Helping people to enjoy their fresh water aquariums through makeovers.
Tired of your drab 'river bottom' style fresh water aquarium? Then read on!
This page will help the fresh water aquariust to immitate a salt water tank.
The number one benefit of creating this aquatic illusion is cost and care
efficency. Freshwater fish and tanks are often cheaper and easier to maintain
than salt water tanks. In many locations around the nation salt water supplies
are extremly overpriced or non existant at all. Combine these elements together
and you have a strong reason to create this specific aquatic illusion.
The author of this page does not hold responsibility to any possible dammage or death to fish, aquaria, or any tank creatures. This page is meant as a suggestion and not instruction.
Much of the material contained within this web page doccument applies specifically to salt water or fresh water aquariums. Being that salt water and fresh water aquariums are set up for tottaly differnt creatures, it is not advised to apply any direct fish care information from one system to the other.
Without reading the entire doccument, some or any of this information may cause illness and possible death to your aquatic life.
PLEASE! Read this entire doccument first before acting on any of the information contained within. It is also advised that you research in addition to this web page. To find out why the primary differences between these two kinds of fish are so important. It is Parmount before everything else to keep your fish happy and healthy. If you are unsure as to wether or not any of this information could cause harm to your fish then do not use it.
The ability to immitate
a salt water environment with a fresh water aquarium is limited in quite
a few ways.
Before we go any further
you should realize that there are 3 kinds of fish tanks. You already know
that there are fresh salt water aquaria but did you know about
the third?
Brack-Water fish tanks are
best described as 'half-fresh half-salt' water fish tanks. These
tanks can sometimes be difficult to maintain, but compared to normal salt
water fish tanks they are much easier. There are several factors that make
brack tanks a curious note. For one they auctually have a salt content that
tends to make the water appear clearer. Second some of the brack-only fish
look verry much like salt water fish. These fish require a brack water condition
to survive. Most often they can not adjust to a full freshwater condition.
An added pluss is that they can survive the addition of crush coral gravel.
(to be descibed below)
The number one thing that
ANY fresh water aquariust should concentrate on is the happyness of
their fishes. This most often results in createing a 'river bed' environment.
This 'river bed/lake bed' style tank usually is called a 'natural' tank with
brown gravel, lots of fake/live plants and lots of places for bottom feeding
and top dwelling fish.
In no way shape or form should you
EVER
apply information about salt water tanks to try to 'help' this illusion.
DO NOT
use salt water specific chemicals, products, or 'charts' in an attempt to
further this illusion.
Also make it clear to anyone attending this tank that it is a freshwater
tank and NOT a saltwater
tank. This confusion could cost you lots of money and time in fish and care.
Now before you go out and buy coral gravel
or fake coral for this immitation tank read on! PLEASE!. There are many "Dos
& Dont's" of tank immitation. Some of these can cost you the verry
life of your fish.
Here you will learn some
of the major diferences between salt fesh water aquaria. This
section is geared to the fresh water aquariust and will not go into deep topic
about salt water fish tank care. In this section you will find the answers
to some of the major problems in illusion aquaria. To keep it simple to understand
the information has been broken down into easy to understand peices.
EXAMPLE:
Crystal clear water in Salt water Aquaria.
Why it is so, and why you can't do it in a fresh tank useing saltwater methods.
How you can immitate these conditions properly for a fresh tank.
Salt water tank are notoriously
famous for their crystal clear water and brilliant fish. This clarity is caused
by the salt content in the water. A salt content so high it would kill most
freshwater and brack water fish.
Many home aquariust that
own freshwater tanks dread this topic. They often complain of how their tanks
seem cloudy or dirty. This is often due to inadequet filtration or water changes.
There are a few chemicals that can help in this category, but only if the
above two problems are fixed fist.
A proper filter goes a long
way. Did you know that the 'maximum' size a tank that most store bought filters
are rated to filter won't do the job for many aquariums. That's because most
manufactureres support the growth of live plants in an aquarium. Having both
kept aquariums and now working in a fish store I know a large majority of
aquariust do not keep live plants. This means that the maximum tank size
that a filter can handle, acording to the manufactuer, is based on a heavily
planted tank with a few fish. Since our immitation tank will not have live
plants you NEED a much better filter.
