Thursday, January 21, 2010

Water changes

Water changes



By Terry Ranson




"My fish were doing fine - until they all died."



I wish I had a nickel every time he heard that line. Most people think their fish are healthy as long as they are able to swim. That's like believing a person is healthy as long as he is breathing. Like people, fish can live for quite a while under less than perfect conditions. Often, fish won't even show signs of distress until the day their keeper finds them belly up in the aquarium.



Fish die for many of the same reasons we do; strokes, failure of internal organs, viral and bacterial (systemic) infections, and infections from wounds. In my opinion, fish losses are almost always caused by stress. I keep stress to a minimum by following some simple rules of aquarium hygiene, the most important being periodic water changes.



In addition to siphoning visible waste from the bottom of the tank, this also helps get rid of harmful substances which cannot be seen with the naked eye. In nature, fish are provided water changes every time it rains, or whenever fresh water flows downstream to where fish live. This is called an open system. But fish in small bodies of water such as aquariums (and to a lesser
extent, ornamental ponds) are in what is called a closed system. Closed systems have no natural way to bring in fresh water, so it must be done artificially, i.e., through water changes.



There's no way around doing water changes. No matter how good your filtration, no matter what chemicals or medication you use, no matter what anyone tells you, if you want to keep fish healthy, you must change their water. And I don't mean just adding water when it gets low from evaporation. When water evaporates, it's just the water which leaves. Fishes' bodily wastes, heavy metals and other substances stay in the water in a concentrated, more harmful form. Without water changes, fish wastes and other organic compounds will drop the pH down until it becomes so acidic it becomes stressful.



If you do enough water changes, pH test kits are virtually unneeded. That's why I almost never test for pH. Many times I've had people say things like, "My Cousin Judy never did
water changes, and her goldfish lived for three years - until they all died one day." For the record, a goldfish can live for more than 30 years. Three years is nothing to brag about. And while Cousin Judy's fish may have lasted for three years, she never really got to enjoy the true beauty of her fish.



Fish which thrive exhibit beautiful colors and interesting behavior. Fish which are simply surviving never look their best, and seldom, if ever exhibit breeding behavior. When you do regular water changes, fish breed readily. That's a sure sign aquarium fish are healthy and thriving - not simply surviving.

Part 5: Dissolved Oxygen

The Stuff That Water’s Made Of
Part 5: Dissolved Oxygen

by Lenny Llambi
First published in Fincinnati, the official newsletter of the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society
Aquarticles.com

Up until this final article, we have covered a variety of topics within the realm of water chemistry. Topics like the nitrogen cycle are very common within aquarium literature; whereas other topics, like conductivity, are rarely discussed in any detail. I think its safe to say that this month’s topic is one of the least discussed water parameters: Dissolved Oxygen (DO). Its actually no surprise that DO is not a popular topic of discussion in aquarium literature. Life-sustaining levels of oxygen are easily maintained in the aquarium without much extra effort or thought. However, it seems like every time I have a catastrophic, mass extinction in an aquarium it is due to overlooking the aquarium’s oxygen requirements.

Oxygen is important to so many living creatures; including: plants, bacteria, algae, fish, and invertebrates. It is used to break down sugars all the way down to carbon dioxide and water, thus releasing the most amount of energy possible from the sugar molecule. When an organism suffocates; the lack of oxygen literally brings every single bodily process that requires energy to a grinding halt. We terrestrial creatures are blessed with an atmosphere that consists of about 20% oxygen. Your tank is a text book model of a well-oxygenated aquarium, if the water column can hold on to half that much. In order to attain “text-book” status, you will need to maximize the amount of oxygen being dissolved into water; while minimizing the amount of oxygen being stripped out of the water column.

Preparing the Water
You may want to refer back to the first article in this series, because I explain how gases interact with water, a little more in depth. It is important to remember that water cannot dissolve an infinite amount of chemicals. Therefore, the more chemicals that a particular body of water dissolves, the “less space” it has to dissolve any extra chemicals. Since saltwater dissolves so many more salts and minerals than freshwater, DO levels in marine environments are about half that of freshwater. Temperature also affects water’s ability to dissolve gaseous chemicals. Colder water dissolves gases more readily than warmer water. This is evident in small farm ponds where the stock-fish can be found gasping for air on the hottest summer day. In addition to all of the toxic chemicals that industrial facilities can pollute waterways with, many industrial facilities raise the average temperature of adjacent water ways. This is known as thermal pollution. The rise in temperature decreases the amount of DO in the water, causing mass-suffocation, which in turn raises dissolved, nitrogenous wastes and lowers pH, as the dead fauna decomposes. This is in effect what happens in many aquarium crashes. When DO Is used up faster than it is replenished, animals begin to die by suffocation. The decomposing bodies increase nitrogenous waste concentration and lower pH (see part 4) as the cadavers are decomposed, further stressing and poisoning fish. Essentially every thing that could go wrong goes wrong when DO becomes deficient.

Consuming Oxygen
The most obvious consumers of oxygen in our aquariums are fish. As body mass and activity increase, a fish’s need for oxygen increases as well. Even though a kribensis (Pelvicachromis pulcher) is larger than a rummy-nose tetra (Hemigrammus rhodostomus), the rummy-nose tetra compensates with its constant activity, which requires quite a bit of oxygen to fuel its metabolism. Moreover, higher temperatures not only hinder water’s ability to dissolve oxygen, they also cause fish’s metabolism to rise. When metabolism increases, the body needs to consume more oxygen in order to burn more sugars and create more energy. Temperature spikes are a double-edged sword for this reason. However, this works in reverse as well. The nest time you come home from an auction with one too many fish (they were rare and seldom-seen in the hobby after all), and you have to keep more fish in one tank than you know you should keep together: turn the temperature down. This will lower the metabolism of your fish, thus lowering their need for oxygen, not to mention the cooler water is now able to dissolve more oxygen.

Of course, any invertebrates that you may keep also use oxygen, but it is the oxygen consumption of an unseen inhabitant that makes up the next largest oxygen consumer in an aquarium. These unseen inhabitants are the nitrifying bacteria that are involved in the nitrogen cycle. The entire process of decomposing a piece of food down to nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide, water, etc. uses oxygen every step of the way. If there is a large amount of decaying, organic matter in the aquarium, DO will naturally fall as the increased number of bacteria consume much more DO. This is yet another complication in the thermal pollution scenario. As larger species suffocate, and begin to decompose, the increased bacterial population consumes even more of the precious little oxygen left. The fact that these invisible bacteria can consume all of the DO in your aquarium is disconcerting, but it underlines the importance of watching your aquarium. When fish begin to suffocate, they become lethargic and discolored and gasp for air at the water’s surface. Snails are an excellent indicator of DO, as the snails will collect at the water’s surface when DO decreases. The possible causes of a drop in DO are numerous, so it really is better to just keep a close eye on your fish’s behavior.

Dissolving Oxygen
The first way that oxygen makes its way into water is from the atmosphere. Anywhere that water and air interface, gases move from the substance with a high concentration of gas to the substance with a low concentration of gas. In the case of oxygen, it diffuses from air (higher concentration) to water (lower concentration). There are several ways that we can manipulate this fact so that DO is maximized throughout our aquarium. The most obvious place that oxygen will diffuse into water from air is the water surface. Therefore, you must leave some room between the water surface and your hood so that the water is exposed to air. Obvious as that point may seem, your hood is not the only thing that can get in the way of atmospheric oxygen diffusing into your water. I have recently moved into an old carriage house that I am slowly renovating. Needless to say, there is an endless supply of dust. One day, a hang-on filter broke on one of my aquariums (of course in the middle of some major sanding), which caused a thick layer of dust to collect on the top of the water. I did not notice anything until I walked by the aquarium and found all of the fish nearly dead, gasping at the top of the tank. I quickly found that the filter had ceased working, and within minutes of replacing it with an operational filter, the dust layer broke and all of the fish were happily swimming about as if nothing ever happened.

Just realize that its not so much the movement of water that prevents the dust layer, it is the “breaking of the water surface”. This is called water agitation, and also helps to increase the amount of DO in the water. Some of the most highly oxygenated bodies of water are fast flowing streams, with lots of white water. As a matter of fact that “white water” is just water with lots of teeny-tiny air bubbles produced by the fast flowing waters churning over rocks and down steep drops in elevation. The most obvious ways to reproduce this is to either use an air pump blowing through a diffuser, or to use venturi injection, which is now an option with almost all major brands of powerhead. Saltwater enthusiasts, gain increased DO as a side benefit of using a protein skimmer. The skimmer is primarily used to remove harmful toxins in the saltwater aquarium, but the large amount of micro, air bubbles used to accomplish this goal, also increases DO. If you don’t like the look of air bubbles in your aquarium, even a hang-on type power filter, where water cascades down into the tank, breaks the water surface, and produces air bubbles below the surface will increase DO.

There is one final point to take into account. If you were to take a 5 gallon bucket filled with only water and measure the dissolved oxygen throughout the water column, you would find that the water near the surface of the water has much more DO than the water at the bottom of the bucket. In deep, placid lakes where there is not a lot of water movement, the lower portion of the lake often times has insufficient oxygen to sustain significant populations of fish. So this means that we need to make sure that the water column in our aquaria is thoroughly mixed, or ‘turned-over’.

The second way to get oxygen into your water is through the use of live plants. Plants produce oxygen as one of the final by-products of photosynthesis. The famous aquascape aquarist , Takashi Amano, actually recommends that anytime you add fish to an aquarium, you should also add some sort of plant life to not only add DO, but also to help with filtration. Now don’t go thinking I’m telling you to go out and buy expensive light fixtures for all of your tanks. There are a myriad of plant species which will grow under a good ole fashioned strip light. Java fern, Java moss, all Anubias sp., most Cryptocoryne sp., hornwort, and Najas Grass are all good plants that can be used under a normal output light. Actually, well-known fish importer, Tony Orso, grows all of his Anubias sp. using the lights on his ceiling (yes you read that right). Moreover, with the exception of Cryptocoryne sp. you can grow all of these plants without a substrate. I’d say most people stay away from live plants, because of the extra effort, but as long as you stay on top of your water changes, the choices that I provided above will help maintain and even increase DO in your aquarium.

