April, 2005 questions you asked Aqualand

We enjoy getting most of your questions There’s a few PITBs out there who want to ask three per day, but we also grow PITBs locally so we’re used to them. Add your location if you remember.
PS I accidentally deleted a couple messages last month. If you did not get an answer, please re-send your question. LA

Diane Holste, Oregon, April 1, 2005
Hi; Great site. A girl @ PETCO in Beaverton Oregon told me about it. We have two axolotls and they are very nice little ones. No nipping but lots of babies.
Here’s the prob. We remove the eggs to a shallow (5 inches deep) tank. They stay with us till they start to sprout front legs. At about 2 months of age, they all die at once. My husband changes their water about every 6 days (using the same stuff you mentioned but no salt) and gives them this baby fish food someone at PetsMart recommended. What are we doing wrong? We clean and dote on them. The parents are very happy and social with us. We never touch them -- just talk, and they like to come to the glass and be pretend petted. They have great personalities.
Can you help?
P.S. I graduated from Drake U. and my husband’s family are Iowans.

The biggest problem with these foods is their mess. You’ll need to increase your water changes.
Also, add a teaspoon of salt per gallon, and separate the babies because they eat each other. LA

Edward Sola, April 2,2005
I have 4 needle nose gars in my 80 gal tank. 1 of which is about 11 inches, 1 is about 9.5, and the other two are around 7. My question is what is their common breeding technique? I’m finding strange eggs that are bigger than normal fish eggs in my tank and no one locally seems to know what they are. Some people seem to think that they could be insect eggs, however I never see any insects in or around the tank. Others say they could be snail eggs, however again, I see no sign of snails. I have pictures of the first batch of eggs I collected if you would care to see them, and maybe give me your info on them. Thank you in advance.

A: You bet I’d like to see pictures of the eggs. That does not mean I can positively identify them, because I’ve never seen a needle nose gar egg either. It sure sounds like gar eggs from here. Jot down notes and dates since your records could be increasing the knowledge base on these guys -- at least my knowledge base since I’ve never spawned gars. Keep us informed. LA

Serious Sam, April 4, 2005
Hi, Yesterday my female betta gave birth to about 200 eggs. But I wonder what they’ll eat once they hatch. Will Liquifry do? Or lettuce, egg yolk? Also, if I culture infusoria, how do I know they are not bacteria?
*My place can’t get microworms.

A: Newly hatched betta fry need micro-foods once they start swimming. The best micro-foods are:
#1. Infusoria or green water;
#2. Microworms or vinegar eels;
#3. Live very newly hatched brine shrimp;
#24. Thawed frozen baby brine shrimp;
#62. Liquifry or other liquid egglayer fry food;
#63. Commercial powdered food for baby egglayers;
#64. Ground up newspapers.
The lettuce and egg yolk you mention are foods for bacteria. The infusoria eat the bacteria. The baby bettas eat the infusoria for their first week or two of life.
Bacteria cultures smell like rotten eggs.
Check out Betta Breeding II for further details.
If your place cannot get microworms, find another place or join your local fish club or read the live food ads on the web. LA

DragonGT83, West Des Moines, IA, April 5, 2005
I was at your store earlier today and saw johanni females. Then I went back with my wife and they were all gone!!! lol I went ahead and got a milomo. I’m not sure I spelt it right, and I’m the youngster that was there talking to u a lil about gouramis a few weeks back, when the fish shipment was in. I’m probably going to go to the May 7th swap, and I know it’s a far line but I hope to work at Aqualand one day, fish and lil critters keep me going. lol.

A: I’ll probably be there on the 7th also. LA

Mike Killoran, Bradford, Ontario, April 5, 2005
Hello ... Before I ask my question, let me say that your site has been very helpful to me and my research. Thank you!
I have recently purchased 2 Brilliant Rasborit. I cannot find any information on them as my search on the internet comes up empty. Do they go by another name?

A: You betcha. Look them up under brilliant rasboras, Rasbora borapetensis. You’ll find plenty of info. LA

Ruby Chandler, April 6, 2005
Will you be going to the EIAA auction in Coralville this Saturday?

A: Can’t make it. I have to attend a Friends of the Northside Library Board Meeting at 9 am. Sorry. LA

Dallas Pelland, April 7, 2005
On your description of the platies you say that they can grow to up to two inches if male and smaller for female. Now this is no lie -- I have a 55 gallon tank with bala sharks, clown loaches, one huge goldfish, red tail sharks and 3 platies. The fourth one died recently due to age. We measured the platy and it came out 4 3/4 inches and that was the smallest one. Well to get to my question, has there been any other incidents of have these fish getting so large?

A: Bigger tanks do grow larger fishes. However, your 4 3/4 inch female sounds more like a female swordtail. We’ll probably hear from other hobbyists out there with state record platies. LA

Serious Sam, April 8, 2005
Can I start my own culture on microworm and white worm without a starter culture? What do I need?

A: Even though both these critters grow wild in nature, finding them in the wild and separating them from other less desirable organisms is beyond the scope of most hobbyists.
You need a starter culture. Search the web for “microworms,” and you’ll see thousands of sites. Most of these sell starter cultures. LA

Jill Ermel, April 8, 2005
I have a weather loach, Xzavior, and he’s such a cool fish! But he likes to get himself into all kinds of trouble...I had an ornament in my tank that was a barrel and it laid on its side and had a bung hole in the top of it. Well, Xzavior, as crazy as he is, decided to try and fit himself through that hole!
My parents found him this morning, stuck in the hole and there was no way for him to get out. They had to break the barrel to get him out.
Because he was panicking, he has worn away all his skin where he was stuck in the hole. I have only seen pictures of it, as I am away at school, and haven’t gotten a good look at the injury myself. It looks really bad, but my parents say that he is still acting the same way he did, swimming around the tank and such, and doesn’t seem to be in too much pain.
I’ve told my parents to add some salt to the tank, but I am still worried about the injury getting infected. What do you suggest I do to take care of this?
Since he seems himself, I think that he won’t die from this, unless it gets infected. Hopefully that won’t happen.
Thanks for any help you have to offer.

A: I would add the salt as you said plus a squirt of NovAqua. It bonds with raw flesh so it should help also. A product called Bio-Bandage (same inventor) would probably work better, but it costs two to three times as much as a weather loach. LA

Shev Vander, Montana, April 8, 2005
Great site. it speaks from experience, and explains so much more than other sites.
You should tell the price of the fish. when you say expensive, I was thinking $20. Up here in Montana that’s the most expensive fish I’ve ever seen, which was a black ghost knife fish.
I noticed you added shovel nosed sturgeon, aren’t they endangered? I live at the top of the Missouri River and they are functionally extinct here. Maybe they are just extirpated here and there’s a lot in other areas. How much would one of those cost?
Again, great site! Only error was that corydoras don’t use labyrinth organs, but instead swallow air into their intestine like plecos. Dyed fish are ugly, and are cruelly colored.... just wanted to add that.

A: I found that sturgeon at Cabellas Outfitters near Kansas City. They have the best display of native fishes I’ve ever seen -- but no bullheads of any species. Most native fish in exhibits look chewed on. The sturgeons I’ve seen for sale are the guys that grow huge. The pros raise these for caviar (check the web) and occasionally some work their way into the retail market -- not really expensive. I consider any fish over $20 as expensive. Is Montana still on the gold standard?
If the only mistake you found on my web site was saying that corys have a labyrinth organ, you haven’t read the whole thing. I’ve found some pretty goofy ones on there myself. I’ll probably make more as I go ... but you can’t push envelopes without gaffing a few whoppers. What’s this pleco gut thing?
We did not sell painted glass fish for about five years and finally gave in to customer demand. We did not make much of a dent in painted glass fish sales nation wide. Have you checked out the Anti-Painted Fish web site? Thanks for your input. I’ll put you on our Board of Correctors in a couple days. LA

Matt Lovell, Waterton, Wisconsin, April 9, 2005
Hey friends, I was just sitting here at home....passing the time away.....and surfing the web looking for new animals to purchase...and came across your website. I must say that it is one of the most organized and pet-owner-friendly sites that I have come across! It’s awesome! I am an avid pet hobbyist....freshwater fish, reptiles, and especially amphibians of all kinds! Do you keep all of those animals in stock....or are you able to special order them? I have been looking all over for salamanders (mostly Texas barred or tigers, but any will do) and haven’t had much luck! I even am willing to buy waterdogs and raise them from that stage and can’t seem to find them either! I would be willing to purchase some of them from you if y’all ship out of your area. I live in Watertown, Wisconsin. Again, great website....and I am definitely going to bookmark it! Thanks

A: As far as I know, the only guy that kept every critter in stock was Noah. And he retired several years ago. Many fish, reptiles, and amphibians are seasonal. We currently have TWO tiger salamanders in stock. Since the Iowa DNR protects Iowa tiger salamanders, ours are a less attractive species (no yellow spots). However, gold belly, fire belly, and eastern newts just became available. Anyway, we currently do not send stuff thru the mail. It’s a nice time of year to drive down from Wisconsin. Or check your local fish store and see what they can do for you. LA

Karen, April 9, 2005
Good day, I found your site via Google. Just wanted to let you know that you have a SUPER site!!! Bookmarked and will use it. Love your sense of humor:) Especially the part about laying in a pond with a bunch of crayfish. LOL. Keep up the great work. Have a nice day.

