Invertebrates can also be kept in order to keep the aquarium clean. Ghost shrimp and Amano shrimp are two examples of scavenging invertebrates that will take care of
left over fish food and other small food particles before the leftovers have a chance to decompose and begin to pollute the water. Ghost shrimp are transparent
animals, hence the name. Ghost shrimp will spend most of their time searching for food at the bottom of the aquarium or on the plants. Sometimes you will also see them
swim upside down at the waters surface where they feed on tiny floating particles. Amano shrimp are also transparent, but they have a fan-shaped tail and the body is
decorated with dotted lines. Amano shrimps are named after Takashi Amano, a famous Japanese photographer that has taken a lot of beautiful pictures of the Amano
shrimp. The Amano shrimp is larger than the Ghost shrimp and an adult Amano shrimp will typically be up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) long. They are usually more
expensive to purchase that other types of freshwater shrimps, but will on the other hand survive for many years if you provide them with favourable conditions.
Invertebrates can naturally also be kept purely because they are beautiful to look at and display fascinating behaviours. The Red Claw Lobster and the Red Clawed
Mangrove Crab are two examples of interesting invertebrates that can be successfully kept in aquariums. The Red Claw Lobster is actually not a lobster; it is a type of
crayfish. Today it is also known under the more accurate name Red Claw Crayfish. It is not a highly aggressive species and can be kept in a fish tank, but avoid
keeping more than one Red Claw Lobster in your aquarium unless the aquarium is cleverly decorated and large enough for the animals to stay out of each others sight.
Small and slow moving fish are also unsuitable tank mates for your Red Claw Lobster since they will be considered food.
Jellyfish
It is possible to keep Jellyfish in aquariums, but it is important that you understand how their requirements differ from those of aquarium fish. If you keep your
jellyfish in a standard rectangular aquarium, the jellyfish can become trapped in one of the corners and unable to free itself. A circular aquarium without any corners
is therefore a much better home for your jellyfish. You must also create currents in the jellyfish aquarium, since jellyfish depend on currents in the wild. The
currents has to flow in a special way in the enclose aquarium space to avoid the jellyfish from being sucked in and injured.
Since jellyfish is a difficult species to keep it is advisable that you have plenty of previous aquarium knowledge before your embark on such a project. The two most
commonly kept jellyfish species are both marine jellyfish, and prior experience with saltwater aquariums is therefore recommended. It can be difficult to find the
necessary equipment for a jellyfish aquarium in your local fish store, but do not let this discourage you. Several larger and/or more specialised aquatic shops are to
be found on the Internet and you can have your equipment mailed to you.
One of the most commonly kept Jellyfish species is the Upside Down Jelly fish (Cassiopea andromeda). This jellyfish species originated from Philippine water, but can
today also be found around Hawaii. It is believed to have been involuntary introduced to the Hawaiian fauna by ships around World War II. If you want to keep an Upside
Down Jelly fish you must create an aquarium with an upwards water flow than can lift the jellyfish from the bottom. When you choose aquarium you should bare in mind
that a fully grown Upside Down Jelly fish can reach a size of up to 20 centimetres / 8 inches in diameter. Upside Down Jelly fish eats micro plankton. The Upside Down
Jelly swims upside down since this jellyfish depend on specific algae that it forms a symbiotic relationship with. By swimming with the algae on top, the jellyfish
makes it possible for the algae to absorb sunlight and carry out photosynthesis.
