Bishop Savaryn School

Something Fishy

Grades 5 - 6

Drawings of My Favorite Fish

By Grade 5 and 6 artists.

Catfish

Habitat: Any where that has rocks, plants and clean water.

Adult: 4 inches

Feeding: Carnivore

Compatibility: Aggressive

Breeding: Female usually have a bigger belly

P.H: 7.5 - 9

Temperature: 27d-31d

Special Conditions: Fresh water

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Goldfish

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The Bumble Bee

Name: Bumble Bee

Habitat: They like to be around rocks and plants so they can hide. Comes from Lake Malawi

Adult size: 5 – 9 inches

Feeding: They prefer live food and flakes

Comparability: Other African Cichlids

Breading: mouth brooders

PH: 7.5-8.5

Temperature: 24-30°C

Special conditions: They are territorial and they like to hide behind rocks

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Peacock Cichlid

Name: African Peacock Cichlid (Aulonicara nyasae)

Habitat: Lake Malawi

Ph range: Alkaline

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Carnivorous

Sexing: Male has striking blue and the female tan or brown color

Breeding: Intermediate

Special notes: Keep the aquarium in the usual Lake Malawi set up fashion and put a lot of rocks and caves in the aquarium.

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Discus

Name: Discus, Symphsodon Aequifasciatus

Habitat: Amazon River, South America

Adult Size: 16cm.

Food: Mosquito larvae and tubifex worms

Compatibility: Peaceful; travel in schools; don’t keep with large fish

Breeding: Egg layers

pH: 6.5 - 6.6

Temperature: 26-30°C

Special Conditions: Very expensive, therefore you need to have a lot of money to buy enough to form a school.

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Betta

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Electric Yellow

Habitat: Lake Malawi

Diet: Will eat most foods, but needs some veggie supplements as well.

Length: Males can grow up to 6”. Females grow to about 4”.

Aggression: These guys are pretty soft when they’re not spawning. They get along well with other Lake Malawi cichlids.

Life Span: 8 to 10 years.

Care: Ph. 7.4 to 8.2

Hardness:15 to 30 dgh.

Temp. 73° - 81°F

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Betta

Name: Siamese Fighting Fish (Beta Splendens)

Native Region: Thailand

Temperament: Usually very peaceful community. You can't put more then one male betta in a tank or they will fight to the death.

Feeding: Staple flake foods and they also enjoy brime shrimp and bloodworms and almost any other small live foods.

pH range: 6-8

Temperature range: 75-84°

dGH: 25

Potential Size: 3''

Sexing: Males have bright vivid colors and much larger fins

Breeding: Bubble nest builder therefore, make sure that your breeding tanks does not have a strong current and surface flow. Plants important since it incorporates them in bubble nest.

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Electric Yellow

Name: Electric Yellow (Labidochromis caeruleus)

Habitat: Lake Malawi

Maximum Size: 8 inches

Ph Range: 7.2 – 8.8

Temperament: 75 - 79°F (24- 28°C)

Diet: Omnivorous

Sexing: The male is more colorful at breeding time. They will develop a bluish color and are larger than a female.

Breeding: An ovophile mouth brooder.

Special Notes: These fish are territorial fish. These fish live singly or in pairs. They don’t burrow or disturb plants. These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

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Bumble Bee
Pseudothropheus crabro

Ph range
alkaline

Maximum size
5-6 inches

Feeding/ Diet
Blood worms, crickets, brine shrimp, mealworms, glass worms and tubifex worms. Beef heart, hi-pro, daphnia, glass worms, bloodworms, plankton, brine shrimp and glass worms.
A peaceful and territorial species that will mix well in an African Cichlid community tank.

Habitat
Lake Malawi Africa: Densely decorate with rocks, clay pots and driftwood. Java Fern and Java Moss are the best live plants for decoration, as they will not be demolished by the cichlids.

Breeding
Males are a dark brown almost a black color, and females are brown with yellow striped.

Temperament
Peaceful, usually quite shy. Hides behind rocks, or under wood

Special notes
African Cichlids are very popular with because of their interesting breeding habits and their bright color patterns.

