Tessa lay in bed fighting the urge

to fall asleep whilst the clock reminded her that it was close to midnight. It was clear she had a mission because, like any other twelve year old, she would normally be fast asleep well before 11pm. By her bedside stood the clownfish nursery tank she and her brother Tom had set up two weeks earlier using a 30ltr size tank with a Fluval U internal filter and a 50w Fluval M heater. The tank didn’t require lighting and was bare of any kind of tank furnishings other than a large smooth rock with an anemone attached resting on the glass base of the aquarium. Keeping the tank clear of furnishings in this manner allowed Tessa and Tom to keep the water conditions as pristine as possible as this would be a necessity if they were to be successful in raising baby clownfish in an aquarium environment.

Tessa knew that her pair of clowns were ready to spawn as they had spent lots of time meticulously cleaning the smooth rock when it shared a place with them in their main community tank home. A month or so earlier a number of eggs had been laid on this nest site and the two clowns had soon been busy protecting the eggs and fanning the nest with their fins. Unfortunately this first attempt at breeding wasn’t to be successful as the baby fry were not able to survive in the community tank because of all the other fish.

The pair of would-be clownfish parents were now, thankfully, transferred to the nursery tank and feeling very much at home with their rock and anemone. Tessa smiled at the two fish only a few centimeters away from her pillow aware that soon something exciting was going

to happen. Since arriving in their new quarters, nest cleaning activities had quickly intensified and the trips back and forth to the nest site often triggered various courtship displays including shaking movements as the two fish swam closely beside one another. Spawning often occurs at night when upwards to 200-400 eggs

are laid and deposited in neat rows on the cleaned area of the nest site. This was why Tessa had decided to endure her overnight vigil, just in case, on an off chance, once the eggs were laid she might have to rescue any the parents might decide to eat. This was highly unlikely as clownfishes usually attend

to and protect their eggs through the whole incubation period, which lasts for six to seven days.

In the early hours of the morning spawning began to take place in earnest and Tessa need not have worried as the clownfish showed all the signs of being devoted parents. Soon a mass of tiny yellow eggs had

been deposited on the rock just below where the anemone was attached. Both parents guarded the nest and each spent time

cleaning and fanning the eggs. Tessa was very tired but overjoyed at how successful the spawning had been. Although most aquarists are reluctant to devote an additional large tank to keeping only two fish, a separate breeding aquarium is a must for breeding clownfish and really enhances the chances of success.

The high degree of parental care by the clowns really showed during the following incubation period of the eggs. The clownfish parents continually fanned the eggs with their pectoral fins to keep them free of debris and any disease-producing organisms. In nature, the action of currents would be an additional aid and Tom and Tessa followed advice given by their friend an expert breeder of clownfish by fitting an air stone positioned below the nest to simulate the action of currents. The benefit of taking this measure was soon confirmed as the eggs that were in the direct path of the bubbles all hatched out normally whilst those away from the bubble stream died, becoming covered with fungus and were removed from the nest site by the clown fish parents. A further important activity that the parents would normally undertake would be to chase away predators, which would like to make a meal of their eggs. This thankfully was not necessary in the safety of the nursery tank.

Summer ring Competition

Win!To enter the competition: Colour in the picture on the competition page, include your name, age and address and send to:Winning Team Summer 2010 Colouring Competition, Rolf C. Hagen (UK) Ltd, California Drive, Whitwood Industrial Estate, Castleford, WF10 5QH

WIN A MARINA COOL AIRPUMP PACK!Here’s your chance to WIN a Marina Cool Airpump, Airline and Starfish Airstone

by Les HollidayTESSA’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE

Rolf C. Hagen (UK) Ltd, California Drive, West Yorkshire, WF10 5QH Telephone: 01977 556622 www.hagen.com

From Hagen and Practical Fishkeeping Magazine

SUMMER 2010HA

GEN

& PRACTICAL FISHKEEPIN

G

TH

E W INNING T

EAM

The Winning Team NewsletterSUMMER PUZZLE CORNERFind the Fish: Anglerfish, Shark, Lionfish, Tuna, Moray, Grouper - What Do You Know About Your Aquarium?: Q1. Filter, Q2. Overfeed, Q3 Regular partial water changes

Word Scramble Puzzle: Yellow-Spotted Stingray

These two types of Red Sea hard corals are locked in silent conflict for the available space. Many battles such as this wage across the coral reef, each coral employing stinging cells as very effective weapons!

