The Top Ten Reasons I loved the Aquarium Hobby in 1999

(by theAquarian December, 1999)

10. Continued breeding Kribs.
9. Killifish
8. Finally bred some Julidochromis
7. The albino "Eureka" Peacock cichlid
6. The Sparkling Gourami
5. The Peacock Goby
4. Fish Photography
3. Shell Dwellers
2. The Paladarium Project
1. Another Year of knowledge

 No. 10. Continued Breeding Kribs

I know that Kribs may be among the easiest of aquarium fish to breed. Actually, I’ve now been breeding them for over two years. 1999 marked generations 2 & 3 in my Krib breeding project.

The project is intended to develop some new color varieties of the Kribensis. If you’ve ever seen this fish, you will notice many similarities with the other rainbow fish, the guppy. Both have lots of colors and are easy to breed, making selection for different colors easy. The big difference is that the Kribensis is very slow growing, so instead of being able to go through 5-10 generations a year, 1-3 is a better number. This makes selective breeding a little longer.

Still there may be no better fish for selective breeding than the Kribensis. This has always been one of my favorite fish. They are very mild mannered, and have some of the most interesting behavior of any fish. It still amazes me every time I see the mother carrying fry, in groups of 5, back to the cave at night, and then scouting the tank before letting them out in the morning. It’s hard to find a better fish, or a better-looking fish.

No. 9. Finally Bought Some of Those Beautiful Killis

At aquarium auctions and stores, I’d seen them for over a year. Killifish. Though I’d read about them in magazines, and seen them in fish guides, but I hadn’t seen them in person. Once I saw some of my first killifish, I was amazed. These are amazingly pretty fish that no photo ever does justice to. Finally at an auction in October I bought a pair of Fundolopanchax gardneri.

Within a month I had fry that were ravenously eating everything they saw. I’ve never seen a fish grow so fast. Within 2 months I had fully grown, beautiful red-spotted powder blue killifish with bright yellow highlights on the dorsal, anal and caudal fins.

I’d always been afraid to get killis because I’d heard that they don’t live long, and that they are not community fish. However, I’ve since been told that given the right conditions, they may survive 2-3 years. And as far as not being community fish goes, I was able to keep mine with a puffer and a cichlid without too much trouble, though I think I would still recommend the single species tank route. My killifish adventure was an exciting new aspect of the aquarium fish hobby for me in 1999.

No. 8. Finally Bred Some Julidochromis

I had tried several times to breed Julidochromis species in 1998. My experiences with J.transcriptous, and J.marleri were both costly and un-successful. Though I’d put in all my effort, I was left frustrated.

1999 though offered much luck. I put 6 full grown J.reagoni in a 20-gal tank full of lace rock and 3" flowerpots broken in half. Then the magic happened. Within 6 weeks there were baby fry swimming, or rather scurrying across the lace rock. The amazing thing is that though only 2 fish had paired off, the other 4 did nothing to molest the young.

I kept the tank going until I had to move and it was my favorite throughout producing 30+ young over 3 months. What’s more, a pair of J.marleri I put in a 65-gallon community cichlid tank bred and protected the young in that hostile environment!

Julies are a beautiful fish full of interesting behavior, and breeding them was one of the things that made 1999 a great year for aquarium fish.

No. 7. The Albino "Eureka" Peacock

The first time I saw this fish for $100 in a dealer’s tank I was dazzled. I’d never seen a fish that expensive spend so much time hiding. What I saw of it seemed beautiful, but I wasn’t able to see much, so it was hard to tell.

I next saw some in a breeder’s tank, and was happily surprised. These were very pretty fish. I still wasn’t convinced that they were worth the asking price, but for a lower price I figured I’d bite. Then in the October auction of my local aquarium society, something strange happened. A local pet store had brought two bags of fry. Both bags were listed as having 3 fish, but one certainly had 4. I started bidding on the first bag, but stopped when the price reached $25. That bag sold for $27. The next bag I had more luck on. At $26 all other bidders stopped, and I walked home with 4 albino "Eureka" fry. Usually I wouldn’t consider spending so much money on such a small fish, but was in luck again as all have survived to adulthood and are frankly the prettiest fish I’ve owned in my 18 years in the hobby. Now if I can just get them to breed…

 No. 6. The Sparkling Gourami

This fish will always be endeared to me due to a single wonderful photo. This tiny  anabantid (1.75") was a remarkable little inhabitant of a 10-gallon tank of mine forseveral months early in 1999. They look like tiny female bettas in fin shape, and have wonderful color highlights. I was able to breed this fish with some ease in that 10-gallon tank. The tank was full of plants, and the fish built a bubble nest under a large Lilly leaf near the surface of the water, but not at the surface of the water. Just seeing that was amazing. I’ve not seen any other anabantid that breed that way but assume it may be similar to the licorice gourami.

Unfortunately I was unable to keep the fry alive, and the female I had encountered an untimely death not too much later. Still it was a fish I loved and would love to have again and it made for an exciting month in 1999.

