Biology

1. Biology

2. Tropical Fish You can double click on these photos for video (Media player in this computer may not allow you to do this)

3. Preface I have chosen this topic to write because I have been keeping these 4 kinds of fish.

4. Double Click (Media player in this computer may not allow you to do this)

5. There are lots of tropical fresh-water fish in the world. There are about 132 of them. Down below is the attachment of the fish list. Click HereForFreshwater Fish list sorted by Latin Name Click here for Freshwater Fish list sorted by Common Name

7. Freshwater Fish by Type • Angels • Barbs • Cats • Cichlids • Goldfish • Gouramis • Livebearers • Misc • Tetras Double Click

8. Marine Fish by TypeAngelsButterfliesClownfishDamselsGobiesLionfishMiscPufferfishSeahorsesSharks and RaysTangsTriggersWrasses Double Click

9. Vertebrate group (Class) Key features Examples Fish • Live in water • Breathe with gills • Streamlined bodies • Use fins for movement and balance • Most lay eggs • Have cartilage or bony skeletons • Cold-blooded • Cartilaginous fish e.g. Shark • Bony fish e.g. Cod

10. But, I have only chosen four types of fish to study in: • Carp • Goldfish • Siamese Fighting Fish • Oscar • ( Click These Links)

11. These are very nice fish for a pond. They will usually grow too big for most aquariums. But it's enjoyable to start them off in an aquarium, where they can be easily seen, and later before they grow too big for an aquarium, carefully acclimate them to a pond at time that the temperature of the water in the pond is within 2 degrees of the temperature of the water in their aquarium. Carp(Koi) Scientific Name. Cyprinus carpio

12. Butterfly Koi There are 2 types of kois (carps) Koi

13. Appropriate Home.  An outdoor pond or a large cool water aquarium with at least 50 gallons of water, an external power filter with a bio-wheel, and at most 1/4 of gravel, but no heater because Koi are cool water fish. The difference: Butterfly Koi have much longer fins that standard Koi. Butterfly have just been introduced into the fish keeping hobby in the last few years. Butterfly Koi tend to have one color now. Most of the Butterfly Koi we have are Golden or a Metallic Pink, which are unique and beautiful colors. Soon Butterfly Koi will be available with other colors and patterns. 

14. Recommended Diet: TetraFin or other floating food labeled for Goldfish and not labeled for Tropical Fish. TetraFin and several other brands of goldfish food are available in most pet stores and Wal-Mart Stores. Tetra Floating Food Sticks are very good for larger pond fish and are also available in Wal-Mart. We have read advice elsewhere that all goldfish and Koi should be fed sinking food, because when fish take food off the surface of the water, they will swallow air bubbles that will cause problems. This is contrary to our experience. If your fish don't eat all of the food in 10 minutes, get a net and remove the uneaten food Also feed Koi a few live Black Worms. I feed each Koi two or three Black Worms every other day

15. Compatibility: Koi are usually kept with other Koi. Regular Koi will sometimes nip on the slower swimming Butterfly Koi. So, if you keep them together, be sure the Butterfly Koi are not being nipped and annoyed by the Koi. Koi can also be kept with Pond Comets and Shubunkins, but not with Fantails, Orandas, or Telescopes, which swim slower, are less aggressive, and are not compatible with Pond Comets and Koi. Size and Life Span: Koi will grow to 15" and bigger. They have a live span of over 20 years. The Emperor of Japan is said to have Koi that are much more than 20 years old.

16. Gender: The gender of the carp is very hard to find out. Although I have seen a few websites, the websites just said when they figure out the gender, they have to wait till the koi spawns. Just by looking at the fish’s outlook isn’t accurate. And one more thing is that femals are much longer and bigger and fatter than males, and the big ones can get in about 16 inches.

17. And I have read that keeping these carps is good for keeping a pond. These are very nice fish for a pond. They will usually grow too big for most aquariums. But it's enjoyable to start them off in an aquarium, where they can be seen better. Later when they grow too big for an aquarium, carefully acclimate to a pond during moderate temperatures .

18. Gold fish Scientific Name: Carassius auratus There are four types of GOLD FISH Common name: black moor, lionhead, fan tail goldfish, goldfish, red cap oranda

19. Lionhead Black Moor Fan Tail Goldfish

20. Fancy Goldfish including Orandas, Fantails, Telescopes and Black Moors are discussed on this page. These are very good fish for big cool water aquariums and ponds, but they will not do well with Pond Comets and Koi. red cap oranda We feed the gold fish floating food, but a few bits of food sink to the bottom. Later they search the bottom for these bits

21. Fancy Goldfish are very nice fish for a pond or a large cool water aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water. These Fancy Goldfish varieties are available in several colors: Red, Red and White, Calico, Red and Black, and solid Black like the Black Moors shown above Appropriate Home. An outdoor Pond or a large Cool Water Aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, an external power filter with a bio-wheel, and at most 1/4 of gravel, but no heater because these are cool water fish.