We have hidden the names of six popular marine aquarium fishes. Names can be read up and down, backwards and forwards and even corner to corner. (Answers at foot of page)

R F I S H O R

E S H A I E E

L S L T P E Y

G H I U R P A

N A O N O A R

A R N A C A O

G K F I S H M

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR AQUARIUM?Q1. You need this for good water quality.

_ I _ _ E _

Q2. Don’t do this or you fish will become fat and unhealthy.

_ V _ _ F _ _ _

Q3. The best way to ensure your aquari-um water remains in good condition.

REGULAR P _ _ T _ _ L _ A _ _ R _ H _ _ G _ S(Answers at foot of page)

WoRd ScRaMbLe PuZzLeUnscramble the words below to give the name of a venomous sea creature.(Answer at foot of page)

WLLOYE-DSEPTOT SYTAIRNG

Tiddler, which type of fish lives the longest?

I don’t know Mum! But it could be the Guppy cos it must be old it’s called the ‘Million’ fish!

TIDDLER

FOllOW US ON FAcEBOOK!

Continued on page 2

Red Sea Corals

A common clownfish nestles in the tentacles of its host anemone

Dear Max“Dear Max,” asks 12-year-old Billie Andersson, “I have a fresh water tropical community aquarium with guppies and platies, neons, and tiger barbs. Lately I have been having trouble with a number of my fishes, especially the male guppies which are suffering from fin rot with ragged and frayed fins and tail. How can I stop this and cure the poorly fishes?” Max saysFin rot is one of the most difficult diseases to treat and once an infection occurs it can also easily spread from one fish to another. The disease is caused by several types of bacteria and the best course of action is to isolate any affected fish in a quarantine tank where treatment can easily take place without other fish becoming infected. There are several named brands of treatments you can apply but most are only effective in early cases of the disease and if rot reaches the body, a cure is unlikely.

A better way to tackle this problem might be to treat the cause rather than the effect. It is highly likely

that your fish are becoming infected with fin rot following attacks by your tiger barbs. Tiger barbs (Barbus tetrazona) can become a nuisance due to their habit of pecking at the fins of other tank-mates in the aquarium. This is connected with the ‘pecking order’ tiger barbs like to establish in a community tank by bullying in this manner. There is no means of stopping these bullies other than removing them from the community tank or isolating them in one section of the tank with a tank divider using a piece of glass cut to size.

After a few days it was possible to see that in each of the transparent eggs a pair of eyes were starting to form and by six days after spawning, complete tiny fry with bright eyes and small round yolk sacs were ready to hatch. At this point the adult clownfish were carefully removed from the nursery tank and just after sunset the tiny fry hatched one by one from their egg capsules and headed towards the surface of the aquarium in tiny bursts. Following further advice from their clownfish breeder friend, Tessa used a torch to lure the fry, which are attracted to light, away from their rock with the anemone attached to allow Tom to also remove this from the nursery tank. The nursery tank and fry were now ready for the next stage.

Rearing the fry was to become

Tessa’s biggest challenge. The tiny fry, each only 4-5millimeters long, spent most of the time swimming near the surface of the aquarium for the first two weeks. A great deal of care is necessary if the baby clown fish are to survive through the first two weeks of their lives. The yolk sac on which the fry rely for nourishment is quickly depleted and newly hatched rotifers ( B r a n c h i o n u s plicatilis) have been found to be an excellent first food source. Culture kits for these tiny microorganisms together with similar kits for raising the algae used to rear the rotifers are readily available and home culture is simple. Tessa became very busy harvesting the algae to feed the rotifer cultures in order to allow rotifers to be available on a daily basis for the clown fry. The young fry spend most of the time feeding at this stage

and are mainly transparent with a silvery sheen. Two weeks later they had grown to almost twice the size at 9-11 millimeters and their distinctive orange and white familiar pattern was beginning to emerge. Tessa soon was able to feed the young fry brine shrimp nauplii, which again were

home cultured using one of the kits easily available. The tiny clown fish acted quite adult in stalking down the baby brine shrimp and then suddenly darting forward and engulfing their prey in one gulp.

The clownfish nursery tank had begun to look amazing as nearly a hundred fry had survived and were quite a sight. Tessa’s mum had to make sure that

Tessa turned off her bedside lamp each evening as she liked to lay awake watching her baby clowns darting up and down, like clownfish do, attracted as they were by the

light. “You and those clownfish need to get some sleep if you both want to be fresh for a new day in the morning” she would e x c l a i m over Tessa’s pleas for a little more time.

