Mopani Wood

Last summer, I bought two pieces of Mopani Wood for the 40 gallon acrylic aquarium. I had been looking at this driftwood online for a month or so and couldn't decide if I wanted a large piece or extra-large piece. I ended up buying the two large pieces you see in the video, from their discount shelf for a little over $5.

The colors of African Mopani root have made it a popular choice among aquarium and terrarium owners. It's black and tan colors spiral into unique and modeled formations. Some parts of this dense wood offer smooth surfaces, while others have very textured detail.

The great thing about Mopani wood is that it is a very dense wood. In fact it's one of the hardest and densest woods available for aquarium keepers. So why is this great? Because it sinks very easily without being weighed down or having to attach anything to it. This driftwood is also excellent at resisting rot.

To prepare this driftwood for my fish tank, I did soak it in a bucket of water for around three months. Basically, you want the tannins to clear out of the wood. I would change the water every week, until the water became almost clear. If you do use this driftwood, there usually is a little bit of color left in the water from the tannins; especially if you use a larger piece. I actually like the look. I think it makes the freshwater aquarium appear more natural.

I'm very happy with my new addition of Mopani wood to the aquarium, and I can tell the fish find it very interesting too.

If you are a lover of pleco fish, I definitely recommend this type of driftwood for them.

You can buy this wood below or check out my aquarium driftwood site.

African Mopani Wood Aquarium/Terrarium/Reptile Decor WYSIWYG MOPAM04 Medium

US $14.95

2h

Zoo Med Mopani Wood Aquarum Tag 10-12in

US $5.19

3h 34m

Mopani Wood - Aquarium Tag 10-12"

US $8.61

1d 19h 44m

Zoo Med African Mopani Wood Jumbo

0 Bid

US $30.00

2d 15h 42m

MOPANI WOOD SMALL 6-8" AQUARIUM TAG, 2 PACK, ROCK & DRIFTWOOD, ZOO MED LABORATOR

US $10.91

3d 16h 42m

Here's his table of  aquariums to the left.

The technique used in Breeding Fancy Guppies is similar to that of breeding swordtails and Platies, but Jon uses a little different method to reduce the amount of fry eaten by the adult.

He's got four tanks:

• a 2.5g raising tank, heavily planted and some java moss at one end.(gives then organic matter to nip at and also hiding places).
• the 10g plant ONLY tank, that has a lottt of cover and driftwood.
• a 5g tank that doubles as a Quarantine tank.
• and a 20g Display tank.

To the right-below,  is a shot of his 2.5 gallon tank with about 40 guppy fry in it.

For breeding Fancy Guppies he does the following:

"The 20g is a mixed community tank, once the “loving” is done and the female/s are gravid (pregnant). I will pull the female once i can view the eyes of the fry and the gravid patch starts to get dark and place them in the 10g PLANT ONLY tank if there is only one female at that time.

If there are 2 i will put them in the 10g in a divided breeding trap with a open grid bottom. In this case the fry will fall through into the tank and away from the mother. I will also do this if I will be away for more then 24 hours and can’t check every 3-4 hours. I check the tank about 3-4 times a day (or every 4 hours). My daughter helps with this part lol. This way you sometimes catch her in the act of giving birth (it’s a good lesson for the kids and also for Adults). The fry are free swimming as soon as they are born."

Below is a top-down view of the 2.5 gallon aquarium. Jon wrote, "This was originally a Betta divided tank. I started using 1/3 divided section for prego fish while keeping growing fry in the remaining 2/3. But the gap at the divider was too big and fry were passing it and getting eaten."

"The mother will not start to eat her fry till she is done giving birth (usually 2-3 hours) which falls right in with your “check-ins.”

"Once she has given birth, i take her out and place her in the 5g tank to relax b4 returning her to the 20g Display tank. I then net or syphone the fry from the 10g and place them in the 2.5g where they grow out….. i usually have a batch of fry every 2-3 weeks . I let the fry grow out to about 2 months in the 2.5g, and keep about 2-3 from each batch that have the best color and health and those lucky ones goes into my 20g Display tank and into my breed stock. The rest are given away to friends or sold cheap to local pet stores."

Thanks Jon...for the pictures and information on Breeding Fancy Guppies.

With many wall aquariums, you'll find inadequate filtration, and difficulty heating, cleaning, and maintaining the tank.  AquaVista solves that by including both an under gravel filter and a biological wet/dry filtration system.