My personal rule of thumb
is to take the number of gallons the tank holds in water, and multiple this
number by ten. Your hang on the back filter should filter this end number
gallons per hour for proper filtration. For example. a 10 gallon tank should
have a filter that filters up to 100 gallons per hour.
Water changes are a necesity.
changing 1/3 of the tanks volume per month goes a long way to keep amonia
levels down and nitrates under control. (amonia is produced by fish poo and is
poisonous to fish, and nitrates act as fertilizer for that annoying green
algae)
There are two kinds of cloudyness
found in a fish tank. These cloudness can be attended to with the use of a
few chemicals. The first is particulate cloudyness. This is that fine floating
dust that is stirred up with silt and when the bottom gravel is disturbed.
There are a lot fish-safe chemicals out there to handle this. The second is
milky cloudyness. This is a cloudyness that is a filmy haze with no dust or
particles in it. It is often a symptom of 'new tank syndrome'. Or when you
change too much water in a tank, 1/2 or more. There are considerably fewer
chemicals that can handle this. Most often if you wait about a week or two
it goes away naturally by itself. Useing the particulate chemicals on a lightweight
basis, every week 1/2 or 2 can help keep down dust and promote
a verry clear tank water.
Advised chemical for Particulate cloudyness: Crystal Clear
If you have ever see a saltwater
tank you will instant recognize two telltale signs. The first is the crush
coral gravel, a verry bright white gravel that almost glows. The second is
the pitch black background on the back of the tank.
This high contrast environment is ESSENTIAL to
immitating a salt water tank.
In addition to the background
and gravel the unseen element is it's lighting. Lighting for saltwater tanks
is intense. So intense that the white gravel seems to glow. Most lights provided
with aquaria hoods are rated around 4 to 5 'K'. Which in a dark room seems
bright, but in daytime it looks quite dim. I would suggest replaceing the
light with a 10k bulb. This isn't as intense as the high 20k bulbs used in
salt water tanks and is probably safer for the fish.
The backdrop is an easy thing
to handle. It goes outside the tank and does little to the tank care itself.
Saltwater tanks use a black backdrop to help give the fish a sense of safety.
The reason is that a large proportion of saltwater fish hang around the bottom
of the sea floor, which is either a secure rocky terrain with lots of hiding
holes, or wide and open. In either case the black backdrop ensure a feeling
of safety in saltwater fish. It does the same thing for freshwater fish as
well.
In selling plastic 'tape-on'
backgrounds I have noticed a bad trend. The edge of the tank stands about
1/2 a centimeter away from the glass of the tank. People often measure the
plastic background to the edging, then try to tape it to edging. This sucks
it away from the tank and looks fake. So they tape it closer to the tank.
Eventually this 'peeling' effect occurs and the edging ends up with layers
of old tape glue stuck on the back. The solution is to cut the background
to sit flat on the back of the tank glass, just under the top edging and
just above the bottom edging; also just a little in from each of the tanks
glass corners. When taped on the tape doesnt act to keep it flat (as noted
above)because it doesnt have those pull away problems. Instead it's really
holding it 'up' on the tank and from falling away.
Salt water tanks require
a high ph. A ph so high that most of the water in the country is below that.
To prevent this high ph from dropping they add crushed coral gravel to the
tank. When the coral disolves slowly it makes the water 'hard'. which helps
to prevent the ph from changeing. either up or down. In a freshwater tank
this crushed coral (which is often imbuned with sea salt) Will not
only make the water salty, but will raise your ph. Most freshwater fish preffer
much lower ph levels. To make matters worse not only would it raise the ph,
but make the water hard, and prevent it from ever comeing back to a safe
range untill you remove the crushed coral.
This also holds true for decorate 'dead' coral that is real.
The only thing you can do
to immitate this crushed-coral-gravel is to use a naturally white 'gravel'.
Or possibly the painted white gravel. The problem with painted white gravel
is that over time the paint will wear off making it appear dull or even the
color of the true stone beneath the paint. So the best is to get a verry natural
white stone with a small pebble size.
Fine sand, even the kinds
that are 'safe' for freshwater use are horendous in a freshwater tank. Over
time they slowly turn tan from absorbing other minerals in the water. Fish
poo gets mixed in and you cant get it out. you CANT gravel clean sand. Its
so fine that the sipon based gravel cleaners will suck it out in addition
to the silt. Even if you can advoid these things, over time sand with compact
into a kind of 'sandstone' that you cant shift. Eventually you'll have to
break it out of the tank just to get it out. Besides you can't use it with
an undergravel filter. (option for later use)
In salt water aquaria you
will notice the abundant use of what appears to be craggy 'stone trees'.