I hope that all of these painfully technical articles have broadened your understanding of water chemistry in the aquarium. A lot of people think of water chemistry as a laundry list of numbers that your water test kits needs to conform to whenever you test your aquarium. These people probably think that I test my aquariums weekly with the finest water tests. With the exception of salinity in my saltwater tank, I can’t remember the last time I opened my “el-cheapo” brand water test kit. I rely on the greatest test kit of all, my eyes. You see, I know what my fish and invertebrates are supposed to act like and what my plants and corals are supposed to look like, because I observe my tanks every single day, even if it is just a minute. Whenever any of my aquarium’s inhabitants appear abnormal, I know something is wrong. From this point, I think back and try to identify any maintenance that I may have neglected to perform. Usually I realize that I have not changed the water in a while. Next, I try to identify if I have performed any maintenance differently. Sometimes I realize that I dosed a different amount of a chemical, or that I did not adjust the pH and conductivity in an acidic, soft-water tank. If I still cannot identify the problem, then, and only then, do I blow the dust off of ole reliable, my water test kit and test every water parameter. Perhaps this is all overkill for the average aquarist that maintains a couple of show tanks, but for those of us that could justify charging admission to our basements, understanding a basic level of water chemistry makes caring for all of our many fish less problematic. In the meantime, let’s keep learning about and caring for our fish.

Part 4: The Nitrogen Cycle

The Stuff That Water’s Made Of
Part 4: The Nitrogen Cycle

by Lenny Llambi
First published in Fincinnati, the official newsletter of the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society
Aquarticles.com

So far you could say that this series of articles has been leaning toward the "chemistry side of things." We’ve discussed water’s ability to dissolve a variety of different chemicals and the pressure that these chemicals produce called osmotic pressure. Conductivity measures the total amount of dissolved chemicals, while general hardness specifically measures anions such as calcium and magnesium. Finally, last edition; we covered how pH measures the amount of acids vs. bases that are dissolved in water, and how alkalinity maintains a high pH. This edition we’ll discuss the nitrogen cycle, which is the biological process of reducing ammonia to nitrate. Bacteria that use nitrogenous molecules to receive their energy drive this cycle.

Where Proteins Go When They’re Used
Many explanations of the nitrogen cycle begin with ammonia and end with nitrate, but the whole process actually begins before ammonia, and ends after nitrate. The nitrogen cycle begins when our fish ingest and begin to breakdown the proteins found in their diet, called: mineralization. Proteins are long chains of individual molecules called amino acids. These amino acids are very similar to the simple sugars that make up carbs; however, amino acids contain nitrogen in addition to hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. This nitrogen allows amino acids to bond to each other (called the peptide bond), thus forming proteins. There is a real complicated explanation behind the physics of this bond, but for our purposes, let’s just keep in mind that the peptide bond offers extra rigidity to the protein molecule. This is why proteins are used to build muscles, enzymes, fingernails, etc. These are all parts, which need to retain a solid frame or shape. Once proteins are separated into amino acids, each amino acid is split into an ammonium (NH4+) molecule and an organic acid molecule. This brings up an important point about fish waste. Due to the organic acid and ammonium byproducts of protein metabolization, fish waste is very acidic by nature, and will cause pH to drop. This is very problematic when keeping African cichlids or marine species, which enjoy a very high pH. As I mentioned in the previous installment, alkalinity neutralizes acids such as those found in fish waste so that pH is not affected.

Fish are not the only creatures that are contributing to the nitrogen cycle. Aside from any invertebrates you may have in your aquarium, you probably also have a plethora of bacteria that are breaking down the proteins that your fish “miss”. Bacteria from the genera Bacillus, Clostridium, and Pseudomonas break down any proteins found in excess food, fish waste, plant mulm, or any other source of organic matter you may have “laying around” your tank. On the marine side of the hobby, more and more hobbyists are using rock, which is impregnated with a variety of different bacteria and invertebrates, generically called “live-rock” as a natural source of filtration. One drawback to the use of this rock is that often times, after moving the rock, many of these creatures die in transit. This provides a huge amount of organic matter that is constantly being broken down, causing massive algal blooms and an extended cycling time (curing). I have had good success speeding up the curing process by using Hagen’s Waste Controlä, which is a concentrated culture of bacteria (mostly Pseudomonas) responsible for mineralization. By using this product, frequent water changes, and a lot of circulation, I have been able to cure live rock in two weeks as opposed to the usual month.

Ammonia or Ammonium?
As we discussed in the third article, pH determines whether ammonia (NH3) or ammonium (NH4+) is present in our tanks. Our fish actually excrete ammonium, which remains ammonium in acidic water. However, if ammonium is excreted into water with a pH above seven, it begins reacting with the bases in the water to become ammonia. Now it’s really a misnomer to label ammonia as toxic and ammonium as non-toxic. Both chemicals are lethally toxic to cells when ingested. What differentiates the two is how readily they are ingested. I mentioned in the first article that osmosis allows for water and other small chemicals to pass through the cell’s membrane. Well it just so happens that ammonia is small enough to be transported across the cell membrane almost as readily as water. On the other hand, ammonium, due to its charge, has to be actively pumped into the cell using pumps and channels in the cell’s membrane. Therefore, fish have a little more control keeping ammonium out of their cells. Now don’t take this the wrong way. Whatever the pH in your tank, you should make sure your ammonia/um is under control at all times.

Dirt-Eating Bacteria
At this point in the nitrogen cycle, we begin the nitrification process. Basically this process takes ammonium and converts it into nitrite, which is then transformed into the final nitrification product: nitrate. All of these reactions are performed by lithotrophic (roughly translating as: dirt-eating) bacteria of the genera Nitrosococcus, Nitrobacter, Nitrospira, Nitrosolobus, amongst others. One characteristic of these bacteria is that, in bacterial terms, they are incredibly slow growing. This is why it is essential that you exercise restraint while stocking a brand new aquarium. Your aquarium inhabitants are constantly excreting ammonium into the water, while the nitrifying bacteria are only reproducing every 8 hours (every 24 hours in saltwater). Moreover, the lithotrophic bacteria that feed on nitrites, producing nitrates, are actually inhibited by the presence of ammonia. So once you establish a population of bacteria that can handle the bioload in your aquarium, you have only begun the process of tackling your aquarium's capability of dealing with nitrites. One time-tested and approved way tracking the cycling process is to test for nitrites regularly until the nitrite concentration spikes and returns to zero. Dosing products such as Hagen’s CycleÔ, which is a concentrated formula of lithotrophic bacteria, will help establish populations of ammonia-reducing and nitrite-reducing bacteria in much shorter order. The second important trait about these lithotrophic bacteria is that they must anchor themselves to some sort of substrate. Make absolute certain that when you clean whatever substrate these bacteria have colonized, use aged aquarium water, as this water is devoid of any harmful chemicals (bacteria that is) present in tap water.

One last note about nitrites and nitrates, concerning their toxicity. These two molecules actually have the same exact effect. When nitrate is ingested it is not toxic, but it can actually be converted to nitrite, which is toxic. Once nitrite makes its way into the bloodstream it can react with a blood cell’s hemoglobin, which is the site where oxygen bonds to blood. Once nitrite turns the blood’s hemoglobin into methoglobin, blood is unable to carry out its most important task: supply oxygen to the body. This makes nitrite probably the most lethal molecule in the nitrogen cycle, because 1) it is not inhibited by pH like ammonia 2) nitrate must first be converted to nitrite before it becomes toxic. So, again, make sure you measure a nitrite spike and drop-off before you consider your aquarium cycled.

Making Nitrogen Gas
Bacteria in the genera Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Alcaligines drive the final step in the nitrogen cycle. These bacteria convert nitrate into nitrogen gas, which then escapes into the atmosphere. However, these bacteria only perform this reaction in certain conditions. When these bacteria grow in an area where oxygen is readily available (aerobic), they utilize the available oxygen to break down sugars. However, when these bacteria find themselves in an area of low or no oxygen (anaerobic or anoxic); they actually utilize nitrates (notice the oxygen molecules in NO3) to break down sugars. Those of us who have ventured into maintaining coral reef aquariums can provide such an anaerobic environment by using a deep sand-bed of at least three inches where the bacteria colonizing the bottom layer are starved of oxygen. You can actually see bubbles of nitrogen gas rising from the bottom layers of sand. Those of us who stay on the fresh side of things can duplicate this phenomenon by not cleaning our sponges (as in sponge filter sponges). What? Not clean our sponge filters? That’s right! Now notice I didn’t say stop cleaning your aquarium altogether. However, in theory, if you allow your sponge filter, ceramic beads, biowheel, etc. to become clogged with bacterial growth, so that the inner layers are starved of oxygen; you will then be able to complete the nitrogen cycle in your very own aquarium. Although the deep sandbed in reef aquariums allows for substantially more nitrification to occur than in a clogged sponge filter, we “reefers” still have to take extra measures, including good ole water changes, to keep nitrates to a minimum, so use this tip as an insurance policy not a magic snake-oil.

Although I think that most every hobbyist is at least somewhat familiar with the nitrogen cycle, I hope that the in-depth discussion presented in this article will give everyone more insights. Well after this installment, there is only one more to go. In the final part of this article, I will go over gases in the aquarium. The GCAS HAP program has been growing by leaps and bounds, so I can’t very well skip over the gas of interest for all HAP participants: carbon dioxide. However, one gas that affects every kind of aquarist, but we rarely hear discussed, is oxygen. Next installment I will discuss oxygen’s importance and why I think more of us should take this important gas much more into account when we plan our aquariums, or when we deal with a problem in our aquariums. In the meantime let’s keep learning about and caring for our fish.

Part 3: pH & Alkalinity

The Stuff That Water’s Made Of
Part 3: pH & Alkalinity

by Lenny Llambi
First published in Fincinnati, the official newsletter of the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society
Aquarticles.com

After our previous two perhaps somewhat arcane installments, we can finally begin using some more broadly understood terminology in our discussion of water chemistry. We will explore two water parameters for which we have all owned a test kit: pH and alkalinity. Whether we are keeping African cichlids, a planted aquarium, or a reef aquarium, these two water parameters can spell the difference between a successful aquarium and a disaster-in-a-box (a glass box that is). pH is a measurement of whether your aquarium has excess protons or electrons; and therefore, determines how molecules react with each other and the creatures we keep. Alkalinity is a measurement of how well the water in our aquariums can “buffer” a basic pH, or in other words, how well our water can maintain a basic pH.

pH
Ask any aquarist what you are measuring when you take a pH reading, and I’m sure well over 90% of responses would go something like: “You’re measuring how acidic or basic the water is.” Although that answer would be absolutely true, there is more to pH than meets the eye. The terms acidic and basic essentially refer to the number of excess protons and electrons that are present in water. Protons and electrons (generically called sub-atomic particles) are two important building blocks for all ions and molecules. Protons produce a positive charge, which naturally attracts the negative charge of electrons, and vice versa. Any atom, ion, or molecule is constantly trying to achieve equal amounts of electrons and protons, because when this state is achieved, the chemical is considered stable. Chemical reactions are the mechanism by which chemicals equalize the balance between how many electrons and protons a particular chemical contains. For instance, table salt is made up of one sodium ion, which has one more proton than electrons (hence the overall positive charge), and one chlorine ion, which has one more electron than protons (hence the overall negative charge). When these two ions form a bond, the sodium ion gains an electron, the chlorine ion’s extra electron has an extra proton to counteract, and the entire molecule now has equal amounts of electrons and protons.