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Platy

Platy (xiphophorus maculata)

Origin: Central America, Mexico

Diet: Tetra fish

Ph range: 6.9-8.2

Adult Size: 2”

Sexing: Females grow larger and have a more rounded body.

Breeding: Livebearers. Floating plants will help with the survival

of the babies.

Special comments: They are very active fish, which like to leap.

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Red Eye Tetra

(Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)

Habitat: Boliva, Brazil, Paraguay, and Eastern Peru

Maximum Size: Up to 3” (7.5)

PH Range: Not Critical: Soft to Medium Hard, 6.0-7.8

Temperament: Peaceful Community Fish.

Diet: Omnivorous, most foods, including vegetable components.

Sexing: Adult fish or when ready to spawn, males will appear slimmer.

Breeding: An egg scatter. Eggs hatch in 1-2 days.

Special Notes: Best to have in groups of six or more. Water temperature is 22-26° Celsius. Have a planted tank with open shoaling space.

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Tiger Barb

Name: Tiger Barb (Capoeta tetrazona)

Habitat: Indonesia

Temperament: Community. Peaceful and extremely active. Will fin nip other fish like guppies or larger fish to chase.

Feeding: Staple foods, vegetable flakes, adult brine shrimp, and live foods. However, vegetable matter is very important in diet.

Temperature Range: 68-74° F

PH: 6.5-7

Adult Size: 2 ¾”

Sexing: Males have brighter red in dorsal fins and more color generally on face and mouth area. Females are larger and wider.

Breeding: Breeding can be stimulated by using higher water temperatures of about 78-80° F and a pH of 6.5.

Special Notes: Schooling fish. Best to have 6-7 individuals together in a tank.

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Neon Tetra

(Paracheirodon innesi)

Name: Neon Tetra

Scientific Name: Paracheirodon innesi

Habitat: South American jungle streams

Adult Size: 4 cm (1.5 inches)

Food: Omnivorous: small live, frozen and dry foods

Compatibility: Peaceful, community – may be eaten by larger tank mates

Sexing: Males slimmer body, females have a deeper body

Breeding: Very soft and acidic water necessary. Use Java moss or an artificial correspondent. Parents should be removed after spawning. Eggs hatch in about 24 hours. Feed the tiny fry on infusoria at first, followed by salt-water shrimp nauplii.

PH: 6-8 (around medium, soft to medium hard)

Temperature: 22-26°C (72-79°F)

Special Conditions: Planted tank, peaceful tank mates

Min. Tank Size: 10 gallons

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Melanotaenia Boesemani

Temperature: 20-30

Name: Melanotaenia boesemani

Latin Name: Gelb-Blauer Regenbogenfisch

Habitat: New Guinea: Moderately decorated with rocks, live plants and driftwood.

Maximum Size: 11.5cm

PH Range: 6.5-8.0

Temperament: This fish is not really aggressive, but it is an active swimmer.

Diet: It eats frozen or live daphnia or other small food. They also eat insects and flake foods.

Sexing: The male can be told apart from the female because of its grayish –silver front and the yellowish-orange mid-body.

Breeding: They are egg layers.

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Tiger Barb

Temperature: 68-79°

Name: Tiger Barb

Latin Name: Sumatra Tiger

Habitat: Rocks, Plants and Driftwood.

Maximum Size: 6cm.

P.H Range: 7.0-7.2

Temperament: Aggressive streak, especially with peaceful species and large finned fish.

Diet: All tetra flaked foods.

Sexing: Difficult.

Breeding: Spawning may be mistaken for overt aggression.

Special Notes: It’s colors make its enemies go away. Should be kept in groups of six or more to reduce aggression.

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Rosy Barb

Scientific name: Barbus Conchonius

Habitat: Moderately decorated with rocks

Maximum size: 2-2 1/2 inches

P.H. Range: 7

Temperament: 78° F

Diet: Live bloodworms, glass worms and brine shrimp

Sexing: Males are rosy red and the females are dull silver

Breeding: Egg scatters. While spawning they will produce 100 to 200 eggs

Special notes: Schooling fish therefore best kept in groups of more than 6. It will school with fish that are the same size.