A: Wouldn’t that be “lying in a pond?” You really meant to use an intransitive verb (since there is no direct object). Best of all, I am also capable of lying on dry land (or wetlands for that matter). And ON the pond during the winter. LA

Michael Guinn, April 9, 2005
I love your site for information, I’ve been breeding fancy
rats for over 10 years, I specialize in dumbo, double rex, teddy rex
and true hairless. I figured I would give you guys the missing
or incorrect information on these guys. It also helps their lifespan
hugely.

A: Okay, Michael. I put your info on our hairless rat page. Send me a paragraph about yourself, and I’ll put you on our Board of Correctors. LA

James, Krause, University of CA @ Davis, April 10, 2005
Hi, I stumbled onto your website a while back, but something bothered me when I was reading your article about lungfish, particularly this passage:
“Missing Link. We’ve seen info saying the lungfish could be the fish that first adapted to walking on land. Get your salt shaker again. Those flimsy little legs couldn’t hold up a corydoras catfish. Lotsa catfishes move better on land than these guys. Remember the walking catfishes that threatened to devour Miami? Lungfish a Coelacanth relative? Forgettaboutit. And as far as that goes, those coelacanths live awfully deep to have stumbled onto land.”
While I am not a doctor yet, just merely an undergrad, I have taken several classes that have discussed the relationships between these three groups. First, coelacanths did not originate in the deep ocean; they actually originated in shallow freshwater streams, and then slowly as time progressed moved out into the ocean. Second, lungfish, while closely related to the coelacanth, are actually the sister group of tetrapods. This has been proven not only with DNA, but also physical characteristics such as their limbs being supported by internal skeletal elements (pelvic and/or pectoral girdles).
I hope this cleared up any misconceptions about these wonderful fish. If you would like more information on this subject I could send you the title of a good book that lays out these relationships. Keep up the great work with the site.

A: I usually try not to let facts get in the way of my musings, but you sent me some pretty good info. I’ll work it into the lungfish text, give you credit, and add you and your credentials to our Board of Correctors. Thanks. LA
PS Do not apologize for not being a doctor. Doctors have been causing a lot of trouble lately. I can safely say I’m also not a doctor nor have I played one on TV. However, when I was a kid ...

Rebecca Surovic, April 10, 2005
Hello! I’m writing to you out of concern for some information you have on your guinea pig care page. It is admirable that you provide care instructions for the animals, and some of your advice is spot-on such as the vitamin C requirements -- and kudos for not advising drops in the water, which are not a good idea. However, there are some problems in the advice you give ...

A: Thanks, Rebecca. I added your info to my guinea pig page. You (and the rest of the world) should be able to access it by morning. Send me a paragraph about yourself, so I can add you to our Board of Correctors. LA

Kyle Szeto, April 10, 2005
Thanks for writing the care sheets on Chaco toads and tomato frogs. The Chaco toads real name is a rococco toad. Don’t expect too many search matches though.

A: Merci beau coup, Kyle. Your rococco name gave me the name Bufo paracnemis. Lots of info and pics out there (over 800 links) I’ll add some of that info to my site next Tuesday -- and some of the links. LA

S. Rogge, April 11, 2005
Your information about mixing fire bellied toads is wrong. They should never be mixed with anything, they are toxic and will eat anything that moves. You should change the information on your site. Read this: http://talkto.thefrog.org/index.php?action=vthread&forum=3&topic=51

A: I read the threads. I partly agree with parts of what the site says. But I can walk eight blocks from Aqualand Pets Plus (blatant commercial) and see three species of frogs living in the same aquatic biotope (plus I know there are tree frogs in the same area). Still, I really doubt fire-bellied toads can eat mystery snails or bullfrog tadpoles or leopard frog tadpoles or goldfish or anoles or Eastern newts or tree frogs or anything else that lives in a tree. But thanks for the info. It shows that you and your fellow froggers are concerned about the frogs’ best interests. Ditto. I don’t think your group is wrong, just a little too dogmatic. It seems strange to me that people would rather complain on the web to those who can’t (or won’t) do anything to correct the problem. Most pet shop owners appreciate helpful comments from their customers. And they CAN correct the situation. LA

Dave Kerry, April 13, 2005
I just wanted to let you know I spend hours and hours on your website reading about fish. THANKS!

A: Dave, step away from the computer. Get outside in the sunshine and get some vitamin D or dust your crickets once a week. LA

Tricia Galanti, April 14, 2005
My fish spawned but they let most of the eggs drop. The ones that hatched the male started to eat as fast as they were emerging, so I got him out. The water wasn’t too clean since I had to shut the filter once he started the nest. Anyway, how long can you keep food that is supposed to hatch? I got some liquid fry food but they barely lived a full day. What should I do? Thanks, TG

A: Tricia, you didn’t say what fish you’re spawning, but I’m pretty sure you’re talking bettas. Read Betta Breed 1 to see my evaluation of four first foods for betta fry:
   ●  Infusoria;
   ●  Newly hatched brine shrimp;
   ●  Microworms; and
   ●  Powdered or liquid fry food.
You’ll also get some clues how to protect his nest better. Actually, what you saw as not too clean water was either bacteria or infusoria. Anyway, Betta Breed 1 refers you to additional info on how to grow each of the fry foods. Don’t worry about losing your first spawn. They’ll spawn again in two or three weeks. Keep at it. LA

Jim Goebel, April 15, 2005
Hello, great web site. I have two tiger Oscars over a year old about 10” long in a 125 gallon show tank. I do water changes about three times a week and feed them live food plus pellets.
They have been shaking, locking jaws, tail wagging and cleaning the slate for months but never spawn? I also raised temp to 82. They seem to hang out at opposite ends of the tank and come together over the slate in the middle. Maybe I have two males? I was thinking about buying a large tiger to add to the tank or do you have any breeding pairs in any color? Thank you

A: Your pair is fairly young, but they should complete the job. I prefer to add a convict or dempsey dither fish rather than another fish of the same species.
Try burying that slate more to one side. Leave a little bit exposed so they can go thru their entire digging ritual. Do a 50% water change and drastically alter their aquascaping. Skip the food for 24 to 48 hours, then toss in some nightcrawlers and/or crayfish. See if that helps.
Oddly enough, I have no breeding pairs of tiger oscars. Realize that breeding pairs when moved don’t always breed again. LA

Jeff Carey, Waukee, IA, April 15, 2005
My name is Jeff Carey with WSI Consulting in Waukee. I met you briefly at the Action International seminar on Monday and spent some time on the Aqualand website this week. I understand that you are working with Captain Jack Communications on your website needs (looks like a very extensive site, and they do great work). I was not familiar with your business, but it appears that Aqualand is the place to go for “pet stuff” in Des Moines.
Call or email me if we can be of any assistance. (We specialize in Search Engine Advertising/Marketing...putting you on page one of search results.)

A: Actually, it was Tuesday, Jeff. And you’re the third search engine optimizer to contact me this week. I prefer to do the SEO stuff myself. Thanks, anyway. LA

Shev Vander, Montana, April 16, 2005
Hey again. Many plecos can breathe air. They are facultative air breathers; they only breathe air when they need to. They gulp in air using their stomachs. As for corydoras or anything in the family of
Callichthyidae, they use their intestines for air breathing, not a labyrinth organ. I’ve been to the anti-painted fish site, and no, unfortunately we aren’t on the gold standard =P
Again, great site! Hmmm, I think you helped me months ago. I asked some dumb question about if an African butterfly fish would eat my African dwarf frog. It turned out my tire track eel tried to eat the frog
that couldn’t quite swallow all of an earthworm, and wouldn’t let go. Then my eel tried to eat my African brown knife fish, and my African butterfly fish, I think he’s racist.
Do you carry Can O Flies? I think I heard your site mentioned those. I can’t find anything here, our fish and fish food selection here sucks.

