Vallisneria species - aquarium plants

relatively undemanding, fast growing and not very expensive. There are several species that are worth mentioning:

Vallisneria spiralis
This plant needs ordinary fine gravel since it's runners wouldn't do well in sandy substrate or large rocks. pH is not very important, although pH of 7 will be a good decision - one can keep other plants and fish without any "water-related" compatibility issue in such a tank. I personally have grown this Vallisneria in aquariums with pH of 6 - 7.5 . They simply grew, grew and didn't stop. The same applies to general water hardness - it isn't that important; Maintaining it within 6-10 will be just fine.

Vallisneria spiralis will easily grow 60 cm in length which means it usually ends up one the surface with leafs catching light and making shadow under. Leafs are usually dark-green, sometimes they can be bright if there's lack of nutriments or light in the tank. This Vallisneria should be planted as bakcground plant, eventually a midground plant if your fish tank is located in the middle of the room and can be watched from any side.

Occasional fertilisation is recommended, this plant will reproduce easily by runners - it is important to control it's population, otherwise your tank can be overtaken by this species - which doesn't have to be necessarily wrong!

Vallisneria tortifolia
As for Vallisneria spiralis, Vallisneria tortifolia will require fine gravel at the bottom. This Vallisneria will require bright light, otherwise leafs may become weak, very light and the structure of leafs won't be seen - this means something is wrong with the plant. Liquid fertilisation is recommended.

Vallisneria tortifolia has even more "spiraled" leafs than Vallisneria spiralis.

Vallisneria gigantea
This great plant can be grown in ponds (heated ponds if you live in colder Winter regions) too, it requires similar conditions just like the previously mentioned species. Leafs are wider, up to 2cm. This plant can grow to enormously large dimensions exceeding 2 meters in length! It's a great plant for fry to hide.

I've often sold this plant with leafs longer than myself (I'm 190cm tall).

All Vallisneria's will need proper acclimatisation - Medium to bright lighting and plants fertilisers must be used.

Here are pages that discuss and describe growing various types of Vallisneria's:

The Genus Vallisneria Linne,
Vallisneria americana,
Vallisneria americana,
Vallisneria gigantea,
Vallisneria Spiralis and Anubias Nana in your aquarium.

Happy growing!

Carassius auratus in a fish pond - Colouration

The Carassius auratus species is commonly kept in fish ponds perhaps because it's a cheap fish that's widely available. Often these fish are red, however young specimens may be even black, gray or a mix of all of these colours. Inexperienced fishkeepers usually cannot explain why adult fish (bought from pet store or Goldfish breeders) are coloured nicely while their babies' colours (Goldfish are very easy to breed no matter whether kept in aquariums or ponds) lack.

Mainly lack of colouration can be explained via food. Food is very important for every fish, some species won't develop colouration - thus it's good to purchase specialised food for Goldfish, although they'll also eat insects from water surface (assuming you keep them in ponds).

Goldfish specimens can restore their colouration in a couple of months if they're fed properly. Another reason why your fish' colouration lacks is poor water. Water in a fish ponds should be tested and eventually changed if it's not satisfactory. The trick is to perform tests each week or once every other week in order to ensure that it's still of good quality.

Goldfish aren't very demanding, thus pH of 7 is just fine, water temperature can be as low as 0°C (for fish kept in ponds - during Winter), however high temperatures such as 30°C won't bring any benefit to your Goldfish. Ideal range of general water hardness is 8-12. A pond that holds 3000 liters of water can easily house 40 specimens, however they produce lots of waste and thus overcrowding is not recommended no matter how big your pond is!

If you keep conditions stable, if you keep water properly mineralised, your Carassius auratus will show beautiful colours. Low mineralised waters often cause lack of bright colours and fish stay dark.

If you want to read more about this popular species, here are pages that are worth a visit!

Carassius auratus @ http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Carassius_auratus.html

Carassius auratus auratus @ fishbase.org

Goldfish Types @ animal-world.com

Carassius auratus @ bio.txstate.edu

Goldfish @ fl.biology.usgs.gov

Carassius auratus auratus @ aqua-fish.net (this belongs to us)

Raising Red eyed tetras

The Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae species is generally good fish for beginners, but experienced aquarists will find them beautiful too - not very demanding, accepting almost every normal pH value (7 is just fine), being used to a wide range of temperatures (25°C is OK), they're really good for every peaceful community aquarium. South American biotope suits requirements of Red eyed tetras - a species tank will be perfect especially if you want to reproduce this species successfully. Bear in mind that Tetras love plants. If you're starting a new aquarium, and if it's cycled or if it's in the process of cycling (meant as nitrogen cycle), then choose fast growing plants -

Cabomba furcata - needs bright lighting
Echinodorus latifolius - needs bright lighting too, and is a beautiful midground plant!!!
Ludwigia inclinata - needs bright lighting
Myriophyllum aquaticum - bright lighting too, and is a brilliant background plant

Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae can live even 5 or more years and you can mix albino form along with normally pigmented fish in one tank. Most likely albinos will breed with albinos, and fish with normal pigment will breed with normally pigmented fish, but it's definitely worth it!

One than that holds 100 liters of water can house even 25 of these Tetras!

Here are links to articles and profiles of this species on the web (one points to aqua-fish.net which belongs to us):

Red Eye Tetra - fishlore.com
Red-Eyed Tetra, Lamp-Eye Tetra, Yellow-Banded Moenkhausia - aquahobby.com
Moenkhausia Sanctaefilomenae (Red Eye Tetra) - fishandtips.com
Red Eye tetra - thetropicaltank.co.uk
Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae - Red-eye Tetra - seriouslyfish.com
Red eyed tetra - Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae - aqua-fish.net
Lamp Eye Tetra - Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae - aquaticcommunity.com

Give this fish a shot and definitely they're not expensive at all - you should find them for $1-$2.50 per specimen. A group of 25 fish would cost maximally $50 which isn't that bad.