December 1-10, 2009 questions you asked Aqualand

We don't ship critters or live fish.
When writing us, include your location.
LA_Aqualand@msn.com

Darby Pate, Ione, WA, December 1, 2009
I thought I would add my two cents, and I hope I am SENDING this TO the correct spot ha-ha!

I got my black ghost knifefish in August, thinking he would be okay in a 20 gallon tank. Boy was I wrong! Starting out, I had a tank that was not cycled, and this fish, named Elvis, survived many ammonia spikes. I was able to get my hands on a 75 gallon tank, and quickly moved him over and got some media from an established tank to cycle it quick. When I got him he was 4 inches, and he is now over 7 inches. He did come with a deformed pectoral fin (it is 1/2 the size of the other one and doesn't work) but he gets around just fine.

Anyway, Elvis is now living in the bigger tank very happily. I would not recommend getting this fish if you are not going to be able to get a bigger tank in the future, something the pet store people fail to mention.

Elvis recently got a new tank mate in the form of a Red Dwarf Gourami who was constantly being harassed in another tank. I stayed up the whole first night watching them to make sure they didn't hurt each other. They have been together for about a month now and no problems to report!

Elvis will eat anything I put in the tank, including frozen and freeze dried bloodworms, every kind of shrimp, kelp flakes, boiled peas and he ate all the heads off my Ramshorn snails, but leaves the Trumpet snails alone. They must not be as tasty? He also eats out of my hand. He constantly scouts out the intake of the filter looking for leftover food.

Elvis comes out at all times of the day, and I think he has sensing super power. He knows when my finger/hand comes anywhere near the surface of the water! He shoots out of his hiding spot and is ready for food! He has this plant that has been in there since I put him in the tank, and he uses that as his Lazy-Boy. He lays upside down on it, with his fins resting on the leaves ha-ha! (I can send you a pic of that if you would like)

He LOVES bubbles, I think it's a massage for him, and he will dart from bubble wand to bubble wand, playing. So I have about 4 of them in his tank, including a bubble disk.

Feel free to put this on your BGK section of your page. I hope it helps other people, since there is not a lot of info on BKGs out there.

Thanks!

A: Thanks for your report. I'll add it to my BGK page. He probably ignores your trumpet snails because they spend 97% of their time under the gravel. LA

Sara B, December 1, 2009
Hello, our pet mudpuppy is about 10 years old (we have had him the whole time), and we found him floating vertically in his tank this morning. He is still alive and breathing, just ate this past Saturday no problems. We moved him away from the others into a quarantine tank, and he seemed like he was trying to swim down to the bottom but was physically unable to stay there. Any ideas what's wrong and/or what to do? Thank You

A: I'm sorry. I'm not much on amphibian maladies. It sounds like he has an air bladder problem. I have no idea how to correct it. All I can suggest is isolation -- which you have already done. LA

Robyn, December 1, 2009
Hello. Can you name some community fish that would add interest to my tank? Nothing common like goldfish or guppies, something different, not as common, interesting.

Robyn, December 1, 2009
Are lungfish okay for community tanks? Won't eat anyone if it's well fed?
Doubt it.

Robyn, December 1, 2009
What type of fish can you hold or interact with that you can put in a
community tank or at least trust with other fish?

Robyn, December 1, 2009
Hey what's that fish with the Otos? It's in the third pic of them.

Robyn, December 1, 2009
Look at this ugly mudskipper!
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.curator.org/legacyvmnh/imag

Robyn, December 1, 2009
You need a section on feeder guppies. That would add an extra nice touch to the Live Food section

Robyn, December 1, 2009
Can you breed ghost shrimp with red shrimp? You should try it. Interesting
if you bred a larger shrimp with a red.

Robyn, December 1, 2009
How many emails do you think would be sent to you each day? How many would you say you respond to each day?