22. Like all goldfish, these Fancy Goldfish, prefer cool water in the range of 35 to 75 degrees F. with 65 degrees being about ideal. Of course, these fish must be allowed to adjust gradually to a temperature change. For example, don't take fish from an aquarium in your home that might be 70 degrees and put them in an outdoor pond at 50 degrees F. But over a period of days these fish can adjust to temperature changes. The greater the change the more time required to adjust to the change. It is best to move fish when the water temperatures are close to being the same.

23. All the types of Orandas, Telescopes, Fantails, Pond Comets, and Koi can live in large cool water aquariums or even better outdoor ponds. But remember the Fantails, Telescopes, Orandas may be miserable if kept with Comets and Koi. Recommended Diet: Small Fancy Goldfish that are less than 3" long should be fed TetraFin or other floating flake food at least twice a day. Larger Fancy Goldfish over 3" long should be fed Tetra Floating Food Sticks. TetraFin, Tetra Floating Food Sticks, and several other brands of Goldfish Food are available in most pet stores and in Wal-Mart Stores

24. Be sure the flake food and the food sticks are labeled for Goldfish and not for Tropical Fish.We've read advice elsewhere that all goldfish should be fed sinking food, because when they take food off the surface, they will swallow air bubbles that will cause problems. This is contrary to our experience.I just watched my goldfish eating off the surface of the water. After most mouthfuls of food, he passed an air bubble or two out of his gill. The ancestors of this fish have been eating food off the surface of the water for a very long time. Of course they also ate off the bottom and at all levels of the water between the top and bottom too. So don't worry about your goldfish swallowing air while eating. Feeding food that floats is a good practice.If your fish don't eat all of the food in 10 minutes, get a net and remove the uneaten food.I also feed my Goldfish a few live Black Worms. I feed each goldfish 2 or 3 worms every other day.

25. Compatibility:These Fancy Goldfish including Orandas, Fantails, Telescopes and Black Moors are compatible with each other and make a nice mixture. But they will often pick on Bubble Eyes and Celestials, which do better when kept separately. Orandas, Fantails, Telescopes and Black Moors are not compatible with Pond Comets, Shubunkins, and Koi which swim faster, are more aggressive, and will eat most of the food. Size and Life Span: These Fancy Goldfish can grow to 8" sometimes bigger. Like other Goldfish they can live 20 years and longer.

26. Group (1). Pond Comets which have so-called comet-tails with two lobes on their tails that are arranged with one lobe above the other. We sell Pond Comets like the one shown to the left at our website. Group (2). Fancy Goldfish with so-called fan-tails with two lobes on their tails arranged horizontally with one lobe to the left and the other to the right side of the fish. This group includes Fantails, Black Moors, and Orandas, Group (3). Very Fancy Goldfish like the Red and White Ranchu shown to the left. This group also includes Lionheads, Bubble Eyes, a nd Celestials. The Goldfish in this group have very limited swimming ability.

27. The Goldfish in group (1) swim faster than fish in groups (2) and (3), eat most of the food and will usually nip on fish in groups (2) and (3).The fish in group (2) swim much faster than fish in group (3), eat most of the food and usually nip on fish in group (3).So Goldfish from groups (1), (2), and (3) should each be kept separate with Goldfish in their own group and not be mixed with Goldfish from the other two groups.For example, keep the various types of Goldfish in group (2) together but do not mix them with Goldfish from group (1) or with Goldfish from group (3).

28. How to breed Gold Fish When the gold fish had grown to be about 3" long, usually they don't begin to spawn, until they're at least 4" long, and professional breeders use even larger fish that produce more eggs and more baby fish. A female Goldfish can lay several thousand eggs during one spawning. Next Page is about when the gold fish spawn-3 conditions

29. Determining a Goldfish's Gender. It's not easy to tell the male Goldfish from the female Goldfish. When it is small, it can’t even find any difference. Professional breeders can often tell the difference, but it's difficult for them to explain how they do it. Mature female Goldfish are usually plumper, and mature males have little bumps on their heads, called tubercles, that turn white and are easier to see, when the Goldfish spawn. • 2. Spawning Mops. Goldfish spawn best in the spring after a cold winter. Most professional Goldfish breeders place floating "spawning mops" in the ponds with their breeder gold fish.

30. These spawning mops are usually made by cutting off 18" lengths of nylon rope. One set of ends is tied together tightly, and the other ends are untwisted to make a big fluffy mop. Goldfish lay adhesive eggs that stick to the spawning mops. Since all Goldfish love to eat these eggs, the mops must be removed promptly and put in another pond or large aquarium, where the eggs hatch into tiny Goldfish fry. These Goldfish fry must feed on the microscopic life in the pond for several days, before they are large enough to start eating powdered food.

