We have a longstanding relationship with one of the finest domestic koi facilities in the US, and their fish just keep getting better every year. There are many great fish even in their "standard" koi mix, and their butterfly and premiums rival the colors and finnage of some imports. As always,stop in early for best selection.
But in spite of those obstacles, mbuna have a lot going for them and have been extremely popular aquarium fish for a few decades now. And it's no wonder, as many of their colors rival those of saltwater fish, and have a lot of personality and fascinating breeding habits. The male stakes out a territory and waits for egg-laden females. When one arrives, she lays eggs on a flat surface, then spins around and picks them up in her mouth (the male has presumably fertilized them in the few moments in between). She holds them there for roughly a month, rarely eating, then releases miniaturized versions of herself - for brief periods at first, then finally allowing them to go their own way.
We have a wide selection of mbuna as well as other African and American cichlids. We've recently been reorganizing the section and have quite a few mix-or-match tanks of assorted African Cichlids ranging in price from 3/$10 to 3/$50, plus some tanks displaying only a few species. African cichlids are best kept in a group of at least 12 in a tank at least 50 gallons to keep adults from being dominated by the tank bully.
Piranhas are popular aquarium fish, and we usually stock babies and have a few larger trade-in fish around (at the moment, there are more than a dozen). A few hobbyists claim to keep them long term mixed with cichlids or other aggressive fish, but most end up (voluntarily or not) keeping them in a tank dedicated exclusively to piranhas. Piranha behavior is somewhat unpredictable: they often rest rather motionless for long periods, then dart wildly when they feel threatened, see potential food, or just for the heck of it.
Aquarists and their guests are regularly bitten by piranhas - most often when one jumps out of an aquarium while in frenzy mode, and the human attempts to help it back into the tank. But they also sometimes come darting out of the corner to attack their owners at feeding or cleaning time. Depending on the size of the fish, they can take out a chunk of flesh up to the size of a marble, so handle these with care.
Fancy goldfish are not as hardy as their more common cousins, in part from the rigors of shipping and handling, but also due to their body shape. Their long intestinal tract seems more likely to have problems than normal-shaped fish, especially if they ingest air while feeding. It's best to offer sinking foods exclusively; there are several prepared diets made especially for them. They are also more vulnerable to nippers and other pesky fish, so they are best housed with other fancy goldfish or slow, peaceful species.
Healthy cardinals should show good color, exhibit schooling behavior, eat well and have full but not distended bellies. Fish on the edge are often pale, hang off to themselves, seem oblivious to food, and have sunken bellies. Even healthy cardinals are relatively delicate, so water chemistry should be stable and fish should be transported quickly (especially in cold weather) and acclimated with more care than hardy fish. They also need to be kept away from predatory species, who think of them as psychedelic brine shrimp. Since cardinals sleep on the tank bottom at night, they are especially vulnerable to nocturnal gobblers likeAfricann frogs, pictus cats and knife fish.
Platies are not difficult to care for, although they do prefer a small amount of aquarium salt in their water (the tablespoon per 5 gallon we use in most tanks should suffice). They are eager eaters of almost any fish food, including flake, and absolutely love frozen meaty foods like brine shrimp and bloodworms. They are easy to breed livebearers, but babies need to be separated quickly or they be eaten. Even though females are almost as brilliantly colored, sex can be easily determined by looking at the fins under the belly: females (example at lower left) have three fan-shaped fins, while males have a pair of fan shaped fins and a rod-shaped modified fin.
T5 46" 54W HO 6700K R2D2 OK? No, these aren't signals Brett Favre will be calling for a shovel pass this weekend; they refer (mostly) to the latest wave in fluorescent aquarium lighting. Here are some brief definitions to bring us up to speed:
T5 = the diameter of the Tube in 1/8ths of an inch, so in this case, the lamp is 5/8" thick. Narrower bulbs are more energy efficient, so a 28 watt T5 bulb can produce as much light as the classic old T12 40 watt bulbs (now outlawed) that were used everywhere from Shop Lights to aquariums.
46" = that's the easy one; it's the length of the bulb. Worth noting is that it is somewhat shorter than traditional bulb lengths.
54W = the W is for watts, and represents the amount of electricity the lamp will use, which more or less correlates with the amount of light it will produce. In this case, the lamp will use 54 watts of electricity and produces a corresponding amount of light.
HO = High Output; the bulb uses almost double the power (54 watts instead of 28 watts for a standard bulb of the same length) and produces almost twice as much light. HO bulbs aren't quite as energy efficient as standard bulbs, but they allow more light in a limited space.
6700K = the Color Temperature of the light produced, compared to the light produced to an object heated to that temperature in degrees Kelvin. In other words, if you took some perfect black hunk of iron and fired it up to 6700 degrees K, it would glow about the same color as a bulb with a 6700K rating. Fascinating as the method may be, the practicality is that lower K ratings tend to look more pink and higher K ratings more blue, with white sunlight being near the middle at 6500K. Since it's based on human perceptions of color, it's not an exact science, and bulbs from different manufacturers may appear very different even if they have the same K value.
R2D2 = the shorter robot in the Star Wars epics; thankfully has nothing to do with lighting.
OK? = got it? There may be a test later...
1-16-08
Trout Cichlids We've got a nice batch of baby trout cichlids (Champsochromis caeruleus) from a local breeder currently in tank NT08. They look more like baitfish at the moment, but they get about a foot long, males get beautiful as pictured, and they are lightning-fast, torpedo-bodied fish gulpers. They come originally from Lake Malawi in Africa, and are somewhat typical mouthbrooders. They are not exceptionally territorial, even with males of their own species, and can probably be kept in a larger tank anywhere as oscar could be housed.
1-15-08
SALE! AquaVac Water Changers While limited supplies last, Marina AquaVac Water Changers are reduced to $39.99 on the 25 foot model and $59.99 on the 50 foot. These labor-saving devices hook directly to your faucet (includes adapters for garden hose size and the most standard faucet-thread size), and use venturi action to slurp water out of your tank, then good old water pressure to fill it back up again. They include a gravel-rinsing bell at the delivery end and suction cups to help hold it in place while you're at the sink or for hands-free filling. If you're still lugging buckets and sloshing all over the carpeting at water change time, these are worth a look.