A: Intriguing lead to your dried flies question. I added it all to my half-vast Bank O’ Knowledge. Zoo Med makes Can O’ all kinds of bugs except flies. Tetra used to make Vita Fly, but I haven’t seen it for a while. Don’t give up on finding dried flies tho, many bird breeders use them. Now that I think about it, Tetra makes dried blood worms. They’re pretty close to flies, but cleaner. LA.

Alecia Groom, Edmond, Oklahoma, April 17, 2005
Do you ship fish? I am in Edmond, Oklahoma. I am interested in buying two baby pike cichlids. Please let me know if you ship and the price of the pikes. Thank you

A: Sorry, Alecia. We don’t ship fish. Although, as many requests as we get, maybe we ought to start? LA

Bob Ward, Center Point, IA, April 18, 2005
I was referred to you by Iowa Pet foods & Aquatics for some filter parts for my aquarium filter a Fluval 303 that is 9 years old, and works well if you can help me. I need an impeller cover part # A-15820, impeller seal ring # A-15830, Foam block # A-1434, and a complete impeller assembly - 110V # A-15840.

A: It looks like Hagen no longer makes the 303 filter. However, they still provide the parts you listed. Do you want us to order them for you? LA

Bill McCasling, St. Louis, MO, April 18, 2005
I bought a pleco at an auction here in St Louis. I don’t know what kind it is. You have some but the tails are different, black with white spots and a split tail with a long tentacle coming off it. He came in a bag of Bristlenoses. I’d like to know what it is. Thank you

A: I’m not sure what it is. Can you send me a picture? LA

Jodie Myers, Corona, CA, April 19, 2005
Good morning. I came home last night from work to find my daughter’s snails with a cocoon-type thing in her tank. I called the PetsMart where the snails were purchased from & got no information at all. In fact the young lady who helped me was amazed to say the least. She stated that the snails are never there long enough to procreate.
I came upon your web site from a Google search but since then have not been able to find the area I was at with the great photos & information on the young snails! Can you please help me get back there? I phoned your shop this morning & the woman on the line was much help as far was the precautions to take but I would like to visit that area on the site again. Thank you so much for your help & your great web site!
P.S. The snails I purchased about 2 months ago are two different breeds, a gold & a black. Do they normally procreate with other species?

A: Is PetsMart still open in California? Anyway, go to our home page at aqualandpetsplus.com. Look down the left side for Bugs. Then go to Snails, Mystery. Then add it to your Favorites list.
PS The gold and black are the same species of mystery snail. They breed together like two different colored horses. LA

Jodie Again, April 20
Hi, I am guessing I am gonna be a pain in your butt ... Ok, well, our last “talk” was about my snails & the breeding, or laying of the eggs. The woman I spoke to on the phone said that I should keep
them in humid temp. I have not read this anywhere else. I am not doubting, but should I keep them humid? Can they not get wet at all? It may sound silly but myself & my family are pretty excited to see the hatching of the eggs, and don’t want to harm them.
I have some more questions for you if you don’t mind ... but my
daughter & I both need to get some rest. It is 10 pm here. Thank you so much for your time!!!

A: Do not cover the eggs with water or they will drown. Just keep them humid. A covered aquarium works well. If your top has gaps in it, cover them with Saran wrap. In two or three weeks (depending upon temperature, the phase of the moon, and your personal attitude) the eggs will hatch and the baby snails will slide into the water. LA

Josimar Senior, Probably UK, April 20, 2005
Hi, I was reading your Channel Catfish page and read that small tanks stunt their growth. I currently own two 6-inch channel cats in a 38-gallon tank and am planning on feeding them up (to about 12 inches) for September to go out in an 1800-gallon pond. Will they get this large or will their growth be stunted? The temp in the tank is about 30 to 32 degrees and I have two filter systems in there. Thank you

A: I’m not sure they’ll grow to 12 inches by September, but they will grow to 36 inches in your pond. I’m assuming you’re in the United Kingdom and using the Celsius thermometer. I thought you needed a permit for channel catfish over there? But don’t worry about stunting them, they will grow plenty big in your pond. LA

Arthur K. Schwedler, U.S. Army, April 20, 2005
To Whom It May Concern: Do you have any African Lungfish available, if so do you ship, and if you ship what would the cost be for a young lungfish (Protopterus annectens) including shipping? This is to replace a lungfish I lost last year when it broke the tank heater and cooked itself. Thank you for your time. Disregard below address block as I'm emailing you from work and looking for a home aquarium pet.

A: Sorry. We just sell lungfish at our retail store. You have to come to Des Moines to get them. We’ll give you the royal tour. LA

Jason Bogue, Marshalltown, IA April 20, 2005
I am a college student at Marshalltown Community College. I was wondering if I could please use your Internet site for information and pictures. The information and pictures I’d be using would be used in my class project, which is a power point presentation on tropical, live bearing, aquarium fish. Thank you

A: Why the heck not? Make sure to send me half your grade. LA

Melissa Quinn, April 20, 2005
Dear Mr LA Aqualand, Wow! What an awesome website! I can’t believe you guys went to all that work to help out your customers (and random folks like myself). It’s even lots of sassy fun! This must have taken you guys forever.
I don’t know if you have time to answer questions. If not, you can stop reading here - I mostly just wanted to tell you that your site is a
bountiful cornucopia of info and I truly appreciate it.
Question? Yah? OK -- I’ve worked in pet shops, and I know it is Bad Bad Bad to buy animals without knowing a lot about them first. However, silly Melissa (that would be me) saw some kind of ameiva on sale in a crowded messy tank last month, and before I knew it he was glaring at me from a little plastic carrying tub on my passenger’s seat. I think he’s a Tiger Ameiva because he has vertical stripes on his sides and no green on his back or head.
I now know he lives in tropical forested areas, digs around in leaves for bugs, likes to run and climb, loves making tunnels in the deep soil of his tank, and devours crickets like a well-oiled machine (unlike my Mali, whose hunting strategy is to try and fall onto moving objects with his mouth open.) I read somewhere that he would eat vegetarian stuff too, but so far he’s just a happy little insectivore. Temp is 80 at one end and 90-95 in the other, down to about 65-70 at night. Does that sound right? Do you know anything else about these guys, especially what else they might eat?
Wow, I guess I could have summarized those whole last two paragraphs as “what do you know about ameivas?” Sorry about the excessive rambling. Thanks

A: That was not a question. That was a thesis. Sounds like you got it right. Malis eat a lot of vegetation. I don’t know if ameivas do or not. Guess I need to write a page on them. Other foods? Try mealworms, wax worms, earthworms, roaches, spiders, and goldfish. LA

Shev Vander, Montana, April 21, 2005
Another question, Do clams clear up green water real fast? I have already set up a 10-gallon right in front of my window, I have some guppies in there making nitrates, and will get some flourish phosphorus. Just wondering about how fast some clams could clear the water, and if I could maybe sustain a green water culture without it all getting eaten in a day -- since they will be filtering the same amount of water, regardless of how much algae is in it.
Do you get a lot of emails a day?

A1: I have no idea how fast clams work.
A2: The number of emails depends on the day. LA

Josimar Senior, UK, April 21, 2005
I thought that too (about permits required to keep channel catfish) but I have read from a web page about the permits that I don’t. What’s the best thing to feed them on? I have had mine since Sunday and they are still skittish and wild and do not really eat a lot. Do you have any recommendations? Thank you

A: Channel catfish eat EVERYTHING. People who fish for them catch them on: chicken guts, meld (dried blood), stink baits (based on bleu cheese), nightcrawlers, and live or dead fish. I caught a three-footer on a rolled up piece of white bead the size of a bean. Catfish farmers feed them the lowest cost foods they can find -- usually based on cotton seed residuals after the oil is removed for sale. ANY food you give them will likely be far superior to most of the above. Give your channel cats a nutritious pellet (at least two types), frozen plankton for treats, and an occasional earthworm. If you are housing them in your pond with koi, they will love the koi pellets. If you house them with goldfish, they will love the goldfish pellets AND the goldfish. LA

Christina Engles, April 21, 2005
Hi. I am NOT intending on going into the betta business but have a litter of fry and will put the couple together one more time to get photos, etc.
Can you help with a question?
I seem to have a green thumb here and will put Mom and Dad in separate ROOMS (not just tanks) after this next embrace. But now my question is, will my 30 or so 3-week old fry see 4-day old fry as food, i.e., newer batch needs new tank??
Thank you!

