AboutKaren Fields Expertise I own and maintain a large number of tanks with many various tropical fish species. During my fishkeeping past I have learned a lot of the myths and truths about tropical fish care. Currently I keep a wide range of species and have a lot of experience in; Severum cichlids, gouramis, platies, goldfish, bettas, tetras, paradise fish, Angelfish, Corydoras catfish, and many others as well as a couple of years with brackish water.
If you have a question on tropical fish keeping I`ll be sure to answer it in the simplest way I can, and if I don`t know the answer, I`ll research the answer for you.
Happy fish keeping!
Experience I have experience in setting up fish tanks, what to feed certain species, compatible species in my experience, cleaning the tank,
and all around tropical fish care. I also have learned the truth of many of the myths of tropical fish keeping in the past. I have also contributed articles to the new pet-keeping website http://www.petplacestation.com/
Happy fishkeeping!
Question Hello Karen,
This week has been really bad for me. Yesterday everyone went out for a picnic. I decided to stay back and spend some time with Shadow, my Rottweiler. After playing frisbee with him, i decided to watch T.V and after watching T.V i decided to make myself and Shadow some snack.
I went into the Kitchen and poured myself some cereal. Then when i was mixing Shadows Pedigreee(its a brand of dog food)i heard him barking. I thought he must have seen some squirrel or something. But then he started to whine. I have never heard him whine except for when my chauffer trod on his foot by mistake.
I knew something was wrong and i found him outside my aquarium room whining at something small and black. When i went nearer i saw that it was my Flower Horn. I got shocked but i immediately dropped him inside the nearest tank, a community tank. I thought he was dead because he
was floating but the next second he sank right down. i noticed blood coming out of his gills, i collapsed on the wall. I knew he would not survive. He was lying on his side and a few loaches sat upon the Flower Horn. I felt really sad and i fell asleep. I woke up the next day(apparently my parents had not returned)to find him in the corner still alive and swimming.
I felt so happy that i would have taken him out of the tank and kissed(but that would not have been possible)him. I also noticed that none of my other fishes wer killed in that tank. I immediately transferred him to one of my empty ponds. Id Shadow hadn't whined and barked i wouldn't have known that my Luo Han had fallen out of the tank.
Anyway i have to go to Delhi(capital of India)for the finals of the competition in a few days. I found 7 Rasboras for sale and i think they are in a good condition. Should i cover the breeding tank with paper or some cloth to prevent the rasboras from getting scared? What is the ideal temperature reccomeded for Rasboras?
......Srinivas
Answer Hi Srinivas,
Wow!!!What a scare!!!!! I can only imagine how you must have felt. I'm sure your flowerhorn will recover fully and be a happy fish again. It's amazing what dogs will do. They always know when something's wrong and they will always let their owners know about it. Dogs are amazing creatures, so human yet so dog. My own dog has many times let us know when something was wrong with one of our other animals, she has saved an old pet rooster we once had who got into a fence fight with another rooster and somehow got himself hung upside down on the fence by his spurs and was barely alive. She let us know by giving us a worried look and wanting to go outside, the rooster was saved from being pecked to by the other rooster...Thanks to Zelda. I think all dogs have this touch and special magic about them where they know when and sometimes always know how to help somebody--human or animal.
Perhaps this should also be a lesson to you... You must always cover any fish tank you have. All fish can jump out whether they've been spooked, have been fighting or even corydoras coming up for air can get carried away and hurl themselves out of the aquarium. You're are very lucky you found your Luo Han just in time. Thank Shadow for saving his life! If you can find an aquarium cover like the screen type for reptiles or a glass cover for fish that would be ideal. You can makeshift one out of sturdy cardboard if you have nothing else at the moment, weight it down carefully with bricks or something else stable with some weight to it.
Harlequins prefer a temperature ranging from 73-80 F. (22-27 C) preferably around 76 F. (24 Celsius). I should note that these Rasboras prefer soft acidic water especially for breeding. With a pH of 6.0 ppm.