1-14-08
Back in Stock - Fluval Canister Filters We offered Fluval filters some time ago, but decided to go another direction in the seemingly endless world of canister filters. Since that time, we've had multiple requests for Fluval filters, media and parts, so we've added them to inventory once again. These are nice, reliable canister filters that are fairly easy to use and clean - for roughly half the cost of some of the high end brands. So far, we've received only the complete filter units; look for replacement media and common parts in a few weeks.
1-11-08
Here's a Rose that Needs Another Name Common names for aquarium fish are sometimes confusing, but Hap. "Taiwan Reef" is downright misleading. This species has nothing to do with Taiwan, nor with "reef" in the traditional sense; it's a gorgeous mouthbrooding cichlid from Lake Malawi in Africa. OK, we'll grant you that it's collected from the "Taiwan Reef" area in the Lake, but that just shows that people that name piles of rocks are sometimes a little too imaginative as well.
Like most other peacock type cichlids, Taiwan Reef is fairly compatible with other large or active fishes in a good sized (50 gallon or larger) tank. A nice male could easily become the show fish in a large community of barbs, rainbows, julies or other species. Males get especially colorful when courting females, which unfortunately are not spectacularly colored.
1-9-08
Beautiful Male Lithobates We recently received a nice male lithobates in trade - a deep purple fish with an orange bordered dorsal fin. We usually have babies of this species around, but since they are all rather dull colored as juveniles and only the males end up being spectacular show fish, it's a bit of a gamble to buy juveniles and raise them up. We rarely see adult males, and hobbyists often ask if the one in the show tank of rainbow fish is for sale ("no"). This one's in tank ET01, but look fast; we're sure he'll be sold promptly.
Like most of the African peacock cichlids, lithobates are only moderately aggressive, and can generally be kept with similarly sized active fish like rainbows, barbs, other moderate cichlids and even large tetras.
1-8-08
Nice Big Potted Plants Our last plant shipment included some nice large ozelot swords, kleiner bar sword and even a few cryptocoryes. Ranging from 10" to almost 18", there's a lot of plant crammed into a little plastic pot. Potted plants are generally easier to transport without major leaf loss - this especially applies to swords and crypts. It's usually best to plant the pot and all initially, then cut off the pot a few weeks after the plant has become acclimated.
1-7-08
Speaking of fish Most Likely to Feel at Home in a Pumpkin Patch - how about those red parrot's? Thought to be a cross between a Gold Severum and one or more of the Red Devils, red parrot cichlids have a rather bizarre body shape and comical expression. Many fishkeepers feel they have more personality than your average guppy, and they are generally better community fish than either of their descendents - although there is quite a bit of variability in temperament. As a hybrid, they were originally assumed to be infertile, but some pairs lay eggs that hatch and produce offspring.
Parrot cichlids start out a rather motley brown color, and a small percentage never color up; but most turn to orange or even red as they grow, some with black markings. They are sometimes available in other colors as the result of being dyed, or other patterns as the result of being painted or even tattooed. We don't stock the artificially colored fish for several reasons, but we have a nice selection of young, medium and even larger parrots at this time.
1-5-08
Oh what a tangled web we weave... ...when first we practice to deceive. Sir Walter Scott (and later the Professor of Gilligan's Island) knew whereof they spoke when it comes to the "Red Chromide" - a fish whose coloration is pretty much as orange as a pumpkin. The problem was, when this color variant became available, the common name "Orange Chromide" had already been applied to the original fish which was olive to yellow with orange freckles. The reasoning probably went something like, "well, if THAT's orange, these even brighter fish must be red".
Oh well, a rose by any other name... Red chromides are a relatively peaceful (about like angelfish) dwarf cichlid (maximum length about 3") that's easy to keep and breed. One of only a handful of cichlid species that originate in Asia, they add a nice splash of color, and can be kept in planted aquariums. They prefer a small amount of aquarium salt (a tablespoon per 5 gallons) added to their water.
1-4-08
Local Raised Fancy Guppies See Tank EM16 for some nice local raised fancy guppies - Half-Black Pastels (sometimes referred to as "German Whites") and Red Deltas. The males of these little beauties develop long flowing tails and flag-like dorsal fins, and the females are robust and fertile. Being local raised, they are well acclimated to our water conditions and relatively sturdy. Should be kept with gentle, smaller fish to keep those extended fins from being tattered.
1-3-08
Sphenops Mollies There's a nice batch of sphenops mollies in tank ET11. Like all mollies, sphenops appreciate a small amount of aquarium salt in their tank (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons - we keep this amount in most of our tanks), but they are much hardier and less disease prone than the more common black molly. They generally have a somewhat marbled pattern, and males often have a yellow to orange band on the edge of the tail. They're generally good community fish, and easy livebearers to breed.
12-26-07
Price Reduction: AquaClear Power Filters AquaClear hang-on power filters have always attracted the budget-conscious aquarist due to their long-lasting filter media (the foam block can go for many months if rinsed regularly, and large carbon and ammonia-removing bags can be replaced separately as needed). Now, due to a little streamlining in the distribution process, we are able to offer them at considerably reduced prices. If you're in the market for a solid, reliable, flexible filter with lower maintenance costs, these are worth checking out.
12-23-07
Holiday Hours
Christmas Eve: 10-4
Christmas Day: closed
New Year's Eve: 10-6
New Years Day: closed
12-4-07
Gift Cards Always Available It's the easy way to give a tropical fish for Christmas - without having to worry about whether it's a good match for your favorite fishkeeper's collection. We offer Gift Cards in any reasonable amount, they don't expire, and we don't charge a service charge in the unlikely event that the recipient waits a while before redeeming it. Gift cards may only be redeemed in person at Aquatics Unlimited (no phone or internet orders). Please see our Gift Card FAQ for more details.
Gift Cards by Phone: we are currently offering Gift Cards paid by credit card through the mail, with a couple of provisions. We can mail only to the buyer's credit card billing address, not directly to the lucky recipient. Cards are generally mailed the next business day, so order early to make sure they arrive in time for the special event.
