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BACK TO FISH
| BITTERLING MALE 5.5CM |
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Bitterlings are tolerant of cool water making
it an ideal candidate for unheated aquaria in
Australia. The Bitterling grows to about 9cm and is
not particularly fussy about water or feed requirements.
Males develop a beautiful rainbow colouration when
mature, whilst females remain silver. Bitterlings have
the unique habit of requiring freshwater mussels in
which to lay their eggs; the Bitterling fry are then
released from the mussel when ready and feed on small
particles of food in the water.
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| BLUE NEON BITTERLING 4CM |
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Bitterlings are tolerant of cool water,
making it an ideal candidate for unheated aquaria in
Australia. They grow to about 9cm and are not particularly
fussy about water or feed requirements. Bitterlings
have the unique habit of requiring freshwater mussels
in which to lay their eggs; the fry are then released
from the mussel when ready and feed on small particles
of food in the water. The Blue Neon is one of the
nicer colour forms of Bitterling. |
| BUMBLE BEE GOBY 2.5CM |
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Bumblebee
Gobies are an aptly named fish native to brackish
and fresh waters of South-east Asia. Bumblebees
do well in hard alkaline water, and appreciate some
salt added to the aquarium (eg 1 teaspoon/10 litres). They
prefer live foods, blackworms in particular and are
a good community fish, occupying the lower areas
of the aquarium. Maximum size is about 4cm.
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| CELEBES RAINBOW 3.5CM |
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This lively and peaceful rainbow is native
to Sulawesi (Celebes). Males develop very impressive
finnage and both sexes are attractively coloured. They
prefer slightly alkaline water moderately hard, where
necessary add conditioning salts to their water - particularly
in soft water areas. Once settled, they are easily
kept and eat most standard aquarium foods. They
look best in a small group, and grow to about 7cm. |
| ELEPHANT NOSE 3CM |
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Elephant Nose fish are found in slow moving
rivers and streams in West Africa. They prefer
small crustaceans and worms in the wild. In an
aquarium environment live blackworms or frozen bloodworms
form an essential part of a good diet. They are
not particularly fussy about water conditions but prefer
temperatures between 23oC and 26oC with moderate hardness
and a neutral pH. |
| FLAGTAIL PROCHILODUS RED FINNNED 8CM |
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The Red Finned Flagtail Prochilodus grows
to a maximum size of approximately 35cm. When mature,
this species has a red and black striped pattern on the
tail and red anal and pelvic fins. It is interesting
to note that closely related species in the natural habitat
are utilised as a food fish by the natives. Due
to its high value as an aquarium specimen, this species
is exported to various parts of the world. This
species is not particularly fussy about diet – dry food
is readily accepted but preferably some vegetable material
should be added to their diet. |
| HI HEAD GLASS CHANDA 5CM |
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This glassfish has a rather bizarre shape,
with its distinctive high humpback. A peaceful
species growing to about 8cm, they eat most standard
aquarium foods. They prefer slightly alkaline water
that is moderately hard, where necessary add conditioning
salts to their water - particularly in soft water areas. |
| GOLD HALF BEAK 4CM |
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The Half Beak is a slender livebearer that
grows to 6-7cm and is native to south-east Asia. A
surface dweller, most aquarium foods are eaten, but floating
foods are best. They prefer slightly alkaline water
that is not soft, where necessary add conditioning salts
to their water - particularly in soft water areas. Best
kept in small group with similar sized peaceful species. The
gold form is an aquarium strain that looks as if it has
been dipped in gold dust. |
| SPOTTED HEADSTANDER 4CM |
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The Spotted Headstander prefer slow moving streams
as they are a peaceful fish. They grow to a maximum
size of approximately 10cm and prefer soft, slightly
acidic water. These fish often assume a position
with their head pointing downwards, tankmates should
be other peaceful species such as tetras.