The tank is also equipped with a lighting system that is bright and vibrant, and an air pump to keep your water oxygenated.

On the side of the AquaVista 500 is a programmable controller with keypad and lcd screen.  Heating levels are easily programmed in.

While all those necessary features make this one of the best designed wall aquariums out there, AquaVista added more value to this beautiful tank.

How would you like to have easily changeable backgrounds and interchangeable frames?  Well you can.  How cool is that!

Take a look at this video review of the AquaVista 500 wall aquarium, and then check out their other wall aquarium below; the Panoramic Wall Aquarium.

AquaVista also offers a Panoramic Wall Aquarium.

This fish tank would look great above a fireplace or couch!

Like the AquaVista 500, the Panoramic Wall Aquarium is full of the necessary features.  It includes a double filtration system, which is nice with the larger size, lighting, air pump, and heating controlled by the programmable controller.

But then AquaVista again adds more value with a carbon dioxide infusion system, which is perfect for helping maintain live aquarium plants.

Also included is an automatic fish feeder!

Available in 5 or 6 feet lengths, the AquaVista Panoramic Wall Aquarium is a great conversation piece.

I'm pretty impressed with what AquaVista has done.  It's not surprising they have over eight patents out, issued or pending, for their designs.

Click here for a few reviews, pricing, and more specs on the AquaVista 500.

Click here for more info, price and specs on the AquaVista Panoramic Wall Aquarium.

The rainbow sharks blackish-green body is accented by colorful reddish-orange fins. Also known as the Red-finned Shark, or Ruby Shark, this fish is primarily a bottom, and mid-level dweller. They're happy eating most anything. Spinach, lettuce, tubifex worms, algae, and leftover fish food, make them happy.

The Rainbow Shark is a semi-aggressive fish, which can also be very territorial. It's suggested you have just one in the tank, and fish in similar size. Also, it's best to avoid combining the Rainbow Shark with other freshwater sharks, such as the Red-Tailed Shark and Black Shark. Here are a few more characteristics to consider:

• Grows to 6 inches
• Tank parameters: 73-80 F; pH 6.5-7.5; KH 10-15
• Minimum tank size is 30 gallons; 50 gallons preferred
• Requires moderate care
• The rainbow shark is an Omnivore

Rainbow sharks are compatible with most barbs, danios, loaches, plecostomus, and the gourami. You just have to make sure and leave them space to establish a territory.

Breeding the rainbow shark in an aquarium setting isn't done due to the sharks aggressive behavior. If you've got the room in your fish tank, and proper companions, the rainbow shark can be a fun fish to keep.

FunFishTank: How long have you been breeding the swordtail?

"We've had the sword tails for two months. There are two
males and two females. This is my second group of swordtail fry. The first were
born right after we got the parents and we didn't have a
chance to isolate the mother. Most were eaten by other
fish, and we've had no luck with a breeder *net* -- all of
our guppy fry and our remaining sword fry died in the net,
so we decided to get the breeder box as a replacement."

You can see the fry in the plastic breeder box.

FunFishTank: How could you tell when the female was pregnant? How many fry did she have?

"We could tell the mother was pregnant by the dark triangle
in her abdomen. The swordtails are translucent fish and you
can see eggs and then eyes as the fry form. The swordtails had 9 fry this time."

The "dark triangle" Ian refers to is the gravid spot.

FunFishTank: What did you feed the fry?

"We feed them Hikari "First Bites" fry food. It sinks slowly
and the fry love it."

Check out this one day old swordtail fry! It's 7mm (.28 inches).

FunFishTank: What type of aquarium setup did you use to breed the Swordtail? Were their any other fish in the tank?

"Our tank is a 50-gallon freshwater tank. There are 4
swordtails, 4 white cloud mountain tetras, 1 cardinal tetra,
2 zebra danios, 2 leopard danios. There was one black molly
until very recently, and we plan on adding more mollies
soon."

FunFishTank: I've heard that the female swordfish can sometimes die after having the fry. Was your female ok?

"The female looked pretty stressed when we put her in the
plastic breeder isolation box. The box was underwater
(about 1 inch), so I had to feed the mom using a tube from
a ball-point pen. I put the tube into the hole at the top
of the box and dumped some flakes into the tube. The flakes
would sink slowly and she was much happier when fed. She was
fine after having the fry."

