Sometimes called the 'Helicopter Fish' ...

Helicopter fish as it is sometimes called, as it can hover in a particular place and also glides like a helicopter under water.

Do you want to Author in Habitat Aquarium?

If you want to author in  Habitat Aquarium, then write back to me at the following mail id with a relevant article for one time approval.

Email at: chakravarty.saugata@gmail.com

We are one month old ...!!!

We are month old and have above 700 page views as of today ...

Please do write back to me, your feedback and the ways we can improve this site so that it becomes a perfect knowledge bank. I will be looking forward for your comments and you can also write back privately to me in my mail id chakravarty.saugata@gmail.com.

Below I place the distribution of page views  country-wise till today.

Make your own Discus Food ...Here is how I make it ...

There are many fish food recipes available in the market, and on the internet. Beef Heart mix is I believe is the most popular one, however after experimenting with many of these recipes I have formulated a recipe which provide good growth and will be accepted by all types of fishes except the herbivorous ones. Try it ....

Is your Turtle a Boy or a Girl?

It is practically impossible to tell if you are new to Turtle keeping, and if you are handed over with a very juvenile turtle this becomes all the more difficult. This is how you can do it ...

Do you want to Author in Habitat Aquarium?

If you want to author in  Habitat Aquarium, then write back to me at the following mail id with a relevant article for one time approval.

If approved you will offered with a pass-code.

Email at: chakravarty.saugata@gmail.com

This offer closes by 30th October, 2010

Are you leaving Fish Keeping Hobby?

Then ....

 

Before you take the final decision.

Inducing spawning with artificial seasonal changes in the Aquarium ...

Most of the Freshwater Aquarium Fishes, especially the fishes from Amazon spawns after the long dry season with the advent of the Rains. I have tried to do some research on the same and have come up with a day wise chart. It is interesting and may help you to spawn a large number of fishes from Amazon.

I have started a new Forum for discussion for all fish ailments and remedies

Please post your queries and remedies, suggestions in my new forum for fish ailments. 

Please visit:

Fish Doctor: A forum for all fish ailments and remedies

Crayfish can re-generate limbs if lost

A friend of mine gave me 2 red crayfish. One was may be 0.5 cm bigger in length than the other. The bigger one was also a bit brighter in color than the smaller one. It (the bigger One) also had a voracious appetite, to that extent that it will grab at anything that falls from the top.

Water Hornwort can be used as an effective dust cover

I have two tanks which do not have a hood or a canopy on the top. This is done intentionally as these tanks are in my balcony and they get diffused sunlight all through the day, which activates immense plant growth. But I was faced with a regular problem of floating dust in water which falls from the air as it balcony is beside the road. I was having this problem for quite a long time for about six months or so and tried everything from nets to glass cover without much successful results. 

Tips to induce Discus Spawning ...

I will make a short list of tips (in my opinion) to get pairs to spawn. Keep in mind that all discus are set in their own ways. Once you learn the personality of your discus, breeding them is not so hard! I'm sorry to say, but they are just like people! Everyone is different.

Live X-Ray image, see its skeleton and check its intestine and swim bladder...

Many years ago; when I was in my 8^th standard, in the year 1987. I was taking a morning jog in Kolkata, near a big lake. (If you are from Kolkata, you should know Dhakuria Lake) and the maintenance have cleared the lake of the milfoil mass, along with the hyacinth and pistia, and the mass was dumped along the shoreline of the lake. There was a strong smell of algae, mixed with ‘pond smell’ in the air along the shore line. It was early in the morning at around 5PM and sun was just rising with its red glow on the east, and the mass has not yet dried out.

They can beat Discus anytime, only thing they do not have is the size

Yes they are called the Chameleon fish; they can change color, to a host of different colors starting from black, blue, orange, yellow, and drab. If you are still not amazed then they can even make the bands on their body come and go, and can change them from a straight line band to plaited bands. They can also change the color of the bands and can also change the number of the bands on their body.

Koi can bring you 'GOOD LUCK' - try keeping one

Koi keeping is again gaining importance as a Hobby. People have started keeping the Koi's and goldfishes even in Aquariums. Pond Koi keeping is an age old hobby requiring good knowledge as well as an adequate budget.

Fish having white excreta and not feeding - Its Internal Parasites

If you see your fishes are excreting white excreta, and the fish will also not eat then it must be that there had been a attack of Internal Parasites in your tank. In this case the fishes can be de-wormed by the following method.

