Betta Fish
Our Betta fish section contains all the information a Betta Lover can ever need such a how to breed Betta fish, how to care for Betta fish, what to feed Betta fish and
Betta genetics. Other sections in our aquarium articles library include sections about catfish and tropical fish breeding. We are constantly adding new aquarium
articles to our library.
If you are interested in a particular tropical aquarium fish species, we recommend our species database. The species database is also updated regularly and the species
database currently contains 350+ freshwater tropical fish profiles. Commonly kept fresh water tropical aquarium fish species, such as Angelfish, Goldfish, Bristlenosed
Catfish, Betta fish and various American Cichlids and African Cichlids are naturally included, but less frequently kept tropical fish species e.g. the Arowana and
other large predatory fish species can also be found in our database of fresh water tropical fish. If you are looking for breeding information for a certain species of
freshwater tropical aquarium fish we suggest that you take a look among the species profiles as well as the fish breeding section in our aquarium articles library
since the majority of the species profiles contain breeding information.
Tropcial Aquarium fish profiles:
Everyone is very welcome to join our forum here at AC Tropical fish. If you have a question about the set up and maintenance of a tropical fish aquarium that you can’t
find the answer to in the tropical fish articles library or in our tropical fish species profiles, some of our well-informed members will most likely be able to help
you out. Our staff will usually answer any question posted in our aquarium forum within 24 hours. The forum is not only a place where people discuss tropical aquarium
fish in general; it is also a place to rant and rave about your latest aquatic endeavors. Did you manage to breed your Betta? Are you hesitant about which type of
African cichlids that you want to select for your next reef valley aquarium? Have you finally managed to put together your Do It Yourself tropical fish aquarium? Share
your experiences with tropical fish enthusiasts from all over the world.
Saltwater Tropical Fish Aquarium
AC Tropical Fish started out as a site for tropical aquarium fish keepers, but has now grown to include several other areas as well such as coldwater species and the
set up and maintenance of a saltwater aquarium. For aquarists interested in keeping saltwater fish we have a rapidly growing collection of articles regarding the
saltwater aquarium and its inhabitants. A saltwater aquarium is usually more complicated to handle than a basic freshwater tropical fish tank, but your invested time
and efforts will be rewarded by the possibility to keep remarkably beautiful and fascinating saltwater fish species such as Clown fish, Damsel, marine Angel fish and
various sharks. Some saltwater aquarium enthusiast will create miniature ecosystems in their saltwater aquarium and house not only saltwater fish, but also coral,
anemones and crustaceans. For those interested in a true challenge it is even possible to keep more extraordinary animals such as Jelly fish, Squid and Octopus in a
saltwater aquarium. Such species are usually kept alone in a species saltwater aquarium without any saltwater fish. Our species database for saltwater fish is
continuously being updated and we can today offer more than 120 species profiles for saltwater fish species commonly found in the saltwater aquarium.
African Cichlid Fish
A lot of the famous African cichlids hail from one of the Great Rift Valley lakes on the African continent; chiefly Lake Malawi, Lake Victoria or Lake Tanganyika.
There are however a wide range of interesting cichlid species that comes from other African rivers and lakes. The River Nile, River Niger, River Zaire, River Gambia
and River Zambezi are all inhabited by cichlids. The Okavango River Delta, the Sierra Leone regions and Lake Volta and Lake Albert are other places where you can find
cichlids. The rainforest in Central Africa is also home to numerous cichlid species. Generally speaking, these waters are acidic, but some of them are alkaline so it
is important that you research your particular species in order to find out its requirements.
One of the cichlid species that belong to the “Other African Cichlids” group is the Nigeria Green (Pelvicachromis taeniatus). This cichlid is found in soft and acidic
waters in Nigeria and Cameroon. The male can grow up to 3.5 inches, while the female stays at 2.5 inches. If you manage to get your Nigeria Green cichlids into
spawning conditions, the male will display a strong and very beautiful metallic green coloration with shades of red, violet and gold. The female will also show more
vivid colors during the breeding period. The middle of her body will develop red and silvery colors, while her throat becomes bright yellow.