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Red Turquoise Discus

Name: Red Turquoise Discus

Habitat: South America-Amazon and Rio Negro Regions

Maximum Size: Up to 8 inches or 25 cm

PH Range: 6.5

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Carnivore

Sexing: The male is shorter and comes to a point. Males tend to have larger bodies than females. The head area is more rounded in the males. The females may have a pointed head when looking at it from the side

Breeding: The female deposits the eggs in a string from bottom to top at her selected spot. After each turn she makes room for the male so that he can fertilize the eggs. After the deposition both parents guard the eggs. The eggs hatch after 2.5 to 3 days.

Special Notes: The Discus is best kept with other peaceful species in uncrowned aquariums.

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Siamese Tigerfish (Coius Microlepis)

Habitat: Borneo, Cambodia, Sumatra, Thailand

Maximum Size: 15 inches (40 cm)

HP Range: Neutral 7.0

Temperament: Can be territorial

Sexing: No Information

Diet: Carnivore

Breeding: Egg layer

Special Notes: The Siamese Tigerfish lifespan is 5 years

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Gold Angelfish

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Melanotaenia Boesemani Stephanie

Habitat- Irian Jaya (Indonesia), Ajamaru Lakes region

Adult Size- Up to 5” (12.5), but often smaller

Food- Omnivore: will take flake, which should be supplemented with live and frozen foods.

Compatibility- Good for Community Tank

Sexing- Males are more colourful and generally larger and deeper bodied.

Breeding- Spawn over fine plants. Java moss or spawning mops can be provided. Fry require very fine food.

pH- 6.6-8.0

Temperature- 25-30°C (77-86°F)

Special Conditions- These fish are very popular rainbow fish. They should be kept in a large tank providing plenty of swimmimg space. Males turn full colouration in about 12 months.

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Bleeding Heart Tetra

Name: Bleeding Heart Tetra (Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma)

Origin: Amazon River, South America

Diet: Flake foods, adult brine shrimp, bloodworms & other live foods. Omnivorous

PH range: 5.7-7.2

Adult Size: 2”

Temperament: Peaceful. Good for community tanks with small to medium fish.

Temperature range: 74-82° F

Sexing: The male has an extended dorsal fin with black coloring.

Breeding: Unknown.

Special notes: Best kept in schools of more than 6 or in pairs. Some Bleeding Hearts can grow long flowing fins. This has nothing to do with the gender of the fish.

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Red Tail Shark

Habitat- Thailand

Length- 12cm

Diet- Prepared foods, algae

Sex Difference- Female slightly fatter

Compatibility- Peaceful but can become a fin nipper

Breeding- Egg scattered

Tank Conditions- Ph 7.0, Hardness 8, Temp 77°F, Minimum Size 20 Gallon

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Electric Blue

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Tiger Barb

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Chinese Hi Fin Banded

Family: Cyprinidae

Range: NE Asia, China-Yangtze River Basin

Size: Up to 24 inches

Diet: Omnivore

Tank Set Up: Freshwater, rocks, sandy bottom, and driftwood

Tank Conditions: temperature 59° - 82°F : ph 6.5-7.5; DH 4-20

Minimum Tank Capacity: 125 Gallons

Light: Low

Temperature: peaceful

Swimming level: Bottom

Care Level: Moderate

Reproduction: Egg Layer

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Goldfish

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Betta

Name: Siamese Fighting Fish (Beta Splendens)

Native Region: Thailand

Temperament: Usually very peaceful community. You can't put more then one male betta in a tank or they will fight to the death.

Feeding: Staple flake foods and they also enjoy brime shrimp and bloodworms and almost any other small live foods.

pH range: 6-8

Temperature range: 75-84°

dGH: 25

Potential Size: 3''

Sexing: Males have bright vivid colors and much larger fins

Breeding: Bubble nest builder therefore, make sure that your breeding tanks does not have a strong current and surface flow. Plants important since it incorporates them in bubble nest.

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Platy

Name: platy (xiphophorus maculata)

Origin: Central America, Mexico

Diet: Tetra fish

Ph range: 6.9-8.2

Adult Size: 2”

Sexing: Females grow larger and have a more rounded body.

Breeding: Livebearers. Floating plants will help with the survival

of the babies.

Special comments: They are very active fish, that likes to leap.

