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Comments,
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for this
Week's Show.
Fish in
the
News.
Each
week the
Bailey
Brothers
start
the Pet
Fish
Talk
Show
with
some fun
and
interesting
stories
about
fish in
the
news.
At the
Shedd
Aquarium in
Chicago,
Illinois,
The
World's
Oldest
Aquarium
Fish
We've been
peeking
through the
glass at him
since the
year
Franklin
Delano
Roosevelt
became
president.
That makes
Granddad, an
Australian
lungfish who
has lived at
Chicago's
John G.
Shedd
Aquarium for
75 years,
the
longest-living
fish in any
aquarium in
the world.
"He was here
when Model
Ts were
pulling up
to the
Shedd," said
Roger
Germann,
Shedd's
director of
public
relations.
"Granddad
bridges so
many
generation
gaps." At 4
feet long
and 25
pounds,
Granddad is
the color of
a faded
brown
blanket,
with
charcoal age
spots
dotting his
back. He was
named by a
Shedd
volunteer
years ago,
and has gone
on to become
one of the
aquarium's
most popular
residents. "Hey!
See the one
with the
spots --
he's been
here since
1933!" a
Shedd
visitor
shouts to a
companion,
while
dumping half
of his
popcorn bag
on the floor
in
excitement.
"I love
Granddad --
he's so
cool," coos
a teenaged
girl,
pressing her
nose to the
tank. Click
here to read more.
From The
University
of
Chicago,
The
Best
Cure for
Hiccups.
One of the most perplexing and vexing of mild human afflictions is the hiccup, or as it is medically
known, the singultus. Through the years, many (ineffective) remedies have been suggested, from holding your breath to
scaring yourself. But a larger question remained unresolved: why do humans have these involuntary spasms of the
diaphragm, which produce uncontrollable funny noises at irregular and inconvenient times? Now, University of Chicago
anatomist, Neil Shubin, has provided the world with an explanation in his book Your Inner Fish. As described in the
Guardian: Hiccups are triggered by electric signals generated in the brain stem. Amphibian brain stems emit similar
signals, which control the regular motion of their gills. Our brain stems, inherited from amphibian ancestors, still
spurt out odd signals producing hiccups that are, according to Shubin, essentially the same phenomenon as gill
breathing. This is atavism, or evolutionary throwback activity, at work. Luckily, you do eventually stop trying to
breathe through your gills when it dawns on your brain that you are actually a modern human, not a prehistoric fish. Click
here
to read
more.
Universidad
Nacional
Autónoma
de
Mexico
Insecticides
Change
Male
Fish
Traces of insecticides harm fish by a mechanism that has not been recognised until now: the chemicals
make males less attractive to females. An insecticide-free male fish, shown above top, and one, below it, with traces of
insecticides. The males of the amarillo (Girardinichthys multiradiatus), a threatened species of fish from Mexico, show
off their large, colourful fins when they dance to attract females. The dance is a way for females to screen the genetic
quality of partners and whether they had a disease-free upbringing, since big fins take a lot of energy to grow: thus
the more flamboyant the males, the better. "We found that pre-natal exposure to minute concentrations of the insecticide
methyl-parathion as those found in the field results in adult males which lack vigour, have small and dull fins, and are
shunned by females," says Dr. Constantino Macias Garcia, who reports the findings in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences with Omar Arellano-Aguilar of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico. Click
here
to read
more.
In
Noboribetsu,
Hokkaido,
Japan,
First
Permanent
Mola
Mola
Aquarium
Display.
A marine park here will begin operating Hokkaido's first ever permanent exhibition for mola mola, a large
fish related to fugu puffer fish. The Manbo-kan for mola mola will open to the public on March 20 at Noboribetsu Marine
Park NIXE. The enclosure will house two mola mola, large, round fish with atrophied tails that make them poor swimmers,
though their puffy appearance is likely to make them popular with visitors. The fish at the new enclosure are a
1-meter-long mola mola caught off the coast of Shima, Mie Prefecture, and a 50-centimeter-long fish presented to the
park by an aquarium in Ibaraki Prefecture. Both fish only arrived in Noboribetsu this month. The larger fish is still
getting used to life inside a tank, but appears to be settling in well and looks poised to be a fan-pleaser. Click
here
to read
more.
In
Sydney,
Australia,
Eight
Fish
Guard
the
Health
of
Millions
of
People.