A: Much depends on how fast/large your three-week old fry have grown. Big fish eat little fish -- siblings or not. Yes, you need a new (established) tank for your next spawn.
Go to Betta Breed II to bump your spawn up to 300 rather than 30. Bettas lay hundreds of eggs, but most fry starve to death because they can’t eat the food they’re given. LA

Willis Lake, April 21, 2005
Hi there, Excellent site with great photos. I was wondering if you ship fish at all? I am asking due to the fact that I couldn’t locate any kind of purchase link on your site.
You have fish that others don’t and I would like to purchase some, however I do not live in your state. If you can, please let me know.

A: Thanks for the accolades. What’s a purchase link? We sell fish at our retail store in Des Moines only. And we could not possibly stock all the fish, snakes, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, and so forth that we can show on our website. However, I can tell you (and others) how to keep them alive. Or at least what I know about keeping them alive. Not everyone agrees with me 100% of the time, but I don’t hold it against them just because they’re wrong. Seriously tho, different techniques work for different people. As they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. My uncle Jake used to nail them to the catalpa tree in our backyard and skin them with a pair of pliers. Heck, some people don’t even like to skin cats. We’re talking catfish, of course. LA

E. Robert González, April 22, 2005
Dear Madam or Sir, I’m writing to you out of frustration and the need for knowledge. I’ve had an extremely hard time tracking down either Eastern Box Turtles or Three-Toed Box Turtles. Browsing through your own site, I’ve noticed the number of three-toeds in the pictures shown. I’m looking for an addition to my turtle family. You see, I bought my first turtle 10 years ago and I am now 19 years of age. I’ve had my female three toed for many years and she’s provided me good company. I’ve just recently improved her conditions and made sure she had everything she needed. For the longest time I saw her needs through the simple eyes of a child. I thought only that she needed a small rodent cage with the worst of beddings; cedar chips. Now 10 years later I’ve learned much. Now I seek to find another turtle to add to this family. I’m hoping either you yourself have some of these wonderful animals or you’re aware of somewhere I can find one. I appreciate any help you can send my way. I thank you in advance. Sincerely,

A: ¿Comesta, Robert? It’s still a bit early for box turtles to poke their heads out yet. I put my tomatoes out a month ago and it’s supposed to frost here the next two nights -- bad turtle weather. We can’t sell the Eastern Ornates here because they grow wild in Iowa (even tho we’re on the west side of the river). And we haven’t seen the three-toes on the inventory lists yet. But they should start appearing soon. We’ve seen the Eastern Ornates all winter but can’t sell them. Ask your local fish store to order a male three-toed box turtle for you. LA

Willis Lake, April 22, 2005
Thanks for the speedy reply. Well, you bummed me out by not selling via online but what can you do?
Do you know of someone I could possibly contact to purchase some of the more “oddball” fish? I am having a hard time locating anyone who can sell them and most guys who do are out of my state.
Keep up the good work on the site -- very informative and excellent pictures. Take care.

A: Your local fish store should be able to order them for you. All the pet store magazines list livestock sources. We get ours from Florida, California, and Chicago. Tell your local fish store to call around or spend some time on the internet. Even Wal-Mart carries some of the oddballs. LA

Weird Kid, April 23, 2005
Hi Larry, I am here to say sorry for wasting your time and disturbing you so long. I shan’t ask you any more questions. Are you really mad at me? If yes, please forgive me. Thanks.

A: I’m not mad at you. I’m just limiting you to one question a month. No more asking the same question in different words every day. Ditto to Serious Sam and Captain Summa. Your parents need to send you outside more often. LA

Raj Vamadevan, April 23, 2005
I read your extremely informative website, and I congratulate you on it. I also wanted to know if you sold Gold Newts (Taricha sp.), and if you shipped them. If you don’t, do you know of any place online that does?

A: Namistay, Raj. We sell gold belly newts and have them in stock right now. We got ours out of Florida, so they should be generally available. We got ours a month or so ago (pretty early in the season), and they seem weak. We don’t ship them, however. If you want to contact us next month when we get some healthier specimens, we’ll try to mail you some. In the meantime, ask your local fish store to order them for you. Their price has gone up. LA

Shev Vander, Montana, April 23, 2005
Hello again. Looked through your site and found the section about mini-clams. Those clams look like Asian golden clams, Corbicula fluminea. They were introduced here decades ago.

A: Thanks for the extra info, Shev. You never did send me a paragraph about yourself so I could add you to the Aqualand International Board of Correctors. LA

E. Robert González, April 23, 2005
Unfortunately I don’t have a local store here. I’ve literally searched
everywhere for box turtles and come up with nothing. Is there anyone you know who would sell box turtles? Or anything you yourself can do to help? I’d be much obliged.

A: Okay, Robert. We’ll try. If you live in the continental U.S., give me another email in six weeks. Maybe the three-toes will be out of hibernation by then. I’ll try to get one to you. They retailed for $60 last year -- a ridiculous amount for a critter that runs wild and naked in the hills of Arkansas. Postage will be extra. The USPS is trying to increase it again. LA

Alex M. Kim, April 23, 2005
I believe the “hairy-clawed shrimp” depicted on your site might be a juvenile specimen of the “Macrobrachium sp. aus Thailand” depicted at http://www.mimbon.de/wirbel0.html and (within the entry for 10.02.2005) at http://www.crusta10.de/index.php?page=3&sideid=news_de. From where do you obtain them?

A: Thank, Alex. I added your info to my shrimp page. Send me a paragraph about yourself so I can add you to my Aqualand International Board of Correctors. That’s a Korean sounding name accessing a German website. Very interesting, as Artie Johnson used to say. We got our single specimen from APET in Chicago and have never seen another one offered for sale. LA

Note: On April 24 my computer imploded. I could not communicate with it for 10 days. If you asked a question during this time, I probably did not receive it. I did, however, start receiving 150 to 200 junk mail messages daily with viruses attached. This is the “fun part” of running a web site. LA