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How to Articles On Aquariums

How To Setup an Aquarium

Tank Size

Picture the types of fish you want to live in your tank. Find out how big they will get when fully grown. Though schooling fish are a joy to watch, they require a lot of swimming space. Since some species are territorial, you will need to provide them with sufficient "territories" to prevent stress. Basically, if you want to take care of a lot of fish, you will need to buy a larger tank. The size of the fish matters a lot because, if you have a small tank and lots of big fish, your fish will die really fast because there will be no room for the fish to move and they will die from being crowded. But if you have a couple of small fish then they will be all right in a small tank. Several varieties of fish will need a 100-gallon plus tank. Fish require not just room to move around but also oxygen, nitrate free water to do well. Larger tanks are easier to keep because changes happen very slowly.

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Water Chemistry

To setup an aquarium you need to make sure that the water quality is right. When you put water into the tank you would need to add some chemicals with the water to remove chlorine. The water should be clean so that no pesticides, chlorine, and other chemicals are present.

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Water Quality And Chemistry For Fish Tanks

Water quality and chemistry is an important part in keeping fish. All fish are different and need different water settings for them to be healthy and happy. Some of the many chemicals in tank water are ammonia, nitrite, PH.

Ammonia is a toxic substance that if not maintained can kill your fish. Ammonia is produced from the decay of waste and extra food not eaten by your fish. To keep your fish healthy ammonia should be kept at a level of 0.1 milligrams per liter. The bacteria Nitrosomonas, once established in your tank, changes ammonia into nitrate making it easy to maintain a low level of ammonia.

Nitrite is also a toxic substance and is deadly to your fish and should also be maintained at a level of 0.1 mg/L. Nitro-bacteria change nitrite into nitrate, which is less harmful to your fish.

Fish, like humans need to breathe and therefore will die without oxygen. The oxygen fish breathe comes from dissolved oxygen in the water. With low dissolved oxygen levels fish may still live but won’t live for long and under high levels of stress. For freshwater tanks the dissolved oxygen level should be kept at levels of greater than 7.0 and 6.0 for saltwater tanks.

PH is the concentration of acids in your water. Fish can withstand many different PH levels but high and low levels must be prevented. PH should be maintained at a neutral level of 7.0 for most fish. Sudden changes in PH can cause death in most fish.

Hardness is the amount of calcium and magnesium in your tank water. This does not affect your fish very much but to keep your fish happy and lively maintain your hardness level between 0 and 200 mg/L. At some time you may want lower or raise your hardness level to lower your hardness level use peat, to raise your hardness level use calcium and or magnesium.

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Aquarium Lights, Plants and Decorations

Have you ever wondered what kind of plants should be used in an aquarium? What kind of decorations? Or even lights? This following information will tell you about those things.

There are two kinds of plants that you can put in your aquarium, living and non-living. The great thing about living plants is that they feed the fish and filter the water, and the bad is you always need clean water to keep them alive. Artificial plants don’t feed fish but look incredible and they don’t need cleaning to survive. There are a few types of plants like: Java Fern, Amazon Sword, Dwarf Hygrophilia, Anachris and much more. You can purchase these items at any pet store. If you decide you want plants in your aquarium you should check to see if they should be floated of planted.

There are many kinds of lights for your aquarium. Incandescent lights are only suitable for the smallest tanks. They give of a lot of heat. Fluorescent lights come in many different sizes. They also come in all different colors and wattages. There are many kinds of bulbs, which you can purchase at a pet store.

There are also a lot of decorations like driftwood, rocks, logs, flowers, coral, and other plants and gravels you can use in your aquarium.

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Aquariums

When setting up an aquarium/ tank you should think about these steps. First you should think about the tank size and the kinds of fish you want to keep. For example, if you want a small tank you should get a small fish. If you get a big tank you can get bigger fish.

The next things you should think about, is the stand and food. The stand is supposed to be flat because if it isn’t flat the tank will start putting pressure on one side and then it will start to crack and spill. The food all depends on the fish you buy. For example, some African Cichlids are herbivore, omnivore, and carnivores. So if you buy the wrong food you will make the fish very sick.

Also you should test your water once in awhile. Test for pH, ammonia, and nitrates. The water should be very clean and there should be no bad bacteria in the water. Also, make sure your fish are compatible with the water that will be their total environment.

