Botia macracanta – Ikan Badut – Clown Fish

Clown Loach Factoids
Origin	Indonesia,  Sumatra, Borneo
Maximum Size	12” but 6” more typical
Longevity	10+ years
Housing	Bigger the better
Security	Likes caves, crevices, crannies
Temperature	Prefers 75o to 85o
Attitude	Easy-going schooling fishes
Plus or Minus?	Devours snails avidly
Foods	Loves live foods. Eats flakes in schools.
Water	Needs clean water
Biggest Threat	Ich and many ich cures

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Every tank deserves a clown loach.  Nice rich colors and a great personality.

Origins: Clown loaches come from the warm waters of Indonesia. Indonesia hosts many fish farms, however, many clown loaches are captured from the wild.

Nocturnal (sort of): Most loaches are children of the night. They like to prowl when the sun goes down. Clown loaches are happy to work the day shift. When you feed them, they eat.  They prefer dimmer tanks.  Float some watersprite on the surface and your loaches will thank you.

Water Conditions: Although they come from soft acid water originally, clown loaches adapt to most water conditions. Just keep their water clean.

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Even the 1.5-inch clown loaches catch your eye.  Watch ‘em dig for goodies.

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Mature clown loaches look so much better.

Appeal: You can’t beat clown loach colors. Younguns start out yellow with black bars trimmed with orange fins and tail. As they grow, their bodies turn oranger and their black bars darken. Their fins and tail turn a bright orange.

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Clown loaches dig right in looking for goodies.

Snail Clean up Crew: Clown loaches shuck snails nearly as fast as you toss them in their tank. They totally eliminate ALL snails.  Apply waterproof lipstick and kiss your mystery snail collection goodbye.

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Two three-inch newbee clown loaches — in their tank about two hours.  They’ll color up later.

Size: In aquariums, you rarely see clown loaches larger than six inches. Larger clowns color up much better than young ones. They grow 50 to 100% larger in the wild where they get more room (and food).

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Clown loaches looking for food or just cavorting for fun?

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Clown loaches like each other.  Their interactions in groups add to their appeal.

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Of course, you don’t need to run this many head of clown loaches to make them happy.

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Maybe this many.  They like to hang with each other.

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Thirty or so ought to do it.  Seriously, groups of three work fine.

Schoolers: Clown loaches love to school together. Don’t stop with just one.  Singles tend to pout. The more the merrier. They get along great with their own species – unlike many botias, which hate each other and any other fish that looks like them.

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Clown loach eyeball knives can convince the largest cichlids to mess less with loaches.

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The larger the loach, the larger the knives.

Mixers: They get along well with most larger fishes. Those little pop-up knives by their eyes keep other fishes from pestering them more than once. These switch-blade knives also protect their eyes as they plow thru their substrate in search of snacks.

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Clown loaches pretty much ignore other species.  Skinny guys here.

Tank Mates: Gouramis, goldfish, and larger barbs make good tank mates.  You can also mix your clown loaches with equal-sized non-violent American cichlids. If you mix them with territorial cichlids, expect lots of fights.  Clown loaches tend to win those fights. The switchblade knives help.

Breeding: Clown loaches do not breed in captivity.

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Look for plump bellies and bright colors when picking your clown loaches.

Foods: Clown loaches usually start out about half starved. Plump their little bellies up with frozen brine shrimp or blood worms. Give them some live black worms, too. Clown loaches eagerly eat flake foods after a week or so. They seem to adapt quicker when kept in groups. They eat better when they cavort and compete with each other.

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Swords and other fast swimmers can eat all your clown loach food, if you feed short rations.

Gravel Choice: Good foods seem to affect the colors of clown loaches more than the substrate color. White or light colored substrates can make their tank lots brighter than they prefer.

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Clown loach on left has a tank full of watersprite to sort thru and snack on.

Plants: Add some grassy plants such as vallisneria or sagittarius to make your clown loaches feel more at home. Even anacharis or plastic plants help. They like to snack on live plants.

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Put an extra month or two on your clown loaches and they look better.  They still like caves.