Another jellyfish species that is sometimes kept in marine aquariums is the Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). It can reach a maximal size of 30 centimetres / 12 inches,
and a large aquarium is therefore necessary. If you touch your Moon Jellyfish it can sting you, but the sting is not dangerous as long as you are not allergic or extra
sensitive. Just like the Upside Down Jellyfish, Moon Jellyfish feed on micro plankton, but the Moon Jellyfish will also eat larvae in the wild and aquarists that keep
Moon Jellyfish will therefore usually feed their pet large amounts of live brine shrimp. Moon Jellyfish is commonly found in temperate waters and you should keep the
water temperature between 12 and 18 degrees Celsius / 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit in your aquarium. In many cases this means that you will be required to install a
refrigeration unit. If you have a cool room, such as a basement, it can however be possible to successfully house Moon Jellyfish without any refrigeration unit
Killifish
In this section of the articles library you will find information about how to keep and breed Killifish. Killifish are tooth carps and belong to an order named
Cyprinodontiformes. Killifish are popular among aquarists, but you will seldom find Killifish in your local fish store. If you want to keep Killifish it is therefore
advisable to contact a breeder directly. The larger fish auction sites will offer Killifish and many breeders have their own web pages and can be found online. You can
also find Killifish breeders in forums where Killifish are discussed. Even though Killifish are not as easy to obtain as Guppy, Platy and Kissing Gourami, Killifish
are suitable for novice aquarists and even a comparatively inexperienced aquarists will usually manage to get his or her Killifish into spawning condition.
The name Killifish is sometimes spelled Killiefish, with an “e”. Killifish without an e is the oldest spelling variant and is derived from the Dutch word for creek.
Killifish is commonly found in creeks and streams in Africa, Asia, America and Southern Europe, but they also inhabit lakes. The American Killiefish species inhabit
the region between Ontario, U.S. in the north and Argentina to the south. Since Killifish live in such different parts of the world the different species have adapted
to various conditions.
If you want to keep Killifish it is important that you research the feeding habits of your particular species. Some Killifish species must be fed meaty foods,
preferably live. Insects and their larvae are recommended. Other Killifish species can not be kept on such a diet since they feed on plankton in the wild. A third
group of Killifish are skilled predators and feed chiefly on live fish in the wild.
Killifish species utilizes several different reproductive methods, depending on the specific environmental factors in the region where that particular species have
developed. Some species will simply scatter their eggs on plants. If the Killifish live in rocky areas, it will instead deposit the eggs inside caves or crevices. A
third group of Killifish will create protective nest and lay their eggs inside. The Killifish species that live in temporary puddles and smaller lakes in areas
affected by severe droughts have developed a completely different reproductive method. Since these puddles can dry out completely during the dry season, the eggs are
buried deep down in the mud once they have been fertilized. The adult fish will die if the puddle dries out during the drought, but the eggs can survive in the mud for
several months. When the rainy season commence, the eggs will sense the water and fry will rapidly hatch. If you purchase a Killifish that live under such conditions
in the wild, you should bare in mind that their natural life span is very short. They are programmed to hatch and reproduce during one single rainy season and well
seldom live for more than 9 months in the wild, frequently even shorter. The genus Cynopoecilus is also worth some attention when we are discussing the reproductive
methods of Killifish, since Killifish species that belong to this genus will use pseudo-internal fertilization. This species show us how the livebearing fish species
might have developed from the egg laying ones. There are egg laying as well as live bearing tooth carps, and the Cynopoecilus species form a link between the two
groups.
Lake Victoria Cichlids
Lake Victoria is one of the Rift Valley lakes on the African continent, and just like the other Rift Valley lakes, Lake Victoria is popular among aquarists for its
wide range of beautiful fish species. Other examples of Rift Valley lakes are Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika. Cichlids are very common in Lake Victoria, and a lot of
the cichlid species are endemic to the lake. Cichlids have adapted to all the different habitats in the lake and display a wide range of different looks and behaviors.
If you want to keep a Lake Victoria cichlid it is important that you research the specific species that you are interested in, since their requirements will differ
considerably depending on which part of the lake they inhabit. Some Lake Victoria cichlids are found along the shores where they inhabit caves and crevices, while
other species prefer the open waters or the sandy bottom and its abandoned shells. Estimations show that there are at least 200 different cichlid species in Lake
Victoria, and many scientists and aquarists suspect that they will find even more species in the future since Lake Victoria is far from thoroughly explored by science.
Pollution, over-fishing and a disturbed eco-system do however threaten the wild life in Lake Victoria and many species might die out before we have a chance to
discover them.