	Qs & As -- Your Questions in April, 2005 Aqualand's Answers

Amphibians Axolotls Caecilian Worm Chaco Toad Mud Puppies Newts General Newts Eastern Newts Golden Newts Mandarin Salamanders Suriname Toad Tadpoles Terrarium I Terrarium II USA Toads Water Dogs Misc. Toads Frogs Bull Clawed Dumpy Dwarf Fire-Belly Floating Green Tree Leopard Pac Man Pipa pipa Pyxie Red-Eyed Tree Tomato Misc. More Misc. Misc Frogs III Animals Bunnies Chinchillas Degus Ferrets Gerbils Guinea Pig Hamsters I Hamsters II Hamsters III Hamsters IV Hamsters V Hedgehogs Kittens Kids & Kittens Mice Parasites Rats I Rats II Rats, Hairless S-T Opossums Sugar Gliders Water Bottles Bugs Crabby 500 Crab 04 Results Centipedes Cray/Lobsters Crayfish II Crayfish III Cray, Yucatan Fiddler Crabs Shrimp, Algae Shrimp, Aqua Shrimp, Red Shrimp, Flower Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, Rudolph Hermit Crabs Hermit Crabs II Madagas Roach Mantids Mini-Clams Mini-Crabs Giant Millipedes Red Claw Crabs Reiman Butterfly Snail, Apple Snail, Colombian Snail, Land Snail, Malaysian Snail, Mystery Snail, Trapdoor Scorpions Tarantulas TarantulaWeen II Misc. Bugs Birds Breeding Tips Canaries Cockatiels Dove, Diamond Dove, Ringneck Finches Love Birds Parakeets Pelleted Foods Quaker Parrots Parrot Pictures Parrot Pix II Dave's Parrots Lizards Alligators Anoles Bearded Dragon Calotes Chamel, Jackson Chamel, Panther Chamel, Veiled Gecko, Crested Gecko, Golden Gecko, House Gecko, Leopard Gecko, Tokay Horned "Toads" Iguana New Iguana Dragons Iguana Q&A I Iguana Q&A II Iguana Training Iguana Update Knight Anoles Monitors, Nile Monitors, Savana Monitors, Water Salmonella Skinks Skinks Blue-Tongue Tegus Uromastyx maliensis Water Dragon Misc Lizards Misc Lizards 2 Misc Lizards 3 Snakes Anacondas Boa, Rosy Boa, Red-Tail Corn Snake Garter Snake Green Snake Kids/Corn Snakes Kids/Red-Tail Boas Kids at Pet Expo 1 Kids at Pet Expo 2 Kids at Pet Expo 3 Kids at Pet Expo 4 Kids at Pet Expo 5 King & Milk Python, Ball Python, Burmese Snakesgiving Snakesgiving II Misc. Snake Pix Turtles Box, Asian Box, USA Races Snapping Sulcata Water Live Foods Blackworms Blood Worms Br Shrimp I Br Shrimp II Crayfish 1 Crayfish 2 Crayfish 3 Crickets Daphnia Earthworms Feedr Goldfish Fruit Flies Ghost Shrimp Grindal Worms Infusoria Mealworms Microworms Rosy Reds Super Worms Wax Worms White Clouds Decorating Bubbles Driftwood Gravel Plastic Plants Rocks Slow Growing Plants Miscellaneous How to Start How to Add New Fish How to Keep Healthy Which Fish Get Along? 10 Questions to Ask What is Ich? Under Gravel Filters Cloudy Water Cool Water Tanks Gravel Vacuums Preventing Disease Feeding to the Max Frozen Foods Green Water Nasty Chemicals Overfeeding Power Filters Rift Lake Salts Quarantine Tank Mini-Tank 2nd Av Bait Aquatic Plants Amazon Swords More Swords Sword Plants III Anubias Aponogetons A. boivinianus A. fenestralis A. ulvaceous Aquarium/Bog Banana Plant Bolbitis Bunch Bunch Plants II Cryptocorynes Crystalwort Dwarf Lily Grassy Grassy II Hornwort Hygrophila Lace Java Lance Fern Java Moss Moss Balls Onion Vermiculite Watersprite Aqualand Q&AS Q&As Jan 05 Q&As Feb 05 Q&As Mar 05 Q&As Apr 05 Q&As May 05 Q&As May II Q&As Jun 05 Q&As Jun II Q&As Jul 05 Q&As Jul II Q&As Aug 05	We enjoy getting most of your questions There’s a few PITBs out there who want to ask three per day, but we also grow PITBs locally so we’re used to them. Add your location if you remember. PS I accidentally deleted a couple messages last month. If you did not get an answer, please re-send your question. LA Diane Holste, Oregon, April 1, 2005 Hi; Great site. A girl @ PETCO in Beaverton Oregon told me about it. We have two axolotls and they are very nice little ones. No nipping but lots of babies. Here’s the prob. We remove the eggs to a shallow (5 inches deep) tank. They stay with us till they start to sprout front legs. At about 2 months of age, they all die at once. My husband changes their water about every 6 days (using the same stuff you mentioned but no salt) and gives them this baby fish food someone at PetsMart recommended. What are we doing wrong? We clean and dote on them. The parents are very happy and social with us. We never touch them -- just talk, and they like to come to the glass and be pretend petted. They have great personalities. Can you help? P.S. I graduated from Drake U. and my husband’s family are Iowans. A: You used language like PETCO and PetsMart over the net? Is that legal? Are they still open on the west coast? Anyway, I need to think about this problem for a day. I have to go to kickboxing class in five minutes. It’s got to be the food. But I’ll come up with a better answer tomorrow. LA Okay. As I mentioned earlier, I believe you have a food problem. Axolotl larvae are carnivorous little snots (they even eat each other) and need something more than they’re getting. Try adding microworms and newly hatched brine shrimp to the babies’ diets. As they grow (start to get legs as you said) add California blackworms and frozen brine shrimp. The biggest problem with these foods is their mess. You’ll need to increase your water changes. Also, add a teaspoon of salt per gallon, and separate the babies because they eat each other. LA Edward Sola, April 2,2005 I have 4 needle nose gars in my 80 gal tank. 1 of which is about 11 inches, 1 is about 9.5, and the other two are around 7. My question is what is their common breeding technique? I’m finding strange eggs that are bigger than normal fish eggs in my tank and no one locally seems to know what they are. Some people seem to think that they could be insect eggs, however I never see any insects in or around the tank. Others say they could be snail eggs, however again, I see no sign of snails. I have pictures of the first batch of eggs I collected if you would care to see them, and maybe give me your info on them. Thank you in advance. A: You bet I’d like to see pictures of the eggs. That does not mean I can positively identify them, because I’ve never seen a needle nose gar egg either. It sure sounds like gar eggs from here. Jot down notes and dates since your records could be increasing the knowledge base on these guys -- at least my knowledge base since I’ve never spawned gars. Keep us informed. LA Serious Sam, April 4, 2005 Hi, Yesterday my female betta gave birth to about 200 eggs. But I wonder what they’ll eat once they hatch. Will Liquifry do? Or lettuce, egg yolk? Also, if I culture infusoria, how do I know they are not bacteria? My place can’t get microworms. A: Newly hatched betta fry need micro-foods once they start swimming. The best micro-foods are: #1.* Infusoria or green water; #2. Microworms or vinegar eels; #3. Live very newly hatched brine shrimp; #24. Thawed frozen baby brine shrimp; #62. Liquifry or other liquid egglayer fry food; #63. Commercial powdered food for baby egglayers; #64. Ground up newspapers. The lettuce and egg yolk you mention are foods for bacteria. The infusoria eat the bacteria. The baby bettas eat the infusoria for their first week or two of life. Bacteria cultures smell like rotten eggs. Check out Betta Breeding II for further details. If your place cannot get microworms, find another place or join your local fish club or read the live food ads on the web. LA DragonGT83, West Des Moines, IA, April 5, 2005 I was at your store earlier today and saw johanni females. Then I went back with my wife and they were all gone!!! lol I went ahead and got a milomo. I’m not sure I spelt it right, and I’m the youngster that was there talking to u a lil about gouramis a few weeks back, when the fish shipment was in. I’m probably going to go to the May 7th swap, and I know it’s a far line but I hope to work at Aqualand one day, fish and lil critters keep me going. lol. A: I’ll probably be there on the 7th also. LA Mike Killoran, Bradford, Ontario, April 5, 2005 Hello ... Before I ask my question, let me say that your site has been very helpful to me and my research. Thank you! I have recently purchased 2 Brilliant Rasborit. I cannot find any information on them as my search on the internet comes up empty. Do they go by another name? A: You betcha. Look them up under brilliant rasboras, Rasbora borapetensis. You’ll find plenty of info. LA Ruby Chandler, April 6, 2005 Will you be going to the EIAA auction in Coralville this Saturday? A: Can’t make it. I have to attend a Friends of the Northside Library Board Meeting at 9 am. Sorry. LA Dallas Pelland, April 7, 2005 On your description of the platies you say that they can grow to up to two inches if male and smaller for female. Now this is no lie -- I have a 55 gallon tank with bala sharks, clown loaches, one huge goldfish, red tail sharks and 3 platies. The fourth one died recently due to age. We measured the platy and it came out 4 3/4 inches and that was the smallest one. Well to get to my question, has there been any other incidents of have these fish getting so large? A: Bigger tanks do grow larger fishes. However, your 4 3/4 inch female sounds more like a female swordtail. We’ll probably hear from other hobbyists out there with state record platies. LA Serious Sam, April 8, 2005 Can I start my own culture on microworm and white worm without a starter culture? What do I need? A: Even though both these critters grow wild in nature, finding them in the wild and separating them from other less desirable organisms is beyond the scope of most hobbyists. You need a starter culture. Search the web for “microworms,” and you’ll see thousands of sites. Most of these sell starter cultures. LA Jill Ermel, April 8, 2005 I have a weather loach, Xzavior, and he’s such a cool fish! But he likes to get himself into all kinds of trouble...I had an ornament in my tank that was a barrel and it laid on its side and had a bung hole in the top of it. Well, Xzavior, as crazy as he is, decided to try and fit himself through that hole! My parents found him this morning, stuck in the hole and there was no way for him to get out. They had to break the barrel