Quite an impressive Fahaka Puffer community tank at the River Safari (River Wonders) Singapore.
The Fahaka Puffer is the centerpiece fish, living together with other community fish such as Rainbowfish, tetras, and even Discus. The tank is heavily planted, with rocks and driftwood. It is interesting to see that the Fahaka Pufferfish can live peacefully with a wide variety of fish, in a sufficiently large aquarium.
What Fish Can Go With Fahaka Puffer?
Based on the above real-life video, the following fish can go together with Fahaka Puffer (in a large aquarium):
Boesemani Rainbowfish
Rainbow Shark
Serpae Tetra
Lemon Tetra
Discus
Denison Barb
Snails and shrimp should be incompatible with Fahaka Puffers, since puffers are known to feed on snails, shrimp, and shellfish.
A short video guide on how to feed bamboo shrimp. Bamboo shrimp are native to Southeast Asia and are filter feeders. They catch small particles in the water using their fans. Due to this unique mode of feeding, some special care is needed when feeding bamboo shrimp.
This is currently our most popular video: Toy Poodle Full Grown! It seems that many people are curious about the size of a full grown toy poodle.
Toy Poodle Full Grown Size
A full grown toy poodle should be 10 inches tall, and weighs about six to nine pounds (2.5 to 4 kg). The Miniature Poodle stands 11 to 15 inches tall and weighs 15 to 17 pounds (7 to 8 kg). This is the information from many other dog websites.
Charlie the poodle is 5 kg, on the high side for toy poodle, but yet less than the weight requirement for miniature poodle!
So how do we classify a poodle that is heavier than 9 pounds, but under 15 pounds? That is a mystery!
Neon Tetra Disease is a mysterious disease that strikes mainly neon tetras, but other fishes are also susceptible to it. The online opinion is that there is no cure, some even suggest euthanizing the poor tetra to avoid it spreading.
Neon Tetra Disease Signs
The signs of neon tetra disease include some of the following classic symptoms:
Loss of color in a patch of skin
Fin rot
Curved spine in advanced cases
Our neon tetra exhibited two of the classic signs (white patch and loss of color near the head), and fin rot near the tail. For more pictures and graphics of the symptoms, see the video below.
Neon Tetra Disease Cure (Melafix?)
We seem to have stumbled upon a cure for neon tetra disease using Melafix. Melafix is a herbal fish medicine based on tea tree oil, and is targeted at bacterial infections of fish.
After one dose of Melafix, and over 9 days, our neon tetra has shown a dramatic improvement (as seen in video below). The white patch of loss of color is gone, and the fin rot near the tail is gone as well. In addition, the fin tissue near the tail has grown back to normal levels.
There is also a closely related disease called “False Neon Tetra Disease”, which is caused by bacteria. The symptoms are so close that it is impossible to tell apart the two diseases without a microscope in a laboratory.
According to famous fish keeper Cory from Aquarium Co-op, Neon Tetra Disease is caused by Mycobacterium, which also causes fish tuberculosis.
Neon Tetra Disease Cure
Based on our experience, Melafix certainly seemed to cure the Neon Tetra Disease. Then again, theoretically Melafix works against bacterial diseases but not parasitical diseases. Hence, it may work for the cases of Neon Tetra Disease which are caused by bacteria, but not for those that are caused by parasites.
Just came across this free E-book on Corydoras Catfish in a FaceBook Group called “Corydoras Vault Singapore“.
It is very comprehensive, and shows rare Corydoras that many people do not know even exist. It is fascinating how many species of corydoras “armored catfish” there are.
Something I learnt from the book is that Corydoras is named from Greek “kory” which means helmet, and “doras” which means skin.
Do download this free E-book (while it is still free):
We showcase 3 fish that won’t eat shrimp, tried and tested in our very own 5 gallon nano planted tank.
1) Phoenix Rasbora
2) Neon Tetra
3) Lambchop Rasbora
These 3 fish are shrimp safe, in our experience.
There are many baby shrimp, juvenile shrimp, as well as adult blue shrimp (blue version of cherry shrimp) living happily alongside those fish. As well as 1 Amano shrimp.
From what we observe, the fish don’t disturb or bother the shrimp as well. Music is “Foo the Flowerhorn” style peaceful music, aka the Gymnopedie No. 3.
Usually, aggressive or predatory fish like the betta tend to eat or hunt shrimp.
It is relatively easy to breed shrimp, especially cherry shrimp and its color variants. There need to be enough calcium source in the tank, what we did is put some coral chips (crushed corals) which has calcium carbonate. The most common way for shrimp to die is due to unsuccessful molting.
Zee Bed (or Zee.Dog Bed) is said to be the best bed for dogs. Dogs spend up to 80% of their time sleeping, so a good bed is important for their well-being. Sleeping on the cold hard floor may cause problems like arthritis or sores.
The above video is Day 1 (21 July 2020) of planting Monte Carlo. Hopefully it will survive and carpet in the low tech tank, without CO2!
Monte Carlo (Day 2) in low tech tank. I pushed some of the Monte Carlo plants deeper into the soil using tweezers. The bright green color of MC (Monte Carlo) is really striking.