12-3-07
New Book Arrivals We always stock a nice selection of quality freshwater and saltwater aquarium books, and recently received some new titles. We haven't had a chance to read them all yet, but they look interesting, have some nice photography, and cover some different aspects of the hobby. Books make a great stocking stuffer for your favorite fishkeeper. Among the new titles:
- 101 Best Tropical Fishes
- 101 Best Saltwater Fishes
- Advanced Marine Aquarium Tecxhniques
- Breeder's Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes
- Keeping Moray Eels in Aquariums
12-01-07
Killifish Among the most colorful small fishes kept in aquariums, killifish are not often seen in fish stores. They require a little extra attention, and since they don't always compete well for food, they are often best kept in smaller tanks. Since we just completed a new rack of 2.5, 5.5 and 10 gallon tanks, we thought it would be a good time to bring in a nice selection (see our New Arrivals page for the full list). The females are pretty non-descript, but some of the males are as vibrantly colored and patterned as any saltwater fish - just on a much smaller scale (typically 2 to 4 inches).
There are two common misconceptions regarding aquarium killifish. First, in spite of their name, they are generally not particularly aggressive (probably similar to platies or swordtails); the "killi" comes from the Dutch word for "ditch" or "canal", the sort of water bodies in which killies are often found. Second, they are not generally short-lived. While in nature, some species only live a few months, the reason for that is that their pond dries up during the dry season (they lay eggs that survive until the next season's rains). Assume the hobbyist doesn't mimic that environment by letting the water evaporate down to gravel level, killifish can live several years or longer - again similar to common livebearers.
11-28-07
Castle & Ship Decor 25% OFF Through 12-24-07, all castle and ship aquarium ornaments (a small sample is shown in the picture) are 25% off the regular ticketed price. We have a huge assortment, ranging from inexpensive items a few inches tall to gigantic pieces for those 100 gallon and up tanks, including more traditional ceramic ornaments as well as the more "realistic" looking resin products.
11-27-07
Paradise Found Here's another fish we don't see every day; in fact, it's one I don't recall seeing for a decade or two - nice large male black paradise fish. Paradise fish are related to gouramis and bettas, and are among the first fish known to be kept indoors. Their compatibility is about that of blue gouramis, they breathe air at the surface, and are bubblenest builders like many of the other anabantoids.
11-26-07
Breeding Colors Many fish, including most cichlids, exhibit extra bold coloration shortly before spawning. A fine example are the Tilapia bathybates currently setting up housekeeping in one of our north wall tanks. A moderately attractive fish anytime, these bathybates are showing much more of their deep red underbellies and balck markings. Available for sale, these are fairly easy egglaying cichlids that lay green eggs on the roof of a cave made by stacked rocks.
11-21-07
Happy Thanksgiving To All! We're taking Thursday off to hang out with loved ones and/or watch football, but we'll be back to our regular 10am-9pm hours on Friday and Saturday and 10am-6pm on Sunday. Hope everyone has a pleasant and safe holiday.
11-20-07
Gamma Frozen Foods 20% OFF These are some fine quality frozen foods for saltwater or freshwater fish - irradiated to reduce the possibility of pathogens, and foil-packed to maintain freshness. Available in common varieties like brine shrimp and krill, plus unusual foods like daphnia, gamma shrimp, whole cockle, lance fish, mysis shrimp, fine mussell and whole shrimp. 20% off while supplies last or through 11-30-07.
11-19-07
Emperor Tetras Another delicate beauty from the tetra family, we just received a handful of VERY pretty emperor tetras from a local hobbyist. With their rainbow coloration, unusual triple-forked tails and very peaceful disposition, these fish deserve a lot of attention. Unfortunately, they are often difficult to obtain in good health, as they appear to dislike a lot of shipping and handling. Best kept with other peaceful, slower moving fish, including many other tetras, and look great against a background of live aquatic plants.
11-18-07
Tropheus species We currently have a fair number of Tropheus species in stock. These rock-dwelling mouthbrooding African Cichlids come from Lake Tanganyika, but behave more like their similar cousins (Pseudotropheus and Labidochromis) from Lake Malawi. They prefer hard, alkaline water (special salts are available for this) and are quite aggressive, especially among their own kind. They are not excessively difficult to breed, but they produce rather small batches of fry, which is why their price remains relatively high. Tropheus live in relatively shallow water, and rarely brave predators to cross deeper water, so each collecting site produces fish that are isolated - and often have different characteristics - from their neighbors. Their names often allude to this and give a clue as to their color pattern: for example, Tropheus bemba flame comes from Bemba and has a flame pattern.
11-17-07
Used Multi-Tank Unit for Sale We're retiring the three-tiered, multi-partitioned tank system shown and making it available for sale. It's plexiglass and needs plenty of scratch removal and polish, but if you've got the time and energy, it could be a neat display unit once again. We bought this originally a couple of decades ago to display small saltwater fish and invertebrates while keeping them away from one another, and more recently have used it for freshwater oddballs and rare plecostomus. The bottom white chamber was originally designed to be a sump, but we've just been using it to hold some canister filters. Includes tank sections, light system and canister filters; stop in and take a peek.
11-12-07
Pond De-Icers $5 Off For those wintering pond fish outdoors, a pond de-icer can be a lifesaver. Unlike conventional aquarium heaters, de-icers aren't meant to raise the temperature of the whole pond (which would cost a fortune in electricity); they only keep a "breathing hole" in the ice to allow gas exchange. We stock five different models of de-icers, each with its own advantages and disadvantages; please see our article or handout on Pond De-Icers for more information and a comparison guide. Through November 30 (or while supplies last), all 5 models are $5 off the regular price.
11-7-07
Increase Your "URN"ings. No, we can't help you talk to the boss about that Big Raise, and we definitely aren't going to show you how to "Work from Home for Lotsa Money". But if you've got a need for some aquarium ornaments that look like ancient pottery from some archeological dig, we've got a deal for you. All decorative urns are 20% off throughout November. Urns are not only attractive decorations, but they provide cave-like hiding places for fish, crayfish and other aquatic critters. We just processed a new shipment this week, so our selection is better than ever.
11-6-07
Frag-Mania II: Oops, We Did It Again Maybe we watched too many movies over the Halloween weeks, but we've had the urge lately to slice, hack or chop chunks off of various hard and soft corals, and offer the smaller frags for sale. In recent days we've added or fragged zoanthid, leather, colt, finger, tree, clove, encrusted gorgonian, yellow polyp, mushroom, torch, plating montipora, chalice, favia, acropora, porites, hydrophora, cabbage, bird's nest, candy, and encrusting montipora. There's a lot to choose from right now, in prices ranging from $9.99 to $39.99 each. There are plenty of larger show specimens still available as well
11-4-07
Back In Stock: Pictorial Guides to Cichlids Volumes 1 & 2 These two volumes were out of print for years and highly sought after by cichlid enthusiasts - primarily for their great color photos of many popular species. Apparently the ongoing requests for more copies were successful, and another printing has been released. Volume One deals with many of the common and not-so-common African cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika; Volume Two contains a healthy mix of New World cichlids plus more of the Africans not covered originally. The limited text is somewhat useful, but it's the pictures of both male and female of many cichlids that make these books irresistible. It's a great ID guide for many female cichlids that look very similar, and offers hints on how to tell males from females on more difficult species.
