Aqualand Q&As July 1-15, 2005

You ask.  We answer.  Sometimes we're right.

 
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

Add your location.  It makes your questions more interesting.  Sometimes it also helps answer the question.  Thx.  LA

Derek Truman, July 2. 2005
I’ve been wanting to get a lizard for a while now, and I was browsing the web trying to learn how to breed mop spawning Killifish. I found your website and after reading about breeding them, I saw you had many different sections on your website. I started reading into just about every page on it cause I was bored. I was mainly focusing on lizards cause I want to get one. After looking at all of them, I am not sure what I would want. 
I want a lizard that is friendly and easy to care for. My idea of easy care is not having to do anything out of my way to keep it alive. So basically I am looking for a friendly beginner lizard. I would also like this lizard to be readily available and not extremely fast. As I am lazy and don’t want to chase a lizard around, but I would like to hold one. Is there any type of lizard that matches most or all of my specifications? Also this is a question
that’s not about lizards, more a general question. Do you ship any of your
pets?

A:  Bearded dragon.  We do not ship.  LA

Sanj Vadeketh, Singapore, July 5, 2005
Hello my name is Sanj and I was wondering if you could help me out. I have a pond (fairly large) at home. Whenever it rains, toads come by my pond and spawn in it. They also make a lot of noise when they mate. Really irritating animals. When the tadpoles arrive, I have to drain out the pond -- a real bummer. So I was wondering if purchasing an electric eel would be the solution to my dilemma? Would these eels sting (eletrocute) the toads? Better yet, would they eat em? Furthermore do electric eels jump out of water as in would they jump out of my pond? Thanks for all your help. I'm based in Singapore. BTW. Regards 

A:  Not very many critters will eat a toad.  Some snakes will.  And I doubt an electric eel would bother shocking the toads which the eels would probably not perceive as food or a threat.  If you keep any fish in your pond, you can get out your underwater Chap Stick and kiss them goodbye.  Electric eels eat fish.  An electric eel would be a bigger threat to you than to your wandering toads.  Learn to hear their trilling as their song.  Don't bother draining your pond because of the tadpoles.  Most toad tadpoles change to toads in six weeks.  The baby toads not eaten by birds move on down the road (to return next spring).  LA

Sanj Vadeketh, Singapore, July 5, 2005
Thanks Larry. Your info has been very insightful. However I still need to
clarify some doubts. My pond’s specs are 8 ft by 5 ft approximately. How large would an electric eel grow if kept in there? I was planning to keep 2. What are the consequences of keeping two of these eels if say I accidentally fall into the pond? Secondly, if I get the eels they would be 35cm in length. I know they are air breathers but would they jump the pond? Lastly would operating an electric pump in my pond affect the eels in any way? 
PS In Southeast Asia there is only one season, and it’s uniform throughout the year. The presence of the toads is also as such. LOL

A:  Your eels would grow to at least six feet long.  They would present a definite hazard to you or anyone else that visits your pond.  Grab one of those 35 cm juveniles and take a test jolt.  Look at the bright side, you probably won’t fall in more than once.  I don’t know if the eels migrate in rainy weather or not, but they would sure impress anyone that tried to herd them back to your house.  I don’t believe the electric pumps would bother your eels as much as the eels would bother you.  You sound like you really, really want to add them.  Go for it.  LA

Ihatemuduckz, July 5, 2005
I have super worms for my Pac man frog, but they look dead.  The guy @ the pet store said they were alive.  Do you have any information or a link you can send me about super worms?  Please respond ASAP.

A:  If you refrigerate super worms (Zophobus morio) like you would mealworms, your super worms will die.  Dead super worms stop moving, smell funny, and taste worse.  Taste them to make sure.  Do not treat them like regular mealworms.  Search for them on the web by putting quotes around “super worm.”  LA

Rick Bird, July 5, 2005
Thanks for all the information on your website.  Do you sell lizards and ship them for long distance customers?

A:  Sorry.  We do not sell lizards over the internet.  We just give away the information that will help you keep yours alive.  LA

Sam (betta question), July 5,2005
Can send me the price list of the fish ?   How cost for reseller ?   Thank you

A:  We do not retail or wholesale fish through the mail.  Sorry.

Gwen Barker, July 6, 2005
Hi, I am interested in purchasing a ball python before U of Iowa starts next month.  I was thinking of coming in and buying one of your babies.  I was just wondering how much you sell them for.  I know Petland sells them for 75 dollars (and I feel bad for those snakes in their tiny cage), but I wanted to check with you, thanks! Gwen

A:  We sell our hatchlings at about that same price plus or minus $10, depending upon what they sell wholesale for that month.  We sold out yesterday but should have more this Friday.  Dont worry about their small cages.  If you gave a ball python an entire living room with a small box in it, it would go into that small box.  Ball pythons need a cave or hide box they can touch three sides of.  LA

Phil Ky, July 7, 2005
Do you know anything about butterfly plecos, and could you please tell me what this catfish is?