A1: Pearl gouramis.
A2: Do not trust lungfish.
A3: Hold? Crayfish. Interact with? Cichlids.
A4: It's not a fish.
A5: I found a picture of the Beatles.
A6: Feeder guppies are in the regular guppy page.
A7: You cannot breed ghost shrimp with red shrimp.
A8: Somewhere between two and eight from real people. Plus about 30 Nigerian and assorted outlander bequests, a couple FBI notices, hard to resist business deals from the Far East, Viagra ads, illegal drug offerings, dating services, Facebook (and similar) enrollment requests, several bank, ATM, FedEx, PayPal frozen account notices, price lists from livestock wholesalers, price lists from hardgoods suppliers, Pet Industry magazines, humorous forwarded messages from people I know, announcements and newsletters from clubs I belong to, confirmations of orders I have made, plus your questions. I answer the ones from real people. LA

Nikki Sanders, Baltimore, MD, December 2, 2009
I have a question about my clown knife fish that I have recently added to my tank. I am assuming that the pet store that I bought it from was only feeding it flake foods because it was in a tank with oscars. So now in my tank it will only eat flake food even with other foods including live food being offered. It seems to be getting awful thin, and today I noticed that it is not eating the flake food at all and is getting kind of slow and weak. Do you have any suggestions that I could try to get my little guy back on the road to good health? I tried putting it in a tank by itself and offered it some rosy reds to eat, but nothing. It just sat on the bottom of the tank and let the rosy reds sit on it! I didn't leave it in overnight because my other tank is just a small one without a filter and I didn't want to leave it without a filter for too long. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much.
Oh, also I almost forgot. I have a black mystery snail in the tank too that likes to hang out at the top of the tank and then just release to drop to the tank floor. Well its shell looks terrible. Around the spiral it looks like pieces are falling off and it has a crack at the foot. Is there a reason that my snail is falling apart? Am I killing it, or is there something that I can do? I know I am having all kinds of problems right. All my other fish are healthy, so I am not that bad of a fish keeper! Thanks a lot for your help.

A: I've never seen a clown knife eat flake food. But that doesn't prove anything. First, call the store you bought him from and ask what they were feeding him. Second, leave him alone in one tank or another. Then, I would try small goldfish, small nightcrawlers, and frozen plankton (in that order). One last thing, make sure he's at 80 F.
You probably have soft, acid water which slowly dissolves the calcium in his shell. I've never found a practical way to repair snail shells. LA

Terri Landt, December 3, 2009
Are you open for business?
Do you have saltwater fish for sale?
Do you carry California Blackworms?
Do you have aquariums for sale...such as 29g? If so, how much does it cost?
Do you carry plankton?
Do you have Chaeto for refugiums?
Thanks!!

A: Yes. No. Yes. Yes. Yes, frozen. No, because we don't sell saltwater.
PS We're a retail store in Des Moines, Iowa. Your email address indicates you're not in our neighborhood. LA

Jacki Wilson, San Diego, CA, December 3, 2009
Hi, I just wanted to tell you that I enjoy your site very much. I got a lot of my info on my mudskippers from you. Here is a pic of 2 of my guys. They are currently in a 20G long but will be moved this weekend into my new 60G river tank that was finally finished this week.
Thank you for your great information.

A: Thanks for the kudos. Great picture. LA

Robyn, Canada, December 4, 2009
When I sent you the email asking about what type of fish was in the picture
I was talking about the mini rainbow trout like fish, not the squash. I'm
not complaining or nothing, I just didn't want you to think I was a looney
thinking squash are fish. So back to the point, what's that rainbow coloured
fish called in this picture? The one closest to the Otos. Also, would water
conditioner fix up my Oto's nose? It looks like someone took a small knife
to carve a chunk out of his nose. Been like that for a couple months.
Reminds me of sushi. It's not infected either.
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddbal762.jpg

A: Leopard danio.

Your otocinclus will keep his scar forever.

I will answer your other emails but not on my website.

Please don't send any more this year.

Then send no more than one per month.