Trade-In Value on Used Tanks Increased We have recently begun paying up to 20% of the new value in trade for other merchandise for qualifying tanks, tops, lights and stands - up from the 10% we had been offering. To get full value, items must be complete, in good condition and reasonably clean, and payment is made as a gift card if no other goods are needed at the time. We generally do not pay on filters, heaters or other accessories.
10-30-07
Red Rainbows Easy to keep, easy to mix, and fairly easy to breed, red rainbows have a lot going for them. They are almost hardy enough for a beginner's tank, eat most aquarium foods, and get 4"-6" long. Males are easily distinguished by their red color (females are greenish tan) - which intensifies as they get interested in spawning. They are active fish that usually aren't much of a threat to slower moving fish, yet can generally stay out of the way of mildly aggressive fish like barbs and peacock or Tanganyikan cichlids. There's a nice batch on the south wall that are starting to flash some of their spawning colors.
10-24-07
Bamboo Shark We rarely offer true sharks for sale, as most aren't suitable candidates for aquariums of less than several thousand gallons. One exception is the Bamboo Shark, whose relatively "small" maximum size (about three feet) and sedentary nature allow it to be kept long term in tanks in the 150-200 gallon range. We just received a trade in of a nice specimen about 20" long. He is well adapted to aquarium life, very alert, and eats frozen krill readily.
10-22-07
Mid-Week Special: Saltwater Clowns 20% OFF! From 10/22/07 to 10/26/07, take 20% off the price of any saltwater clownfish in stock. At this writing, we have plenty of small tank-raised clowns, incuding ocellaris, percula, clarkii, pink skunk, goldstripe maroon and saddleback. Clownfish are best known for their symbiotic relationship with sea anemones, but make interesting aquarium pets even without their natural hosts. Tank raised clowns are among the hardiest, easiest to keep saltwater fish, and relieve fishing pressure on wild fish.
10-18-07
Even More Large Angelfish We've accumulated another dozen or so large trade-in angels in recent weeks, including some black lace veil, gold marbles and these classic half-wild silvers. Wish we could get these all the time, but since it's not practical to raise angels to adult size for profit, they're only available when a hobbyist trades them in.
10-15-07
Get a FREE $5 Gift Card with $25 DECOR Purchase From 10/15/07 to 10/22/07, you'll get a free Aquatics Unlimited GIFT CARD worth $5 for each $25 worth of aquarium decorations purchased, paid for in full and picked up. This offer does not apply to layaways, "holds" or special orders, and may not be combined with any other offers. *For the purpose of this sale, Decor includes live or artificial plants, driftwood, dry rock (not live rock), background paper, and any of our huge assortment of tank ornaments. A Decor purchase of $25.00-49.99 gets a $5 Gift Card, $50.00-74.99 gets a $10 Gift Card and so on.
10-9-07
Meteor Minnows A.K.A. Longfin White Clouds, these are hardy and very attractive little fish, great for even smaller, unheated tanks. At a little over an inch long, these are fully mature, and the males are often flashing trying to get the attention of the females. Like the standard White Cloud Mountain Fish, these are about as peaceful as fish get, and often won't even mess with their own tiny babies. As such, they are one of the easier egglayers to breed; just place some in a small tank with fine plants to scatter eggs into. On the other hand, their babies are quite tiny, so a liquid or powdered baby fish food would be required to raise more than a few.
10-8-07
Wanna Buya Used Koi? Just received our first larger batch of pond trade-in fish last weekend, ranging from half-inch comets to 18" koi, with plenty in between. This is a great time to get a great deal on pond fish, as we're anxious to take down the remaining outside vats and focus more on indoor aquarium fish for the winter. Most are priced between 1/2 and 2/3 their regular price.
If you're looking for homes for your healthy outdoor pond fish, we still accept them as trade-ins, but obviously can't pay much on them during the off season. If you have only a fish or two to trade or donate, just bucket them up and bring them in at your convenience. If you've got a larger pondful to unload, please call ahead and speak to jim or todd to make sure we have a place ready for them.
9-25-07
Blast from the Past Right out of the 1970s come these classic Bubble-Up Slim Jim and Hubbla Bubbla air operated hang-on filters, with original boxes and instructions. We think they have value as collectibles, but we've sold some for actual use as well. If you remember these classics from Miracle Pet Products and Metaframe Living World, you've been in the hobby a long, long time.
9-19-07
Beautiful Male Eureka Peacock An excellent specimen of Aulonocara jacobfreibergi "Eureka" was traded in recently. Peacocks in general are on the less aggressive end of the African cichlid spectrum, and are often kept in larger community tanks with medium-sized active fish like rainbows, sharks, and even larger tetras. They are in fact not a whole lot more aggressive than an adult angelfish, no match for the rowdier africans like Pseudotropheus and Melanochromis.
Sightless Wonders We haven't had Blind Cave Tetras in for a while, and just had a dozen come in today. As the name denotes, these guys have no eyes, and naturally live in caves where they don't need 'em. Seems like this would be one of those species that would make darwin wonder, although it could be argued that not having useless but vulnerable eyes might be an advantage. They find food by smell and bad manners - they bite most everything they blunder into. As such, they are best kept with very active species that aren't the bumpin'-into type.
9-18-07
Frag-Mania We've being going through the coral tanks looking for specimens that can be or should be divded, and came up with quite a few. Check the Specials and New Arrivals page for the full list, and check out the pictures. Some of these are small enough for those micro-reefs, and others reproduce rapidly to populate larger systems.
Select Pond Plants - Free To A Good Home -or even a mediocre home; we're not planning on checking. The last of the UNpotted marginals, water lettuce and water hyacinths are there for the taking (but please ask for assistance). Some aren't much to look at, but if you've got a use for them, stop in before somebody else beats you to them. The remaining POTTED marginals and lilies are now priced between $5 and $15 each.