Unfortunately, a pH reading is not as straight forward as: your water has x number of protons and y number of electrons. So I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to you, in advance, for the massive chemistry headache I’m about to give you. pH does not measure any and every proton or electron, actually it really doesn’t even measure electrons at all. pH actually measures the number of protons that are present in water in the form of the hydrogen ion (H+). The letters p and h stand for the potential of the hydrogen ion. So when your handy-dandy pH test kit measures the pH between 1 and 6.9999; that particular body of water is considered acidic, and it contains an excess of protons. It also means that your water is just rearing to react with negatively charged ions. So, what does it mean when our same handy-dandy pH test kit tells us that our water has a pH between 7.0001 and 14? Well a reading of 7.0000 (neutral) obviously implies that there is no excess of protons, but does a higher reading mean that there is a negative number of protons. Actually, sort of.

A base is defined as any chemical that can accept a proton. In other words, it is a chemical with a negative charge (i.e. an extra electron) that is able to react with any extra protons. So when our handy-dandy pH test kit gives us a reading above 7.0000; we know that our water has an excess of electrons, in the form of the bases dissolved in water. You can think of a high pH reading as a proton debt. If you have a $2,000 MasterCard bill; you would need to pay the $2,000 before you could start putting money into your savings account. Once you pay your credit card off, you then have an excess of money (until the next fish auction rolls around). Likewise, a basic pH needs a certain amount of acid added to it before the water starts accumulating excess protons.

Acid-Base Interactions
In the introduction, I noted that the pH of water determines how chemicals react with each other and our animals. For instance, if the pH is acidic, meaning there are extra hydrogen ions (i.e. extra protons) in the water, the chemicals in water will tend to react with chemicals with excess electrons more vigorously. The most evident example of this is ammonia toxicity. There are actually two forms of ammonia with which we are concerned: NH3 (ammonia) and NH4+ (ammonium). Ammonium is not very toxic to fish, whereas, ammonia is extremely toxic (I’ll explain this in more depth in the next edition). As you can see, the difference between these two molecules is: Ammonium has an extra proton (H+), which is provided to the ammonium molecule in acidic water. As soon as pH rises above 7.0, the extra proton in ammonium reacts with the extra electrons of the bases in the water, leaving the lethal ammonia molecule. This reaction can be summarized with the equations:

NH4+ + NaOH NH3 + H+ + Na+ + OH- NH3 + H2O + Na+
NH3 + CH3CO2H NH3 + CH3CO2- + H+ NH4+ + CH3CO2-

I cannot stress enough, in each one of these articles, that any creature which we maintain in our aquariums has evolved to deal with water parameters in a certain way. For instance, fish blood has a pH of approximately 7.4. This blood, especially in the gill region, is separated from the water in which our fish live, by one or two cell layers. A dwarf cichlid from a very acidic Amazon tributary, has evolved so that the two cell layers between its blood and the river water are able to “buffer the water pH” before it affects blood pH. If we were to dump this fish into an aquarium with a very high pH, the fish into an aquarium with a very high pH, the fish may not have a mechanism to deal with external pH in the opposite manner. Of course many of our fish either live in waters of mild pH, or waters with mild pH fluctuations. However, with the ever-rising popularity of African, rift-lake species, killifish species, and marine species there are also many fish that live in waters of extreme and consistent pH. These fish are probably the most susceptible to either wildly fluctuating pH, or simply improper pH.

Alkalinity
Alkalinity is a seldom-understood water parameter. It is also known as carbonate hardness (KH), and thus allows for confusion with the term General Hardness. Make no mistake GH and KH are two separate measurements. As we discussed in the second article, GH measures how many cations are in the water. Alkalinity, on the other hand, measures how many anions are in the water. An anion is any ion, which has an overall, negative charge. These anions react with any acids (H+) introduced into the water, thus neutralizing them and maintaining a high pH. This is where the definition of a base as a proton acceptor comes into play. Actually, many people consider alkalinity as the total amount of base present in water. In aquariums the most encountered constituents of alkalinity are: bicarbonate and carbonate. We can then define alkalinity as water’s ability to absorb acids without affecting pH.

Alkalinity has three different sets of units, which are the most frequently encountered in the aquarium trade. In the United States Parts Per Million (ppm) is most prevalent; whereas, in Germany, Degrees of Carbonate Hardness (dKH) is the unit most often used. Finally, a more scientific unit, is: Milliequivalents Per Liter (Meq/L). Even though these three measurements have different origins, I have seen all of them used in aquarium literature, without any sort of rhyme or reason. Here is an easy way of converting these units:

50 ppm (mg/L) = 1 meq/L = 2.8 dKH

I hate to sound like your mother (sorry GCAS moms) but: I cannot stress enough, in each one of these articles, that any creature which we maintain in our aquariums has evolved to deal with water parameters in a certain way. Alkalinity actually helps us respect this inevitable truth in many circumstances. For instance, we are all well aware of the fact that African, rift-lake cichlids come from waters with a pH of around 8.0. Fish waste is acidic by nature, and will therefore slowly lower the pH in an aquarium. However, if there is an abundance of anions in the water, these chemicals, which contribute toward alkalinity, will react with the acids and neutralize them before pH is affected. Instead of constantly testing for pH in a rift-lake aquarium, adding a high-quality buffer will act as an insurance policy against lethal pH drops.

Well you made it! This was probably the most gruesome of all the installments. Don’t worry if you have to read it a few times, because I had to re-write this third part about a dozen times. At any rate, I hope this gives everyone a better understanding of how pH affects the way chemicals function in our aquariums, and how alkalinity can help maintain a certain pH. Next issue we’ll discuss a subject that all aquarists must inevitably become familiar with: the nitrogen cycle. Of course, we’ll go a little more in depth than most explanations go, but I’m sure that you’ll get some new insights on this natural process. In the meantime let’s keep learning about and caring for our fish.

The Molecule, Temperature, Saltwater, and Osmosis

The Stuff That Water’s Made Of
Part 1: The Molecule, Temperature, Saltwater, and Osmosis

by Lenny Llambi
First published in Fincinnati, the official newsletter of the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society
Aquarticles.com

One crucial component of the aquarium hobby that helps the hobbyist in his/her venture is knowledge. Aquarium keeping is an interesting hobby in that it combines principles from physics, chemistry, and biology. The more we understand each of the principles within these disciplines, the easier our hobby becomes. Of course, biology is the most understood of the three fields, because lets face it our final goal is to maintain living creatures. However, much like junior year in high school, we need to understand a basic level of chemistry to survive (or for our fish to survive as the case may be).

In this series of articles, I hope to put many of the chemical principles behind aquarium keeping into laymen’s terms. In future articles I will discuss subjects such as the nitrogen cycle, dissolved oxygen, and pH. The more we understand each of these factors in water chemistry and why they are good or bad, the more we understand our hobby as a whole. This issue’s installment is going to start at the beginning: water. Water is such a basic element of the aquarium hobby that it is often overlooked. However, it is no coincidence that water is the molecule which makes up the oceans, lakes, and rivers from which the fish we keep originate. It is because of the way that water interacts with other chemicals, itself, and our fish that the majority of life on this planet is sustained within this amazing matrix.

Water: The Molecule
Water is a molecule unlike any other. It is made up of one oxygen molecule and two hydrogen molecules. Each hydrogen forms a bond connecting it to the oxygen molecule, forming an “upside-down V” shape. If you look at the upside-down V shape of water, you will notice that the two hydrogen atoms (which have an overall positive charge) are positioned across from the oxygen atom (which has an overall negative charge). This alignment means that one side of the water molecule (the oxygen side) has a slight negative charge and vice versa. Conversely, each side will then attract molecules or ions of opposite charge. This is known as the dipolar nature of water.

At this point you’re probably having high school flashbacks, because: “Why in the world did I need to know all that, and what will I ever use it for!?!?!?!”

Water’s dipolarity is exactly what makes it such a great solvent for the laundry list of chemicals with which we aquarists worry ourselves: nitrate, ammonia, oxygen, iron, calcium, etc. All of these molecules and ions have one thing in common: they have a charge (the charge can even be a partial charge like water’s). Imagine, in your mind’s eye, a lone Calcium ion that was just dissolved into your reef aquarium by a calcium reactor. The Ca2++ has a positive charge, so when a group of water molecules encircle the calcium ion with their negative ends pointing in…Voila! The calcium ion has been dissolved.

This brings up a vital factor to the well being of your fish. Due to the way that it must organize itself in order to dissolve a chemical, water has a finite amount of space available for dissolving. Often times nitrates are brushed aside as being not dangerous to freshwater fish. However, a tank which has been ignored and allowed to build up nitrates will have significantly “less space” to dissolve critical molecules like oxygen or carbon dioxide.

Temperature
Water’s ability to dissolve is also determined by its temperature. Aquarists are interested in dissolving chemicals in every state of matter, whether it is a solid, liquid, or gas. As water temperature increases, solids and liquids tend to dissolve more readily. However, as temperature decreases, gases tend to dissolve more readily, which makes a real balancing act out of maintaining water temperature. In every aquatic environment gases, liquids and solids are essential to fish health. If you think about it, there are really very few fish that require temperatures above eighty degrees. Now you understand why keeping dissolved wastes down is so important when keeping discus at the warm temperatures they enjoy (well, actually that’s only one of many reasons). When phosphates build up due to a poor water change regimen and overfeeding, the amount of phosphate dissolved in the aquarium directly decreases the amount of “free room” water has to dissolve oxygen for the discus to breathe. Oxygen depletion has many deleterious effects on all fish, but the discus, which has evolved in oxygen-rich streams, will be doomed in water unable to dissolve much oxygen.