Hiding Places: Give them some caves to hide in. They prefer to stay out of bright light during the day. They need a hideout the most when they’re small

Disease: Clown loaches catch ich at the drop of a hat.  Plan on it, whether you own a hat or not.  Give them a half-strength dose of ich cure when you take yours home.  Any kind of stress puts out the welcome mat for the neighborhood ich germs. When using any medications, use them carefully. The clown loaches’ sensitive skin makes them susceptible to most dye treatments.

Filtration: Clown loaches demand clean water. Do not overfeed. And you cannot use snails to clean up uneaten food.

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Add two or three clown loaches to your aquarium soon.

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At three inches clown loaches develop their best colors.

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Don’t panic if your clown loach lays atop your aquaria for the fun of it.  They can be goofy.

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Here’s a three-inch clown loach with not much color.

Color Bumpers: Well fed clown develop very rich colors.  We’ve had the guy above about four days.  He (and another new arrival) is in with a clutch of a dozen or so slightly smaller clown loaches, so he’s not pale from loneliness.  He’s not skinny or in poor water.  He just needs some carotenoids in his diet to bring out his reds, oranges, and yellows.  Solution?  Feed him some brine shrimp, plankton, baby shrimp, and/or frozen bloodworms.  He’ll color up over time.

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Two-inchers look like this.

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Four-inch clown loaches should look like this.

Last Word: Clown loaches look good at any age.  They improve as they mature.   You may run across a larger (and uglier) royal clown loach.  Not really a close relative but they do cost a royal bundle. LA.

Get From

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Clown%20Loaches.htm

nb : Kemaren beli nich ikan 10 ekor, satunya 7500 (Mahal)

tapi sumpah nich ikan lucu banget, Rekomended dah buat kalian yang mau bkn akuascape

Chinese Algae Eater

Chinese Algae Eater Factoids
Origin	Fast streams in India and Thailand
Maximum Size	6+ inches
Temperature	Room temperature fine
Water	Very flexible
Attitude	Likes to taste tank mates
Potential Threat	Gets very aggressive as it grows larger
Security	Likes to hide sometimes
Foods	Flakes, algae, aquarium slime, fish slime
Breeding	Not likely but not impossible

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Chinese algae eaters are not real beauties, but the gold ones do look better.

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Small Chinese algae eaters going into a tetra tank.  Mediums going into a cichlid tank.

Origins: Chinese algae eaters come from India and Thailand. Wait a minute. You mean they don’t come from China? Next thing you’ll be saying is they don’t eat algae. Well, they do like fish food and fish slime better than algae.

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When they get a good grip, you can hardly pour them out of a catching cup.

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Some are pretty.  Note that “hole” at the top of his gill cover.

Hickey Fish: If you want a fish that gives your other fish hickies on their first date, then you want a (so-called) Chinese (so-called) algae eater. Little guys suck hickies. The big guys suck holes.

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You can find marble Chinese algae eaters also.

Appeal: Chinese algae eaters are cheap and actually eat algae at first. The little suckers look cute and everyone wants one for their “little tanks.” Once they discover fish food, they forget about algae. In a tank with no vulnerable or belligerent bunkees,  they devour algae voraciously and grow fast.

Aqualand History: We went a couple decades without having the little beasties in our tanks. Then we noticed people buy them everywhere else because they want them. Who are we to stand in the way of what our customers want. So we sell them now – at least the gold ones (and the marble ones).

Fast Growers: As they grow, Chinese algae eaters try to run off all their competition. They hate each other and anything else that even resembles their own kind – such as sharks and loaches.

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Look out for those hickey-making lips.

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This two-inch Chinese algae eater thrives in a tank with dozens of American cichlids.

Worst Tank Mates: Slow-moving fish and flat-sided fish are loved by Chinese algae eaters. You’ll see them “kissing” goldfish, gouramis, and angels constantly.

Good Tank Mates: Chinese algae eaters have a hard time catching small, fast-moving fishes. Danios, barbs, and tetras survive fairly well with them.

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Here’s a couple of large Chinese algae eaters getting along with African cichlids.

Better Tank Mates: When Chinese algae eaters get large, throw them in with your cichlids – preferably African cichlids. They can take turns “kissing” each other. We take in large ones at Aqualand all the time. In cichlid tanks, they like to hide in the rock work. They come out when they feel like playing tag.

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Nice looking fish.

