years ago as a nervous 4cm juvenile, he's grown to a good 18cm in the ensuing years. The kribensis in my tank might provide that vivid splash of colour, and the unusual appearance of my butterfly fish always catches the eye, but in terms of personality, the C. acutirostre is the undisputed tank showpiece. C. acutirostre goes by a host of common names: the spotted climbing perch; African leaf fish; leopard bushfish; spotted bushfish. The reference to ‘leaf’ does bring about comparisons with other, similarly titled fish. In South America live other leaf fish in the Polycentrus and Monocirrhus genera, examples of convergent evolution…

Josh is freshwater manager at Finest Aquatics and has a passion for South American fishes. HERE'S AN AQUARIUM with two different fish species, each with their own unique sense of style. Look (not so) closely and you'll see peacock gudgeons and threadfin rainbows; both come from the same part of the world, but couldn't be further apart from each other in appearance. This tank was conceived to show what aquarists can do away from the usual blackwater and South American aquaria that tend to dominate amongst hobbyists. Instead, we've gone on an exploration of the tropical wonders of Papua New Guinea, and hopefully our set up will spur others to try their own hands at something a little off the beaten track. What's more, with the fish grown in and…

SPECIES SHOWCASE Daisy's ricefish Skilled breeder Gabor has a considerable list of spawning successes from his Welsh fish house. ON A RAINY and windy day—just like the one today when I'm writing this piece —having a fish-house is a real godsend. Knowing that I can leave behind the cold and damp weather even just for a short time and relocate somewhere nice and warm helps me to get through a difficult day. When I feel really under the weather, I always go to a tank which is full of life and flashy colours. The aquarium in question is the home of my group of Daisy's ricefish, Oryzias woworae, a fish that will surely bring sparkling joy into your life, too. I still vividly remember the hype that surrounded the discovery…

GIVEN THE TASK of categorising the over 2,000 species found in the ornamental aquatics trade it is inevitable that compromises have to be made somewhere. One group of species which falls foul of this philia for organising are the half-beaks, who are most often found alongside the ‘oddballs'. Of the oddballs, however, they are undoubtedly something of a contrast to the living fossil bichirs and lungfi sh; the highly adapted molluscivore puffers; or the benthic, rheophilic gobies. A member of the order Beloniformes, their closest relatives in the trade are the ricefishes (see feature on page 22); nonetheless, they are as closely related to these as they are to the marine flying fishes, another family within the Beloniformes. Meet the beaks The discrete family within the Beloniformes that the halfbeaks…