Saltwater
Those of us who keep marine aquariums are especially affected by the dipolar nature of water. One of the questions I was fielded the most as a pet store, fish clerk was: “Is saltwater really as hard as they say it is?” Now I could have delivered this article in a brilliant oratory transcription, but a) the customer was probably just curious b) “yes” is a whole lot quicker. In fact, the reason that “saltwater is as hard as they say it is”, is due to water’s dipolarity. Saltwater, of course, must first dissolve a series of salts to fulfill the proper salinity before it can begin to dissolve other essential molecules or ions. While most of the people who approached me about starting a saltwater would consider the proper maintenance behind a marine aquarium overbearing, the knowledgeable hobbyist has a number simple of methods at his/her disposal to keep the tank free of excess waste molecules. Protein skimmers, macro-algae cultivation, and deep sandbeds are just three methods aquarists use to remove excess, waste byproducts.

I personally have a 29-gallon mini-reef aquarium, which has been a constant bear; because of saltwater’s reduced ability to dissolve essential molecules. A 65W power compact light fixture and a 20W normal output light fixture light the tank. This amount of light raises the temperature into the mid-eighties, at which point all the corals begin to bleach from insufficient dissolved oxygen. I use a fan to keep the temperature down, but this causes a great deal of evaporation. The confines of my small, one-room apartment prohibit an automatic top-off system, thus requiring me to manually top-off the aquarium with kalkwasser throughout the day. This is merely one obstacle in the three-ring circus balancing act that is my mini-reef aquarium.

Osmosis
All of these ions and molecules that we are dissolving in water don’t just “sit there”. They are constantly moving so that they are equally dispersed throughout a body of water. Imagine a ten-gallon aquarium, filled with distilled water, divided into two compartments with a piece of steel. If only one side was adjusted to a salinity of 33, as soon as the piece of steel is removed, the salt ions would slowly distribute themselves so that the entire aquarium registered a salinity of 16.5 (exactly half of 33). This phenomenon is called diffusion.

All of the salt ions, bouncing off of the steel divider, were exerting a certain amount of pressure on the piece of steel, specifically called: osmotic pressure. The higher the salt concentration, the greater the osmotic pressure. Steel is an incredibly impermeable material, but our fish’s cellular membranes are not. In order to prevent a virtual implosion, our fish’s cellular membranes are actually permeable to small ions and water. This means that if the water outside of a fish’s cells has more dissolved ions than the water inside of its cells (i.e. osmotic pressure is greater outside of the fish’s cell); the fish’s cell membrane allows small ions to diffuse into the cell and water to exit the cell until the osmotic pressure is equalized. Every living creature that makes water its home has to be able to deal with osmotic pressure in this manner. Although we take it for granted, this is probably the cell’s membrane most important function.

After thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, if not a million years, of adaptation, all aquatic creatures are used to a certain amount of natural fluctuation in osmotic pressure. This is another illustration of why saltwater is deemed: “harder than freshwater”. Since the vast volume of the ocean provides for pretty consistent water parameters, corals, sea stars, butterfly fish, etc. are very intolerant of changes in salinity, pH, etc. However, some freshwater fish actually require relatively drastic changes in water parameters to breed (some goes as far a requiring no water for a short period of time, ala many killifishes). Nonetheless these changes happen within a certain range, and due to years of evolution, anything outside of this range is often lethal.

Hopefully all of this painful chemistry sheds a little more light on the “fish-keeping experience”. We now know that water’s dipolarity makes water one of the best solvents on earth, however, with a limited capacity. We’ve also learned that the more molecules that water has to dissolve, the less space water has to dissolve essential ions and molecules for our fish. The higher the water temperature, the more readily solids and liquids will dissolve, while conversely limiting how much gas can be dissolved. Finally, as the molecules and ions that water dissolves move about, they exert a certain amount of pressure on our fish called osmotic pressure. Stay tuned for the next episode, when I will cover everything you ever waned to know about conductivity and water hardness. These two water parameters measure how many molecules and ions are dissolved in water, and directly reflect the amount of osmotic pressure exerted upon our fish. In the meantime let’s keep learning about and caring for our fish.

Part 2: Conductivity and General Hardness

The Stuff That Water’s Made Of
Part 2: Conductivity and General Hardness

by Lenny Llambi
First published in Fincinnati, the official newsletter of the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society
Aquarticles.com

In the previous article we discussed water’s ability to dissolve ions and molecules (solutes) is determined by the fact that the water molecule has two polar, opposite charges (dipolarity). We also examined how our fish are able to pump water and other small molecules across their cell membranes, in order to match the concentration of solutes within their cells to the concentration of solutes outside of their cells. In this edition we will examine two water parameters which measure the amount of solute (to varying degrees) in your aquarium water: Conductivity and General Hardness.

Conductivity
Conductivity may not be a water parameter that we worry about all day long, but not only does it need to be explained to understand all other water parameters; I think it needs to be understood better to become a better aquarist. Conductivity is a substance’s ability to “carry” an electrical current. We’ve all done the grade-school experiment with the potato, light bulb, and battery, but did you know that you could substitute the potato for a glass of tap water? The more ions and molecules that are dissolved in water (remember a chemical must have a charge in order to be dissolved by water), the more electrical current that water is able to conduce. As a matter of fact, conductivity is synonymous with the term Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), which is measured in parts per million (ppm). In order to convert TDS to conductivity, simply multiply TDS by 0.64. I hope everyone reading this article now understands why I am covering this water parameter before I go into other, more common water parameters. I guess you could look at conductivity, or TDS, as the mother of all water parameters, because it essentially measures all dissolved ions and molecules.

Conductivity is measured in microSiemens ( S), and is directly proportional to the amount of osmotic pressure exerted on our fish’s cellular membranes. Distilled water has a conductivity of 0 S, whereas seawater has a conductivity of about 5000 S. Every chemical, additive, piece of food, medication, or conditioner you put into your tank increases the conductivity in your aquarium, once the water dissolves it. This is why it is essential that any fish that you are adding to your aquarium be acclimated to your aquarium water before it is released. Your fish needs as much time as possible to slowly pump the proper amount of water in or out, so that the osmotic pressure is equalized across its cell membrane.

What Goes In Must Equal What Comes Out
Looking back at my tenure as a fish clerk in several different stores, I realize now how essential it is to be aware of your water’s conductivity. When I would place a fish order at one of those stores, the supplier would bag several well-fed (i.e. waste-producing) fish in a little bag with water from a tank with, lets say, a conductivity of 500 S. He would always use a very thick stress coat and drop in a tablet of some sort of methyl-blue prophylactic, probably increasing the bag to a conductivity of 650 S. Eight hours later, when the shipment arrives, this bag of waste-producing fish has a conductivity of 1000 S. Since our fish supplier was local, our tap water had similar conductivity readings; so when I received this order of fish I had to slowly reduce the conductivity by fifty percent.

That store had an automatic top-off system so daily water changes maintained a fairly constant conductivity. However other stores are not so generous with water changes. This becomes a problem in overcrowded and overfed tanks, especially when the top-off water is tap water of high conductivity. I have read about people buying freshwater fish that were being kept in 5000 S water at the store. Although this is probably an extreme, when you watch all of the stress coats, aquarium salts, and medications that are indiscriminately poured into some store tanks, its not such an extreme number. This is one reason why, especially in smaller tanks, you should not add water from the bag you received from your local fish store. Now if you purchase a fish from a fellow aquarium society member, you’re probably safe assuming that their water-change regimen is keeping their conductivity at a comparable level. Even then, if you ever acquire any of my fish, you may want to get a feeling for how busy my life has been (that is also directly proportional to my water’s conductivity).

Conductive Spawning
As I mentioned before, many fish are capable of withstanding a broad range of conductivity levels. These fish are also more resistant to changes in conductivity. Many of these fish actually require changes in conductivity in order to come into breeding condition. Two fish species, whose breeding behavior is very elusive, exemplify two extremes. Monodactylus sebae, which can live in fresh as well as marine water, was recently reported only breeding in seawater where its microscopic, larval progeny can enter the planktonic drifts in the ocean. Once a larva reaches the free-swimming, fry stage, it is able to swim further into fresher waters, as it grows.

Botia macracanthus (the Clown Loach) has been reported spawning, accidentally, after its aquarium is “neglected” (i.e. not fed often, not topped off, and not cleaned), then pumping the aquarium full of distilled water after a large water change. By not performing water changes, nitrates and phosphates build up and increase the conductivity. Moreover, ceasing to top-off any evaporated water decreases the amount of water dissolving the solutes in the water, once again increasing conductivity. When a water change is performed, and the aquarium is topped-off with distilled water, the conductivity drops drastically, and the clown loach begins its elusive spawning behavior. This method replicates the dynamic between the dry season and the rain season (when the clown loach breeds).

General Hardness
General Hardness (GH) is a misleading term, because it is actually derived from the German: Gesamt Haerte. It is often confused with a term that we will discuss in the next edition of this article: Carbonate Hardness (KH). Since KH is actually alkalinity, not hardness, the term general hardness should probably be abandoned for the simpler term: Hardness. Water hardness measures the amount of ions which have two extra protons (divalent cations) dissolved in our aquarium water. The most common, divalent cations (almost to the exclusion of all others) that make up a Hardness reading are Calcium and Magnesium. These two ions are essential for bone and scale formation, blood clotting, the importation of other ions, electrical current transfers in nerves and muscles, and numerous other metabolic processes.

Just as confusing its name are the terms we use to measure general hardness. The two most common units used are ppm (more common in the U.S.A.) and dH (German degrees of hardness). In order to convert these two parameters, simply use the following equations: dH x 17.9 = ppm ppm x 0.056 = dH

Many popular fish species such as: discus, dwarf cichlids, and killifish come from soft, and acidic environments, and often require these same parameters to breed. Although the GH readings in these environments are well below those found say in the African rift lakes, a certain amount of hardness needs to be maintained, because of calcium’s and magnesium’s importance to fish development. Fish take in calcium and magnesium mainly through their gills, so these two ions need to be present in water for our fish to develop properly. Actually, if you ever invest in a Reverse Osmosis/De-Ionization unit (RO/DI), it is best (and probably cheaper) that you purchase a unit that is manufactured for use by aquarists. These units do not produce pure water (0 S) Instead they produce “product water” (20-30 S), which simply means that the water has a minimal amount of ions in the water, typically: magnesium and calcium.

