These are ideal food items for carnivorous fish: they retain all their nutritional value and move around to attract the fish. They are a problem to keep as they only last a few days, but they can be frozen. DRIED DAPHNIAS These were once very popular - so many aquarists have started with them! Nowadays […]
The artificial foodstuffs currently on the market are very effective for aquarium fish. In order to cover their needs as fully as possible, fish can also be served small, live prey, which are similarly available commercially and are an important source of vitamins and mineral salts. There are other possible options: white meat and mussels, […]
This is dry food which is commercially widely available in specialist aquarium stores. In the last twenty years the entire range has diversified considerably, and today there is a wide variety, adapted to the needs of different groups of fishes: for juvenile and adult fish, for freshwater and seawater fish, etc. These foodstuffs are characterized […]
Food must provide fish with the elements needed to “build” their body (proteins) and the energy (from proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) required for its smooth functioning. Feeding a fish properly ensures that it will grow satisfactorily, as well as facilitating its reproduction and helping it to combat disease. Quality and quantity are two important concepts […]
The biggest members of a species dominate the smallest ones: when the latter get bigger they are ejected from the territory. Dominance behavior has practical and social implications, as the dominator will have priority in food and the choice of a fish of the opposite sex. At the bottom of the social ladder, the most […]
BIOLOGY Swimming It is essentially the rear part of the body, particularly the caudal fin, which serves to propel the fish, while the other fins play a stabilizing and steering role. Of course, the more hydrodynamic a fish’s form, the more it is capable of setting off abruptly and swimming quickly, indispensable for catching prey […]
Countless aquarists have noticed that some of their fishes react more enthusiastically to their presence than to that of strangers. If they do “recognize” the person who looks after them, how do they do it? They are capable of distinguishing the special characteristics of the vibrations caused by the footsteps of such and such person, […]
The respiratory and circulatory system This system is highly distinctive. The blood loaded with carbon dioxide is pumped by the heart to the branchiae, where it is oxygenated. Nature has provided fish with eight branchiae (four on each side), each made up of two leaves. The total surface area of these essential organs, when spread […]
The lateral line Running symmetrically along each side of the fish’s body, the lateral line is more or less visible, according to the species. It consists of a succession of pores that communicate with a canal situated under the skin. This important organ does not exist in any other vertebrates. While the senses of taste […]
Breathing Water is aspirated through the fish’s mouth, passes through the branchiae and is expelled due to the movements of the operculum, which covers them. There is always some water washing the branchiae of the fish. Oxygen requirements are not directly proportional to the size of the fish, with the smallest species being the greatest […]