Lingering on to the end of an auction here can be time very well spent. I was one of only a handful of auctioneers left when a pair of peacock gobies came up to the auctioneer. I brought the pair home for only $7. I knew nothing about them at the time other than that they were a beautiful though tiny fish. I was in for a wonderful treat.

The Peacock goby very much resembles Fundolopanchax gardneri, though the blue, red and yellow are all much more intense, and the red runs in squiggly vertical lines through the body. The fish reaches about 2" long and is a beauty.

I placed my pair in a 10-gallon tank that was well planted and dominated by a piece of driftwood. Soon after putting the pair in, the male disappeared. I waited several days and began to be worried, so I flipped over the driftwood, and found him in a nook guarding several eggs. I immediately took the female out and two days latter the male emerged sans eggs. After another breeding I finally devised a stratagem and managed to get the male out while the fry were wrigglers. Soon after, I had a tank full of microscopic Peacock Goby fry, which remained that size for the next 4 months. At that time I had to move and break the tank down, so unfortunately I was unable to keep them and raise them up. This is definitely a fish I’d love to find again as their color and behavior was well deserving of my time.

After getting a real 35mm the next local step was to start photographing my fish. However, I was discouraged by the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing. (A very discouraging fact indeed) However, after many rolls of film that I used to track my every setting, I’ve finally become comfortable with taking photos of tropical fish. I’m still far from perfect, but it’s a fun thing to do that always makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.

What I’ve learned over the year seems to go against all normal fish photography rules. I use a camera mounted flash, either 100 or 800 speed film, and f1 f-stop. But hey, it works for me. Fish photography has been frustrating at times, but it’s been a great way for me to spread my knowledge of the hobby and to enjoy the hobby in a new way.  So what do you think?

Strangely enough I’d never heard of Shell Dwellers until 1999. I’d really only done anabantids, my favorites, and South American fish up until that time. When I first found out about shell dwellers I was fascinated. I pictured an 80-gallon tank with multiple colonies of shell dwellers separated by ranges of lace rock. I though each colony would act as it’s own city, and that if you left some sites plain, you would soon have splinter groups forming new colonies in outlying areas.

Though my perception may have been slightly skewed, for the most part, it was correct. Shell Dwellers offer the only fish small enough that you can really recreate separate communities of the same species of fish within the bounds of one aquarium. The fact that they breed and hide in shells is interesting. The fact that they function in small communities protecting the young is amazing. I have still to set up the 80-gallon tank I’d envisioned, but have kept many different shell dwellers during 1999, and was happy with the results each time I took a new species in. Shell Dwellers may be the best cichlid for a home aquarium due to their small size. They’re also among the most fascinating.

No. 2. Paladarium

A Paladarium is a fish tank concept based upon a river ecosystem. (minus the entomology) I read an article about setting up a tank like this in an article in Aquarium Fish Magazine in 1998 and was fascinated. I mostly copied the article making some changes as to the design I would employ in my 65-gallon tank. What I ended up with was a tank with 3 separate pools. The water cascades down a waterfall on the right side of the tank into the first pool, which is about 10 inches deep filled with 5 inches of gravel. The water continues into a second pool that is 1.5" lower, and then down another 1" into the bottom pool. The flow rate is about 210gph and provides a wonderful obstacle for swordtails and other jumping fish.

The back half of the tank is filled to 1" above the water level with gravel and then filled with bog plants that have thrived. The tank was stocked with tree frogs, newts, and various fish. Over all, it’s very hard to describe, but the end result was a tank with three different pools, and the feel of a river with all of its eddies. The planning and implementation of the project took about 8 weeks, but they were a lot of fun and even though this project carried into 2000, it was one of the most enjoyable things I did with aquariums in 1999.

This may seem like a strange pick as the number one reason I loved the aquarium hobby in 1999, but it shouldn’t. Though I’ve been in this hobby for 18 years now, it amazes me how much there still is to learn. An interesting phenomenon seems to happen to many aquarists is "tropical fish burn-out." I have a theory as to why this happens, and I’ll share it.

When you first get into the aquarium hobby, you are generally excited about everything. Any fish could catch your imagination at any time. It might be a catfish or cichlid or even a guppy. What happens over time though, is that you focus in on one type of fish that most interests you. In time you may purchase many tanks or even become a professional breeder, but 90% of your tank space and efforts are put into that same type of fish, be it Discus, African cichlids, livebearers, plecostomus cats, etc. What ends up happening is that your love for the hobby lessens as you stop learning about new things. The world of aquarium fish is full of amazing fish that often we pass over because we get too focused on one particular thing.

A rule I’ve made for my self is to be always trying to breed something different in one of my tanks. That way I’m always getting into more aspects of the hobby, the hobby always seems fresh, and I haven’t burned out yet. Who knows, maybe in 18 more years, I’ll know everything about every type of fish on the planet, but it seems unlikely. I can hardly walk into a pet store without seeing a fish I haven’t bred. What new twists will that species bring to the aquarium fish hobby? I can only guess, and that’s what made me love the aquarium fish hobby most in 1999. It’s also the thing that makes me most excited about the aquarium fish hobby in 2000.

[ Back to Year-End Wrap-Up  | Sections Index ]