Another popular cichlid in this group is Hemichromis bimaculatus. This cichlid can reach a size of nearly 5.5 inches (14 centimeters) and is comparatively easy to
breed in aquariums. Hemichromis bimaculatus is one of several species that is sold under the name Jewel Cichlid or Jeweled Cichlid. Hemichromis bimaculatus is also
known as Red Cichlid. Since Hemichromis bimaculatus is an aggressive species you should only house it with sturdy species that will not tolerate being bullied. As long
as they are kept with sturdy species of similar size they will however be quite peaceful, and their reputation as overly aggressive is highly undeserved. This
reputation is probably caused by aquarists trying to house Hemichromis bimaculatus with timid fish species in a small aquarium, or during the breeding period. Just
like many other cichlid species, breeding Hemichromis bimaculatus will defend their territory violently if necessary. Hemichromis bimaculatus need at least a 150
liters (40 gallon) aquarium. You can for instance keep your Hemichromis bimaculatus cichlids with other Hemichromis species, or with Barbs and Danio. A lot of the
South American cichlids are also suitable. Decorate the aquarium with rocks and make sure that you create a lot of hiding places where the fish can hide and stay out
of sight. Hemichromis bimaculatus can damage plants and rocks and other similar aquarium ornaments are therefore more suitable as aquarium decoration. Sturdy plants
such as Anubias, Javafern and Amazon Sword will however usually withstand the attacks from a few Hemichromis bimaculatus. Keep the pH-value in the 6.5-7.5 range and
the water temperature between 23-27 degrees C (74-80 degrees F).
Algae control
What is algae? Algae (sing. alga) are simple organisms that derive energy from the sun by carrying out photosynthesis. The higher land living plants are believed to
have originated from algae and they are quite similar to each other. You will however find a series of distinct organs in higher plants that can not be found in algae.
Algae can be unicellular as well as multicellular and some types form large and complex forms. The “seaweeds” that you can encounter in the ocean are for instance
algae; not aquatic higher plants.
Algae are an important part of the ecosystems where they occur, but they can also become a nuisance for aquarists, pond keepers and swimming pool owners. In order to
successfully combat algae it is important to understand what algae are and how they subsist. Just like a land living plant, algae need light, water, nutrients, carbon
dioxide and oxygen. Oxygen is produced as a bi-product of photosynthesis and getting enough carbon dioxide and water is rarely a problem in aquariums, ponds and
swimming pools. The main limiting factors are therefore light and nutrients. By controlling the amounts of light and nutrients, we can carry out successful algae
control in ponds, aquariums and swimming pools.
Pond algae control
Many different methods can be used to combat pond algae and the bests results are normally achieved by combining several different methods. As mentioned above,
limiting the amount of light and nutrients will make the habitat less suitable for algae. You can also introduce algae eating organisms to your pond and/or use some
type of algaecide. Before you decide to use an algaecide for pond algae control, you should keep in mind that algae mass-death can have a devastating effect on water
quality and make the oxygen levels of the pond decrease sharply. This can in turn harm or even kill fishes and other aquatic organisms in the pond. Algaecides are a
short-term solution; unless you combine it with other actions you will never achieve a stable pond with suitable amounts of algae growth.
Limiting the amounts of nutrients that reaches the pool is usually easier than limiting the light. If you are planning to dig a new pond for your garden you can
however take light into account and chose a shaded part of your garden where pond algae is less likely to thrive. (But don’t forget that placing your garden pond next
to trees and bushes will force you to clean your pond more frequently since leaves and other types of debris will fall into the water.)
Two major contributors of nutrients to a garden pond are food and surface water. If you keep pond fish or any other animals in the pond, make sure not to over-feed
them. It can be a good idea to introduce scavenging species that will seek out left-over food and devour it. After heavy rains, surface water streams that empty
themselves in the pond tend to bring large amounts of nutrients to the water. You can prevent this by building a mound around your garden pond or dig special trenches
for surface water. It is also a good idea to avoid using fertilizers (especially those rich in phosphorus) in the area around the garden pond.
You can force the algae to compete for nutrients by keeping your garden pond heavily planted. If you have plant eating fish or other animals in the pond, chose though
and sturdy plants that grows fast and will tolerate being nibbled on. In a pond filled with plenty of thriving plants, there will be much less nutrients available for
the algae and this will limit their growth rate and make sudden algae blooms less likely. There are many different pond plants to choose among; make sure that you pick
species that will thrive in your particular climate and avoid delicate species that might find it hard to compete with the algae.
Aquarium algae control
Algae control
Algae