9-12-07
Fall Pond Foods 20% OFF!! Though 9-30-07, all in stock FALL (& Spring) Pond Foods are 20% Off. As pond temperatures begin to drop, fish metabolism slows, and below about 50 degrees, slows so much that a belly full of high protein food can cause illness that may not be apparent until spring when activity increases. Any pond fish can have problems, but koi appear to be particularly susceptible. The Fall Foods are generally based on Wheat Germ and are easily digested, so they can be fed even when the water temperatures get down to the 40's.
9-11-07
Wow... just Wow... A local customer traded in some excellent saltwater fish - mostly angels - from a large tank he was switching over to freshwater. See the Specials and New Arrivals page for the full list, but the show-stopper is the big, big French Angel. We converted one of the 200 gallon tanks near the door to house some of these fish, and he's been wow-ing the staff and our customers for a few hours already.
Saltwater Monos Also part of that trade-in were three very nice large Mono argenteus - often kept in fresh to brackish water, but easily acclimated to saltwater. Though they resemble freshwater angels in body shape, they are much more active, and prefer a healthy helping of aquarium salt in their water. When scared or otherwise uncomfortable, they turn very dark, almost black, so they give you a fair warning if your conditions aren't up to their standards.
9-9-07
Another Pretty Peaceful Little Tetra Red Phantom tetras resemble the more common serpae and red minors, but without the attitude. They are not prone to fin-nipping or even much chasing, they stay quite small (usually under 2"), and as they mature have even a deeper red background color. Adult males are easily distinguished by their longer dorsal fins. They look especially beautiful kept in a school with lots of fine-leaved plants. These are sometimes hard to come by, but there's a nice tankful of them on the south wall near the cash register.
9-7-07
Stendker Discus Just in, another fine batch of fancy discus from the Stendker hatchery in Germany. It wasn't that long ago that discus fish were virtually all wild caught, exceptionally risky, and available in somewhat limited - though still beautiful - color combinations. Modern tank-raised discus are as hardy as angelfish once acclimated and given proper conditions, and selective breeding has produced an amazing number of color patterns in just a few short years. Discus prefer water with low dissloved solids (usually part R/O) and an average temperature near 85 degrees F.
9-5-07
NOW THAT THEY'VE GOT YOUR ATTENTION... Wow. In case you haven't been outside lately, our area's mosquito population is starting to look like a bad SciFi Channel movie. This brings two things to mind: 1. stay inside until about November and 2. remember that we stock most of our pond products - including Mosquito Dunks to control mosquito populations - year round, although some have already been moved to the back room. If for whatever reason you need any of our off-season products, please feel feel to ask; we may have them waiting for you, and if not, can probably order them promptly.
Worth Taking a Second Look... at the Arulius Barbs in tank SM11. These unusual medium-sized (maximum length about 5") barbs were traded in a while back, but the males are starting to take on their lavendar sheen and comb-like dorsal fins. Arulius are active, but not especially nippy or aggresssive, and are GREAT schoolers, tending to stay in pretty tight groups even in larger aquariums. They are very hardy, even suitable for typical break-in aquariums, and feed readily on flake or almost any other standard fishfoods.
Pretty Pearl Gourami There's a nice tankful of pearls on the east wall, beautiful fish starting to get their lacey look. Pearl gouramis are quite peaceful for a fish that gets up to about 6", and once acclimated, they are fairly hardy. They do not do well in poor water chemistry, so take good care of them and they'll be a beautiful addition for years to come. At their current 2.5" size, it's fairly easy to distinguish males by their extended dorsal and anal finnage and the extra orange coloration on their chests.
9-4-07
Pond Netting: Don't wait Until Leaves are Falling! Pond netting is a hot item in the fall, and good netting does a fine job of keeping leaves and other debris out of the pond, making the pond safer over the winter and less likely to algae bloom in the spring. The key of course is to purchase and install the netting before things start a-falling. To that end, we are offering our popular Pond Netting at 20% OFF from 9-5-07 through 9-15-07. This netting has a nice small (about 3/8") mesh, suitable for leaves and even those maple helicopters and larger acorns, and is made from UV-stabilized polypropylene. Install by staking around the edges or building a PVC frame like we use in the shop. For more information, see our article on Pond Netting.
9-2-07
Get a FREE $5 Gift Card with $25 Freshwater Fish Purchase
From 9/3/07 to 9/9/07, you'll get a free Aquatics Unlimited GIFT CARD worth $5 for each $25 worth of freshwater fish (excluding feeders) purchased, paid for in full and picked up. This offer does not apply to layaways, "holds" or special orders, and may not be combined with any other offers. *For the purpose of this sale, Freshwater Fish includes pond fish and "critters" like African Frogs and Crayfish in addition to the thousands of common and exotic freshwater fish species in stock. A Freshwater Fish purchase of $25.00-49.99 gets a $5 Gift Card, $50.00-74.99 gets a $10 Gift Card and so on.
9-1-07
The "Oscar" of Saltwater Aquariums Panther Groupers have a lot in common with the freshwater cichlids called "oscars": they are cute as the dickens when tiny, very hardy, grow swiftly (often beyond what the hobbyist has planned for), gulp down fish that seem too big to eat, yet aren't exceptionally aggressive for their size. Plan ahead for a 55 gallon or larger aquarium, and one of these inch and a half cuties will get a foot long and be around for years to come.
Open Labor Day 10-4 hmmm... not much more to add to that except stop in and say hi if you're in the neighborhood. We are planning a promotion to start that day so also check back here or on the specials page for details.
8-30-07
Freshly Cut Pulsing Umbrella Xenia We just fragged one of the larger Xenia colonies, and the smaller colonies are coming along nicely. Pulsing Xenia are fascinating - almost hypnotic - to watch, and they grow and multiply readily with strong current, medium to high lighting, and iodine supplements. For many aquarists, Xenia can become almost a "weed" in a reef tank, spreading almost too rapidly; oddly, some others have no success at all. Xenia colonies are known to "crash" on occassion, possibly as a result of declining water quality or change in temperature.
XXL Saddle Anemone Yesterday's saltwater shipment included an excellent large saddle carpet anemone - probably will extend to at least 18" when he settles in. Carpet anemones are intermediate in hardiness, require strong lighting, good but not violent current, and regular feeding for longterm success. Most types of clownfish consider carpets a suitable home.