You've sent me 17 emails so far this month. Way more than any one unlooney person should send. LA

					Haris Ashraf Farid, 
					Malaysia, December 5, 2009

					Sup, Mr. Larry. Gotta nother question for you. Its also 
					about Java fern. You know how there are many variations of 
					this plant, right?  In fact, I think they used the same 
					thing that transformed Superman and the Flash to do that, 
					and no not the tights. At any rate have you ever seen a 
					variation that is a three leaved version.Two short ones, and 
					one long one in the middle? I asked a friend of mine that 
					owns a fish store in Newcastle, again, nothing on you. He 
					said and I quoth  "It was crap and it died on us in 
					every possible situation, and now I only stock the normal 
					and Windolöv 
					varieties" Such quality poetry..... anyway, anything to 
					share?

A: Gene Lucas, best known for bettas, gave me one that grew in a star-shaped pattern. Unfortunately, someone bought it out of an unmarked tank before I got a chance to propagate it. I'll look at some of the Java ferns when I get back from lunch. If I find anything weird, I'll photograph it. LA

Chad Cheek, December 5, 2009
I am looking for a loving pair of lovebirds please e mail me.

A: We probably have several. Call 515 283-0300 for details. We don't sell birds by mail. LA

Ebil Nakahara, December 6, 2009
As I was searching the web for information for Axolotls I saw your pages for rats and was appalled by the incorrect information you had about them. Now I'm not going to pick apart everything incorrect and not to mention cruel you are but I would ask that you please consider removing that information due to the fact it may misinform a future rat owner with false information.
I don't want to sound rude or anything but I just want to insure the safety of the little ratties. I'm just an absolute animal lover and no expert but I am an owner of 2 rats myself and I went to a rat expert to find the information so that's how I know yours is incorrect. And yes, rat owners know what foods are healthy and what aren't. That's why the homemade mixes are better, you adjust them to your rats' dietary needs.
So please, consider removing your rat and mouse pages to avoid any new owners retrieving false information and further nasty emails from other rat lovers, we just want what's best for rats. Perhaps you should stick with fish and plants.

A: I understand that you love animals, especially rats. I don't hate rats, but I look at them differently than you do since I have about 50 of them most of the time. And probably 200 mice today. We sell them as pets but maybe 95% as snake food. We do not connect emotionally with rodents. We have Orkin come in monthly to trap and poison the wild mice that like to invade constantly. I consider mice nasty little vermin. Rats are okay, but not my BFF. I'm keeping the pages. LA

Ross J. Peterson, Montreal, QU, December 6, 2009|
Larry, Hi. Straight into it: With these external box filters, I'm just rinsing the foam sponges (2) in lukewarm water but I'm rinsing the charcoal bag in scalding water. I figure I'll give the bacteria a continuing lease on life but free up the pores in the charcoal for renewed activity. (How does that spiel sound to you?

Got 5 white cloud mountain fish: in French they sell as Tetra Chinois. The same day I started a new job requiring door-to-door canvassing so I was rushed. I plopped 'em into a 1 g square jar with lots of algae and an equally juvenile Otocinclus affinis Dwarf Sucker Catfish. By the next day the White Clouds had better red in their fins than in the pet shop! No, I won't keep them there forever. They go into a 2 1/2 g with tons of euglena and for the sucker cat I will throw in some thread algae to see if he/she goes for it. As they grow, I will switch the lot (plus more catfish o's) into a series of small containers hoping to be blessed with fry in already established freshwater plankton culture. I think the prospects are good.

Despite this evening work promoting electric home heating, I will try to get a break to be in Des Moines in February. If it flies, I'll again impose on your hospitality at Aqualand for a moment or two.

A: You can't recharge carbon without heating it to very high temperatures. But I'm cheap too, so I rinse my cartridges until they fall apart. Then I put in the new ones. See you in February. LA

J S, December 6, 2009
Hello, I was reading your article on Bettas and the replies that you rec'd and your responses. All I can say is that you make me laugh. Thank you for your sense of humor.