Even though most of us don’t concern ourselves with conductivity and general hardness on a day-in day-out basis, our fish certainly do. Conductivity is probably the number one reason fish get stressed when being transferred from one environ to another. The more conductive water is the more osmotic pressure that is exerted on our fish. General hardness may not immediately kill a fish when the parameter falls below a particular level, but it will hamper fish development and many biological processes. This isn’t the first time I’ve said it, and it won’t be the last: we must always remain conscientious of where our fish originate, because this determines what water parameters are acceptable to our aqueous pets. A discus may readily prosper in our unnatural (for discus), Cincinnati tap water (liquid-rock as many of us refer to it). However, you will be hard-pressed to nurture a young Julidochromis marlieri to a healthy adulthood in water of low general hardness. Next issue we’ll venture into some familiar water by exploring pH and the “other hardness”: carbonate hardness, or alkalinity. In the meantime let’s keep learning about and caring for our fish.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Ketapang Leaf Black Water

To brew blackwater extract, follow the following steps:

1. Collect or purchase a bag of Indian Almond Leaves. If you purchase, Grade C leaves will be good enough, but remind your supplier not to clip off the leaf-stubs if he routinely does so.

2. Wash the leaves over running water with a stiff brush if they are not already washed. If they are already washed, rinse the leaves.

3. Get a large pot which is large enough to contain say 2 gallon ( 10 litres) of water.

4. Put about 50 (or more) leaves for each gallon of water the pot can contain.

5. Fill with clean water (preferably with chlorine and chloramine removed)

6. Weigh the leaves down with a chemically inert stone (e.g. granite).

7. Let the leaves soak in the pot for a day.

8. Boil the pot for 15-20 minutes.

9. Leave it to cool and soak for another day.

10. Boil one more time for 10-15 minutes.

11. Leave to cool. The water in the pot should be as black as thick coffee and very fragrant.

12. Filter the blackwater extract through a coffee paper filter (to trap detritus or any other insoluble matter).

13. Store the liquid in sturdy plastic or glass bottles.

14. Refrigerate or keep somewhere cool.

Dosage & Improvements

Dosage will be 1 ounce for 1 gallon (5 litres) of water in the betta tank. Use your discretion for larger tanks, but do not use more than 1 ounce for 1 gallon of water.

To improve efficiency you may also add anti-chlorine and chloramine into it, but make sure you calculate how much to add so that when you use 1 ounce of your blackwater extract, you will be able to treat 1 gallon of water (to rid it of chlorine and chloramine).

You may also add 6 ounce (1 ounce ~ 28gm) of aquarium salt to 1 gallon of the blackwater extract. The salt will cause some precipitation in the blackwater extract, but the precipitate will dissolve in water when the extract is added to the tank.

A small amount of salt is not only useful for the fish but acts as a preservative for the blackwater if you intend to store it for longer than a month. If you do not use salt, then either keep the bottle in the refrigerator or using standard canning process to give it a longer shelf-life.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

红龙饲养的十个误区

误区一:优良红龙是印尼独有的红龙是印尼原产的不错,在人工养殖后的今天,在大马和新加坡业者不懈努力下,在大马和新加坡地区都有都有优良红龙的足迹.由其是新加坡业者,占到新加坡是世界龙鱼集散地和中转站的极大便利条件,新加坡业者较雄厚的经济条件支持下,进口大量的印尼顶级红龙种鱼才能完成优良红龙的培育。新加坡国土狭小,缺乏淡水,能用于生产红龙的地方实在是少之又少,但请别忘了,新加坡的生物科技目前仍是全球领先的。大马好在国土不小,不缺乏淡水,能用于生产红龙的地方可以说是大于新加坡百倍,由于太受马来文化影响,和龙鱼普遍的高产出,业者们似乎都不太爱改变,少有鱼场进行品系的纯化固定工作。大马的土地和水质,更适合于金龙系的繁殖,直到今天,大马还是于优秀的金龙鱼而闻名于世。


误区二:缸养的红龙真能体长超70CM或更大更长缸养的红龙体长超70CM或更大更长是以前媒体中提到的。媒体对早期所谓野生龙鱼的描述,都称野生龙鱼的体长有超过80CM甚至于更多的,但鲜有实体和参照物的对比,对长期生活在产地的业者和老者的询问,真正能确定这种说法的也在极端的少数.在目前的养殖场里,8岁左右的种鱼,能超70的也极鲜见.鱼场多在红色这块下功夫,加上受种群数量的影响,近亲繁殖的现象普遍存在,在多数的时间里,体型大小是极受影响的,绝大多的鱼场并没有把龙鱼养的比上一代更大.养在家中鱼缸的红龙,因受空间水质和遗传的影响,能达到这等体长的恐怕更少吧.总结出缸养的红龙并非都能如我们所愿,我们想像可能是若干年前媒体见过一些很大的红龙,也可能是红龙当时最大的若干个体,再加上媒体的一些想像吧。


误区三:红龙还有野生的什么在产地看到成群野生红龙,谁有优质野生红龙出售等等纯属子须乌有。红龙和金龙是一样的,是人们颁布了保育法案后绝迹于野生环境的,本来颁布了保育法案是为了让它们的自然种群能在原来的水域存活下来,但情况却是相反,龙鱼的价格暴涨,而人工养殖场也需要更大量的种鱼,非法捕捞根本灭绝了野生的种群.目前野外条件就不存在有遗留的种群,即使偶尔看到几只也是人们弃养的。在新加坡林厝港边上有一片和大马相通的自然水域,朋友们都说常有人钓到一些人们弃养的青龙鱼和号半或红尾金,钓到红龙还没听说过,当然,这也并不是绝对,但若说红龙还有野生的种群,显然是不现实的.


误区四:体型够大就是优秀的一条优秀红龙的发色与体形是需要相互衬托的,体型够大是强健有力,威武的表现,但不应是肥硕。若有一条65-75CM体长红龙,应该是相当壮观的。但若是发色不尽人意,说到底也是和红龙的"红"字不相符的,这不是养红龙的本意.相对的,只有袄的发色而没有威武强健的体型,也是一大遗憾!培养一只既有威武强健的体型,又有良好发色的红龙,相信才是爱好者的最终愿望.



误区五:钻石眼,熊猫眼,福龙等非常珍贵吗钻石眼,熊猫眼,福龙等并非非常珍贵,前者首先它是一种遗传缺陷或后天的病变,后者完全是遗传缺陷造成,熊猫眼的红龙极少,多见于金龙系,伴随着半透明的腮盖.熊猫眼因是遗传缺陷或基因的突变,而福龙首先就是体型怪异,一些龙鱼的收藏者会特意收集,当然,鱼场也不会低价出售,高价并不等同于珍贵,毕竟绝大多数人还是遵循大众化的审美观和价值观的.


误区六:产地同,则品相同有些爱好者经常用一只红龙来作为样板,要知道同产地同鱼场甚至于同胎鱼的品相也是不同的,有些条件好的鱼场,比如泗水、红外线、洛宾,皇宫,亚洲,金岗等,他们多年置力于龙鱼的优化改良,不断的引进优异的种鱼个体,成为优秀龙鱼的代名词,但是,种鱼产下的后代,并不是每只都能达到或超越亲本的品质的,所以鱼场本身也会将它们再分为三六九等,好鱼卖好价就是了.冲着鱼场的品牌,不见得一些表现一般的就比名不见经传的别的鱼场的鱼要好.用来维系品牌命脉的,当然是些精挑细选的优秀个体了。



误区七:迷信所谓的专家和商家某某专家说那里的龙鱼最好,某某又是繁育专家,请不要太相信这些东西。单从繁育鉴赏角度讲,国内外目前还没有一系列规范龙鱼品质国际认定标准,因为龙鱼的遗传基因并不稳定,配对的人为干涉困难,想要哪只公鱼去配哪只母鱼难于做到,并不是想要哪只公鱼去配哪只母鱼而产下想要的哪种小鱼就能实现,事实上,龙鱼在相当的时间内的伴侣较固定,一旦配对成功,这种关系能维持几个繁殖期甚至更久.有时一只母鱼的两次产卵也会由两只不同的公鱼抱卵,所以龙鱼的社会结构并不单一,要想稳定哪只龙鱼的遗传基因是一个漫长的过程,还有很长的路要走要研究.高水平的爱好者和业者也是有很多的,今天的龙鱼世界百花齐放,百家争鸣,大方向是一致的,但审美观就可能因人而异了,我认为好的,别人并不一定要认同,反之亦然!国内接触龙鱼的历史不长,龙鱼经营者的水平极其参差,很大一部份还停留在为卖鱼而卖鱼的阶段,这类型的经营者的水平,恐怕还要远低于一些爱好者.


误区八:印尼的红龙繁殖领先新马吗一直不少的媒体和网站登载了不少的印尼的红龙,绝大多刚刚入门的爱好者更是对印尼的红龙大加赞赏。诚然,印尼是拥有很多优秀的红龙,那也是因为印尼是红龙的故乡,印尼在红龙的保有量和产量绝对是占据新马印保有量和产量总和的90%以上。正是因为拥有数量和地质上的绝对优势,精品极品倍出也就不奇怪了,换句话说就是"蚁多咬死象".同是因为高量产,一般品质和次品鱼的数量也绝对是大得惊人的,而在新加坡,同样是地方的限制,红龙并不能象印尼一样的量产,业者很难赚到量产的钱,只能把红龙这本并不是土产的东西做精,去引进印尼顶级的种鱼借此在顶级红龙繁殖上下苦功!同时*从印马挑选优质的小龙分级贩售,打上自家的品牌。在这一块上和印尼业者分一杯羹.这点有点象韩国和日本,在中国购买廉价钢铁,运回加工后再高价卖回中国.愿广大龙鱼爱好者多看多学,更多的掌握除养鱼外的基本知识,开阔视野,也希望媒体、网站正确的引导刚刚入门的爱好者。


误区九:何为原生种红龙就"原生种红龙"来讲,恕本人资历有限,至今还没有弄懂太多。我所理解的"原生种红龙",是在经历10多年的人工养殖后,原来野生采集的种鱼逐渐消亡,鱼场也不可能有更多第一代野生采集的种鱼了,历代的杂交或反交,后来的龙鱼基本不能保有野生鱼时代的一些体貌特征,偏偏玩家和爱好者在某个时期会怀念野生鱼时代龙鱼的一些体貌特征,并逐渐对市场有了要求,而鱼场当然会第一时间去顺应这种需求,于是将一些仍保留野生鱼如炮弹头鲑型和汤勺头鲷型的种鱼再归类繁殖,尽可能产下具这些特征在下一代或几代的小鱼,再冠于"原生种红龙"的商业名称进行贩售.但我要提醒鱼友的是,"原生种红龙"不是某一地区野生的鱼种,对于鱼商利用这种称谓向你推介某一只龙鱼,你还是要三思而后行,尽量避免不必要的损失.