8-29-07
Parkinson's Rainbows There's a nice tankful of Parkinsoni on the back wall, all males coloring up very beautifully. Like many rainbows, these are medium-sized (maximum 6") active community fish, best kept in medium to large tanks (38 gallons or bigger) with other fairly active fish like barbs, danios, milder cichlids, loaches. They are often kept in heavily planted aquaria, and generally don't munch, graze or slash through aquarium plants.
8-28-07
Roberti Tetras: What's Not to Like? Here's a pretty, smaller tetra that doesn't get enough attention. They are similar in form to the bleeding heart tetra - including the long, hooking dorsal fin on the males, but don't have the little heart spot. They are quite peaceful, especially compared to the more common but nippy serpae and red minor tetras they resemble, and rarely get larger than about 2 inches. Kept in a small school (the group of fish, not the one room building where kids go to learn Readin' Ritin' and Rithmatic), males frequently display, holding their fins high and circling females, each other, and anything else that catches their attention. Males are fairly easily distinguished by their longer fins and slimmer body. There's a nice little group of these that caught my eye in tank EM16.
8-27-07
Yellow Labs: an Almost Community Cichlid We received some VERY nice deep yellow Yellow Labs in trade over the weekend in small , medium and larger sizes. Depending on on heredity and rearing, yellow labs vary from almost white with faint yellow, to 1/2 yellow, to deep golden yellow, to muddy brownish yellow: most of these fish are in that sought after golden yellow coloration. Where labs fit into the "community fish" scale is arguable (in fact we argue it here quite regularly), but most agree they fit somewhere on the more peaceful end of the mbuna cichlids of Eastern Africa, somewhere between the peacocks and some of the less aggressive red or cobalt zebras. This means they can often be kept in a roomy tank with a decent-sized group of active fish like bigger barbs, silver dollars, bala sharks and so on. Or of course they also work in a "cichlid tank" with similar African species.
Big Bala Sharks Speaking of trade-ins, we've accumulated a fair number of large, XL and XXL Bala Sharks recently - most are in one of the 155 gallon bowfront tanks near the cement ponds. Balas are an attractive, active, relatively peaceful "shark" (technically "minnow" might be more accurate) that are easy to keep but like a little room. Generally kept as community fish when young, but probably more appropriate with oscars, knife fish, tinfoil barbs and other less aggressive lunkers when they grow.
8-25-07
Pond Nets 20% Off Need to catch pond fish or skim some of that debris from the pond before fall sets in? All our pond nets are 20% OFF through September 3rd. We stock a number of sizes of both fish and skimming nets, most with telescoping handles to add that extra foot or two to your reach. See our Fall and the Garden Pond article for more preparation suggestions, and check back here over the next few weeks for more fall pond specials.
Saltwater Macro Algae: Bagged & Ready To Go Being that time of year, we've "harvested" some of the macroalgae from the growout tanks and have a number of species ready to sell (some very limited) including grape Caulerpa, feather Caulerpa, blade Caulerpa, cup Caulerpa, fine spaghetti Chaetomorpha, coarse spaghetti Chaetomorpha, and lettuce Ulva. These algae are used as treats or grazing foods for some herbivorous fish like tangs, for decoration, and/or to reduce unwanted slime and hair algae growth by slurping up nutrients. Can be used in a main tank or refugium with moderate to bright lighting. Caulerpa species in particular should have old growth pruned on a regular basis.
8-24-07
An Odd Concept Not sure where they're getting it, but a surprising number of hobbyists seem to be under the impression that it's somehow better to "buy fish in odd numbers". I'm not sure if the idea is that a school of neon tetras will occasionally line up single file, count off in 2's, then eject the last fish if then total is even? There is a grain of truth to the adage, in that many fish don't thrive in "pairs" (see our article "Terrible Two's"), but it doesn't seem likely that fish will know - or care - if they need 8 placemats at the table or just 7.
8-22-07
The "Perfect" Glass Cleaning Algae Eater? Well, I suppose nobody's perfect, but these little Bristlenose Plecostomus come pretty close when it comes to scrubbing algae off the sides of the tank, rocks and plant leaves. Unlike the more common Hypostomus plecos that get 18" or larger and lose their appetite for algae once they discover other foods, Ancistrus species bristlenose tend to max out at 4"-5" and relish algae from cradle to grave. One potential downside is that they occasionally damage leaves on wide-leaved plants like swordplants; a few bristlenose in a heavily planted tank don't make much of a dent, but a swarm with just a few plants can shave the leaves until they're translucent and/or full of holes. We receive most of our bristlenose plecos from local breeders, so they tend to be much sturdier and more adaptable than wild caught specimens. We currently have plenty of small standard bristlenose, quite a few small and medium albino bristenose, a couple of adult 4" female albinos, a couple of small longfins, and a small longfin albino.
Scratch 'N' Dent Pond Plants $1 Each Give these picked-over pond plants a home and a little tender Loving Care: all remaining unpotted marginals, unpotted water poppy, unpotted parrot's feather and one vat of weather-beaten water hyacinth. For a buck apiece, how can you go wrong? While supplies last, of course.
8-21-07
A Gorgeous Community Cichlid: German Blue Ram Not all cichlids get the size of an old Buick or as rowdy as a WWE wrestler. The German Blue Ram usually stays under 2" and is generally no more aggressive to other fish than a small angelfish. Rams have a partly deserved reputation as being challenging, as wild specimens come from waters very different chemically from typical Milwaukee aquarists, are often picky eaters, and frequently come in with intestinal parasites and other issues. However, our German Blue Rams are currently raised by local hobbyists and are much sturdier than their wild cousins, and eat even flake foods with gusto. Keep these beauties with peaceful fish like most tetras, rasboras, dwarf gouramis and the like, feed a varied diet of flake and frozen foods, and enjoy their brilliant colors and "intelligent" personalities.
8-20-07
Get Your Chocolate Fix Right Here
We believe they were traded in from two different sources, but a nice pair of Chocolate Cichlids appear to be setting up housekeeping. These are a fairly uncommon cichlid; in fact we're not sure we've had a mated pair in the store in the last 30 years. They have a similar body shape and behave quite a bit like the more common severums, but with a greenish/brownish/maroonish color scheme. They're currently in tank NM46; take a peek, or you may have to wait 3 more decades to see 'em.