I agree with most of your article, actually all of it for the most part.

Just wanted to say thanks for the chuckle...your responses about the gal replying on company time was dead on and the reply to the girl who wanted to keep you in the closet was priceless.

A: Then you'll be glad to know that ESPN is considering putting the World Championship Betta Fights on Pay TV. LA

Isaiah Gardner, December 7, 2009
Do you ship live plants and if you do where do I find prices and stuff?

A: No. LA

Isaiah Gardner, December 8, 2009
What do you sell?

A: We sell all kinds of stuff at our retail store in Des Moines, Iowa, but we rarely ship anything. LA

Laura Kretzer, December 7, 2009
Before I bought my peacock spiny eel, I had to buy new gravel. One evening, right after I switched from river rocks to pebble gravel, a few Malaysian snails, which I called tapir snails (most aquatic snails have a slight "snout", but these have a small trunk), showed up. Since no live plants were in my aquarium at the time, or had recently been in it, the only explanation I have is that they were in the new gravel.

In addition, because of an algae problem, these snails overran my gravel. Eventually the eel couldn't burrow because of risk of injury from these snails' pointy shells. A few weeks after that, it died, presumably from the stress of not being able to burrow. The poor thing spent the last few days of its life draped over my filter's suction cup.

A: Malaysian trumpet snails do multiply like crazy under your gravel. Yours is the first report I've heard that their shells pose a risk to spiny eels. You can control them by cutting in half the amount of food you feed your fish. I'll add your report to my trumpet snail page. LA

Ed Robson, Worcestershire, UK, December 9, 2009
Found your site today & have downed tools to enjoy. Great site. What makes it more so is the addition of pics & comments (not all profiles on
the net are 100% & experiences/approaches do differ).
Over a couple of decades I have renewed & maintained a (tad obsessed in
some opinions) sizable aquatic hobby. I love oddballs, catfish, & large
cichlids. Have marine too.
Love the toadfish (these have even been up to the space station for
observations on their balance & are found pretty much every place).
Love the chocolate cichlids (very peaceful yet territorial with own kind
-- larger tank than norm & some midsized dither fish, i.e., gouramis, can
help)..
Resisting the urge to make many comments from my own experience & send a few pics (if you do take pics). I really just wanted to make a
comment/observation on Bichirs/Polypterus & feeding.
Bichirs: 2 things of note...always leave enough room for them to get their head out of the top to breath new air.
Escape! They & reedfish are escape artists indeed, if unhappy or just feel
like it, they will get out the smallest of gaps (in the wild they will
cross land during floods).
Important: If your polypterus is out of water & looks dead do not give
up yet. They can survive up to 10 hours out of water if they do not dry
out. I once had a Senegalus out for 3.5 hours who seemed not to move &
edges of fins were a tad dried out. I netted him & placed him with
net in a gentle water flow. 20 minutes later he woke up stirred & swam off. He was fine.
Feeding: (if this is of use) My cautionary rule is 'if it fits, it can & may well be eaten. I have noticed here the fine practice of using live feeders. A long while ago I looked for alternatives mainly as I keep so many tanks & differing set ups, the cost/logistics were prohibitive (even buying in bulk).
Keeping this short, bar specific insect eating fish which I feel may
benefit from the calcium in the diet (i.e. chocolate cichlids) there are 2
main staples I use successfully & keeping many weird & difficult feeders
have never failed to get a fish feeding:
1. Frozen bloodworms -- initially mix with live until off completely &
either dissolve, hand feed or just place in tank.
2. Prawn/krill -- I use prawn extensively when whole krill is in short
supply & both to better effect than whiting/lancefish. I know experienced
marine keepers who swear by prawn. Defrost prawn (shelled & peeled
properly), break up for smaller fish or crush in half for larger (arowanas
love it & mine got so peaceful as feeders they'd brush against my arm on
maintenance).
Key point: get a good quality (nice & white) & not too large, larger sizes
tend to be harder & over cheap frozen prawn can really gunk a tank
filter up & can lead to water problems. I swear by more filtration than
less/norm especially for meat eaters.
Frozen whole Krill, aka whole krill superba (not freshwater shrimp) is
best if you can get it -- gunk/breakdown is no problem, attractive to
fish as floats more, soft & very good for them. Most LFS should be able to
get this.
On a last note, due to the number, variety & mix of my tanks generally I
feed an hour before the night light (except for breeding) to allow
night feeders picking up the calculated remains.
Also what works for me in all respects (bar feeders on pure bloodworm &
some meat eaters) is to feed dry one day, frozen on day 2, meat day 3 (+ flake for some) & on day 4 a day off most/main feeding (tid bits to a couple). I find it also keeps picky feeders more interested.
Hope some of this may help & feel free to crop to where useful if needed.
Have to say your passion is evident & does you credit.
Cheers for the site.