误区十:目前红龙产量不少,价格为何还不低价格高低永远是相对的,高低永远并存.就现在而言,红龙在大陆的售价幼鱼13-15CM低的可以在4千多,而高的可以达1万多,20CM以上时,这个价格又将拉大不少了.市场上有售价5万同时也有5千的红龙,好的鱼,鱼商肯定要卖你好的价位,消费者遇到的问题只是鱼商将不好的鱼也卖你高的价格而已,这和好鱼卖好价是完全不同的两码事情.红龙产量是不少,但有一点是持标题内容想法的朋友忽略掉的,那就是需求的量更大!仅在亚洲,除了老牌的日本,台湾和新加坡三地稳定的需求增长,大陆紧随其后,且大陆的现需量和潜在的市场是可怕的,新兴的韩国,越南市场......因此,红龙的价格并不会因为产量的"不少"而降到红尾的价格的,除非是全球或全亚洲的经济动荡,如97年亚洲金融风暴......

麦饭石在观赏鱼饲养水质控制中的作用 作者:胡 欢

A麦饭石的基本概念

B麦饭石的药理作用

C麦饭石的调控过程

D麦饭石的影响范围

E麦饭石的选择投放


A麦饭石的基本概念


麦饭石是产生于岩浆活动区的一种矿物药石,因其外观酷似大麦米饭团而得名。明朝伟大的医药实践家李时珍著《本草纲目》(1593)中记载,麦饭石“甘、温、无毒”,主治“一切痛疽发背”。 近代麦饭石传到国外,在日本称麦饭石为“健康石”,南朝鲜称为“矿泉药石”,在我国的台湾称为“长寿石”。

麦饭石的矿物组成与岩石结构表明,至少有59种有益原素包含其中,如人们称之为“生命元素的钙、镁、铁、钛、硅、钾、碘、锌、磷、锰等等。专家认为:“研究表明,在矿物质中,象麦饭石这样富集多种生物体必需微量元素者,实属罕见”。


B麦饭石的药理作用


麦饭石的药理作用在进行充分实验后证明有以下几点:

㈠提高机体抗癌防变作用:
1.有较明显的抑制小白鼠乳腺癌的作用。实验证明,应用麦饭石浸液,能延长被接种乳腺癌细胞(Ca761/L)后纯系小鼠的出瘤时间而且能延长带瘤小鼠平均存活时间。这说明饮用麦饭石浸液有较明显的抑制小鼠乳腺癌的作用,并且饮用时间越长,延长存活时间的效果越好。
2.抑制二甲肼的诱癌作用,以10%麦饭石浸泡液作为实验组大鼠的饮用水,结果发现能有效地抑制二甲肼(DMH)诱导的大鼠大肠癌的发生。这表明了麦饭石的抗癌及抑制癌细胞转移的作用,同时还能明显增强动物的体质。

㈡提高机体免疫功能作用:
1.增强细胞免疫功能的作用,实验表明:麦饭石水浸出液灌胃给药能促进注射兔抗小鼠淋巴细胞血清(ALS)后小鼠T淋巴细胞的生长和增加小鼠的抗体数,使ALS杀伤的T淋巴细胞恢复到接近正常水平。
2.增强巨噬细胞的吞噬能力:据报道,给小鼠灌服精制麦饭石。能明显提高其吞噬细胞对鸡红细胞的吞噬百分率和吞噬指数。

㈢提高机体抗衰老的作用:
有实验报道,给小鼠饮用50%(W/V)麦饭石水溶液8周后,发现其血锌显着增高,血铜降低,血清、脑、肝、肺中MDA含量显着降低,表明麦饭石水溶液可抑制GPX的活性,降低小鼠体内的脂质过氧化水平,具有延缓衰老及防治疾病的作用。

㈣提高机体抗疲劳的作用:
据报道,给健康成年小鼠每天自由饮用20%麦饭石能明显延长小鼠平均游泳时间。

㈤提高机体耐缺氧的能力:
有实验表明:麦饭石能明显延长小鼠的缺氧存活时间,具有抗缺氧作用。

㈥提高机体肝功能的能力:
有研究表明:腹腔注射1%的麦饭石溶液能增进酒精性肝损害小鼠的肝脏机能,促进其肝细胞新陈代谢和能量转换,对酒精性肝损害有一定的预防作用,并且有增强机体免疫力,预防肝脂肪变性及抗炎等功能。

㈦提高机体骨盐沉积能力:
骨由(骨细胞、骨盐及有机基质)三部分组成,而其中的骨盐决定骨的硬度。它的主要成分为羟磷灰石[Ca10(Po4)6(OH)2],而麦饭石中含大量无机物,其中部分易被机体吸收沉积在骨痂中,而且锌的补充,为钙化准备了必要条件,加速了钙盐沉积的速度,形成更多的羟磷灰石结晶,提高了骨的硬度,缩短骨折愈合时间。

㈧提高机体抗御氟的能力:
实验表明,饮料或饮水中加入麦饭石后,使过量氟对大白鼠的毒性有不同程度的减弱。表现在:骨软化程度减轻;血清及软骨ALP(肋软骨中碱性磷酸酶)、 LDH(乳酸脱氢酶)活性下降;血清T4(甲状腺素)、TSH(垂体促甲状腺素)、LH(血清黄体生成素)含量下降;且对氟中毒所致的血清皮质酮及骨铜含量下降有明显恢复。这些指标都反映过量氟引起的变化有所改善,表明麦饭石确有抗氟作用。

㈨具有对细菌吸附作用:
实验表明:麦饭石用过滤法对大肠杆菌、痢疾杆菌、变形杆菌和绿脓杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、白色念珠球菌均有较强的吸附作用,其中以对金黄色葡萄球菌和白色念珠球菌的吸附率最高,均在98%以上,而且滤柱愈高,吸附率也随之增高;静置吸附法较过滤法吸附率低,但对细菌也有一定的吸附作用。


C麦饭石的调控过程


麦饭石的工作原理表明,它在水质控制中具有积极主动的运作:利用自身成分以吸收、分解的方法在水中电离有毒物质及吸收多余的矿物质,或在水中释放生物体必不可少的各种矿物质,以补充其不足,平衡矿物质数量。麦饭石对水质的双向调节作用简言之:水中微量元素缺少,它即溶出;水中微量元素过多时,它来吸附。具体过程如下:

㈠强力吸附:能吸附水中有害的重金属离子,如铬、铜、镉、砷等,吸附水中的残氯。一是以散发出的天然矿物质能够吸收自来水中的氯,并清除水中漂白粉的味道,将自来水矿化为可口的矿泉水。二是吸附水中的细菌。科学家们在麦饭石吸附大肠杆菌的实验中发现,6小时可吸附50%,20小时可吸附90%,48小时可吸附95%以上。而在不放麦饭石的对照组,在上述时间内则无变化。日本的大野武男教授让白色葡萄球菌液在一分钟内流过十日筛的麦饭石颗粒层、重复多次,每次都有百分之五十六至六十的细菌被吸附掉,而在十毫升含大肠杆菌的溶液里,放入二克麦饭石,吸附五分钟,第一次,菌液中七万六千个细菌减少到八千个;第二次,六万一千个减少到一万三千个。麦饭石的吸附能力和吸附效果远远优于活性碳。

㈡适时溶出:麦饭石含有多种生物体不可缺少的微量元素,如镁、铁、钾、氟、钙等,能在水中轻易溶出。尤其是矿物质进入生物体后,能吸附体内滞留的有害物质镉,有机卤化物等,并将其排出体外,并能清洗细胞里的污垢,促进细胞生长。

㈢自动调节酸碱度:其调节范围,从弱酸性PH5到弱碱性PH11,均可调整至近中性7.0至8.7(最大值,根据产地不同,略有差异),并长期保持均衡的酸碱度不变。

Japanese Yellow Powder

[For ornamental fish] ERUBAAJU (Japanese name)
10% powder [for medicinal baths]
Medication for animals

"ERUBAAJU for ornamental fish 10% powder" is a medicinal bath with the active ingredient Nifurstyrenat-Sodium which is very effective against Columnaris and Aeromonas that will cause bacterial infections in ornamental fish. Since the active ingredient is quickly absorbed into the fish it shows excellent results in treating these infections.

Active Ingredients:
100mg Nifurstyrenate / 1g ERUBAAJU

Range of Application:
Reduces deaths that are caused by nifurstyrenate sensitive bacteria like:

In koi, Funa and goldfish:

* Aeromonas infections (Ulcers, dropsy, scale infections)
* Columnaris infections (gill rot, fin rot, mouth rot)

In tropical fish:

* Columnaris


Directions:
Dissolve per 100 liters of water and bath for so many hours in separate treatment tank

* Koi/Funa/Goldfish:

Amount Time
5-10 grams (equals 0.5-1g active ingredient) 4 hours
1-2 grams (equals 0.1-0.2g active ingredient) 24 hours

* Fresh Water Tropical Fish:

Amount Time
1 gram (equals 0.1g active ingredient) 24 hours

* Reference: ERUBAAJU (10% powder [for medicinal baths]) Dosage (Bath time: 24 hours)

Pond Capacity Dosage (in grams)
Koi/Funa/Goldfish Fresh Water Tropical Fish
30 0.3 ~ 0.6 0.3
50 0.5 ~ 1 0.5
100 1 ~ 2 1
500 5 ~ 10 5
1000 10 ~ 20 10
2500 25 ~ 50 25


Normal Cautions:
1. Dosage and duration of application
2. Reduce duration of treatment to what is necessary, don't use for prolonged time.
3. Only use for treatment of the above mentioned conditions

Cautions For User:
1. Wear mouth protection, eye protection, and gloves. Do not touch the substance and don't inhale.
2. After application wash your hands well with soap and rinse your mouth with water. This is also important if you touch the powder by accident.

For Animals to be Treated:
A) RESTRICTIONS:
1. ERUBAAJU may only be used for koi, funa, goldfish, and tropical freshwater fish.
2. Don't use on sensitive fish like Polypterus and (???? like cories, plecos, ancistrus...)

B) Other Notes:
1. Safety tests have been conducted on the following fish:
koi, funa, goldfish, platy, guppy, angel fish, gourami (?).
2. ERUBAAJU must not be applied directly to the fish nor should they come into direct contact with it.