8-18-07
4 New Aquarium Plants Yesterday's huge aquarum plant shipment (see the Specials and New Arrivals page for details) contained several species that are quite new to us: Cryptocoryne moehlmanni - a larger leaf crypt that cultures fairly readily like other crypts, and like others is sometimes sensitive to transfer; red Nesaea - a beautiful but challenging deep red bunch plant that needs extra light, CO2 and regular fertilizing; Ludwigia "Cuba" - a slower growing but hardy "contrast" plant with long leaves varying from brassy to olive to even reddish; Hygrophila balsamica - a lacy "wisteria" looking plant that needs bright light and whose emergent leaves (those that grow OUT of water) may be poisonous to fish.
Do Fish Only Grow to the Size of their Container? Yes and no - but mostly no. Many living things fail to thrive when stressed, and confining a fish to swim in his concentrated waste products and no room to exercise falls somewhere between "stressed" and "tortured". Some of the hardiest fish like goldfish and oscars may go the bonzai tree route and survive but stop growing; most perish long before their growth is inhibited.
8-15-07
A Great Hard Coral for Beginners Just received some nice locally raised Green Bird's Nest Acropora fragments. This is one of the easier SPS (Small Polyp Stony) corals to keep and propagate. If you provide moderate to high lighting and good current, this coral should grow readily and is easily propagated by taking "cuttings", supergluing them to a rock. These "frags" may be transplanted elsewhere in your aquarium, traded with another hobbyist, or even sold.
Affordable Tank-Raised Seahorses Also just arrived are some nice captive-raised Kellogg's Seahorses, also known as "Giant" seahorses. Seahorses do need special and somewhat dedicated care, but for a hobbyist willing to make the effort, they are fascinating pets. They generally require frozen and/or live foods, and are pokey eaters, so they can't be kept with chowhounds. Captive raised specimens like these are generally easier to maintain, and of course have virtually no ecological impact.
8-14-07
Thinking About Egypt? Well, now you don't have to pay top dollar to fly thousands of miles just to get your shoes full of sand and possibly cursed by a mummy. You can buy Egyptian-themed aquarium ornaments - including pyramid, pottery, cobras and whatever the plural of sarcophagus is - right here at Aquatics Unlimited - and save 20% through the end of August. See the display bowfront tank opposite the beginner's/hardy section.
Pond Fish Sales During the next few weeks, we'll be starting to consolidate some of the pond fish to make room for fall and winter displays. We like to keep a few ponds full of select fish year round, but don't need the volume we maintain in the summer. Specials starting this week:
- 3"-4" premium comets, sarasas, shubunkin reg. 2.99 SALE $2 each!
- 4"-5" premium comets, sarasas, shubunkin reg. 5.99 SALE $4 each!
- 4"-5" premium and butterfly koi (marked vat only) reg. 14.99-19.99 SALE $9 each!
- 8"-10" standard koi (marked vat only) reg. 49.99 SALE $35 each!
Pond Plant Sales - there are still some VERY nice pond plants available, although they've been moving fast this week. Potted Lilies and Potted Marginals still Buy On, Get One Free; most others are 1/2 their regular price or less. You can still enjoy them and let them help control algae this year, and bring most of them back in 2008.
8-13-07
Patented Fish It's hard to miss the brightly fluorescent GloFish ®, and they're special in more ways than one. These fish are genetically engineered by inserting genes from sea anemones and jellyfish into eggs of the common zebra danio, apparently as part of a longterm environmental project. As such, they qualify for US Patents and all the protections they imply for the "manufacturer". These beauties are currently available in three colors: Starfire Red™, Electric Green™ and Sunburst Orange™, and are especially brilliant under actinic blue lighting. So far, none of these Frankensteinian beauties have shown a propensity for sneaking out of tanks in the middle of the night to feast on human brains, but who knows what the future will bring?
Disposing of Unwanted Fish With the recent concerns over Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia in Wisconsin game fish, it's inevitable that the DNR and other governmental agengies will be taking a closer look at the aquarium and pond hobbies as pathways for pests and diseases to be introduced into native waters. It is very important for hobbyists to realize that NO aquarium or pond fish, plants or anything else should ever be placed in natural waterways. Healthy fish may be brought in to Aquatics, and you may receive some trade in value towards other merchandise if the fish are readily resold. Unhealthy or dead fish should be wrapped, bagged and discarded with trash rather than given a bathroom burial at sea.
8-11-07
Most Unusual Breeding Behavior The mouthbrooding (female lays eggs, male fertilizes, then female incubates in her mouth for a month or so) behavior of many African cichlids is odd enough, but Synodontis multipunctatus catfish take it a step further. They hang out near these breeding cichlids, rush in to eat the cichlid eggs before they're picked up, then lay their own, similar looking eggs in the same place. The cichlid then picks those eggs up and incubates them, no doubt unaware of the switcheroo. This "cuckoo behavior" is well known in the bird world, but quite uncommon with fish. Aquarists wishing to propogate multipunctatis cats often house them with one of the Haplochromis species from Lake Victoria, such as "obliquidens" or maybe a "Hap" ahli from Lake Malawi - both of which seem to be especially clueless about the substitution. Since this strategy takes a bit of extra effort, the breeder sacrifices a batch of cichlid fry, and only a small number of fry are produced, these catfish generally command a respectable price.
Fish on "HOLD" When you're walking around the store, you're likely to come across a few tanks that have bright stickers saying "HOLD" for the fish in that tank. These fish are not generaly not reserved for anyone in particular, but are temporarily not being sold for health reasons. Some have just recently arrived after a traumatic shipment (sometimes delayed or overheated), others are being medicated for some sort of illness or infection, and others have either had unexplained losses or just don't look right. These held fish are reviewed regularly and made available for sale when they appear to be safe.
8-9-07
Large Freshwater Angelfish We currently have 8 nice large angels in stock; marbles, smokies and blacks. As much as we'd like to, we don't see a lot of nice adult angels, as they are generally not commercially available, and when they are, they are extremely expensive after being raised for a year or more then shipped with few to a box. These were all local trade in fish that appear to have been very well taken care of and are very alert and robust.
Some Extra Nice Domestic Koi arrived in yesterday's shipment. Some of the small standards are still nice, but check out the 4"-5" premiums and butterflies, the 6"-8" butterfly and 10"-12" premiums. This is almost certainly the last high quality shipment of koi for this season. If you haven't been in lately, we still have an excellent selection of pond golfdfish and koi in stock in plenty of sizes and price ranges.