These are called coral, but the truth is that they are the skeletal remains
of coral. In other words, dead coral. There are sometimes rocks that seem
to have this coral stuck to them or even growing into them. This is sometimes
called 'reef rock'.
These dead coral's are a
keynote decoration in most saltwater aquaria. Without them it is verry difficult
to recognize the tank as a saltwater one. There is one verry important thing
about them..
As described above,
(white gravel black backdrops) dead coral will make the
water salty, raise ph, and basicly make a fresh water fish tank inhospitable
for its occupants.The positive note is that there is an abundant of fake
coral on the market today. With the world's reefs becoming smaller with each
day, and laws protecting them; real dead coral is becoming increasingly expensive.
So expensive that even high quality fake coral (which looks about as good
as the real thing) is considerably cheaper. Fake coral is also necessary
for a fresh water -salt immitation- tank. It's safe for the fish and bueatiful
as well. I'll desribe their use later.
Ever seen those walls of
rocks in a salt water fish tank. That pink stuff on them is auctually alive.
(its a form of algae) You may even see things that look like sea anonomies
on them. Those are auctually 'live coral'. Many times 'reef aquarist' will
use regular craggy stone to fill the gaps between live rock. As time passes
creatures from the live rock should grow, possible propogate and move to the
regular stone, essentially makeing it into live rock.
You can NOT immitate live rock in a fresh water tank.
You can however use that
craggy stone to imitate live rock. The best stone I have ever found to do
this job is called "Lace Rock". Its a craggy gray rock that blends in perfectly
with live rock. Now you could Immitate that pink 'coraline algae'. I do not
have the process doccumented as I have never done it. I presume the process
would involve some form of fish safe paint. What that would be I have no idea.
I do not suggest you to do it unless you have a professional to advise you.
Salt water plants are impossible
to grow in a fresh water environment. With recent advances in fake decorations
there are now a large variety of fake salt water plants available.
3. Salt water tank appearances and
how to simulate them.
Since creating this illusion
is an art you must understand that any part of this illusion that does not
serve any function in filtering your tank or keeping the fish happy, is mere
decoration. These may include the telltale signs of salt water filters, elements,
and and other devices that only work in a salt water tank. All of them, decoration
Before modern filtration,
undergravel filters was a mainstay in smaller (40 gallons and under)
fish-only salt water aquaria. Even then, using some kind of back filter was
still adviseable. The reason is simple. Biology plays an important part in
both fresh water and salt water aquaria. Cultivating benefical bacteria to
ensure proper water conditions is a must. Even more so with a salt water
tank. Under gravel filters were still are a primary means of
cultivateing that bacteria culture. Salt water 'reef' tanks NEVER use undergravel
filters. The rock walls crushes the plates and small creatures cand burrow
down into the gravel and become harmed or traped by the holes or water flow.
Therefore only use a undergravel filter (wether as decoration or as auctual
use) to fake fish-only salt water tanks. Cleaning note: Because undergravel
filters tend to draw dirt to the bottom of the tank, the need to gravel clean
the tank on a monthly basis becomes VERRY IMPORTANT. Without a monthly gravel
cleaning the undergravel filters can begin to fail and result in increasingly
worse water conditions.
Since almost no one uses
undergravel filters these days, im not sure why you would want to do this.
But its verry simple. Many fish stores sell the air lift tubes and their tops.
Simply use aquarium sealant to seal a tube to a peice of slate or other flat
stone (to get it to stay down and even) and place them to the back
of the tank. (with apropiate air stones of course). You would NOT
want to fake it with a 'power head'. Though you could possibly put a strainer
on the bottom so it would suck water up from the bottom of the tank and help
circulate water in tall tanks.