A1:  Your catfish is a bumblebee catfish -- either a South American bumblebee or Asian bumblebee.  I usually can’t tell them apart except for their price.

A2:  We’ve bought these under the names Borneo sucker and Hong Kong pleco.  We see them in the literature as hillstream loaches, butterfly plecos, Chinese butterfly loaches, and butterfly flatfishes.  Evidently, several similar species exist.  LA

Jordan Frerichs, Hastings, NE, July, 8, 2005
First of all thank you for helping me with my last questions, but what you said about the store being able to help me with the starry night spiny eel, they could not tell be anything (all I need to do some research is its scientific name).
What I need info on now is the electric catfish. I have had experience with them. I got my last one at six inches for $10 at the lfs. the reason it was this low was because it was so large that people thought it too dangerous for their tanks, the fact that it was electric, it had been there longer than some of the employees, and its $40 price tag.  During a sale they just decided to give it up for $10. I took it home and it quickly limited my  fish to 4-inch blue gourami size and up. It constantly fought with my blue crayfish for territory (it always won). When I was putting tubifex cubes through my power head to spread throughout the tank, he came up to my hand and I found he loved hand-feeding. I spoiled him with five tubifex cubes or ten whole freeze-dried krill each day. One day a 5-inch yo-yo loach caught the scent and came near my hand . I turn my attention (and my hand) to the curious loach. The electric catfish was so attached to me that when I tried giving some of the food to the yo-yo, he came out of his cave and sat right in the middle of my palm! After that I put both my hands in the tank when hand-feeding. In one I would hold the tubifex, in the other I would make a ring with my fingers which he swam through. Within a year, he grew to 8 inches. He never took water changes well. After them he wouldn
t take food for a few days. On my last water change it got serious. He started growing wounds on his side and his tail was frayed. I evacuated all but the electric cat, put the right dose of Melafix in a jar and watered it down with aquarium water after adding a small portion of this remedy. I had to leave a few hours. When I got back he was stiff and it was too late.
You said they were difficult to hand-feed. Do you mean they are difficult for the owner because they are electric or they are difficult to train? If they are difficult to train, what are some methods I could use? For the record, the store did not know it could hand-feed and does not know anything about training fish to hand-feed.

A1:  I saw your search on Pet Central where you were looking for the scientific name of the starry night spiny eel.  Try Mastacembelus armatus. 
A2:  The reason I said electric eels are hard to hand feed is some people are more sensitive to electricity than others.  Most electric catfish give you a little tingle when they grab their food.  Some people do not mind the mini-shock; others can’t handle it.  Obviously, the tingle does not bother you.  Or your electric catfish never lit up your life.
When you said water changes put your electric catfish off his feed, did you make 100% water changes?  No need to answer.  Avoid 100% water changes unless you bring in the water from another tank.  Partial water changes (up to 50%) usually work better.  Don’t worry about your LFS not knowing about hand feeding fishes.  Only peculiar people (like you and me) like to hand feed fish.  LA

Robin Smith, Des Moines, IA, July 8, 2005
Hi, I bought a Russian tortoise from Aqualand and I think they are the best little guys ever.  They are so sweet.  When I purchased him I was given a care sheet for a box turtle which has some info that would not be good for a Russian -- such as the food they should eat.  Luckily I ran across a fabulous web page just for Russian tortoises.  It has printable care sheets for them and other printable pages concerning them.  They would be good to print off and give when someone purchases a Russian tortoise in the future.  Also I thought you might want to add their link at the bottom of your web page.  It is www.russiantortoise.org
I also wondered why there’s nothing listed about Russian tortoises on the Aqualand site under reptiles.  I first searched your site when I bought the tort and then ran across the Russian tort site when I searched on Google.
Thanks and have a great weekend.
P.S.  I do love your website and it’s fun to look at.  My kids love it too, they’re animal lovers like their mom.
We are like tea bags ~ we don’t know our own strength ’til we’re in hot water.

LA

A:  We never wrote a Russian tortoise page because we never had more than a few per year (mostly trade-ins) until this year.  With the shortage of three-toes, we started actively stocking the Russians (which do rush more than the three toes).
If you look on the Other Stuff page, bottom right, you’ll see where I’ve started the Russian page.  I had to write the other 500+ articles first.  I’ll get it wrapped up by no later than August.  Promise.  LA

Christine Boyer, July 10, 2005
Hello! I read your info about the clown knife. You said they don’t get more than 18 inches in captivity. Mine is 20 inches. He also likes to uproot plants and push all the gravel to one side of the tank. Your site stated that they don’t do that. I guess he’s just special.


