Maidenhead Aquatics Topical Tips - February 2010

It may not feel like it but spring is just around the corner, snowdrops are blooming around my pond and the days are getting longer. Conditions are still rather chilly but time spent outside now can make a big difference when the evenings are long and valuable time is needed to simply sit back and enjoy your water garden.

Outdoors

Fish will be fairly inactive until a rise in water temperature allows their metabolism to function normally. Keep an eye out for any health issues, as below 10C their immune systems are incapable of protecting them against disease. As a consequence of this you may see the pond fish equivalent of the human cold sore virus – Carp Pox. Despite the alarming name, this relatively harmless malady is generally confined to a few individuals and gives rise to waxy lumps that appear on the fins and body of the fish. Both carp and goldfish can be affected but it seldom spreads from one fish to another. Being viral in nature no treatments are effective against the symptoms but as soon as temperatures increase the fish’s immune system will quickly cure the problem if water quality and nutrition are good.

On the subject of nutrition, make sure that only easily digestible wheatgerm foods are offered to your fish during spells of milder weather. A slight rise in temperature can lead to fishes showing an interest in food at a time when their bodies are incapable of digesting it properly and this can lead to problems that cause losses in the spring. Once water temperatures remain above 10C, the switch can be made to more normal 'summer' diets.

If we have a break in the cold weather, frogs will start spawning soon and then the terrifically unlikely scenario of lusty male frogs grabbing passing fish becomes a talking point. Although this happens just enough to avoid being urban myth, it is only likely to occur in shallow, crowded ponds with unhealthy fish. Generally speaking, frogs have no interest in fish but will often have most of their spawn eaten by them. As mentioned last month, the best solution is to construct a dedicated wildlife pond with the shallow water that frogs prefer and let them get on with it. If you seem to have a huge amount of frogspawn in your pond, don’t be tempted to transfer it elsewhere as a number of health issues can be spread from one population of frogs to another. Let nature take its’ course and cherish the algae-eating tadpoles that can really make a difference to the health of your pond in the summer.

If your pond suffers from infestations of duckweed, blanket weed or green water, take the time to clear any leaves or decomposing matter that may have found its way into the pond over the winter. By removing organic matter before it rots down, you can reduce the available nutrients for algae and help tip the balance in your favour for an easier summer. Think of it a bit like a compost heap, all those nutrients have to go somewhere and the algaes are normally quicker to grab the excess.

Indoors

If you were one of the many people who got a new fish tank for Christmas, hopefully by now you’re starting to reach the easy part where filters are mature and you know what issues are worth panicking about. Let me assure you that provided that you keep up with the maintenance such as regular partial water changes, an aquarium gets easier to run as times goes by. Statistics reveal that those who give up keeping fish tend to quit during these early stages. For the record, aquarium fish only wish to die of old age and are on your side. They will do their best to cope with whatever you throw at them and as long as you learn from the mistakes of others, you will find that there are few pets which can provide you with such a relaxing window into a whole new world. Choose who you listen to wisely and avoid the mistakes that can come from looking for answers that make you feel good and explain any problems – if someone tells you something you don’t like, there’s a good chance that it’s the truth! The classic example of this is where water quality (or a lack of it!) leads to fish losses. As polluted water can be clear as gin and just as lethal to fish, the common reaction is to doubt the health of the fish or the quality of your supplier. Often a simple water test will reveal potentially deadly nitrate levels in mature tanks that established fishes have managed to adapt to. This gives rise to the situation where newly introduced individuals of species already in the tank could sucumb shortly after being added to the aquarium. If this scenario sounds familiar, test your aquarium water for nitrate and phosphate (as well as Ammonia, Nitrite and pH), or arrange to take a tank water sample to your local Maidenhead Aquatics store on a quiet day, when the staff could to test it for you for a very reasonable fee. It may also explain why that algae grows so fast as well…

I was fortunate enough to visit some overseas suppliers recently and see some of the fishes that we are so familiar with being bred for the UK market. It was certainly an eye opener and reminded me that every fish has a back-story and a history before it reaches you, the customer. Like tea, coffee and bananas, tropical aquarium fishes are mostly imported from parts of the world where it can be hard to make a living. It was an honour to meet a lot of people who are trying their best to improve the quality of the livestock that we buy and we had a mutual love of fishes in common. I stood on the sand overlooking a community owned coral propagation project and compared the clean, clear water with the polluted tourist beach I’d seen the day before. In a time when ethics and sustainability are become familiar terms in all areas of our lives, it is clear to see that purchasing sustainably produced aquarium fishes and invertebrates from parts of the world rich in natural resources but poor in so many other aspects, is a good thing to do.

In the last few years, there has been concern over the fate of a couple of fishes that we see in our aquariums and I was pleased to see some action being taken to ensure that the aquarium industry can play its part. I visited two excellent facilities that were breeding stingrays and was delighted to see that both are now offering pups that are now two generations from the wild. Following the Brazilian export ban on black rays, this now means that those aquarium enthusiasts lucky enough to have the room for these magnificent fish can indulge their expensive taste in fish safe in the knowledge that wild stocks remain unmolested. Although arguably less glamorous than the leopoldi and ‘black diamond’ rays, the same breeders also had some beautiful motoro and tiger stingrays (Potamotrygon menchacai) which were enough to make me wonder where I could build a tropical pond of my own! If you are one of those lucky fish people with both room and money to house these fishes, enquire at your local Maidenhead store, or contact our specialists at St Albans - as they have already bred leopoldi and motoro in store and may be able to offer unrelated lines.

Another species of fish that has been a cause of concern in some areas is the breathtaking Bangaii Cardinal (Pterapogon kauderni).
This mouth-brooding marine fish took the aquarium world by storm when it was rediscovered by Gerald Allen in 1995 and due to a limited area of distribution there are concerns over the sustainability of trade in wild-caught specimens. As one of my favourite fish, I was particularly pleased to see very large numbers of captive-bred juveniles amongst the corals in many facilities and we hope that we can offer these, along with our current captive-bred individuals, to customers very soon.

As I mentioned above, I was lucky enough to visit an area set aside for coral farming and as this provides a sanctuary from fishing and destructive practices, it provides the perfect sanctuary for the turtles that choose to nest nearby. This little turtle can look forward to a safe nesting beach for years to come, thanks to a project that provides propagated corals for aquarium keepers across the world. My hobby just got a bit greener still…