to get him out. Because he was panicking, he has worn away all his skin where he was stuck in the hole. I have only seen pictures of it, as I am away at school, and haven’t gotten a good look at the injury myself. It looks really bad, but my parents say that he is still acting the same way he did, swimming around the tank and such, and doesn’t seem to be in too much pain. I’ve told my parents to add some salt to the tank, but I am still worried about the injury getting infected. What do you suggest I do to take care of this? Since he seems himself, I think that he won’t die from this, unless it gets infected. Hopefully that won’t happen. Thanks for any help you have to offer. A: I would add the salt as you said plus a squirt of NovAqua. It bonds with raw flesh so it should help also. A product called Bio-Bandage (same inventor) would probably work better, but it costs two to three times as much as a weather loach. LA Shev Vander, Montana, April 8, 2005 Great site. it speaks from experience, and explains so much more than other sites. You should tell the price of the fish. when you say expensive, I was thinking $20. Up here in Montana that’s the most expensive fish I’ve ever seen, which was a black ghost knife fish. I noticed you added shovel nosed sturgeon, aren’t they endangered? I live at the top of the Missouri River and they are functionally extinct here. Maybe they are just extirpated here and there’s a lot in other areas. How much would one of those cost? Again, great site! Only error was that corydoras don’t use labyrinth organs, but instead swallow air into their intestine like plecos. Dyed fish are ugly, and are cruelly colored.... just wanted to add that. A: I found that sturgeon at Cabellas Outfitters near Kansas City. They have the best display of native fishes I’ve ever seen -- but no bullheads of any species. Most native fish in exhibits look chewed on. The sturgeons I’ve seen for sale are the guys that grow huge. The pros raise these for caviar (check the web) and occasionally some work their way into the retail market -- not really expensive. I consider any fish over $20 as expensive. Is Montana still on the gold standard? If the only mistake you found on my web site was saying that corys have a labyrinth organ, you haven’t read the whole thing. I’ve found some pretty goofy ones on there myself. I’ll probably make more as I go ... but you can’t push envelopes without gaffing a few whoppers. What’s this pleco gut thing? We did not sell painted glass fish for about five years and finally gave in to customer demand. We did not make much of a dent in painted glass fish sales nation wide. Have you checked out the Anti-Painted Fish web site? Thanks for your input. I’ll put you on our Board of Correctors in a couple days. LA Matt Lovell, Waterton, Wisconsin, April 9, 2005 Hey friends, I was just sitting here at home....passing the time away.....and surfing the web looking for new animals to purchase...and came across your website. I must say that it is one of the most organized and pet-owner-friendly sites that I have come across! It’s awesome! I am an avid pet hobbyist....freshwater fish, reptiles, and especially amphibians of all kinds! Do you keep all of those animals in stock....or are you able to special order them? I have been looking all over for salamanders (mostly Texas barred or tigers, but any will do) and haven’t had much luck! I even am willing to buy waterdogs and raise them from that stage and can’t seem to find them either! I would be willing to purchase some of them from you if y’all ship out of your area. I live in Watertown, Wisconsin. Again, great website....and I am definitely going to bookmark it! Thanks A: As far as I know, the only guy that kept every critter in stock was Noah. And he retired several years ago. Many fish, reptiles, and amphibians are seasonal. We currently have TWO tiger salamanders in stock. Since the Iowa DNR protects Iowa tiger salamanders, ours are a less attractive species (no yellow spots). However, gold belly, fire belly, and eastern newts just became available. Anyway, we currently do not send stuff thru the mail. It’s a nice time of year to drive down from Wisconsin. Or check your local fish store and see what they can do for you. LA Karen, April 9, 2005 Good day, I found your site via Google. Just wanted to let you know that you have a SUPER site!!! Bookmarked and will use it. Love your sense of humor:) Especially the part about laying in a pond with a bunch of crayfish. LOL. Keep up the great work. Have a nice day. A: Wouldn’t that be “lying in a pond?” You really meant to use an intransitive verb (since there is no direct object). Best of all, I am also capable of lying on dry land (or wetlands for that matter). And ON the pond during the winter. LA Michael Guinn, April 9, 2005 I love your site for information, I’ve been breeding fancy rats for over 10 years, I specialize in dumbo, double rex, teddy rex and true hairless. I figured I would give you guys the missing or incorrect information on these guys. It also helps their lifespan hugely. A: Okay, Michael. I put your info on our hairless rat page. Send me a paragraph about yourself, and I’ll put you on our Board of Correctors. LA James, Krause, University of CA @ Davis, April 10, 2005 Hi, I stumbled onto your website a while back, but something bothered me when I was reading your article about lungfish, particularly this passage: “Missing Link. We’ve seen info saying the lungfish could be the fish that first adapted to walking on land. Get your salt shaker again. Those flimsy little legs couldn’t hold up a corydoras catfish. Lotsa catfishes move better on land than these guys. Remember the walking catfishes that threatened to devour Miami? Lungfish a Coelacanth relative? Forgettaboutit. And as far as that goes, those coelacanths live awfully deep to have stumbled onto land.” While I am not a doctor yet, just merely an undergrad, I have taken several classes that have discussed the relationships between these three groups. First, coelacanths did not originate in the deep ocean; they actually originated in shallow freshwater streams, and then slowly as time progressed moved out into the ocean. Second, lungfish, while closely related to the coelacanth, are actually the sister group of tetrapods. This has been proven not only with DNA, but also physical characteristics such as their limbs being supported by internal skeletal elements (pelvic and/or pectoral girdles). I hope this cleared up any misconceptions about these wonderful fish. If you would like more information on this subject I could send you the title of a good book that lays out these relationships. Keep up the great work with the site. A: I usually try not to let facts get in the way of my musings, but you sent me some pretty good info. I’ll work it into the lungfish text, give you credit, and add you and your credentials to our Board of Correctors. Thanks. LA PS Do not apologize for not being a doctor. Doctors have been causing a lot of trouble lately. I can safely say I’m also not a doctor nor have I played one on TV. However, when I was a kid ... Rebecca Surovic, April 10, 2005 Hello! I’m writing to you out of concern for some information you have on your guinea pig care page. It is admirable that you provide care instructions for the animals, and some of your advice is spot-on such as the vitamin C requirements -- and kudos for not advising drops in the water, which are not a good idea. However, there are some problems in the advice you give ... A: Thanks, Rebecca. I added your info to my guinea pig page. You (and the rest of the world) should be able to access it by morning. Send me a paragraph about yourself, so I can add you to our Board of Correctors. LA Kyle Szeto, April 10, 2005 Thanks for writing the care sheets on Chaco toads and tomato frogs. The Chaco toads real name is a rococco toad. Don’t expect too many search matches though. A: Merci beau coup, Kyle. Your rococco name gave me the name Bufo paracnemis. Lots of info and pics out there (over 800 links) I’ll add some of that info to my site next Tuesday -- and some of the links. LA S. Rogge, April 11, 2005 Your information about mixing fire bellied toads is wrong. They should never be mixed with anything, they are toxic and will eat anything that moves. You should change the information on your site. Read this: http://talkto.thefrog.org/index.php?action=vthread&forum=3&topic=51 A: I read the threads. I partly agree with parts of what the site says. But I can walk eight blocks from Aqualand Pets Plus (blatant commercial) and see three species of frogs living in the same aquatic biotope (plus I know there are tree frogs in the same area). Still, I really doubt fire-bellied toads can eat mystery snails or bullfrog tadpoles or leopard frog tadpoles or goldfish or anoles or Eastern newts or tree frogs or anything else that lives in a tree. But thanks for the info. It shows that you and your fellow froggers are concerned about the frogs’ best interests. Ditto. I don’t think your group is wrong, just a little too dogmatic. It seems strange to me that people would rather complain on the web to those who can’t (or won’t) do anything to correct the problem. Most pet shop owners appreciate helpful comments from their customers. And they CAN correct the situation. LA Dave Kerry, April 13, 2005 I just wanted to let you know I spend hours and hours on your website reading about fish. THANKS! A: Dave, step away from the computer. Get outside in the sunshine and get some vitamin D or dust your crickets once a week. LA Tricia Galanti, April 14, 2005 My fish spawned but they let most of the eggs drop. The ones that hatched the male started to eat as fast as they were emerging, so I got him out. The water wasn’t too clean since I had to shut the filter once he started the nest. Anyway, how long can you keep food that is supposed to hatch? I got some liquid fry food but they barely lived a full day. What should I do? Thanks, TG A: Tricia, you