Handling:
1. After opening the package it should be used up quickly.
2. Do not reuse the solution
3. Leave the solution for at least a day outside in the sun before discarding.
4. Aquatic plants may die, so please remove them before treatment.
5. In case a filter is used during treatment: do not filter over charcoal or zeolith.
6. The water may become cloudy after treatment, this does not impact the effect.

Storage:
1. Keep in dark places
2. Keep away from children
3. Keep away from food



Use as per packet only once.Do not attempt to keep remaining powder for later use or otherwise.(You never know what will happen if it is accidentally ingested,sprinkled or otherwise
Because of the above rule,I would suggest the 5g pack to be introduce to 100 litres of water for a 4 houred bath with aeration and additional salt to enhance potency.Cover away from all light source.This way we ensure total compliance of not keeping it for later use.
Remember once done,allow solution to stand in light for 24 hours before disposing

Mix with warm water and add 0.5% salt as an added sygnergy and use immediately when packet is opened.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Sunday, January 3, 2010

龍魚"食"的問題之探討

一般的魚隻依消化系統的不同,可分為有胃魚與無胃魚隻,魚類的消化道從口部起可依序排列為食道、胃、腸,但是像鯉魚、鯽魚等等偏草食性的魚類,大多沒有胃,因此無法分泌胃酸(胃酸是由鹽酸及一些其它酸性的蛋白酶所組成的),而這類的魚我們便稱為無胃魚類(無胃魚類的消化做用是靠在腸道中的各種消化酶分解食物),反之,具有胃部器官能分泌胃酸的魚類,則稱為有胃魚類,龍魚就是這種具有胃部組織能分胃酸的有胃魚,通常這類魚種以肉食性為大宗。不同的魚種便會有不同的獵食或覓食習慣,一般無胃魚的覓食習慣是以嗅覺為主,而龍魚這種有胃魚種則是以視覺與感覺為主要的獵食器官,這二種不同消化系統及獵覓食習慣不同的魚種,對於營養的需求自然有極大的不同之處。
就如同一般的肉食性動物與草食性動物的差別一樣,肉食性的龍魚,牠的消化系統主要是靠胃酸強力腐蝕食物後轉化為身體所需的能量,因此他的腸組織會較一般無胃類的魚隻來的短許多,在營養方面的攝取則以動物性蛋白質為主,動物性蛋白質一般含熱量較高,因此當龍魚熱量攝取足夠時,便不會再就食,而無胃類的魚類, 牠們的消化過程較長,因此對於食物的攝取誘因則來的較高些,因此通常這些魚只要有吃的會一直不停的吃,若在大自然中,而唯一受影響不吃食的情況,只有水溫的變動,及早晚休息時不吃食,幾乎都在找時間就食,而在魚缸中的情況又不同了,魚缸的水溫一般都是恒溫的,水質也較穩定,所以食欲會大增,再加上無胃魚飽食感較為遲鈍,因此往往一直餵會餵到漲死。
相較之下,龍魚因為有強力的胃部器官,對於飽食感較為敏銳,因此在熱量堆積的夠多時,往往會有拒食的情況,這讓很多龍魚飼主很羨慕金魚的飼主們,因為金魚的飼主在魚隻健康的狀況之下,不會有魚隻拒食的困擾。
在營養需求方面,龍魚是獵食活物的,亞洲龍魚跟美洲龍魚的情況又有些差異,一般人都認為龍魚的主食是昆蟲,其實這是DISCOVERY的誤導,亞洲龍魚的產地,要吃到昆蟲很困難,可以說幾乎吃不到,因此還是以水中的魚蝦做為主食,龍魚是一種大型的魚隻,大型的魚隻在成長時所需要的維生素及礦物質會較一些小型魚需求來的更大,而身體的結構不同,相對的要求的物質也不同.
龍魚是一種位於淡水食物鍊頂端之一的魚種,以獵食其它動物為食物的掠食者,所以龍魚的世界之中,倚賴視覺跟觸覺器官相對重要,就從牠的主要獵食器官”眼睛 ”與”觸須”談起吧!大部份亞洲龍魚或美洲龍魚生長的區域,其水質濁度指數均偏高或極高,對龍魚而言,在濁度較高的區域要能夠成功獵食,除非改變獵食的習慣,否則勢必要發展出敏銳度極高的感覺器官,在龍魚的演化過程之中,龍魚選擇了後者,因此,龍魚具有相當敏銳的視覺與波動觸覺(以觸須為主的波動感應), 凡是會動的東西均是龍魚的獵物,也因此外在的動作龍魚會較其他魚類更為敏感,這說明了為什麼龍魚對於飼主的動作會產生很大的反應行為,甚至在還沒有靠近缸子時龍魚遠遠看到飼主走近便會在定點等待飼主,這就是龍魚視覺感測度極佳的最好證明,相對的,不當的燈光與環境則容易讓龍魚發生生理上的偏差,例如掉眼, 側遊等等現像,這是從濁度高的自然環境移至濁度低的環境對於龍魚生理上最大的影響。其次,有許多魚場為了讓龍魚的體色不會因外在的因素而改變,惡意讓龍魚從小便成了瞎眼龍,很多人會驚訝於這種龍魚為什麼還有獵食的能力?這就是觸覺感官的效能發揮,龍魚能夠靠感覺感應到水中的波動,進而轉身獵食食物,很多魚場明白這種道理,所以讓龍瞎了眼也無礙於其獵食行為。
談完了龍魚的感應器官後,進一步的便得探討龍魚食物的來源,野生的龍魚幾乎只要會動的能就食入口的獵物都是牠的食物,說到這,很多人會覺得不服氣,會說那即然什麼都吃了,為什麼你會說龍魚的主食並不是昆蟲,而是以水中的大小魚蝦為主呢?
樹梢上的昆蟲之所以不能成為龍魚的主食,主要是跟環境有關係,全世界在水中生長並能夠長的離水面最近的植物只有紅樹林,亦就是水筆仔這種植物,而這種食物的生長條件必需在淡海水汽水域中成長,原生地的雨林之中並沒有適當的環境條件生長著這麼奇特的植物,唯有在洪水期淹水的情況之下,才能夠使樹枝接近水面, 讓昆蟲有機接近龍魚,而這個時期在龍魚的週年生長期中是很短暫的,而若說岸邊草區的昆蟲會不會成為龍魚獵食的目標,依龍魚的獵食動作分析,要能構成讓龍魚垂直跳躍才行,要滿足這種條件,是很不容易的,所以並不能讓昆蟲成為龍魚的主食,充其數只能算是點心罷了!基於此因,龍魚還是以水中的魚蝦做為主食,也唯有水中的魚蝦能夠讓大型魚的體型能快速增長,龍魚的上層性迴遊習性,並不是為外傳的因為要吃昆蟲而演化出的習性,反而是為了吃小魚小蝦所演化而來的行為, 一般的小魚小蝦,在幼年期,為了要躲避來自水中的各種大型魚的獵食,一出生就會很本能的靠近水面求生並且儘可能的躲在岸邊草堆之中,於是龍魚跟著演化成上層遊性的魚隻,主因還是龍魚吃的食物是一口吞的,雖然龍魚是種凶猛的魚類,但牠並不像猛魚或牙魚之類的大型魚隻,能有足夠的顎力撕裂其他的魚體,所以他並不以大魚為食,而是以能夠吞食的大小為主,在分析了環境因素之後,可以很確定的龍魚的主食是小魚小蝦。
以營養的成份分析,肉食性動物在成長的過程中,需要很多的動物性蛋白質及鈣與磷這種物質來助其快速成長,而昆蟲類並沒有這樣的條件,昆蟲類含量最高的是動物性脂肪與蛋白質,礦物質則較缺乏,動物性脂肪與蛋白質對於魚類而言,可以大量的堆積成脂肪,但若要增長體長,得需要有一定量的磷與鈣及其他無機礦物質才行,尤其是適量的磷,能夠讓魚體具有加速成長的效果,在大自然中,掠食者在幼年期,也是其他掠食者的食物,若龍魚以昆蟲為主食,便無法達成快速增長體型的條件,而將淪為其他掠食者的食物,甚至是龍魚的食物。因此在幼魚至亞成龍期的二年之間,是龍魚快速增長體型的黃金時期,環境中有適當的小魚為獵食對象,相形之下便是龍魚快速成長的關鍵。
結論:
龍魚的所需營養,應以各階段不同,最佳的基礎食物應為含磷較高的魚類為主,因為磷是龍魚最缺乏的元素,然為求營養均衡,應佐以適量蝦類餌食。對於使用淨水設備或水中微量元素不足的飼主而言,固定添加微量元素絕對有其必要,當魚隻發生慢性疾病時,請先以檢討食物配置是否得當,以改變魚隻的吃食習慣,再觀察慢性疾病是否有改善,不要急於下放任何藥物,因為所有的營養缺乏症均不會造成立即的危險。
對於水質的檢測工作,必需固定且經常施行,藉以明白魚隻所欠缺的物質為何?最好能於每次檢測數值後做下紀錄,以備於魚隻有問題時能提供給專業人士判斷病因,不致延誤.