Best Tank Mates: Chinese algae eaters rarely bother turtles and crayfish.

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This guy’s about four inches.

Size: Supposedly Chinese algae eaters grow huge. We’ve never seen any exceed six inches, but we’ve seen dozens over five inches.

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Most Chinese algae eaters retail at 1.5 inches.

Colors: Gold Chinese algae eaters look pretty neat. They’re still nasty. The marble ones look neat and act nasty.

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Those holes in their gill covers enable them to breathe in fast water.

Jumpers: Any fish that comes from fast-flowing streams can leap out of your tank. Covers yours securely.

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Nice rasping lips for eating algae and pestering angelfish.

Sucker Mouth: In addition to passing out free hickies, their sucker mouths enable them to hold onto rocks in swift water. It also enables them to buzz thru your algae crop fairly quickly. Think of Chinese algae eaters as “tank temps.” Remove them after they remove your algae.

Foods: After your Chinese algae eaters devour your algae, start feeding them well if you intend to keep them. As you might suspect, any fish that eats slime off the walls is not a picky eater. And they are fast enough to pester any fish that passes by. Keep yours well fed.

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Males grow funny growths on their faces starting at about four inches.

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Different male Chinese algae eater.

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Bigger males get kind of ugly in the face.

Sexing: Males develop breeding “horns” on their heads. Females get heftier. They need plenty of room if you want them to get along.  Add some caves, crevices, and crannies to increase their compatibility.

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At around three inches, the gold ones are actually pretty as well as mean.

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Give them something to munch on besides their tank mates.

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Vacation blocks make an excellent food for any of the algae eaters.

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Keep your Chinese algae eaters fed or they will eat fish.

Last Words: Since we’re seeing different color versions these days, someone out there is spawning them. Chances are, you’re going to need a powerhead or other high-flow water moving device to succeed. And it couldn’t hurt to cool them briefly first. LA.

Sumber:

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Chinese%20Algae%20Eater.htm

Balashark

Bala Shark Factoids
Origin	Thailand, Malaysia (Borneo and Sumatra)
Maximum Size	14 inches (10 to 12 more likely)
Housing	Longer the better
Security	Loves planted aquaria. Prefers to school.
Temperature	Prefers 75 to 80
Attitude	Good eater. Fantastic jumper when scared.
Foods	Loves all foods. Needs vegetable matter.
Water	Prefers pH around neutral. Add salt.

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Adult bala shark.  Over red gravel he reflects pink.  Natural gravels work better.

Origins: Most bala sharks come from Far Eastern fish farms these days. The larger ones cost more than the smaller ones (as we all know). The smaller ones are much more fragile.

Name Origin: “Bala” comes from the first part of their scientific name. “Shark” comes from their high dorsal fin that makes them look like a saltwater shark. Of course, they’re not. Many cyprinids (minnows) with high dorsal fins earn the more sellable name “shark.” The melanopterus in their scientific name means black fins. Some folks call them “silver sharks” due to their basic body color.

Water Conditions: Bala sharks adjust to nearly any water conditions. They will fit into most community tanks with no little bite-size fishes.

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Much better looking when not over red gravel.  Even young bala sharks look sharky.

Appeal: People like bala sharks because they look like sharks. They also get along fine with other fishes. They’re easy to keep and rarely stop patrolling the waters of their aquaria.

Size: Theoretically, these bala sharks grow to 14 inches. However, most people provide too small an aquarium to grow them to their maximum size.

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Nine-inch bala sharks that jumped around in a bucket while being moved.  Really scraped.

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A week later they’re fairly well healed up.

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Another two weeks and they’re good as new — even with this severum.

Jumpers: You’d expect speedy swimmers to jump. Bala sharks will not disappoint you. They will bail from uncovered tanks – especially if spooked. One key jumping time – when you turn on their lights.

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Bala sharks love to hang together.

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Just introduced guy on the right.  He’ll color up in about 10 minutes.

Schoolers: If given a choice these guys like to hang with their buds. The more the merrier. However, they will not pine away when kept as singles. Bala sharks will get better colors and swim more when kept in groups.

Breeding: Rates right in there with stacking B-Bs. You will not likely spawn bala sharks without the spawning hormone extracted from carp and access to very large aquaria or sizable ponds.