didn’t say what fish you’re spawning, but I’m pretty sure you’re talking bettas. Read Betta Breed 1 to see my evaluation of four first foods for betta fry: ● Infusoria; ● Newly hatched brine shrimp; ● Microworms; and ● Powdered or liquid fry food. You’ll also get some clues how to protect his nest better. Actually, what you saw as not too clean water was either bacteria or infusoria. Anyway, Betta Breed 1 refers you to additional info on how to grow each of the fry foods. Don’t worry about losing your first spawn. They’ll spawn again in two or three weeks. Keep at it. LA Jim Goebel, April 15, 2005 Hello, great web site. I have two tiger Oscars over a year old about 10” long in a 125 gallon show tank. I do water changes about three times a week and feed them live food plus pellets. They have been shaking, locking jaws, tail wagging and cleaning the slate for months but never spawn? I also raised temp to 82. They seem to hang out at opposite ends of the tank and come together over the slate in the middle. Maybe I have two males? I was thinking about buying a large tiger to add to the tank or do you have any breeding pairs in any color? Thank you A: Your pair is fairly young, but they should complete the job. I prefer to add a convict or dempsey dither fish rather than another fish of the same species. Try burying that slate more to one side. Leave a little bit exposed so they can go thru their entire digging ritual. Do a 50% water change and drastically alter their aquascaping. Skip the food for 24 to 48 hours, then toss in some nightcrawlers and/or crayfish. See if that helps. Oddly enough, I have no breeding pairs of tiger oscars. Realize that breeding pairs when moved don’t always breed again. LA Jeff Carey, Waukee, IA, April 15, 2005 My name is Jeff Carey with WSI Consulting in Waukee. I met you briefly at the Action International seminar on Monday and spent some time on the Aqualand website this week. I understand that you are working with Captain Jack Communications on your website needs (looks like a very extensive site, and they do great work). I was not familiar with your business, but it appears that Aqualand is the place to go for “pet stuff” in Des Moines. Call or email me if we can be of any assistance. (We specialize in Search Engine Advertising/Marketing...putting you on page one of search results.) A: Actually, it was Tuesday, Jeff. And you’re the third search engine optimizer to contact me this week. I prefer to do the SEO stuff myself. Thanks, anyway. LA Shev Vander, Montana, April 16, 2005 Hey again. Many plecos can breathe air. They are facultative air breathers; they only breathe air when they need to. They gulp in air using their stomachs. As for corydoras or anything in the family of Callichthyidae, they use their intestines for air breathing, not a labyrinth organ. I’ve been to the anti-painted fish site, and no, unfortunately we aren’t on the gold standard =P Again, great site! Hmmm, I think you helped me months ago. I asked some dumb question about if an African butterfly fish would eat my African dwarf frog. It turned out my tire track eel tried to eat the frog that couldn’t quite swallow all of an earthworm, and wouldn’t let go. Then my eel tried to eat my African brown knife fish, and my African butterfly fish, I think he’s racist. Do you carry Can O Flies? I think I heard your site mentioned those. I can’t find anything here, our fish and fish food selection here sucks. A: Intriguing lead to your dried flies question. I added it all to my half-vast Bank O’ Knowledge. Zoo Med makes Can O’ all kinds of bugs except flies. Tetra used to make Vita Fly, but I haven’t seen it for a while. Don’t give up on finding dried flies tho, many bird breeders use them. Now that I think about it, Tetra makes dried blood worms. They’re pretty close to flies, but cleaner. LA. Alecia Groom, Edmond, Oklahoma, April 17, 2005 Do you ship fish? I am in Edmond, Oklahoma. I am interested in buying two baby pike cichlids. Please let me know if you ship and the price of the pikes. Thank you A: Sorry, Alecia. We don’t ship fish. Although, as many requests as we get, maybe we ought to start? LA Bob Ward, Center Point, IA, April 18, 2005 I was referred to you by Iowa Pet foods & Aquatics for some filter parts for my aquarium filter a Fluval 303 that is 9 years old, and works well if you can help me. I need an impeller cover part # A-15820, impeller seal ring # A-15830, Foam block # A-1434, and a complete impeller assembly - 110V # A-15840. A: It looks like Hagen no longer makes the 303 filter. However, they still provide the parts you listed. Do you want us to order them for you? LA Bill McCasling, St. Louis, MO, April 18, 2005 I bought a pleco at an auction here in St Louis. I don’t know what kind it is. You have some but the tails are different, black with white spots and a split tail with a long tentacle coming off it. He came in a bag of Bristlenoses. I’d like to know what it is. Thank you A: I’m not sure what it is. Can you send me a picture? LA Jodie Myers, Corona, CA, April 19, 2005 Good morning. I came home last night from work to find my daughter’s snails with a cocoon-type thing in her tank. I called the PetsMart where the snails were purchased from & got no information at all. In fact the young lady who helped me was amazed to say the least. She stated that the snails are never there long enough to procreate. I came upon your web site from a Google search but since then have not been able to find the area I was at with the great photos & information on the young snails! Can you please help me get back there? I phoned your shop this morning & the woman on the line was much help as far was the precautions to take but I would like to visit that area on the site again. Thank you so much for your help & your great web site! P.S. The snails I purchased about 2 months ago are two different breeds, a gold & a black. Do they normally procreate with other species? A: Is PetsMart still open in California? Anyway, go to our home page at aqualandpetsplus.com. Look down the left side for Bugs. Then go to Snails, Mystery. Then add it to your Favorites list. PS The gold and black are the same species of mystery snail. They breed together like two different colored horses. LA Jodie Again, April 20 Hi, I am guessing I am gonna be a pain in your butt ... Ok, well, our last “talk” was about my snails & the breeding, or laying of the eggs. The woman I spoke to on the phone said that I should keep them in humid temp. I have not read this anywhere else. I am not doubting, but should I keep them humid? Can they not get wet at all? It may sound silly but myself & my family are pretty excited to see the hatching of the eggs, and don’t want to harm them. I have some more questions for you if you don’t mind ... but my daughter & I both need to get some rest. It is 10 pm here. Thank you so much for your time!!! A: Do not cover the eggs with water or they will drown. Just keep them humid. A covered aquarium works well. If your top has gaps in it, cover them with Saran wrap. In two or three weeks (depending upon temperature, the phase of the moon, and your personal attitude) the eggs will hatch and the baby snails will slide into the water. LA Josimar Senior, Probably UK, April 20, 2005 Hi, I was reading your Channel Catfish page and read that small tanks stunt their growth. I currently own two 6-inch channel cats in a 38-gallon tank and am planning on feeding them up (to about 12 inches) for September to go out in an 1800-gallon pond. Will they get this large or will their growth be stunted? The temp in the tank is about 30 to 32 degrees and I have two filter systems in there. Thank you A: I’m not sure they’ll grow to 12 inches by September, but they will grow to 36 inches in your pond. I’m assuming you’re in the United Kingdom and using the Celsius thermometer. I thought you needed a permit for channel catfish over there? But don’t worry about stunting them, they will grow plenty big in your pond. LA Arthur K. Schwedler, U.S. Army, April 20, 2005 To Whom It May Concern: Do you have any African Lungfish available, if so do you ship, and if you ship what would the cost be for a young lungfish (Protopterus annectens) including shipping? This is to replace a lungfish I lost last year when it broke the tank heater and cooked itself. Thank you for your time. Disregard below address block as I'm emailing you from work and looking for a home aquarium pet. A: Sorry. We just sell lungfish at our retail store. You have to come to Des Moines to get them. We’ll give you the royal tour. LA Jason Bogue, Marshalltown, IA April 20, 2005 I am a college student at Marshalltown Community College. I was wondering if I could please use your Internet site for information and pictures. The information and pictures I’d be using would be used in my class project, which is a power point presentation on tropical, live bearing, aquarium fish. Thank you A: Why the heck not? Make sure to send me half your grade. LA Melissa Quinn, April 20, 2005 Dear Mr LA Aqualand, Wow! What an awesome website! I can’t believe you guys went to all that work to help out your customers (and random folks like myself). It’s even lots of sassy fun! This must have taken you guys forever. I don’t know if you have time to answer questions. If not, you can stop reading here - I mostly just wanted to tell you that your site is a bountiful cornucopia of info and I truly appreciate it. Question? Yah? OK -- I’ve worked in pet shops, and I know it is Bad Bad Bad to buy animals without knowing a lot about them first. However, silly Melissa (that would be me) saw some kind of ameiva on sale in a crowded messy tank last month, and before I knew it he was glaring at me from a little plastic carrying tub on my passenger’s seat. I think he’s a Tiger Ameiva because he has vertical stripes on his sides and no green on his back or head. I now know he lives in tropical forested areas, digs around in leaves for bugs, likes to run and climb, loves making tunnels