THEY are not angel fish, but they are Sydney's guardian angels. In a small brick shed in the Southern
Highlands eight tiny fish stand guard, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over the water flowing to more than 4 million
people. Like the canaries that once sniffed the air in coal mines, the Australian rainbow fish are living proof that the
city's water is safe. If they don't like what they are swimming in, they have the power to shut down much of Sydney's
supply system. Although the Sydney Catchment Authority routinely tests for a wide range of impurities, the checks only
guarantee water quality at the moment they are conducted. Khanittha Poonbua, a project engineer
with the authority, said the the three centimetre fish provided continuous evidence that all is well. Their high-tech
aquarium looks more like an automatic teller machine, or a space-age oven. Each lives in its own compartment, little
bigger than a compact digital camera. Every minute a litre of water is pumped into the testing station at Broughtons
Pass, near Appin. "We watch how they react, how they behave," Ms. Poonbua said. Click
here
to read
more.
At
Scripts
Institute
of
Oceanography
in San
Diego,
California
PVC
Meets
Stringent
Rules
for
Aquarium
Drainage.
PVC
piping
has long
been
used in
aquariums
to
ensure
the
purity
of the
water
circulating
through
the
tanks,
and it
also
proved
the best
choice
for
disposing
discharge
water at
the
Scripps
Institution
of
Oceanography
at the
University
of
California,
San
Diego.
Anka
Fabian,
P.E.,
the
university's
principal
civil
engineer,
chronicled
the
project
in the
February
2008
issue of
Pollution
Engineering.
In an
interview
this
week,
Fabian
explained
that
Scripps
had to
change
its
80-year-old
pipe
system
because
in 2005
the
State of
California
imposed
additional
requirements,
beyond
those in
Scripps'
National
Pollutant
Discharge
Elimination
System
permit.
(NPDES
was
created
to meet
the
requirements
of the
Clean
Water
Act.)
These
extra
measures
were to
ensure
that
effluent
from
Scripps'
seawater
storage
and
research
tanks
would
not
alter
the
natural
water
quality
of the
biologically
significant
San
Diego
Marine
Life
Refuge
off the
coastline.
Scripps
had five
years to
meet
these
new
requirements
-- or
else the
operation
would be
closed
down.
Click
here
to read
more.
In
Wyoming
Man
Catches
Same
Fish He
Released
25 Years
Ago.
A Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist who was ice fishing at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir recently
managed to catch a Mackinaw trout which he likely put there in 1983 while stocking the water, after noticing one of its
fins was clipped. Bill Wengert said, "I may have actually clipped the fins on this very fish, and I know I was driving
the barge when the fish were stocked, nearly 25 years ago." He has been working for the department for 35 years. He was
26 at the time. The 26-year-old fish only weighed 2.5 pounds, compared to a 17-pounder from 2004 that was also released
in 1983. He said fishery biologists now have "an opportunity to learn more about fish genetics, age and growth of lake
trout in the reservoir." Click here
to read
more.
Great
Barrier
Reef,
Australia,
Weed-Eating
Fish is
the Key
to
Protecting
Reefs.
A ravenous weed-eating fish might be the key to saving large sections of the Great Barrier Reef from
destruction, scientists say. Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James
Cook University researcher Professor David Bellwood said new research had shown the herbivorous rabbit fish - capable of
stripping an area of vegetation - could fight coral-stifling weeds. "When a coral reef is weakened or damaged through
human activity such as climate change or pollution or by a natural disaster like a cyclone, the coral will usually
recover provided it is not choked by fast-growing marine algae," Prof Bellwood said. "The problem is that over the years
we have fished down the populations of fish that normally feed on the young weed to such a degree that the weed is no
longer kept in check - it can now smother the young corals and take over." He said the chances of coral re-establishing
itself after such an event were small. But in a video study in which different fish were observed grazing in overgrown
areas of the reef, schools of rabbit fish (Siganus canaliculatus) were seen chomping away at 10 times the rate of other
weed-eaters. Click
here
to read
more.
Callers during this Show
Todd from Germantown, TN,
calls and talks about his call to Arline at ONEdersave
Products.
Wyatt, who is Todd's son,
asks about putting play sand in the aquarium with his Violet
Goby.
Heather from Point Loma
in San Diego, California, calls and talks about her very
recent vacation in Hawaii, where she snorkeled with Manta
Rays.
Evan from Colorado calls
and talks about Jeff's recent email, shown below, to us about a sports
drink that accidentally spilled into his 95-gallon reef
aquarium.
Here is Jeff's Original Email.
Greetings! If there is anyway to get this
question to THE Brothers :), then pls, pls, pls do so.
Briefly: I have a 95gal tank w/ 30gal refugium mini reef.
Everything was swell for about 2yrs, then accidentally
knocked a health drink (carrot juice, barley grass, alfalfa
grass, kelp, echinacea, other herb concotion that is listed
as proprietary blend).
First death was within 15min- coral beauty. Faster than I
could move to change water, other fish died within the hour.
Crabs popped open their gills and killed over. Snails,
inverts, worms living in rocks, all fish life, sea hare,
etc. You name it it died. THe yellow tang lived on for a few
days, through several water changes, and still died.