The day had to come to find a home for all of the clownfish babies and Tessa and Tom reluctantly approached their local aquatic shop to see if they would take them and offer them for sale. Tessa was very sad when the shop agreed but as Tom remarked. “We bought our clowns from the shop and lots more children will be able to come along now and will be buying our babies to keep and enjoy and the best part is that it will mean less clown fish will need to be taken from the wild so our little clowns will be helping to save coral reefs from the impacts of over fishing.”

It was dawn and animals living in the brackish waters of the mangrove forest were awakening for a new day. A brightly coloured insect, not unlike a ladybird, alighted on an overhanging mangrove leaf and began preening itself in the first warming rays of the sun.

Suddenly a silvery jet of water shot up from below, from deep down amongst the submerged mangrove tree roots, picking out its ladybird target with deadly accuracy. The poor insect falls and lays helpless on the surface of the water flailing its legs for a split second before being swallowed down by some creature attacking from below.

The insect was just another victim of an archerfish, a cleverly adapted fish that relies on shooting down insects crawling on the leaves and stems of overhanging vegetation by spitting a jet of water to disable and help capture its insect prey. A fully grown adult can accurately expel aimed drops of water over 2 metres forcing water in the gill chambers through a groove in the roof of the mouth by suddenly compressing its gill covers. Indeed archerfishes have been known to expel a jet of water to meet a target over 5 metres away.

There are five species of the archerfish, which is a kind of perch (family Toxtridae) and

all are found in the brackish waters of Asia and Northern Australia. They live mainly in the mangrove belts common along the coasts of these areas but are also found far up fresh water streams. The archerfish is easily recognized by its straight lateral line and pointed head, large eyes and a wide mouth.

The archerfish is shrouded in mystery and little, for example,

is known regarding its method of re p ro d u c t i o n but adults a p p a r e n t l y spawn far from land on rocky coral reefs. The luminous patches of i r i d e s c e n t yellow on their

bodies is also not fully understood but it is suggested that they may be used for signaling each other in muddy mangrove waters.

Their amazing dexterity with droplets of water remains the main outstanding feature of this remarkable family of fishes. The archerfish has its highly developed eyes to thank for this which, like ours, are located forward facing to allow what is called binocular vision. The large overlap of vision this affords enables the fish to focus well and judge distances.

A big thank you to everyone who entered our Spring competition! The winners of a Nutrafin Nutramatic Fish Feeder are:

Jessica TelfordWon our 6 and under group with this colourful picture.

Ella Katherine BroadwayWon the 7-10 year old group with this fantastic picture.

Anna Louise StevensonWon our 11 and over group with this bright picture.

DEADLY ACCURATE ARCHER IT’S A BUG’S lIFESummer is here and all manner of bugs will be appearing in our ponds.

It can though, be a tough and dangerous life for a bug in any watery environment and whilst archerfish as featured opposite aren’t a threat in British waters, aquatic insects are often top of the list as a lunch item for our wild native fish species. Bugs, such as water fleas (Daphnia), cyclops and in the marine world tiny copepods, for example, form an important part of the diet of many fishes. Even quite large water bugs have their fishy predators and except for a few like the larvae of dragonflies and the Great Diving Beetle (Dytiscus sp) which feed of the fry of small fishes, it’s the bugs that are usually the victims.

Although a bug’s life is a precarious one, without them the aquatic world would not be able to function. They not only play an important role in the food chain of lots of animals, but also benefit their environment by helping to breakdown dead plant and animal remains, which would otherwise cause pollution.

Water bugs, big or small are, of course, excellent food for our fishy pets and make a really nice treat for them when combined with a good staple food diet such as Nutrafin Max. Do be cautious though and only choose live water bugs from a dealer who offers live foods that are raised in captivity and are disease free. Bugs that are collected from the wild can easily be contaminated by disease or pollution and you might also introduce some form of fish parasite, which could cause havoc in the confines of the aquarium.

WEEKEND PROJEcTWhy not become a Pond Conservation supporter and help with their

Big Pond Dip survey looking for bugs and other creatures in your garden or school pond.

To take part all you need is an ordinary kitchen sieve and a white tray. 1. Pond conservation recommends you can either make your dipping tray by sticking a sheet of white paper to an ordinary plastic or metal dish, or you can buy a specially made tray.