Monte Carlo Carpet Without CO2 (Day 7 Update)
Day 7: Noticeable improvement in the Monte Carlo carpet in my low tech, no CO2 tank! I do have a mini “time lapse” photo of the Monte Carlo before and after, the difference is quite noticeable. The Monte Carlo has “rooted” itself deeper into the substrate. Hopefully it continues to improve and spread out even more.
Monte Carlo Low Tech No CO2 (Day 7 Update). Compared with Day 1 or 2, it has rooted itself deeper into the substrate!
Day 13: Monte carlo time lapse (Day 13 Photo Time Lapse), Turning a little brown!
Monte Carlo low tech time lapse (photo montage), up till day 13. Growth is noticeable, but yet there is some yellowing and browning. I think the Monte Carlo is still adapting, and possibly transitioning from emersed to submersed. I just heard that another plant, Marsilea hirsuta, may be even easier than Monte Carlo to grow. Tropica rates the Marsilea hirsuta as easy, while Monte Carlo is rated medium. Maybe will try it if the Monte Carlo melts and dies.
Monte Carlo low tech no CO2 Day 13 update. Some browning and yellowing is observed!
Monte Carlo Low Tech Day 25: Growing Upwards!
This is Day 25 of growing Monte Carlo in low tech, no CO2 tank. The Monte Carlo is growing and surviving, however the growth is vertically upwards instead of carpeting horizontally. In other words, the Monte Carlo plant is not carpeting.
How do we ensure that the Monte Carlo carpets and grow horizontally? Please comment below if you have any suggestions!
“How much to feed betta” or “how much to feed a betta fish” is a question that has puzzled me for a long time. I did not find any definitive answer online. I believe the rule “feed the size of the fish’s eyeball” leads to underfeeding, based on my experience. Also, it does not quite make sense to me that “a fish’s stomach is the size of its eyeball”, which is another commonly quoted guideline.
Hence, I create my own modified rule:
#1) Feed twice the size of the fish’s eyeball (eyeball includes the entire “sphere”, not just the exposed part).
#2) Adjust accordingly based on the size of the fish’s stomach. A healthy betta should have a round belly (especially after feeding) and a streamlined look at the same time. This is a bit subjective and requires experience of looking at hundreds of betta photos online to get a sense of what is a normal betta shape.
Following the above rule, I am currently feeding 3 to 4 pellets of Hikari Betta Bio-gold daily. That is a Hikari fish food specially formulated for bettas. Betta are carnivorous and require more protein.
How much do you feed your betta? Do you think I am underfeeding or overfeeding? Please comment below!
Recently upgraded my air pump to the Eheim Air Pump 200, with dual output. My previous air pump was not strong enough to power 2 sponge filters simultaneously.
This Eheim Air Pump is very strong. In fact, it is almost too strong, I had to lower to the lowest setting for my 2 gallon nano tank. For the 5 gallon tank, I select the medium setting, and angle the output towards the wall. The sponge filter output was made to be above the water level (there is less turbulence this way).
Overall, this air pump is very good and quiet. Do expect some noise though, it is not totally silent. I would say it has the same noise level as a fan, which is totally acceptable. Also, I find that the 2 adjustable valves are not totally independent, when I adjust one valve it will affect the other output as well.
Review: The Eheim Air Pump is a highly recommended air pump for fish keepers with 2 aquariums.
The Eheim 200 Air Pump is also labelled as Eheim PHL207184. There is a more powerful Eheim 400 (twice the output), but based on my review most aquariums under 50 gallons should not require such a powerful pump (maybe 50 gallons and above may need it).
I find that shrimp are just as interesting as fish to keep in an aquarium. Shrimp are very good at tidying/cleaning up the aquarium; it is a great idea to keep some shrimp whenever possible.
The easiest shrimp to keep are cherry shrimp (and its color variants), and also the Amano shrimp. The biggest cause of shrimp deaths is due to molting problems. Below are some videos of the shrimp I have personally kept.
Easy to keep shrimp: Amano shrimp, cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi).
More difficult shrimp: Bamboo shrimp (aka Wood shrimp), Bee shrimp (I have not tried these yet), Sulawesi Shrimp (not tried yet either).
I think one of my Anubias rhizomes died (rotted) due to it being tied too tightly. The Anubias rhizome is supposed to be hard and green, if it is soft or brown, something is wrong.
For Anubias, the rhizome is the most important part of the plant, if it is dead, the whole plant will die.
Another reason for the Anubias rhizome rotting is the dreaded Anubias disease, but I don’t think it is the case here because another rhizome just next to the rotted rhizome is perfectly healthy.
Hence, the conclusion is that the Anubias rhizome most likely died from being tied too tightly by the string. It was at the back of my tank so I didn’t really notice it at first. I only noticed it when I saw a new leaf sprout out from the rotting rhizome, but the new leaf melted soon after. Usually, when new leaves melt, it is a sign of something wrong. Upon taking the entire Anubias plant out, I then realized that the rhizome had turned mushy.
The original Anubias was tied (by the seller) with thick string. I don’t really blame them for tying too tight because it is not easy at all to tie Anubias (too loose and it will not stay in place). I cut off the old string, threw away the rotted rhizome, and re-tied the healthy Anubias lightly with sewing thread.
Probably the same problem can occur for Java Fern, Bucephalandra, the rhizome may rot if tied too tightly.
Singapore Maths Tuition 