in the deep soil of his tank, and devours crickets like a well-oiled machine (unlike my Mali, whose hunting strategy is to try and fall onto moving objects with his mouth open.) I read somewhere that he would eat vegetarian stuff too, but so far he’s just a happy little insectivore. Temp is 80 at one end and 90-95 in the other, down to about 65-70 at night. Does that sound right? Do you know anything else about these guys, especially what else they might eat? Wow, I guess I could have summarized those whole last two paragraphs as “what do you know about ameivas?” Sorry about the excessive rambling. Thanks A: That was not a question. That was a thesis. Sounds like you got it right. Malis eat a lot of vegetation. I don’t know if ameivas do or not. Guess I need to write a page on them. Other foods? Try mealworms, wax worms, earthworms, roaches, spiders, and goldfish. LA Shev Vander, Montana, April 21, 2005 Another question, Do clams clear up green water real fast? I have already set up a 10-gallon right in front of my window, I have some guppies in there making nitrates, and will get some flourish phosphorus. Just wondering about how fast some clams could clear the water, and if I could maybe sustain a green water culture without it all getting eaten in a day -- since they will be filtering the same amount of water, regardless of how much algae is in it. Do you get a lot of emails a day? A1: I have no idea how fast clams work. A2: The number of emails depends on the day. LA Josimar Senior, UK, April 21, 2005 I thought that too (about permits required to keep channel catfish) but I have read from a web page about the permits that I don’t. What’s the best thing to feed them on? I have had mine since Sunday and they are still skittish and wild and do not really eat a lot. Do you have any recommendations? Thank you A: Channel catfish eat EVERYTHING. People who fish for them catch them on: chicken guts, meld (dried blood), stink baits (based on bleu cheese), nightcrawlers, and live or dead fish. I caught a three-footer on a rolled up piece of white bead the size of a bean. Catfish farmers feed them the lowest cost foods they can find -- usually based on cotton seed residuals after the oil is removed for sale. ANY food you give them will likely be far superior to most of the above. Give your channel cats a nutritious pellet (at least two types), frozen plankton for treats, and an occasional earthworm. If you are housing them in your pond with koi, they will love the koi pellets. If you house them with goldfish, they will love the goldfish pellets AND the goldfish. LA Christina Engles, April 21, 2005 Hi. I am NOT intending on going into the betta business but have a litter of fry and will put the couple together one more time to get photos, etc. Can you help with a question? I seem to have a green thumb here and will put Mom and Dad in separate ROOMS (not just tanks) after this next embrace. But now my question is, will my 30 or so 3-week old fry see 4-day old fry as food, i.e., newer batch needs new tank?? Thank you! A: Much depends on how fast/large your three-week old fry have grown. Big fish eat little fish -- siblings or not. Yes, you need a new (established) tank for your next spawn. Go to Betta Breed II to bump your spawn up to 300 rather than 30. Bettas lay hundreds of eggs, but most fry starve to death because they can’t eat the food they’re given. LA Willis Lake, April 21, 2005 Hi there, Excellent site with great photos. I was wondering if you ship fish at all? I am asking due to the fact that I couldn’t locate any kind of purchase link on your site. You have fish that others don’t and I would like to purchase some, however I do not live in your state. If you can, please let me know. A: Thanks for the accolades. What’s a purchase link? We sell fish at our retail store in Des Moines only. And we could not possibly stock all the fish, snakes, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, and so forth that we can show on our website. However, I can tell you (and others) how to keep them alive. Or at least what I know about keeping them alive. Not everyone agrees with me 100% of the time, but I don’t hold it against them just because they’re wrong. Seriously tho, different techniques work for different people. As they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. My uncle Jake used to nail them to the catalpa tree in our backyard and skin them with a pair of pliers. Heck, some people don’t even like to skin cats. We’re talking catfish, of course. LA E. Robert González, April 22, 2005 Dear Madam or Sir, I’m writing to you out of frustration and the need for knowledge. I’ve had an extremely hard time tracking down either Eastern Box Turtles or Three-Toed Box Turtles. Browsing through your own site, I’ve noticed the number of three-toeds in the pictures shown. I’m looking for an addition to my turtle family. You see, I bought my first turtle 10 years ago and I am now 19 years of age. I’ve had my female three toed for many years and she’s provided me good company. I’ve just recently improved her conditions and made sure she had everything she needed. For the longest time I saw her needs through the simple eyes of a child. I thought only that she needed a small rodent cage with the worst of beddings; cedar chips. Now 10 years later I’ve learned much. Now I seek to find another turtle to add to this family. I’m hoping either you yourself have some of these wonderful animals or you’re aware of somewhere I can find one. I appreciate any help you can send my way. I thank you in advance. Sincerely, A: ¿Comesta, Robert? It’s still a bit early for box turtles to poke their heads out yet. I put my tomatoes out a month ago and it’s supposed to frost here the next two nights -- bad turtle weather. We can’t sell the Eastern Ornates here because they grow wild in Iowa (even tho we’re on the west side of the river). And we haven’t seen the three-toes on the inventory lists yet. But they should start appearing soon. We’ve seen the Eastern Ornates all winter but can’t sell them. Ask your local fish store to order a male three-toed box turtle for you. LA Willis Lake, April 22, 2005 Thanks for the speedy reply. Well, you bummed me out by not selling via online but what can you do? Do you know of someone I could possibly contact to purchase some of the more “oddball” fish? I am having a hard time locating anyone who can sell them and most guys who do are out of my state. Keep up the good work on the site -- very informative and excellent pictures. Take care. A: Your local fish store should be able to order them for you. All the pet store magazines list livestock sources. We get ours from Florida, California, and Chicago. Tell your local fish store to call around or spend some time on the internet. Even Wal-Mart carries some of the oddballs. LA Weird Kid, April 23, 2005 Hi Larry, I am here to say sorry for wasting your time and disturbing you so long. I shan’t ask you any more questions. Are you really mad at me? If yes, please forgive me. Thanks. A: I’m not mad at you. I’m just limiting you to one question a month. No more asking the same question in different words every day. Ditto to Serious Sam and Captain Summa. Your parents need to send you outside more often. LA Raj Vamadevan, April 23, 2005 I read your extremely informative website, and I congratulate you on it. I also wanted to know if you sold Gold Newts (Taricha sp.), and if you shipped them. If you don’t, do you know of any place online that does? A: Namistay, Raj. We sell gold belly newts and have them in stock right now. We got ours out of Florida, so they should be generally available. We got ours a month or so ago (pretty early in the season), and they seem weak. We don’t ship them, however. If you want to contact us next month when we get some healthier specimens, we’ll try to mail you some. In the meantime, ask your local fish store to order them for you. Their price has gone up. LA Shev Vander, Montana, April 23, 2005 Hello again. Looked through your site and found the section about mini-clams. Those clams look like Asian golden clams, Corbicula fluminea. They were introduced here decades ago. A: Thanks for the extra info, Shev. You never did send me a paragraph about yourself so I could add you to the Aqualand International Board of Correctors. LA E. Robert González, April 23, 2005 Unfortunately I don’t have a local store here. I’ve literally searched everywhere for box turtles and come up with nothing. Is there anyone you know who would sell box turtles? Or anything you yourself can do to help? I’d be much obliged. A: Okay, Robert. We’ll try. If you live in the continental U.S., give me another email in six weeks. Maybe the three-toes will be out of hibernation by then. I’ll try to get one to you. They retailed for $60 last year -- a ridiculous amount for a critter that runs wild and naked in the hills of Arkansas. Postage will be extra. The USPS is trying to increase it again. LA Alex M. Kim, April 23, 2005 I believe the “hairy-clawed shrimp” depicted on your site might be a juvenile specimen of the “Macrobrachium sp. aus Thailand” depicted at http://www.mimbon.de/wirbel0.html and (within the entry for 10.02.2005) at http://www.crusta10.de/index.php?page=3&sideid=news_de. From where do you obtain them? A: Thank, Alex. I added your info to my shrimp page. Send me a paragraph about yourself so I can add you to my Aqualand International Board of Correctors. That’s a Korean sounding name accessing a German website. Very interesting, as Artie Johnson used to say. We got our single specimen from APET in Chicago and have never seen another one offered for sale. LA Note: On April 24 my computer imploded. I could not communicate with it for 10 days. If you asked a question during this time, I probably did not receive it. I did, however, start receiving 150 to 200 junk mail messages daily with viruses attached. This is the “fun part” of running a web site. 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