In many 'Reef' style salt
water aquaria you can find overflow boxes. These boxes go from the bottom
of the tank up to the top of the water line. There water flows into these
boxes through groves at the top. When you can see the back or side of the
tank, you can see that the water level in the boxes are lower as the water
flows from the tank, down into them. This is because the overflow box is
the 'intake strainer' for a larger filter outside of the tank. Many times
this filter is hidden either underneath or behind the tank and takes the
water in through a hole drilled into the glass at the bottom of the overflow
box section of the aquarium. NEVER
attempt to drill a hole into an aquarium. To do so weakens
your fish tank. Most fish tanks have tempered glass bottoms. This means the
moment you DO cut the glass on the bottom the entire bottom of the tank would
fracture like the windsheild of a car. The differnece is that car's have
a 'safety plastic' layer to keep the glass from flying into the passengers
eyes. Fish tanks do not have these. Even if you did succede there would be
so much stress on the fish tank that the bottom of the tank could STILL crack
just from it having been weakened just a little bit.
You can create a simple
fake overflow box for your 'reef' faker aquarium verry easily. Simply take
two peices of acrylic plastic (prefferab
ly black) of equal width
and proper height. Cut the 'drain slots' into the top and at the bottom you
can have fun. You can cut long thin slots, or lots of small holes. Prefferably
above the gravel level. This allows water to flow through this false box.
you could even use this box to isolate a sick fish, or perhaps house a much
needed airstone. (where ever air stones are, algae will grow quickly.
having the airstone in the false box makes cleaning up this algae verry easy)
Air stones, and thermometers
are much the same between the two styles of tanks. Never use a wooden airstone
in a fresh water tank. And try to advoid funky color airstones. Most salt
water aquariust want their tanks to look nice and neat. Often bright neon
colors don't tend to fit into their idea of what nice and neat are. -Heaters
When salt water evaporates it leaves behind a residue that corrodes electronics.
Heaters that hang on the back of the tank with the control above water level
have a bad reputation. This is because humidity will sooner or later creep
its way into the electronics and kill them. Thus all salt water tanks use
submersible heaters.
Salt water fish tend to be
a bit agressive and even if they aren't, NEED more space to swim in than their
freshwater counterparts. Their agressiveness means that they are territorial
and often do not do well with others of their own kind, or even other types
of fish. This tends to result in a tank with only a few select fish and a
LOT of open swimming space. There is also the fact that salt water fish tend
to NEED more space to swim in than fresh water fish do. This also supports
the concept of having only a few fish in a single tank. Though they tend to
be territoral they do need their 'private space'. Like grouchy old men they
need their own little bedrooms to feel safe in. Dead coral decorations tend
to create these divions between water areas. combining them with lace rock
to immitate reef rock also helps out. There are many 'wall of rock' style
tanks that are made for the smaller fish so they can hide in amoung all the
little nooks and crannies and feel safe. It's advised that if you have fake
coral in a tank with these fake reef rocks that to have the coral sticking
out from the rock as if it were a tree growing from a hill. As if to immitate
nature in using shen-fui.
Ever seen a salt tank with
tons of sea annonmies and a wall of rock. Well the truth is that most of those
anonmies are really live coral. Yes, a good amount of live coral leave no
skeletons behind. These tanks are geared toward the propogation of these corals.
They often have no fish in them at all. The 'wall' is created so as to maximize
the amount of surface area in which the corals can live. Like trees they
need plenty of light. So its like terraceing a garden. In our case we wouldn't
have to worry about the lighting or plants. Most likely we would choose small
fish so they can hide amoung the rocks in harmony.
That wall of rocks.. Well,
its not really a -solid- wall of rocks. Closer inspection will reveal that
there is a system of shelves behind the rocks. All of which is cleverly hidden
by lace or reef rock. The reason they have this is simple. Reef rock 'aka
live rock' has dozens of beneficial bacteria on them. To take full effect
of this bacteria you have to have a good strong flow of water COMPLETELY
around the reef rock. To acomplish this they put the reef rock on stands
made of pvc piping and a grid often called 'egg crate'. This allows the critters
that need special lighting to be closer to the light, and the water to flow
all around the rock. It also creates lots of little dens and hollows for
tiny fish and critters to hide in and about. Please contact your local fish
store, or a refference on building reef aquaria about the use of plumbing
piping as a reef shelf material. That pvc piping is cold, plain white, low
pressure tubing. The hot, colored or high pressure tubing leaches out chemicals.
These chemicals can KILL your fish. That 'eggcrate' I spoke of is a kind
of grating often used for drop ceiling lighting. It too is plain white. The
use of this shelving is HIGHLY endorsed. the reason is that the tremendous
weight of the rocks (fresh or salt water) can be a high strain on
the bottom of your fish tank. Even moreso on the sides of the tank itself.