After a month of it sitting there, I changed water again,
and put in a
couple of damsels, that died immediately. I took everything
down,
scrubbed the tank, razor bladed the tank, dumped the
refugium and did the same there, then put it all back
together, put in new water, and tried a crab and a snail.
both died immediately. Changed water again, tried a damsel,
died.
Out of sheer frustration, went down to the beach and grabbed
some sand out of the surf that would have some pods in it
and some marsh grass and put those in the refugium. All pods
died and any other ghost shrimp/marsh shrimp etc all died.
Waited a week, changed the water, tried a damsel, died.
I went form a gorgeous, vibrant, healthy tank even with good
sponge
growth, to this mess and dont have a clue on what to do. I
spent 1200 on this tank alone, which is gorgeous annealed
bowfront glass, and furniture quality cabinet.
Any ideas on where to go from here? I just dont want to have
to buy
another tank.
Thanks so much,
Jeff
Jeff's Second Email,
Received after this Show.
Hello folks, thanks so much for your thoughts
and advice. Im sorry i missed your live show. Evan is quite
an impressive young man. I do highly recommend diving as Im
an certified rescue diver.
I sure wish I had something bigger than a 5gal bucket at the
time! well, thats called 20/20. I would have saved well into
1400.00 in fish-rock-inverts. Even my hand fed trained
Peacock Mantis shrimp named El Diablo that ruled the
refugium.
let me fill in some details I should have included:
When the tank went back up after the complete teardown and
scrub- there was nothing from the prev tank put in there.
there was no live rock put back in. I was way too scared. IN
less than an hour i had lost everything and will never
forget those images. All the fish had names, generally after
friends who have the same personality as the fish in
question. The fiji damsel named after a nosy friend who wont
leave anyone alone is a good example. The mantis was called
motherinlaw for a few short minutes.
However, after leaving the 140lbs of live rock in big bins,
(newly purchased), i eventually drained the water off and
the live rock is an ornament sitting in the sun. While that
considerable investment in rock alone was painful to lose, I
suspected it was a source of the continuing issue and
decided to discard it. Everything was dead on it, including
some odd hardbacked things that i never did identify.
THe neww water tested from day one good with no serious
spikes. Adding some live sand aragonite and 15lbs of live
rock, saw the normal slight rise, but now it is cycled and
has balanced, all ph, ni/na, etc. Water is crystal clear. (Im
on the 3rd 90% change post tear down, 6th change overall).
Plant life in refugium is doing well. Macro algae in tank is
doing fair, i suspect it needs food since there isnt
anything going in the tank. Please remember, Ive been doing
this successfully for over two years. Even this last year
witnessing the coral spawn in august/sept. I have good test
kits/equipment that have served well so far, so I think we
are good there.
Bio reactions seem to be working as test damsels die and
start breaking down as expected. I have filtered in some
live sea water as we live near the beach.
Just tested again to be sure and all 5 tests are good. ph is
slightly down. Currently, other than not being able to
support animal life, all looks, seems well. Test damsel
lasted 10minutes. Test hermit cleaning crews lasted 4 mins.
Water is a little soft, but it is tripled filtered
mineraltrap/RO/charcoal water which strips it pretty good.
Ill continue to add the trace minerals as before. Skimmer
isnt really pulling anything off, looks pretty clear.
From my point of view- this is a serious nuero-toxin (to
fish- not to me I hope) that kills nearly on contact. Part
of my wonderment is how else am I supposed to clean this
setup to get rid of it.
I have also queried the local fish stores, everyone is
scratching their head. Test water given to the fish store
killed a test damsel in the jar as well. Just today, a test
crab went in and twitched, writhed, and died a tragic death.
Snails twist and turn in what looks like agony. A buddies'
seahare- told him not to do it, within seconds of insertion
writhed in what looked like the shearest of pain and changed
colors and died.
As you well mentioned, prevention was the surest cure for
this tragedy. Morning rush, feeding fish, in a hurry, never
thought something like this would happen sure brought a lot
of pain.
Ive contacted the manufacturer to get their thoughts on the
possibility of toxins being in the glass. Their only
recommendation was a complete tear down again. Replace all
plumbing this time. Scrub the glass with baking soda and
clay. Clean or replace all pumps similarly. If this doesnt
work they are willing to sell me a replacement tank for
800.00 that will fit the cabinet.
Pls see some pics (shown below) of prev tank. Will take soem
photos tomorrow of exisitng tank.
Thanks so much for your continued dedication to this hobby.
It has been a rewarding hobby for my wife and I and has
replaced the tv as the thing to watch. I had so many weird
and wonderful things growing I never did get a chance to
identify them all.
And thank you so much for bringing this issue into your
discussion!
Kindest regards,
Jeff
The Bailey Brothers
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