The next stage is to download the Big Pond Dip form, which shows exactly 2. what to record.

It’s then time to get dipping using your sieve and tray to check out the life 3. in your pond using you Dip form to record simple information about your finds.

The final step is to enter your results on the website: 4. http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/bigponddip/welcome.htm.

Safety First Take care around water! Children, you should never go pond surveying on your own so always make sure you have a parent or guardian to help you. Remember also to wash your hands after pond dipping, especially before eating.

Neon TetraFamily: CharacidaeHabitat: South AmericaType: Freshwater tropical

A favourite of many aquarists, the Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) brings a wow factor to any aquarium. The startling neon line contrasting with the bright red coloration of the lower body makes this the most instantly recognized fish and its peaceful nature and easy to keep virtues mean it can be recommended for most community tanks. Neon Tetras are schooling fishes and best kept in a shoal of five to seven tank mates or more. Under proper conditions, such as a dark gravel bottom and thick vegetation, a Neon can live happily for ten years or more. As this peaceful little fish hails from the rivers of Peru it is best cared for by maintaining soft water conditions, which are easy to achieve using Nutrafin pH Adjust down to lower pH to 5.0-6.0 if you are in hard water area.

General care involves maintaining a temperature of 24ºC/75ºF and regular water changes. Feeding includes small flake food with occasional treats of live brine shrimp or other small live foods.

FISH OF THE MONTH

FOllOW US ON FAcEBOOK!

Come and check out our new Winning Team Facebook page. Just search for ‘The Winning Team’ and click on Max’s picture! Make sure you click the ‘Like’ button to add us to your list.

Why not upload a fishy picture, a photo of your aquarium or ask Max a question, he’ll get right back to you!You must be 13 or older to register on Facebook. You must ask your parent’s permission before you post anything on the internet, regardless of your age.

SPRING cOMPETITION RESUlTS

THE FISH WITH All THE ANSWERS ON YOUR FISHY PETS

Bacterial fin rota-d) propgressive stagesof the diseasee) tail fin with rot,greatly enlarged

Experienced clownfish breeder

Home culture kit

A group of juvenile clownfishes

Archerfish shooting down an insect

An archerfish

Common bugs found in British ponds

Dear Max“Dear Max,” asks 12-year-old Billie Andersson, “I have a fresh water tropical community aquarium with guppies and platies, neons, and tiger barbs. Lately I have been having trouble with a number of my fishes, especially the male guppies which are suffering from fin rot with ragged and frayed fins and tail. How can I stop this and cure the poorly fishes?” Max saysFin rot is one of the most difficult diseases to treat and once an infection occurs it can also easily spread from one fish to another. The disease is caused by several types of bacteria and the best course of action is to isolate any affected fish in a quarantine tank where treatment can easily take place without other fish becoming infected. There are several named brands of treatments you can apply but most are only effective in early cases of the disease and if rot reaches the body, a cure is unlikely.

A better way to tackle this problem might be to treat the cause rather than the effect. It is highly likely

that your fish are becoming infected with fin rot following attacks by your tiger barbs. Tiger barbs (Barbus tetrazona) can become a nuisance due to their habit of pecking at the fins of other tank-mates in the aquarium. This is connected with the ‘pecking order’ tiger barbs like to establish in a community tank by bullying in this manner. There is no means of stopping these bullies other than removing them from the community tank or isolating them in one section of the tank with a tank divider using a piece of glass cut to size.

After a few days it was possible to see that in each of the transparent eggs a pair of eyes were starting to form and by six days after spawning, complete tiny fry with bright eyes and small round yolk sacs were ready to hatch. At this point the adult clownfish were carefully removed from the nursery tank and just after sunset the tiny fry hatched one by one from their egg capsules and headed towards the surface of the aquarium in tiny bursts. Following further advice from their clownfish breeder friend, Tessa used a torch to lure the fry, which are attracted to light, away from their rock with the anemone attached to allow Tom to also remove this from the nursery tank. The nursery tank and fry were now ready for the next stage.