A worse case scenario could have a heavy rock wall fall down and against
the side of the tank, breaking the glass. What a disaster that would be.
Some people use a aquarium-safe epoxy resign and glue their rocks together.
That way they dont need shelving but they have to choose their rocks carefully,
and assemble them so they have good support and strength. It's advised NOT
to glue the rocks to the glass and to remember that when assembled you should
also have the ability to take them out of the aquarium easily!
Algae is a constant problem
with fresh water aquaria. Fortunately there are many chemical products that
can zap those fears away. However salt water folks don't have as much luck.
For them contending with algae is more of a biological war than a chemical
one. They most often desire the use of natural algae eating fish, snails,
or other small invertibrates. Unfortunatley there are similar algaes between
both types of tanks. Even worse Algae will catch on anything in a freshwater
tank and spread like wildfire. This will quickly destroy the illusion of
a salt water tank. So its the hidden enemy you must take care of at all times!
Green algae that starts
as a slimy coating then grows into strings is evident in both types of tanks.
It's a sign of a well cared tank, but a bit over oxygenated. (ie too much
air) It's grows extremly well in freshwater tanks. Advoid mass amounts of
this algae. Some here and there on rocks helps, but overall, advoid it.
Green algae that starts
as slime and STAYS slime is the scourage of freshwater fish tanks. It coats
everything, is messy to clean up, and is hard to get rid of. This is the
algae that most freshwater tanks gets. Advoid it if possible.
In saltwater tanks 'red algae'
is the scourage of the tank. It will kill the extremely expensive live rock
in a heartbeat. Its grows as fast kudzu and is just as hard to get rid of.
In freshwater tanks its sign of VERRY BAD maintenance and care. In both cases
seek a higher level of maintenance or water care to advoid this type of algae.
Advised Algae killer: Algae Destoryer by Aquarium Pharm.
Algae will grow heavily
around an airstone. This means wherever you have an airstone, or bubble wall'
algae will grow in abundance. Anywhere you have an airstone beneath a rock
or fake coral. Algae will grow in abundance on that rock or fake coral. You
might want to consider the above mentioned 'fake corner box' just so you
can keep the algae growing area contained.
None of the freshwater plants
out there will safely simulate saltwater plants. Even in highly maintained
saltwater setups, plants have a tendency die quickly. So I would just skip
the use of them all together.
The 'salt water illusion'
style tanks are always frought with several main problems. The first is algae,
it always attacks constantly. The second is the lack of fish that look exotic
enough to seem like salt water fish. The Third is dirt. Dirt algae
often grow in abundance and the gravel becomes discolored verry quickly.
Salt water illusion tanks
are UNADVISEABLE. The gravel becomes discolored verry quickly. Algae
will always peek out from the edges making the tank seem dirty or unsightly.
If money is no option you could do this. However it would need to be atended
VERRY often.
Medium tanks are VERRY GOOD
for illusion tanks. However this should only be for the experienced aquariust.
The care illusion for this size tank should be high. Not as high as needed
for large tanks but almost as much.
This is the BEST size tank
to do this aquatic illusion. They are easy to care for and you can find a
larger variety of brilliant collored fish. Also fake coral is much cheaper
when you purcahse it for this size tank.
Ciclids ofen grow anywhere
from 6 inches and up. Most often becoming more dull as they become larger.
Some that stay as small as 6 inches tend to keep more of that brilliant color.
Brackwater fish include mollies, but also include the more exotic fish that
are idea for these aquatic illusion. These fish ARE more difficult to keep
than regular freshwater fish. This is due to the fact that they need special
chemicals to keep them happy. Prime examples of these fish are...
Mono - a fish that
doesnt seem to have those spiney fins sticking out of the back. its thin and
smoothe. though grey and silvery they are verry pretty.
Scats - are similar
in nature. These guys have scales that almost blend together making them seem
more like a salt water fish than a freshwater fish. Their colors are muted,
greens Blacks, but they are quite exotic.
These fish are the ones you
usually find in your standard community fish tank. Most of the fish get along
with one another just fine, with a few exceptions of course. The MAJOR
DRAWBACK IS SIZE. Most of these brilliantly colored fish are small. (under
3 to 4 inches for grown adults) The end result is you can do one of two things
when it comes to your faker tank.