Breeding Suggestions: If you wish to try, bala sharks attain maturity at nine inches. The females are chubbier than the sleeker males. Separate the sexes to condition them. Then set up a spawning tank like a large barb spawning setup.

Foods: Bala sharks eagerly eat whatever you feed them. They need foods with algae in them. Balas also love live foods and frozen foods. Color foods will also make them turn darker.

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Bala sharks look good in bare tanks.

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They look better in planted tanks — even with plastic plants.

Gravel Choice: Darker gravels will darken your bala sharks. Light gravels tend to bleach them out.

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Bala sharks love swimming with their own kind and bother no one.

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The more bala sharks the merrier.

Great Tank Mates: Despite their totally different personalities, bala sharks fit well into tanks of angel fish. This silver/black color combo needs other fish to give it color. Add some of the more colorful gouramis. Think of your bala shark as a large, non-nippy barb. Feel free to mix them with any of the other barbs. Do not mix them with large, rough cichlids.  Your shark can out run African cichlids but not forever.

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Size: Theoretically, these bala sharks grow to 14 inches. However, most people provide too small an aquarium to grow them to their maximum size.

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Nine-inch bala sharks that jumped around in a bucket while being moved.  Really scraped.

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A week later they’re fairly well healed up.

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Another two weeks and they’re good as new — even with this severum.

Jumpers: You’d expect speedy swimmers to jump. Bala sharks will not disappoint you. They will bail from uncovered tanks – especially if spooked. One key jumping time – when you turn on their lights.

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Bala sharks love to hang together.

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Just introduced guy on the right.  He’ll color up in about 10 minutes.

Schoolers: If given a choice these guys like to hang with their buds. The more the merrier. However, they will not pine away when kept as singles. Bala sharks will get better colors and swim more when kept in groups.

Breeding: Rates right in there with stacking B-Bs. You will not likely spawn bala sharks without the spawning hormone extracted from carp and access to very large aquaria or sizable ponds.

Breeding Suggestions: If you wish to try, bala sharks attain maturity at nine inches. The females are chubbier than the sleeker males. Separate the sexes to condition them. Then set up a spawning tank like a large barb spawning setup.

Foods: Bala sharks eagerly eat whatever you feed them. They need foods with algae in them. Balas also love live foods and frozen foods. Color foods will also make them turn darker.

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Bala sharks look good in bare tanks.

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They look better in planted tanks — even with plastic plants.

Gravel Choice: Darker gravels will darken your bala sharks. Light gravels tend to bleach them out.

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Bala sharks love swimming with their own kind and bother no one.

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The more bala sharks the merrier.

Great Tank Mates: Despite their totally different personalities, bala sharks fit well into tanks of angel fish. This silver/black color combo needs other fish to give it color. Add some of the more colorful gouramis. Think of your bala shark as a large, non-nippy barb. Feel free to mix them with any of the other barbs. Do not mix them with large, rough cichlids.  Your shark can out run African cichlids but not forever. window.google_render_ad();LA
Note the protruding mouth as this bala shark eats.

Protective Plants: Some aquarists consider bala sharks a shy fish. Add some grassy plants such as Vallisneria or Sagittarius to make them feel more at home. Even plastic plants help.

Disease: Bala sharks catch “ich” fairly easily — especially the baby balas. Always add an ich cure at half strength any time you add new bala sharks to your tank.

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Bala sharks look good in most tanks.

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Net your bala sharks carefully.  Their dorsal fin often catches in your net.

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Pair of six inchers.

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10-incher.  They do get bigger.

Filtration: Bala sharks like clean water. Do not overfeed. Add snails to
clean up the excess. LA.

diambil dari

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Shark,%20Bala.htm

Elephant Nose Factoids –

Elephant Nose Factoids
Origin	Murky streams in tropical Africa
Maximum Size	10 to 12 inches
Housing	Lots of hiding places
Security	Likes to hide during the day
Temperature	Prefers 75 to 80o
Attitude	Nocturnal eater. Jumper.
Foods	Very picky eater
Water	Prefers soft water. Add Black Water Tonic.

	Enter your search terms

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Nine-inch elephant nose — intriguing looking guy (or gal).