A:  But I also said they grow to three feet in the wild. So, there’s quite a bit of wiggle room in there.  Big tanks grow bigger fish.  Mine never redecorated their tanks.  Are you sure yours didn’t hire a cichlid to help with renovations?  LA
PS  Your picture was so big I couldn’t copy it to show him off.

Allied Hobo (pest), July 10, 2005
Hi, it’s me. Again.... I have been witnessing my livebearers (the smaller ones) which are one of the last of the community fish I have are getting killed by my rougher cichlids (not the jack dempsey he is still on the way to my house) like my parrot, my convict and believe it or not the tinfoils are starting to beat on them too. My black ghost knife fish also died (not from the cichlids I didn’t see it in the corner and turned the lights on and I scared it to death). So now I’m thinking some rougher cichlids like the oscar. I was thinking of getting a smaller one. Would this work in my tank? I still have some larger livebearers but they are big (like my 4 inch sailfin molly) and two really fast bleeding hearts and I think I told you all the rest in my last email about the dempsey. What other cichlids do you think would work in this tank? The oscar looks really neat and every time I walk into a store the whole tank of oscars comes up to me. I also like the colors. Here is the link I will be ordering from if they can go into my tank. They are very small only 1.5 inches.

A:  I believe I already told you that your tank line up would lead to problems.  Big fish eat little fish.  Mean fish beat sissy fish.  If you insist on making these mixes you can expect more deaths.  Your oscar should love the taste of your new dwarf dempsey.  Good luck with your feeder program.  LA

© 2005 LA Productions

3600 Sixth Avenue

Corner of Sixth & Euclid Avenues

Des Moines, IA 50313

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Otocinclus
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Pleco Costly III
Pleco Costly IV

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Misc. Catfish
Misc. Catfish II


Cichlids
African I
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African Decor
Amer. Small
Amer.  Med 
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Angelfish I
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Dempseys
More Dempsey
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Oscars 1
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Oscars 4
Oscars 5
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More Red Devil
 
Red Parrots
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Misc Cichlids I
Misc Cichlids II
Misc Cichlids III
Misc Cichlids IV


Livebearer  
Guppies
Half-Beak
Mollies
Moons/Platys
Swordtails

Minnows/Tetra 
Barbs
Barbs, Black
Barbs, Gold

Barbs, Rosy
Barbs, Tiger
Barbs, Tinfoil

Danios

Distochodus
Fathead Minnows
Headstanders
Killies, Econ.
Killies, Golden
Killies, Peat
Killies, Plant
Misc Mini-Fish
Pacús 

Piranha, Black
Piranha, Red
Rainbowfish
(Austral & Irian)

Silver Dollar
Tetras, Larger
Tetras, Smaller
Tetras, Spawn
Tetra, Vampire
White Clouds

Pond Fish
Carp
Channel Cat
Gold. Comets
Gold. Fantails
More Fantails
Gold. Oriental  
Gold Oriental II 
Gold. Spawn
Koi
Koi II
Plecostomus
Shubunkins

Oddballs  
Af. Butterfly
Af. Lungfish
Af. Mudskippr
American Eel
Archer Fish

Arowana
Borneo Suckers
Brackish I
Brackish II
Brackish III
Brackish IV
Brackish V
Chameleon Fish
Chromides

Chin Alg Eater
Crazy Fish
Crocodile Fish

Datnioides

Dojo
Electric Cat
Electric Eels

Elephant Nose

Flounder
Gars
 
Glassfish
Goby Bumble
Goby Butterfly
Goby Dragon
Goby Misc.
Half-Beak
Knife African
Knife Clown
Knife Ghost
Loach Botias
Loach Clown
Loach Kuhli
Loach Weather
Moray Eel  
Peacock Gudg
Polypterids
Puffers

Ropefish
Scats
Siam Alg Eater
 
Spiny Eels 
Snakehead
Stingray
Stonefish
Wasp Fish
Wolffish
Wrest Half-Beak
Misc. Mini-Fishes
Misc. Odd
Misc. Odd II
Misc. Odd III

Sharks  
Bala
Black
Bull
Iridescent
Red-Tail
Siam Alg Eater

Pond Info 
Blank Park Zoo
Bob Humphrey's Ponds
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Maffett Reservoir
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D.M. Botanical Center
D.M. Water Works
Dr. Ervanian's Garden
Duckweed

Dwarf Lily
Ewing Park "Pond"
Jan & Chris's Water Garden
John McDonald's Pond
Hall's Four Acres
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