This proides the illusion
of a special tank for just those few fish. Just like saltwater tanks often
seperate differnt species. You can also ignore scale differences as well
and concentrate on happy fish. Useing a 'fake reef wall' allows you to keep
many small fish types and give them a happy place to swim in and between
all those neato rocks and passages. Don't forget, just because they are freshwater
fish in a faker tank, they sitll need their naturall necessities. Use the
area under the upper rock shelves as a place to put/hide things necessary
for your specific freshwater fish. Like hidey holes for ghost knives, and
fake plants for those that preffer to hide in them rather than rocks. all
hidden from view of course but available for the fishies.
B: Keep a medium to small tank but 'scale' everything down.
This is a total illusion
of a minature saltwater fish tank. It scales everything down as if in minature.
This will create several unique situations. The lower tank ensures that the
high intensity/color enhanceing light will reach the bottom of the tank.
This ensures a brilliant contrast and color enhancement for the fishies.
It also keeps spending on this faker tank to a minimum. Care is also cut
down as there is less to mes around with. you can also concentrate on the
illusion more than you could with the larger tanks. Small things like corner
boxes, pvc shelves output water hoses that may be decoration
but help complete the all around illusion.
Large "scale" fish There
are many fish that have scales so small you cant see them that clearly. These
small scale fish are the best type to choose. The reason is ismple. In many
marine species of fish you cant really notice the size of each scale on the
fish. the coloring is so blended together in the scales of a saltwater fish
that you often cant make out the individual scales. It almost appears as if
a scale-less fish. Blatantly freshwater fish By this i mean goldfish. Though
bueatiful the above rule is PRIMARY in chooseing faker fish. Goldfish are
messy, and too common for a faker tank. Plecostomas are another one you want
to advoid. Though some striped and special colored ones might be a nice choice.
Brilliant colors Many freshwater
fish will appear as though bueaty queens with the special lighting and B W
backdrop. Unfortunately many fish stores will use the gravel that people wont
buy. Usually the neon color gravel. And most often they use a pale blue backdrop
behind the tank. An average backdrop neither white or black. Both of these
will make any colorful fish appear pale or dull. Below is my special list
of fish that are perfect for Faker tanks.
Red becomes brilliant in the lighting simple easy fish
Fancy fantail guppy
Lots of fin, pritty colors,
easy to keep. Choose ones with more solid colors. Too many dul/black ones
out there.
Neon tetra
Brilliant blue fish the neon
is natural unlike painted glass fish. Unfortunately it is a delicate fish
that dies easily.
Zebra Danio
B W striped fish. A strong
starter fish. Dashes about a lot.
Paradise fish
The closest thing to a mini
discus, scales small, but noticeable.
Dwarf Gourami
Similar color to a paradise
fish. Some are yellow/blue. Be sure not to get a regular gourami as they get
rather large.
Tiger barb/ tiger loach
Similar to 'clown fish' in
marine tanks. But tiger barbs have definate visible scales. These guys can
get up to 4 inches easily.
Knife/ghost fish
good for med/large fakers.
somewhat exotic.
glass fish
sometimes painted, for a
touch of the 'weird' exotic. The neon painted wears off in a year.
Cherry tetra
Imagine red neon tetra
Mini fidler crab
Good for an extra touch but
WARNING!They tend to escape from the tank, crawling out on airhose lines,
etc. Make sure you have an 'escape proof' tank before doing so. Even escape
proof the back of tank filter. They can crawl 'upstream' into the filter and
escape from the top.
Tiger stripe khuli loach
These little 3/4 inch worm
like fish look like eels. Unlike the tiger loach which can grow up to 11"
this guy stays small.
Puffer fish
A brackwater fish that looks
definately exotic and marine-ish. No spikes when it puffs up but definately
unique looking. These fish are EXTREMELY agressive. You can only keep them
with other puffers.
Bumblebee gobi
A tiny B yellow/brown fish
somewhat resembeling a clown loach
Zebra Plecostoma
Unlike normal brown plecostomas
this one is a stunning white fish with thick bold black bands that rezemble
zebra stripes. Verry stunning.
Gibbiceps Plecostoma
The best way to describe
this is a plecostoma with maximim finage to resemble something of a bottom
feeding 'lion fish'
Ciclids: (varous)
Brnatus, Lemon (which is
in yellow or blue varieties), lombardoi, chilumba (blue), johanni (blue)