Rearing the fry was to become

Tessa’s biggest challenge. The tiny fry, each only 4-5millimeters long, spent most of the time swimming near the surface of the aquarium for the first two weeks. A great deal of care is necessary if the baby clown fish are to survive through the first two weeks of their lives. The yolk sac on which the fry rely for nourishment is quickly depleted and newly hatched rotifers ( B r a n c h i o n u s plicatilis) have been found to be an excellent first food source. Culture kits for these tiny microorganisms together with similar kits for raising the algae used to rear the rotifers are readily available and home culture is simple. Tessa became very busy harvesting the algae to feed the rotifer cultures in order to allow rotifers to be available on a daily basis for the clown fry. The young fry spend most of the time feeding at this stage

and are mainly transparent with a silvery sheen. Two weeks later they had grown to almost twice the size at 9-11 millimeters and their distinctive orange and white familiar pattern was beginning to emerge. Tessa soon was able to feed the young fry brine shrimp nauplii, which again were

home cultured using one of the kits easily available. The tiny clown fish acted quite adult in stalking down the baby brine shrimp and then suddenly darting forward and engulfing their prey in one gulp.

The clownfish nursery tank had begun to look amazing as nearly a hundred fry had survived and were quite a sight. Tessa’s mum had to make sure that

Tessa turned off her bedside lamp each evening as she liked to lay awake watching her baby clowns darting up and down, like clownfish do, attracted as they were by the

light. “You and those clownfish need to get some sleep if you both want to be fresh for a new day in the morning” she would e x c l a i m over Tessa’s pleas for a little more time.

The day had to come to find a home for all of the clownfish babies and Tessa and Tom reluctantly approached their local aquatic shop to see if they would take them and offer them for sale. Tessa was very sad when the shop agreed but as Tom remarked. “We bought our clowns from the shop and lots more children will be able to come along now and will be buying our babies to keep and enjoy and the best part is that it will mean less clown fish will need to be taken from the wild so our little clowns will be helping to save coral reefs from the impacts of over fishing.”

It was dawn and animals living in the brackish waters of the mangrove forest were awakening for a new day. A brightly coloured insect, not unlike a ladybird, alighted on an overhanging mangrove leaf and began preening itself in the first warming rays of the sun.

Suddenly a silvery jet of water shot up from below, from deep down amongst the submerged mangrove tree roots, picking out its ladybird target with deadly accuracy. The poor insect falls and lays helpless on the surface of the water flailing its legs for a split second before being swallowed down by some creature attacking from below.

The insect was just another victim of an archerfish, a cleverly adapted fish that relies on shooting down insects crawling on the leaves and stems of overhanging vegetation by spitting a jet of water to disable and help capture its insect prey. A fully grown adult can accurately expel aimed drops of water over 2 metres forcing water in the gill chambers through a groove in the roof of the mouth by suddenly compressing its gill covers. Indeed archerfishes have been known to expel a jet of water to meet a target over 5 metres away.

There are five species of the archerfish, which is a kind of perch (family Toxtridae) and

all are found in the brackish waters of Asia and Northern Australia. They live mainly in the mangrove belts common along the coasts of these areas but are also found far up fresh water streams. The archerfish is easily recognized by its straight lateral line and pointed head, large eyes and a wide mouth.

The archerfish is shrouded in mystery and little, for example,

is known regarding its method of re p ro d u c t i o n but adults a p p a r e n t l y spawn far from land on rocky coral reefs. The luminous patches of i r i d e s c e n t yellow on their

bodies is also not fully understood but it is suggested that they may be used for signaling each other in muddy mangrove waters.

Their amazing dexterity with droplets of water remains the main outstanding feature of this remarkable family of fishes. The archerfish has its highly developed eyes to thank for this which, like ours, are located forward facing to allow what is called binocular vision. The large overlap of vision this affords enables the fish to focus well and judge distances.

A big thank you to everyone who entered our Spring competition! The winners of a Nutrafin Nutramatic Fish Feeder are:

Jessica TelfordWon our 6 and under group with this colourful picture.

Ella Katherine BroadwayWon the 7-10 year old group with this fantastic picture.

Anna Louise StevensonWon our 11 and over group with this bright picture.

DEADLY ACCURATE ARCHER IT’S A BUG’S lIFESummer is here and all manner of bugs will be appearing in our ponds.

It can though, be a tough and dangerous life for a bug in any watery environment and whilst archerfish as featured opposite aren’t a threat in British waters, aquatic insects are often top of the list as a lunch item for our wild native fish species. Bugs, such as water fleas (Daphnia), cyclops and in the marine world tiny copepods, for example, form an important part of the diet of many fishes. Even quite large water bugs have their fishy predators and except for a few like the larvae of dragonflies and the Great Diving Beetle (Dytiscus sp) which feed of the fry of small fishes, it’s the bugs that are usually the victims.