31. 3. It's January 18th and the weather has been unusually cold here in San Diego. The water temperature in the small pond by my front door is 48 degrees F. This is the coldest I've ever measured. I looked at my Goldfish carefully to be sure that "he" is doing well, and I noticed that "he" has gotten quite a bit plumper. In fact I think that maybe "he" is a female and starting to fill with eggs to lay in the spring. Goldfish females do not get pregnant. Goldfish females lay eggs that are then fertilized by male Goldfish. Goldfish will eat their own eggs, so you should move the Goldfish to another aquarium, or move the eggs to another aquarium.

32. The eggs are sticky. Most people that breed Goldfish use spawning mops that can be moved after the Goldfish have spawned. Incidentally, there are females of other species of fish that do become pregnant and release live babies If not the eggs will not be fertile, will soon turn opaque white, and will not hatch. But if the eggs were fertilized, they should hatch in two or three days depending on the temperature of the water

33. black moor fan tail goldfish Click here for video

34. lionhead red cap oranda

38. Siamese Fighting Fish Scientific Name: Betta splendens Male Bettas Male Bettas are also called Siamese Fighting Fish, and they usually fight the same kind to death if put in the same bowl, flaring at each other. But often they can live together when in a large aquarium, in about at least one gallon of water. Males occur in many colors and patterns.

39. Lon Finned Betas Female Bettas Male Crown Tail Bettas Short Finned Bettas Sorts Of Bettas

40. Geographical origin:  Southeast Asia Habitat:  Shallow, overgrown waters; irrigation channels; and flooded rice fields that warm up to 86°F (30°C) Distinguishing feature:  Siamese Fighting fish are a member of the Labyrinth fish family.  Labyrinth fishes have an auxiliary breathing organ, the so-called labyrinth, which they can use to absorb air.  Labyrinth fishes that are prevented from taking air will drown. Characteristics:  Because of their ability to breath air  Labyrinth fish can survive in polluted water with very little oxygen.  The male of the species build bubble nest among plant leaves.  The fish takes up air in its mouth , coats it with saliva, and spits the bubbles, which stick together on the surface of the water.

41. Aquarium care:  The males do not get along well with each other they will even bite the females to death if they are not yet ready to spawn or are past spawning.  You can only keep more than one male in a very large aquarium.  They have to have enough space to form territories.  The aquarium should be densely planted and well lighted.  Floating plants will facilitate nest building. Water:  Soft to medium hard. Temperature:  23°-27°C; 30°C for breeding. Food:  Dry and live foods of all sorts

42. The names Beta Fish, Fighting Beta Fish, and Siamese Beta Fish are often seen but Beta is a misspelling of the word Betta, which in turn comes from the scientific name Betta splendens. The word Betta is a phonetic spelling of the word used by the people that live in Betta fish's natural habitat

43. Bettas usually do fine in a temperature range of 65 to 80 degrees F. But many do best in range of 70 to 75 degrees F. If the water is cool and your Betta is not eating enthusiastically, you should move it's fish bowl to a warmer spot or increase the temperature in the aquarium. You should also be sure the temperature doesn't change too much, too fast. A change of 3 degrees per day usually doesn't cause stress or disease, but a drop from 75 degrees to 65 degrees in one day would not be natural or good for a betta.

44. This picture shows a pink female betta with a green metallic sheen to her body and some dark red or maroon on her fins. She's a natural double tail, which means she has two natural lobes on her tail finBettas are also called Siamese Fighting Fish, and the males will usually fight to the death if put in the same bowl, but females can often live together in the same aquarium. Click here to see several female bettas living together in a 6-gallon aquarium. Female Betta fish have shorter fins than most Male Bettas. But the body of a female Betta fish should be almost as big as the male's body, if you hope to breed them

45. Compatibility:Male Bettas do best in a large Fish bowl with a few Ghost Shrimp and some live plants as mentioned above. Usually White Clouds are compatible with Bettas and can live in a Large Fish Bowl with a Betta, but sometimes the Betta will chase and annoy the White Clouds, and very rarely White Clouds have nipped on a Betta. Click here for more information about White Clouds. Males Bettas can also be kept in aquariums with Platies, Mollies, Swordtails, Angel Fish, Danios, Gouramis, a school of Bala Sharks, a school of Clown Loaches, a group of Corydoras Catfish, and a Plecostomus Catfish.

46. BREEDING Before Female Bettas will fill with eggs and be ready to breed, they need lots of rich food. In addition to the food mentioned above, they should also be fed some live Black Worms and some live or frozen brine shrimp Female Bettas

47. A Male and a Female Brttas Breeding

48. Recommended Diet:Tetra's BettaMin Floating Flake Food and Delecta Freeze Dried Blood Worms both available in most pet stores and in Wal-Mart Stores. Bettas are not an active fish, so they don't require as much oxygen or as much food as energetic active fish do. Feed your Betta twice each day. I feed my Bettas BettaMin in the morning and Delecta Freeze Dried Worms in the evening. Be careful not to feed your Bettas more than they can eat. Remove uneaten food with a small net after 10 minutes, of feed the Beta’s a few black worms every other day.

49. Rare Bettas

50. Female Bettas