Ram's Horn Snail, the most prolific of all snails

Ram's Horn snails are very common. They are a type of mollusc. The shell is a simple flat coil with no spire or point. 

Freshwater Angelfish with its newly born fry

Know whether the pet you have is a part of the ENDANGERED list

Lots of animals are sold in the market those are actually endangered, so we should refrain from keeping them as pets. The initiative that we all can take may be is to stop buying, so the selling will also stop and that will help the species to regenerate in wild.

Discus Habitat

Lots have been written about the natural habitat of Discus Fish, so I do not to add to the literature anymore. I have never been to Rio Negro or Amazon basin to experience the habitat first hand, however all the knowledge that I have is from the research on the internet. Here there are a few pictures of the natural discus habitat which I have found from the Internet, which can be replicated in Discus Habitat Aquarium.

Click on 'Continue Reading ->' for more picture of Discus Habitat

Fish Balancing

I have noticed that many people leave the hobby of fish keeping pre-maturely, because they complain that fishes die very easily, water gets fouled and they have to do complete over-haul and water changes with the cleaning of the entire tank every week. 

Piranha feeding in my tank

 

The low-tech Planted Aquarium

Many of us are leading ever busier lives and in this time of economic uncertainty our hobbies may be taking up less of our attention. One of my friend once wrote to me that he wants to have a planted tank at home but due to this recession and economic turmoil and also hectic corporate life he is unable to start one.

I couldn’t consider a high tech planted aquarium, as I cannot justify either the time or the expense.

Convicts Breeding

Convicts have bred quite a number of times in my Aquarium. Here in this video I captured them on my infrared in complete darkness, so as not to disturb them. They can be seen cleaning the earthen ware vessel and then laying their eggs in them and in the later part of the video we can seen them in light and eggs are distinctly visible. Enjoy ....

Aquariums designs for my Home

I have been researching on wall aquarium setups for our new home, and got some excellent ideas on the net. Thought of sharing the same with all. Please have look at these wall aquarium setups ....

Homemade PH paper

We always check the reading of the acidity or alkalinity of the water through the test kits those are available in the market. They are expensive and last for a certain number tests. I have been looking for a solution, a solution that will will be home-made and inexpensive and with materials readily available in our homes. I bumped into some home-made PH paper recipes that worked great for me. You can also have a try ....

Cabbage Paper Strips

Take a head of red cabbage and slice it into one-inch chunks. You could also peel the leaves from the head and tear them up. Place the leaves in a pot with water; the exact amount isn't important, but use at least a one quart pot filled about half way. Cook over medium heat for a half hour. Let the mixture cool and then strain into a bowl. The solution should be a deep blue color and it itself can be used test for pH. To make strips, soak white coffee filters in the solution for half an hour. Allow the filters to dry off, at least overnight. Cut them into strips and they are now ready to be used to test pH. Bases will make the strips turn green; acids will cause them to turn red.

Turmeric Paper Strips

Mix two tablespoons of turmeric with 200 milliliters of rubbing alcohol. Dip coffee filters into the mixture and again allow them to dry. Once dry, they can be cut into strips and used to test pH. The paper will turn red for bases and yellow for acids. Be careful because turmeric can easily stain clothing.

Habitat Aquarium

I have seen that there are many people how keep aquarium in their homes as an hobby however they do not realize that like us fishes also require a ‘home’ to live, You just cannot just buy an aquarium and put is some substrate and pour water over it and fill it up with fishes. Neither you can keep Goldfish with the Angels together in an aquarium, as they come from two different parts of the world. If you love your fishes and want them to live happily then you will have to create an home for them, a ‘habitat’. It is no point buying fishes and killing them, please do not buy a fish from the store without knowing where they came from nor preparing a habitat back at home. It is destined to die ….

Let us all share our knowledge, expertise and experiences, in this blog so that we can have a knowledge bank. And we can help each other out with the indigenous and innovative methods of habitat creation in small and captive environments.

Freshwater Fish Compatibility Chart: Avoid Incompatible Species

Apple Snails - Welcome Guest in your Aquarium

 

Apple snails are quite and common and popular aquarium pets nowadays in the aquarium world

Bloodworm Farming

Bloodworm Farming

Instructions

Bats in Humayun Tomb

Bats in a room in the ground floor of Humayun Tomb ..