8-7-07
Herons and other Pond Nuisances Every year, we receive more and more reports of herons raiding backyard garden ponds and devouring prize goldfish and koi. I guess they know a good thing when they see it. We have several products that some find helpful in discouraging them. First and least expensive, a plastic goldfish attached to fishing line; when the heron picks it up, it fights back, hopefully convincing the heron to take up fishing elsewhere. Second, we offer heron decoys; herons generally aren't fond of hanging around together, so if one sees another already hunting your pond, he may move on to the next. Finally, we just returned the "scarecrow" to stock; this has a motion detector and hooks up to your garden hose, so when a heron (or raccoon, or cat, or werewolf, or neighbor) sets it off, it blasts a spray of water, hopefully sending the culprit fleeing into the sunset. Each of these deterrents should be moved to different locations regularly: herons can eventually figure out that they're not really in danger.
8-6-07
Pond Fish Due Tomorrow We didn't quite get the break in the weather we were looking for, but one of our suppliers had a nice supply of higher quality koi, so we're expecting them late Tuesday afternoon. Should be 2"-3" comets, small and medium standard koi, several sizes of premium and butterfly koi.
Apistogramma Dwarf Cichlids Part of last week's shipment was two species of Apisto - cacatuoides orange and agassizi double red. These dwarf cichlids stay quite small (usually under 2.5") and the males are absolutely brilliantly colored. They are roughly as aggressive as angelfish once settled, but a bit shy at first - definitely no match for most other cichlids. These orange and red varieties are selectively bred, meaning individuals with better color were selected for breeding - they are not painted, dyed, tattooed, or whatever the heck else some suppliers are torturing their fish with.
8-1-07
Cute as a Bug's Ear Check out the tiny (1.5") white angler that just arrived today. You probably learned about anglerfish in school classroom movies as a kid - if you weren't busy doing other things when the lights were out. They have a little bait they wiggle above their forehead to attract other fish - then gulp them down whole when the fish get too close. On a good day, one can consume a fish that's as large as itself.
Also worth a peek: Don't recall ever seeing elephant nose red dot snails before, but they're pretty decorative, and should be a good sand sifter for reef aquaria. In the same shipment was one of the rare red mandarin gobies that appears to have the reverse pattern from normal. (I'm not sure if that's just an illusion, and I got a headache trying to figure it out.) AND a nice batch of some of the biggest, most colorful scarlet cleaner shrimp ever. Check our Specials and New Arrivals page for the rest of the shipment details We also recently received some VERY nice pulsing umbrella xenia from a local hobbyist.
Pond Fish Shipments While the season seems to end all too soon, we are expecting at least one more shipment of pond fish this season - providing the weather breaks before the season is over. Most pond fish do not ship well in higher temperatures, and lots of passenger traffic sometimes results in air freight shipments being bumped to the next flight. We'll be hoping for more of the premium and butterfly koi, and probably at least some larger comets. Check back here or the New Arrivals page for arrival.
7-31-07
For Nano-Reefers: two new skimmers. As the popularity of small to very small reef aquariums increases, there has been a growing need for small but functional protein skimmers. The Rio Nano Skimmer (shown left) is a nice compact hang-on for tanks up to 20 gallons. It's fairly simple to set up and operate, uses a needle wheel to produce bubbles, and can also function as a standard mechanical/chemical filter as well. Also just in, CPR's new SR3 skimmer (right) is a sump style skimmer specifically designed to fit in the popular 29 gallon BioCube tank. It can of course be used on other similar sized reef tanks, but it does require a sump. The SR3 is a powerful little unit, using the same venturi modified Rio 600 pump as the famous BakPak series.
Pond Plant Blowout For our pond customers, this is a great time to get some great prices on some great pond plants. Every year, just when our potted plants get big, lush and some blooming, sales start tapering off because most people want to be done planting in the spring. Bummer for us, but good deal for you. Potted marginals and water lilies are currently both Buy One (at regular price), Get One (of equal or lesser price) Free (free). Most unpotted pond plants are also marked down as well. Many of these plants can be wintered, so get a couple months enjoyment from them now, and even more in years to come.
Aquatics Unlimited by the Number Ever come to the counter for help, then were unable to locate the fish you were just looking at? This could help. Each of our main freshwater stock tanks has a 3 part number in the upper right corner: the first part designates if it's the North, East or South wall, the middle part if it's the Top, Middle or Bottom row, then the last is the number counting from the corner as if you were walking counter-clockwise around the room. So, tank EM22 would be the 22nd tank in the Middle row on the East wall.
Top Ten Trade-In Picks Compiled by Eric, here are 10 (and then some) neat trade-in freshwater fish that you shouldn't miss:
- Synodontis multipunctatus catfish
- Adult Male Aulonocara lwanda
- P. loisellei (central American cichlid)
- Tropeus moori Cherry Spot
- Male dovii cichlid
- Albino Haplochromis Taiwan Reef
- Large Male ngara Peacock
- Zebra Plecostomus
- Albino Longfin Bristlenose Plecostomus
- XXL Clown Loach
- Large to XL Discus
- XL Bala Shark
- Large Arawana
7-31-07 Welcome to volume #1, issue #1 of the Aquatics Unlimited blog. In future installments, we plan to include some insight into our operation, information on new items, tips and anything else we find interesting regarding our business or the aquarium and pond hobbies. New installments will be posted as time as available, but we've got a pretty good backlog of ideas, so we'd expect quite frequent updates at least in the beginning. Hope you enjoy...
jim
Copyright © 2007 Aquatics Unlimited. All rights reserved.
Spring Feeding for Pond Fish An important reminder: feeding pond fish (especially koi) high protein, meaty diets in cool temperatures can lead to digestion problems that may weaken koi for months to come. It's generally best not to feed pond fish at all until the water temperature reaches the mid 50s, and to feed special wheat germ or other easily digested food until the water temperature climbs into the 60s. We have a number of different brands of Spring/Autumn foods in various sizes; most are on sale throughout the month fo May. For more Spring pond tips, please see our article 
Bummer: Lily Order Delayed Due to a mix-up with our supplier, the water lilies we have been anxiously awaiting won't be arriving until next week Friday, May 2nd. We apologize for the confusion. We do have a few local raised potted water lilies traded in by customers.