Although a bug’s life is a precarious one, without them the aquatic world would not be able to function. They not only play an important role in the food chain of lots of animals, but also benefit their environment by helping to breakdown dead plant and animal remains, which would otherwise cause pollution.

Water bugs, big or small are, of course, excellent food for our fishy pets and make a really nice treat for them when combined with a good staple food diet such as Nutrafin Max. Do be cautious though and only choose live water bugs from a dealer who offers live foods that are raised in captivity and are disease free. Bugs that are collected from the wild can easily be contaminated by disease or pollution and you might also introduce some form of fish parasite, which could cause havoc in the confines of the aquarium.

WEEKEND PROJEcTWhy not become a Pond Conservation supporter and help with their

Big Pond Dip survey looking for bugs and other creatures in your garden or school pond.

To take part all you need is an ordinary kitchen sieve and a white tray. 1. Pond conservation recommends you can either make your dipping tray by sticking a sheet of white paper to an ordinary plastic or metal dish, or you can buy a specially made tray.

The next stage is to download the Big Pond Dip form, which shows exactly 2. what to record.

It’s then time to get dipping using your sieve and tray to check out the life 3. in your pond using you Dip form to record simple information about your finds.

The final step is to enter your results on the website: 4. http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/bigponddip/welcome.htm.

Safety First Take care around water! Children, you should never go pond surveying on your own so always make sure you have a parent or guardian to help you. Remember also to wash your hands after pond dipping, especially before eating.

Neon TetraFamily: CharacidaeHabitat: South AmericaType: Freshwater tropical

A favourite of many aquarists, the Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) brings a wow factor to any aquarium. The startling neon line contrasting with the bright red coloration of the lower body makes this the most instantly recognized fish and its peaceful nature and easy to keep virtues mean it can be recommended for most community tanks. Neon Tetras are schooling fishes and best kept in a shoal of five to seven tank mates or more. Under proper conditions, such as a dark gravel bottom and thick vegetation, a Neon can live happily for ten years or more. As this peaceful little fish hails from the rivers of Peru it is best cared for by maintaining soft water conditions, which are easy to achieve using Nutrafin pH Adjust down to lower pH to 5.0-6.0 if you are in hard water area.

General care involves maintaining a temperature of 24ºC/75ºF and regular water changes. Feeding includes small flake food with occasional treats of live brine shrimp or other small live foods.

FISH OF THE MONTH

FOllOW US ON FAcEBOOK!

Come and check out our new Winning Team Facebook page. Just search for ‘The Winning Team’ and click on Max’s picture! Make sure you click the ‘Like’ button to add us to your list.

Why not upload a fishy picture, a photo of your aquarium or ask Max a question, he’ll get right back to you!You must be 13 or older to register on Facebook. You must ask your parent’s permission before you post anything on the internet, regardless of your age.

SPRING cOMPETITION RESUlTS

THE FISH WITH All THE ANSWERS ON YOUR FISHY PETS

Bacterial fin rota-d) propgressive stagesof the diseasee) tail fin with rot,greatly enlarged

Experienced clownfish breeder

Home culture kit

A group of juvenile clownfishes

Archerfish shooting down an insect

An archerfish

Common bugs found in British ponds

Tessa lay in bed fighting the urge

to fall asleep whilst the clock reminded her that it was close to midnight. It was clear she had a mission because, like any other twelve year old, she would normally be fast asleep well before 11pm. By her bedside stood the clownfish nursery tank she and her brother Tom had set up two weeks earlier using a 30ltr size tank with a Fluval U internal filter and a 50w Fluval M heater. The tank didn’t require lighting and was bare of any kind of tank furnishings other than a large smooth rock with an anemone attached resting on the glass base of the aquarium. Keeping the tank clear of furnishings in this manner allowed Tessa and Tom to keep the water conditions as pristine as possible as this would be a necessity if they were to be successful in raising baby clownfish in an aquarium environment.

Tessa knew that her pair of clowns were ready to spawn as they had spent lots of time meticulously cleaning the smooth rock when it shared a place with them in their main community tank home. A month or so earlier a number of eggs had been laid on this nest site and the two clowns had soon been busy protecting the eggs and fanning the nest with their fins. Unfortunately this first attempt at breeding wasn’t to be successful as the baby fry were not able to survive in the community tank because of all the other fish.