A: Thanks for your personal observations. You probably don't know it, but any steak-serving restaurant we go into here in the U.S. has a condiment on the table named after your town -- Worcestershire Sauce. No two Americans pronounce it the same way. We also have a town a little east of here called Worcester, Massachusetts pronounced wooster mass). How do You pronounce "Worcestershire?" LA

Ed Robson, Worcestershire, UK, December 31, 2009
Hi Larry, apologies for the late reply.....'Happy New Year'..very happy to recieve your reply & happy also to be of any help.
As to the Worcestershire Sauce..you'll also find it in every decent bar on
the planet as it is the key ingredient for the bloody mary! Nice to know your restaurants have taste. He he.
Worcestershire is locally pronounced 'wustersher!'
Worcester (wooster)is the local town & the shire (Shyer) bit is just the
area of worcester, i.e., the county of Worcester (shire = old name for
county...ala Lord of the Rings...Tolkien lived fairly local).
Hope all is well & my admiration for your site again. Cheers.

A: Thanks for the Anglais lesson. Und Fröliche neue Jahr zu Sie auch Buone Feste e un buon Anno nuovo. Ciao. LA

					Haris Ashraf Farid, 
					Malaysia, December 8, 2009

						Hi Mr. 
						Larry. Want to ask you whether or not I could post an ad 
						on your site on facebook? I also want to use for the 
						picture an image of your logo, the Synodontis 
						multipunctatus. No worries, I'm not gonna use it as the 
						icebreaker to slowly crawl my way up your organization 
						and seize control of Aqualand from you *cough**cough*. 
						It would really help people interested in fish to gain 
						info on fish care and get a lesson of Sarcasm 101. Then 
						you could use your new found power to somehow get 10% of 
						your country's tax income, buy a yacht, grow another 70 
						pounds and 4 new chins from all the caviar and lobster, 
						become a mafia boss, get listed as the top wanted man on 
						the CIA list, have a harem of the world's most beautiful 
						women, then die because you got eaten by a whale while 
						peeing in the middle of the Pacific ocean on a raft made 
						of money (your yacht was stolen by Eric along with your 
						entire harem). I'm from Malaysia, but I'm pretty sure 
						it's every American's dream. So how bout it? C'mon, the 
						being eaten by a whale thing is pretty tempting isn't 
						it?  

A: Not the best idea you've had lately. I'd have every twit and tweaker twittering and tweaking me day and night so I'd have even less time to take care of my current harem.

By the way, here's a pic of the only aberrant Java fern that I found in my tanks. I haven't seen the one you mentioned earlier. LA

Aftab Lokhandwala, December 8, 2009
Hey Larry, I save on my mobile bills by sending Free SMS from YouMint. You can do that too :-)
Click on the link to connect to my network.
That's not all; YouMint is offering a chance for you to win Movie tickets at a cinema near you! vvvv to know more. Thanks

A: Fat chance. I sent for some free M&Ms once. Now I get 30 to 40 junk emails and still no M&Ms. LA

Rick Powers, December 9, 2009
Where can I purchase or get some Malaysian trumpet snails?