FunFishTank: That's good to hear! You've taken some great pictures. Could you tell us how you did it?

"I took the pictures using a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera
and a 50mm Nikkor macro lens. I set the ISO to 800 (I
think) and used a wireless, off-camera flash on its
lowest-power setting. I placed the flash off to the side
with a diffuser so it would light up the box but not blind
or scare the fish."

Thanks for sharing your experience of Swordtail breeding Ian! The two tips about using a plastic breeder box, and feeding the female are good to know.

Many popular Swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri) found in pet stores are hybrids, and come in assorted colors. Marigold, Black Nubian, Pineapple, Neon , Red Wag, and Red Velvet Swortails, are just a few commonly found varieties of this species. You might think the name comes from the sword shaped caudal fin protruding off the lower end of the male. Actually, the swordtail name is derived from the male's anal fin. You can determine the sex of the fish though, by the "sword" shaped fin. Male swordtails have one. Females don't. Notice the lack of this on the female swordtail in the picture. If you're interested in stocking the swordtail in your communty fish tank, keep the following in mind:

• Minimum tank size is 20 gallons.
• Tank Parameters: 65-82 degrees F; pH 7.0-8.2; KH 12-28.
• Swordtails are Omnivores.
• Peaceful fish perfect for community tanks.
• Grow to 4" in length.
• Easy to care for.

As live-bearing fish, the aquarium hobbyist can try their hand at raising fry. You can learn more about swordtail breeding here. These fish are able to reproduce in high numbers. Unfortunately, in the wild, they have become a nuisance in some countries where they were introduced to an area not indigineous to the species.

I've had the swordtail fish in my own aquariums. They are very pleasant, and swim quietly around. You could easily keep them with the Guppy, Dwarf Gourami, and I have even stocked them with Tiger Barbs.

Changing the cartridges looks simple. There's no need to empty out the water, which saves time. The aquarium bowl is actually ten times stronger than a regular goldfish bowl. But I still don't suggest dropping it!

In the base there's an air pump and filter hidden away. A light in the lid to illuminates your fish, but you have to buy the biOrb heater seperately.

So is it really that good? I read through some of the reviews of the BiOrb Aquarium, and one thing was agreed upon. This fish tank is not good for goldfish. They're just too dirty for it. This would make a great aquarium for smaller fish, such as neon tetras.

It was also suggested that the larger 16 gallon BiOrb aquarium was easier to maintain than the 8 gallon. Personally, I change the water in my betta bowls every two to three weeks, and do a monthly water change in the eclipse aquarium. The betta bowls only have a few gallons of water in them, and stay clean. I'd guess a 16 gallon tank like this wouldn't take any more work than a regular 20 gallon aquarium. It would definitely take up less space.

You can get the full specs on the 16 gallon, and 8 gallon BiOrb Aquarium here, or baby biorb 4 gallon aquarium..

Also known as the millionfish or fancy Guppy, these fish are an excellent addition to the non-aggressive community fish tank. Special breeding programs have produced unique color strains in the species. Native to Trinidad, and regions of South America, the fish was discovered in Trinidad in 1866 by Robert John Lechmere Guppy. Although he wasn't the first to write about this species, the name "Guppy" stuck. Here's a few characteristics and items to think about when purchasing Guppies:

• Minimum tank size 20 gallons.
• Easy to care for.
• Grows to 2 - 2.5 inches.
• 65-81 degrees F, ph 5.5-8.0, KH 10-30
• Come in many beautiful colors.
• Guppies are live-bearers.

Usually you can distinguish the difference between Guppy males and females by coloration, and fin formation. Generally, the males are smaller, yet have brighter colors than the females. Also, female guppies have a rounded anal fin, and a pregnancy patch located near the bottom portion of their body.

Because these fish are live-bearers, you can have fun breeding them in your aquarium. Be warned though, if you try Guppy breeding, adults will eat the fry if they're left alone. You'll want to set your fish tank up specifically for breeding, if you're going to attempt raising them. This requires an environment with floating ferns and a breeding box which will protect the fry.

I have never tried Guppy breeding, but have friends that have raised fry. If you decide to try it, get ready to have a large amount of guppies to take care of. You'll want to make sure you have prepared a home for them. A pregnant Guppy can drop as many as 200 fry.