The pair of would-be clownfish parents were now, thankfully, transferred to the nursery tank and feeling very much at home with their rock and anemone. Tessa smiled at the two fish only a few centimeters away from her pillow aware that soon something exciting was going

to happen. Since arriving in their new quarters, nest cleaning activities had quickly intensified and the trips back and forth to the nest site often triggered various courtship displays including shaking movements as the two fish swam closely beside one another. Spawning often occurs at night when upwards to 200-400 eggs

are laid and deposited in neat rows on the cleaned area of the nest site. This was why Tessa had decided to endure her overnight vigil, just in case, on an off chance, once the eggs were laid she might have to rescue any the parents might decide to eat. This was highly unlikely as clownfishes usually attend

to and protect their eggs through the whole incubation period, which lasts for six to seven days.

In the early hours of the morning spawning began to take place in earnest and Tessa need not have worried as the clownfish showed all the signs of being devoted parents. Soon a mass of tiny yellow eggs had

been deposited on the rock just below where the anemone was attached. Both parents guarded the nest and each spent time

cleaning and fanning the eggs. Tessa was very tired but overjoyed at how successful the spawning had been. Although most aquarists are reluctant to devote an additional large tank to keeping only two fish, a separate breeding aquarium is a must for breeding clownfish and really enhances the chances of success.

The high degree of parental care by the clowns really showed during the following incubation period of the eggs. The clownfish parents continually fanned the eggs with their pectoral fins to keep them free of debris and any disease-producing organisms. In nature, the action of currents would be an additional aid and Tom and Tessa followed advice given by their friend an expert breeder of clownfish by fitting an air stone positioned below the nest to simulate the action of currents. The benefit of taking this measure was soon confirmed as the eggs that were in the direct path of the bubbles all hatched out normally whilst those away from the bubble stream died, becoming covered with fungus and were removed from the nest site by the clown fish parents. A further important activity that the parents would normally undertake would be to chase away predators, which would like to make a meal of their eggs. This thankfully was not necessary in the safety of the nursery tank.

Summer ring Competition

Win!To enter the competition: Colour in the picture on the competition page, include your name, age and address and send to:Winning Team Summer 2010 Colouring Competition, Rolf C. Hagen (UK) Ltd, California Drive, Whitwood Industrial Estate, Castleford, WF10 5QH

WIN A MARINA COOL AIRPUMP PACK!Here’s your chance to WIN a Marina Cool Airpump, Airline and Starfish Airstone

by Les HollidayTESSA’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE

Rolf C. Hagen (UK) Ltd, California Drive, West Yorkshire, WF10 5QH Telephone: 01977 556622 www.hagen.com

From Hagen and Practical Fishkeeping Magazine

SUMMER 2010HA

GEN

& PRACTICAL FISHKEEPIN

G

TH

E W INNING T

EAM

The Winning Team NewsletterSUMMER PUZZLE CORNERFind the Fish: Anglerfish, Shark, Lionfish, Tuna, Moray, Grouper - What Do You Know About Your Aquarium?: Q1. Filter, Q2. Overfeed, Q3 Regular partial water changes

Word Scramble Puzzle: Yellow-Spotted Stingray

These two types of Red Sea hard corals are locked in silent conflict for the available space. Many battles such as this wage across the coral reef, each coral employing stinging cells as very effective weapons!

We have hidden the names of six popular marine aquarium fishes. Names can be read up and down, backwards and forwards and even corner to corner. (Answers at foot of page)

R F I S H O R

E S H A I E E

L S L T P E Y

G H I U R P A

N A O N O A R

A R N A C A O

G K F I S H M

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR AQUARIUM?Q1. You need this for good water quality.

_ I _ _ E _

Q2. Don’t do this or you fish will become fat and unhealthy.

_ V _ _ F _ _ _

Q3. The best way to ensure your aquari-um water remains in good condition.

REGULAR P _ _ T _ _ L _ A _ _ R _ H _ _ G _ S(Answers at foot of page)

WoRd ScRaMbLe PuZzLeUnscramble the words below to give the name of a venomous sea creature.(Answer at foot of page)

WLLOYE-DSEPTOT SYTAIRNG

Tiddler, which type of fish lives the longest?

I don’t know Mum! But it could be the Guppy cos it must be old it’s called the ‘Million’ fish!

TIDDLER

FOllOW US ON FAcEBOOK!

Continued on page 2

Red Sea Corals

A common clownfish nestles in the tentacles of its host anemone