Appeal: Obviously everyone loves elephant noses because of their appearance. They rank among the harder fishes to keep, so we don’t recommend them to most people — especially beginners.

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We’re starting to get more and more CBs (captive-bred) elephant noses these days.

Origins: Not raised on many fish farms, we get most elephant noses directly from the wild. They come from warm, shallow streams in Africa. We’re starting to see captive born ones this millennium.

Name Origin: Some guy named Peters found these weird little critters with the elephant noses, so he stuck his name on them.

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Came DOA.  You can see the mouth on this elephant nose.

Elephant Trunk? Look very closely. You’ll notice their mouth at the top of their trunk – not underneath or thru the trunk. Elephant noses do use their “trunk” to poke around looking for worms, not for eating food.

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Baby whales are no-nose elephant noses.

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Most mormyrids (including baby whales) do not clump up like this.

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Or swim around like this.  They prefer to hide during the day.  Under two inches.

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Another two-incher.

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Couple more nearly two-inchers.

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About a three-inch baby whale here.

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Some weird mormyrids come out of Africa.

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This weird elephant nose is called a dolphin.  He gets along with African cichlids.

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Treat these and other mormyrids the exact same way as elephant noses.

Water Conditions: Elephant noses prefer soft water. Adding a teaspoon of salt per gallon always helps.

Size: Very few of the elephant noses grow larger than eight inches. Many top out at six.

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This 10-inch elephant nose bailed thru a hole in his tank cover.  It’s doubtful we can save him.

Jumpers: Keep your elephant noses covered. These darn critters like to jump out.  They like to jump most when they feel good.

Huge Brains: For their size, that is. They’re supposedly among the smartest of all the fishes. You’d think a fish with any brains at all would not jump out of their water.

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Nosers sidle right under driftwood ledges.  They like “hiding places.”

Electric Fish: Not as powerful as the electric eel or electric catfish (or MidAmerican Energy), the elephant nose uses its weak current to locate tasty morsels. You could pick him up barehanded – unlike those other guys, especially MidAmerican Energy.

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Several nosers?  PVC tubes make instant condos for your elephant noses.  They still argue.

Not Schoolers: Electric fishes just don’t like other electric fishes. Elephant noses dislike other nosers and most of the knife fishes.

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Big bunches of elephant noses do get along together.  Large tanks help.

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In wholesaler’s tanks, you can sometimes see them pile up like this.

Breeding: Forget it.

Foods: Forget feeding them flakes at first. Most new elephant noses will starve before even trying flakes or pellets. They mucho prefer live blackworms. Frozen tubifex worms, brine shrimp, and glass worms will also work.  Many will eventually convert to flake foods.

Feeding: Since new elephant noses prefer the night shift, feed them at night – right before you turn their lights off. If you feed them during the day, your other fish will devour their preferred foods.  After your elephant nose has been around a while, he catches on to your feeding schedule.

Lighting: Elephant noses prefer a low light aquarium. Add some floating plants to subdue their lighting.

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Feel free to mix large elephant noses with normal community fish.

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Mix small elephant noses with smaller community fishes.

Good Tank Mates: Nosers cost more than the average fish. That’s good or more people would get them and kill them. New nosers mix pretty well with other community fishes as long as you feed them in the dark.  When it comes to eating, lots of elephant noses stand in the back row.

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In a nearly bare tank, elephant noses will cluster about plants.

Protective Plants: Add grassy plants such as Vallisneria or Sagittarius to make your elephant noses feel more at home. Even plastic plants help. So do pieces of driftwood.

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Caves/Ledges. Nosers want to hide days and scoop the loop at night.  Provide a cave or ledge for your elephant noses to lurk in.

Disease: Elephant noses that catch “ich” will probably die – not from the disease, but from the medication. Use any cure with them very carefully. The Malachite Green in most ich cures will kill them. Malachite harms most “scaleless” fishes.

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Here’s different large elephant noses.

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And here’s a small school of them in a 55.

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And a single specimen.

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And here’s one called a double-nose elephant nose (at twice the price).

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Another view of the same guy.

Last Word: Keep their water well filtered. Dirty water causes elephant noses (and you) many problems. LA.

Diambil Dari

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Elephant%20Nose..htm