Think about filters, pumps, and accessories. You shouldn’t get underground filters for some types of fish. For example, African Cichlids like to dig so the underground filter would be a bad idea. For some fish an underground filter would be all right. To find out what kinds of fish you should have with what filters go to a pet store and ask.

Air pumps and accessories are next. The air pumps give air and filters filter the water so the fish have clean water to swim in. For accessories you just pick things you want like caves or plastic plants so your fish can hide in them. Also you can get some other things to decorate the aquarium. So look around your local pet store and see if you can find what you like.

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Water Quality

To keep your water clean, there are some things you need to think about. They include ammonia, hardness, nitrate, oxygen, pH, how salty the water is, and the temperature. Using a good filter and not overloading your fish tank with snails, food, etc., will help your fish live a better life.

The pH level should be checked every week. Most fish require a pH range of 6.8-7.6. Ammonia, which should also be checked every week, is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen. Rotting, uneaten food creates it. This is very toxic to the fish, so it should be one of the main contaminations to keep an eye on. The ammonia level should be zero in a healthy tank. Nitrate should be checked regularly, especially when new fish are added. It is not as toxic as ammonia is, but high levels can be damaging. If you are raising tropical fish they must live in an environment with a steady temperature. Keep a steady temperature and keep your fish lively and comfortable.

Oxygen is not only found in the air surrounding us, but it is also found underwater. Fish depend on dissolved air to breathe under the water. Usually, there is more oxygen at the surface of the water, due to circulation from the air above. Some other factors that can affect the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water are water temperature (the warmer the water the less oxygen content) and the degree of water circulation.

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HEATERS

For some fish you’ll need to different temperatures. If you have tropical fish it is necessary to have a heater. Two types of heaters are: the hang on style and a submersible style. A “hang on” style provides heating for the water. It is not submersed and it is less efficient than a submersed heater. Submersible heaters actually attach inside of the aquarium (suction cup) and the entire heater is positioned in the water.

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Setting Up the Tank

Preparing and cleaning your tank is the first thing you want to do. Get rid of all the dust or dirt in the tank. When you clean the tank you should not use any chemicals. You should just rinse it out with regular tap water. Once you think the tank is clean enough you can start putting up your stand.

Put the gravel in the tank. Fill and place decorations in your tank once the gravel is in. Fill the tank two thirds. Don’t fill the tank all the way because you might want to add some plants or rocks or other decorations in your tank.

After your tank is all set up you can start adding your fish. You should not go to the pet store and buy all your fish at once. If you do go out and buy all your fish at once you will have a total disaster because the ph, nitrates, and good and bad bacteria are not balanced in your tank. Add a few fish at first and wait a week and then buy a few more. To get more information on tank set up read some books on fish keeping or visit other web sites that deal with this subject.

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Tank Size and Fish

There are a lot of tank sizes. If you want a lot of oxygen in your tank, your tank needs a big surface area. Your tank has to be the right size of tank because if you put lots of big fish into a small tank like a 10- gallon tank your fish will not get that much oxygen. If you have a 10-gallon tank you should have small fish and if they get bigger you will have to get a bigger tank. Larger tanks require the same amount of work but the variables such as Ph and nitrates will be more stable in a larger tank.

There are different types of fish tanks such as glass tanks, plastic tanks, and bowls. You can keep goldfish or pond fish without using filters and other equipment. Other fish need other equipment such as filters and heaters.

The plastic tanks are very cheap comparing to glass tanks because glass tanks last longer than plastic tanks. If you get a small fish bowl you should get a small fish Siamese Fighting Fish, or two small goldfish or one or two other small fish but not large cichlids because they grow too big.

Fish Types

There is freshwater fish that live in freshwater only. Some are aggressive some aren’t. If you put large cichlids (for example) in with other smaller freshwater fish the cichlids will eat the smaller ones. Then there are saltwater fish they live in saltwater.

There are a lot of fish that can be kept in an aquarium. Some are big, small, colorful, ugly, beautiful, aggressive, non- aggressive. If you want you fish to be nice and healthy you should put the right combination fish in. The best way to get to know which fish are compatible with others is to read books or visit some of the web sites that deal with this.