A: If it were not 7 degrees Fahrenheit outside with 6 inches of snow right now plus 6 more tomorrow plus 40 miles an hour wind, I could send you some. Ask me again in April and maybe we can fix you up. I seriously doubt that we'll receive our Wednesday delivery coming from Chicago tomorrow. The entire midwest in snowed in. LA

Hope Lynch, December 9, 2009
How much do you sell your guinea pigs for. Do you ever sell any females that are pregnant? I used to have guinea pigs growing up and they had many litters. Just want one that is pregnant and keep the girl babies with her after that and find the others a home.

A: We usually sell them for around $25. Occasionally we sell pregnant females, but we usually separate the sexes. Males in the presence of females usually want to fight. LA

Hope Lynch, December 9, 2009
If you end up with any could you let me know? Thank you

A: You'll get your answer days quicker if you just call 515 283-0300. I couldn't get to work today because of the 12 inches of snow. We probably have some now. LA

Hope Lynch, December 10, 2009
Have not had a chance to call yet and I think you are closed. Have you had a chance to see if any of your guinea pigs are pregnant?

A: Haven't had a chance. I spent most of my time shoveling. LA

Lucas Teixeira, Keller, TX, December 9, 2009
Hello, My name is Lucas and I live in Keller, TX. I'm 14 and own 1 African cichlid (Steve) and a few other fish. I was wondering what kind of African Cichlid he/she is and what other types of cichlids I can keep him/her with. I really enjoy your site and it is very informative! Thank you.

A: You have a South American cichlid called a Jack Dempsey. You can mix him with green terrors, salvinii, convicts, and other South and Central American cichlids. LA

Fred Sylvia, Ames, IA, December 10, 2009
Do you have Amano shrimp in stock? If not, can they be special ordered? And finally what would the cost be on them? Thank you,

A: We have Amano shrimp in stock 90% of the time. Taking into account the snow, you may want to wait a bit before rushing in for them. I haven't been in myself for two days. Call 515 283-0300 to make sure we have them before you drive in. Ask for the price when you call. LA

Dennis Pinpin, Philippines, December 10, 2009
The Indian Almond tree you mentioned is also very common in the Philippines. Its scientific name is Terminalia catappa. Just so you know.
They're called "Talisay" here in the Philippines. They function as shade trees, so much so they're also referred to as Umbrella Trees.
I don't see any freshwater pipsfish listed. I've seen the critters in Taal Lake, Philippines. The ones I saw were about 2 inches long.
Thanks! Love your fish site.

LA
Six-inch freshwater pipefish -- a very difficult fish to keep.

A: I'll add your Talisay tree info to my betta leaf page. We don't see freshwater pipefish very often. Since they insist on mostly live brine shrimp, most people should avoid them. Thanks. LA

Dennis Pinpin, Philippines, December 12, 2009
Oh, you've seen them! Well I'll be. Hey, thank you so much for that very extensive listing of fresh/brackish water fish. I would never have believed it. Also, I'm delighted by your lively writing style.

Thanks again.

A: We saw more pipefish years ago. Not so much these days. LA

Joan Deng, Australia, December 10, 2009
Hi, I'm considering selling microworm cultures in Australia. I've found your page on microworms very informative and easy to read. Am I able to use some of your material in my ebay listing? Thanks

A: Sure. Just list aqualandpetsplus.com as your source. LA

Gabriel Hapenciuc, Houston, TX, December 10, 2009
On http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Catfish,%20Miscellaneous%20III.htm you have a picture labeled as 'Corydoras barbatus' while it is actually Corydoras paleatus. http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Corydoras_barbatus has a picture of barbatus. Sorry to be a stickler. I have some at home and knew that my peppered cories looked nothing like barbatus.

A: Right you are. Good eye. I'll add your correction to that page. It's been incorrect for three years. LA

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