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| BLACK GHOST KNIFE FISH 6CM, 8CM, 15CM |
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Black Ghost Knife Fish are one of the most
interesting freshwater aquarium fish with their unique
behaviour and swimming pattern. Quite suitable
for community aquaria, they prefer having several cave-like
hiding places. Water conditions are not critical;
a pH about neutral and moderate hardness is fine. Will
eat most foods, but they relish live blackworms. |
| BROWN GHOST KNIFE FISH 12CM |
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The maximum size of this species is around
25cm. The Brown Ghost is quite a hardy species,
preferring a pH of around neutral and moderate hardness. They
feed readily on dry aquarium fish food but love a treat
of live blackworms. |
| BANDED LEPORINUS 5CM |
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The Banded Leporinus have alternating black
and gold vertical bands (actually are black bands on
top of a gold background colour). Growing to a
maximum size of around 35mm, they can be aggressive so
can be housed with similarly-sized American cichlids
and also similarly sized and related characins - such
as Silver Dollars, Red Hook Metynnis, Anostomus and Prochilodus. |
| MARBLED LIZARD FISH 4.5CM |
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These fish inhabit fast flowing streams
in south-east Asia, where they graze upon algae covered
rocks. A very intriguing fish, Lizard Fish are
best kept in an aquarium with strong filtration, to replicate
their natural habitat. Their diet should include
vegetable based foods, but they also readily eat frozen
and live foods. A peaceful species, growing to
about 10cm. |
| MADAGASCAR RAINBOW 4.5CM |
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Madagascar Rainbow fish are a hardy and
beautiful fish that fit into most community aquaria well. They
are quite peaceful-natured fish and readily accept a
wide variety of diets. The maximum size for this
species is approximately 10cm. Males are distinguished
by the possession of red on the tip of the tail, whereas
females have white edging on their tail fin. |
| GOLD MEDAKA 3CM |
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Native to East Asia, Medakas are often found
in rice paddies and are also known as Ricefish. The
wild type is rather plain, thereas the gold form is an
attractive golden-yellow with gold-orange fins. It
tolerates large temperature fluctuations and is ideal
for controlling mosquito larvae in outdoor water features
in most parts of Australia. Gold Medakas are also
well suited to unheated indoor aquaria, as long as tankmates
are not overly large. Peaceful, hardy and easy
to feed, they grow to 3.5cm. |
| SPOTTED METYNNIS 4CM |
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The Spotted Metynnis is a lively schooling
fish, hardy and peaceful - perfect for a community of
medium-large fishes. The distinctive spots start
to become apparent when these fish reach about 5cm. They
eat all standard aquarium foods, but relish any vegetable
based foods. Mature males have a red spot behind
the head, and females develop a red anal fin. They
grow to about 10-12cm. |
| MONO SEBAE AFRICAN MONO (BRACKISH)- Available
Sizes = 3.5CM, 4.5CM |
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The Mono Sebae is characterised by an extremely
deep body and long dorsal and anal fins when mature. They
are quite hardy, readily accepting most available fish
food, but like the addition of frozen blood worms to
their diet. Mono sebae grow to a maximum length
of about 15cm, but may get to almost 20cm deep from tip
of dorsal fin to the tip of the anal fin. |
| RED HOOK METYNNIS - Available Sizes = 6CM,8CM |
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This is a robust active species, which prefers
to be in a school. The common name refers to the
fishs distinctive red hook shaped anal fin. A difficult
species to breed, most aquarium stock is wild caught
in South America. Mainly vegetarian, the Red Hook
should be fed plenty of vegetable based/green foods. A
very nice display fish for large aquaria, these fish
grow to about 20cm but can grow larger in the wild. |
| SILVER DOLLAR 4CM |
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The Silver Dollar is a great looking aquarium fish
with characteristic disc-shaped body and glistening
silver colouration. Grows to a massive size of
approximately 15cm. Both sexes look similar,
mature females have red edged anal fins, whereas males
have clear slightly ragged looking anal fins.
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| WHITE CLOUD 3CM |
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One of the most popular of all aquarium
fish, White Clouds tolerate a wide range of temperatures
and are ideal for both heated and unheated aquaria, and
for outdoor water features. Very peaceful, they
are best kept in a school as this gives the males a chance
to try and outshine their rivals with impressive fin
displays. They are not fussy about water conditions
and eat most standard fish foods. Originally native
to southern China (but now reputedly endangered in the
wild), they grow to about 4cm. They breed readily
and the young fish have a neon stripe. |
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