Water Conductivity?? 0 ~ 50us??

http://www.fluval-g.com/ecsystem_e.php

Saturday, January 2, 2010

龙鱼快养与慢养的魅力

几年以前还能在水族馆里看到原生版古典过背的身影。迷恋那种钝头型,小尾型,元宝形鳞片的渐层式表现,金质炫目生辉的个体,欣赏它的每一个细节,都令人回味。这种标致的美已经一去不复返了。龙鱼繁殖场片面追求产量或者杂交培育新品种,造就了这种原始美的灭绝以及原生版的消失。至于原始生态中是否还有古典过背繁衍生息,则不得而知。在我的脑海里始终认为过背是需要慢养的,细火煎熬,品位无穷。这种欲望只能隐藏在心里,渴望有一天能发现一只这样的个体,体验一下慢养的美妙。在红龙的饲养领域里,我更主张快养。红龙是需要威武的气势和彪悍的霸气来震慑人心的。作为大体型龙鱼的代表。快养对气势培育的确比慢养对细节的刻画更具吸引力。
在龙鱼饲养的两大阵营里,快养和慢养一直被当做一个永恒的主题来诠释。慢养的人认为细节成就完美,快养的人坚持彪悍才是龙鱼之美应该倡导的气质。站在每个人的审美角度上或许都是对的,让我们来共同品味一下快养和慢养的魅力。
快养:
(1)、选型:相信体验一只70公分以上的红龙畅游在水族箱里的感觉,是每个龙鱼爱好者都渴望的。除去自身遗传基因的问题,在饲养的细节上做足工作,才能使得你的理想得以实现。传统的钝头型的红龙目前已经不多见,在久负盛名的铭龙代表中以红外线的F2为代表,这种传统的血红龙身形在水中游弋如同潜水艇版威武气势。但就目前的流向趋势而言翘头宽身大后三鳍似乎受到更多的红龙迷的喜爱。传统的铭龙似乎是以洛宾的李美特为代表。那么根据自己的喜好在15公分左右的幼龙里面选择自己喜欢的个体作为培养对象。
在选择快养的个体上,不要选择中龙作为培养对象。大多数亚成龙在水族专卖店或多或少会控制生长,满足提早发色的需要。因此体长15厘米左右,背鳍和臀鳍上黑影线比较分明,相互对称,四排的底垢尚未褪尽,一般也就是5-6月的年龄,是最佳的年龄段。有些个体,后背明显隆起,有些许福龙的感觉,是候选体形培养的优秀个体。当然在鳞框亮度和各鳍搭配的比例上要适中,做到兼顾整体美感,幼龙挑选是门高深的学问,多学多练才是上策,没有捷径。未来具有优秀的发色和完美的体形完全是两码事。
(2)、塑形:快养并不像想象的那样简单,在大多数人的观念中,往往认为只要大量足额投喂,就能满足快速生长。殊不知龙鱼饲养是一项兼顾饲养技巧、营养知识、水质知识甚至龙鱼心理学知识的系统工程。在龙鱼的不同生长阶段都需要不同的饲养技巧和策略。对于喜欢快养的人来说,往往更注重龙鱼气势的培养。这种饲养手法相对慢养更粗旷一些,只要你提供足够的生存空间,理想的水质条件,较大的冲浪水流,适度的高温,以及丰富的营养,选择有利于成长的食物,比如鱼虾,泥鳅,青蛙。并且建立具有竞争机制的饲养环境,以及保持一定频率的换水。来刺激新陈代谢,促进生长并且能够忍受住长期惨淡的发色表现,培养一条霸王龙相对容易做到。但是你要明白“霸气”和“臃肿”完全是两个概念。稍微疏忽一些,往往就达不到自己理想的标准。其实饲养过程中鱼与熊掌很难兼得,快养稍微过度就会给人造成臃肿的感觉,因此即使再粗放的饲养手法,也应该有雕琢的一面。细微之处见真功。
一般在30厘米以前的幼龙阶段要足额投喂,打开胃口以后就为后期发展鉴定了基础。要想让一只龙在这个阶段长期保持良好的食欲是很容易做到的。保证其实现的条件就是老生常谈的稳定环境和良好水质条件。在30厘米以后快养的人一般不注重发色,大多数龙在这个时期出现发色的情况,快养的龙由于快速生长的缘故,色素层明显变薄。我主张即便是快养也应该适度,这个阶段过度的投喂会造成肥龙。造成体形变形,完全失去美感,这是快养的失败。在45公分以后,即使再提供大量的食物,龙鱼的生长也明显趋于迟缓,因此即便是采取快养的手法,过度的投喂在此阶段也没有意义。一般采取快养的龙饲养一年,年龄接近一岁半左右,能长到接近50厘米,已经是不错的成绩了。
(3)、促进发色:在大多数人的观念里,似乎快养发色惨淡是公认的。这种观念也深深刻画在我的脑海里,我甚至一度认为快养的龙发色一定不会很优秀。这种观念被台湾龙友sgky2 先生培养的VIP天皇巨星所改变了。看到他的龙硕大的躯体,鲜红的体色,确实是快养的极品。那么该如何促进快养的龙发色呢!首先需要有优秀的遗传基因,这才是发色最根本的保证,至于食物增色,环境诱色只能建立在这个基础之上,可以肯定的说,发色优秀的个体是与生俱来的,需要你慧眼识宝,挑选到优秀的个体做培养对象。其次可以通过减少换水,减小水流,增加光照甚至采取24小时光照来促进发色。至于传统的采用虾和蜈蚣等食物促进发色,在优秀的血统面前已经变得微不足道。不过提供全面均衡的营养,保证龙鱼健康成长,龙鱼发色肯定会更优秀。4-5岁的成龙基本达到性成熟以后,才达到最佳发色期。龙养到4年以后,体形大多在60厘米以上。很大的个体在水族箱狭小的饲养环境里就不太容易做到了。但是你不要以为它已经停止了生长,只是生长已经比较迟缓而已。如果能做到这些,你就是一个快养的成功者了。
慢养:
(1)、选型:在骨子里我是不支持红龙慢养的。但是在失去慢养雕琢过背的机会之后,也只有选择红龙来品评一下慢养的味道。提到慢养大家总会遐想到龙鱼专卖店里那些大眼碌碌,明显厚道的个体,好像慢养就是惨无人道的。是商家谋取不正当利益的手段。其实真正的慢养高手是在雕琢一件工艺精品。只要适得其法,必得饲养精髓。在选材上如果把一只隆胸弓背的上乘个体细加雕琢,塑造成一只体态婀娜的个体,无疑浪费了一只优良的个体。好像受到传统过背慢养的影响,我相信一只钝头型或者平头型红龙选择慢养更有韵味。当然大多数爱好者并不加以选择,一味选择快养或者慢养。就像是选择举重运动员和跳水运动员,量材选用方是上策。一般参加龙鱼大赛的中龙在35-40公分,身体周正,发色浑厚,体态端庄,完全和快养是另一种韵味,一般是慢养的杰作。 (2)塑形:慢养是不能以牺牲健康为代价的,真正的慢养高手拿捏准确,雕工细腻,塑造个体标致而不瘦弱,无厚道表现,适度控制龙鱼生长,主要追求细节刻画。我有幸第一次养龙就体验了慢养的奥妙。一般龙鱼慢养,多选择延长换水周期老水饲养,静水无水流。一般幼龙在小缸低水位培养,环境昏暗,食量投喂少而精。食物选择基本以虾和昆虫做主食。有些高手甚至把慢养的龙鱼每个周期生长的尺寸限制了标准。你可以看到有些发色优秀的个体在25-30公分之间,鳃部发色厚重,仔细观察背鳍和臀鳍的黑影线已经基本退去,只在背鳍和臀鳍的末梢有些许的痕迹,5排鳞片边缘底垢已经退去,6排已经亮框。实际年龄已经接近一岁半左右。如若快养个体已经接近45公分左右。那么是不是这种慢养的个体在这个阶段采取快养,就不会明显增长,恢复快速成长呢!实践证明这个年龄段的慢养个体,采取快养一年以后,体形基本恢复,没有大的影响。一般在30公分以前每天只喂1餐,每餐5分饱左右,中龙以后甚至还要减量。有些龙鱼卖场长期以昆虫为主食,龙鱼饲养缓慢,但是慢养不能过度,过度控制生长,会造成眼睛比例失调,明显大眼碌碌。厚道明显,错过两年的最佳生长期以后,要想达到一定的体型就有难度,已经是“老头龙”。如此**作界定为残忍也不为过。
(3)、促进发色:慢养发色相对比较厚实,由于人为控制生长速度,使得色素层堆积更厚重,最初在鳃盖A字区周围,优秀的个体初期发色就有厚重的表现。发色面积不大,却感到厚积薄发,呼之欲出。完全不同于快养那种淡淡的感觉。这种初期的成就感就是慢养最大的欣喜。第一框发色开始以后,才能真正体验到慢养的妙处所在,由于生长速度缓慢,新陈代谢降低,色素层基本都堆积在第一鳞框边缘,框线分明,由此加重了整个鳞片的层次感。这种感觉在快养的个体很难体验到,由于快养生长速度加快,色素层被明显拉薄,色素带加宽,没有明显边界。鳞框层次模糊。立体效果差。虽然框的粗细基本有血统决定,但在龙鱼饲养的某一个时期,体验到这种细框的感觉,依然让人回味无穷。实践证明慢养的龙以昆虫类比如蟋蟀、蜈蚣、蟑螂、蝎子为主食配合喂虾效果很好。究其原因是否是食物的因素还是生长缓慢的因素,目前还没有科学的考证。但慢养不可过度,以牺牲健康为代价的任何饲养方式都不可取。健康的龙鱼才是美丽最基本的保证。
在快养和慢养之间诠释了不同的饲养理念。我们在体验之中领略了龙鱼的无尽魅力。

龙鱼地包和掉眼的形成与预防

一般幼龙一旦收黃之后,应该要以混养的方式养殖,小鱼才会有安全感,诚如上述所言,在野生的环境当中,小龙鱼会不断的吃食,当其成长愈快速,存活下来的机会也会愈大,因此刚缩黃的小鱼,必需要每个小时喂食一次,如同人类的小孩一般,每隔八个小时要喂一次奶,马虎不得,否则将导致骨骼发育不全,营养不良的现象.



喂食的食物,千万不要以昆虫类做为主食,主要的原因,昆虫类基本上缺乏促进骨髂发育的钙与鏻,幼鱼期若长期喂食,很容易造成小鱼地包天,大多数地包天的发生,就小弟长期的经验几乎都是幼鱼的培养失当造成的,一个专业负责任的龙鱼养殖业者,应该要避免这样的情况发生,在喂食的过程中,要尽可能的让幼鱼多吃, 并且勤于换水,多换水可以让鱼只加快新陈代谢,加速成长,这个是将小鱼养好的不二法门,当然一般玩家很少能有这样的环境跟时间,所以最好的方法,是挑选专业卖家精心养妥,20公分以上刚离群的鱼只,以避免因养殖失当,造成鱼只缺陷或是发育不良.



其次,专业的龙鱼养殖,还得让幼龙从小能适应人工环境,人工环境与自然环境最大的不同点,在于自然环境中并不存在侧光,龙鱼掉眼的原因,主要来自于其对视觉的崎重,对光线角度过于敏感,为了不让鱼只因为侧游而掉眼,我们可以利用幼体对于环境的高度可塑性,从小让他们适应侧光,适应侧光的方法有很多,人造光幕跟自适应侧光,是最常被专业人士使用的方法,当培养出的幼龙能完成25公分之前的适应,未来掉眼的情况几乎不会发生.



总的来说,明白了原理,最重要的还是要用心养殖,循序而为,相信每位鱼友都能养出自已心目中的好龙~共勉之