Week 14: 40% OFF! Filter Media & Cartridges For this week's 40th Year specials, from November 5 - November 11, all Filter Media will be 40% off their regular price. This includes carbon, fiber, ammonia/nitrate/phosphate absorbers, filter pads, biomedia - and of course all the various filter cartridges. Anyone who's had an aquarium for a while soon realizes that replacing filter media can be the biggest ongoing expense in the hobby. Now's your chance to knock 40% off that expense. Stock up; you know you'll use them. The picture at left just shows a small sample of what's in stock. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

10-29-09

Big, Beautiful Flowerhorn Cichlid Trade-In Recently had a customer trade in a football-sized Red Rainbow Flowerhorn Cichlid that's catching everybody's eye. Like the Red Parrots, Flowerhorns are mysteriously man-made in the far east, probably a hybrid of two or more cichlids. They are similarly unpredictable in temperament; some quite vicious, others almost brain-dead peaceful, and most with apparent multiple personality disorders. But they are undeniably beautiful, and worth trying to find a place for. This guy's currently housed in the 200 gallon tank near our front windows.

10-29-09

Week 13: 40% OFF! Air Pumps & Aeration Accessories For this week's 40th Year specials, from October 29 - November 4, all Aeration Supplies will be 40% off their regular price. This includes air pumps, airline, airstones, aerating ornaments, air-operated filters and air valves. Save a coupla coins on a small airstone or 40 bucks on a quality air pump. Don't forget the action aerating ornaments including divers, clams, shipwrecks - and check out the brand new LED-lit Bubble Curtain that just arrived! The picture at left just shows a small sample of what's in stock. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

10-22-09

Week 12: 40% OFF! Saltwater FISH! For this week's 40th Year specials, from October 22 - October 28, all Saltwater Fish will be 40% OFF. We have a nice selection, and are expecting a good size order later this afternoon. This is the sale you've been waiting for... Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Aquarium Gravel Too! We have a great selection of aquarium gravels for fresh or salt water tanks, including natural browns, tans, and gray, plus colored gravels in blues, blacks, reds, and even pink and purple. Also check out some of the new shades we brought in just to take a look at (they're under the closeout table near the center of the store). Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

10-15-09

Week 11: 40% OFF! Items inside Northeast Slatwall For this week's 40th Year specials, from October 15 - October 21, all Cleaning Supplies will be 40% off their regular price. This includes scrubbers, scrapers, siphons, vacuums, nets, brushes, and magnets. Summer's over and the holidays are fast approaching, so it's time to spiff things up so you can show off your tank to company. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

10-8-09

Week 10: 40% OFF! Artificial Aquarium Ornaments For this week's 40th Year specials, from October 8 - October 14, all aquarium ornaments will be 40% off their original price. We have a HUGE selection or aquarium decorations, hundreds of SKUs, from natural to fluorescent, sedentary to aerating, tiny to huge, economy to pricey, ordinary to lighted. There are ships, skulls, cars, marbles, artificial corals, pipes, dinosaurs, volcanos, clams, branches, skeletons, caves and a whole lot more. Save a few dimes on a charm-sized piece, or big bucks on one of those huge shipwrecks. Decorating for Halloween? let your fish get in on the action with one of the seasonal decorations on the front counter. Sale does not include gravel or rocks (they'll have their own sale sometime soon). Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

10-1-09

Week 9: 40% OFF! Live Corals For this week's 40th Year specials, from October 1 - October 7, all Live Coral will be 40% off original price. We typically have dozens of fist- to softball-sized corals specimens in stock, plus more than 100 coral cuttings (also known as "frags"). Some are relatively easy to keep and even propogate; in fact a fair number of the frags were raised by local hobbyists. Others are quite a bit more challenging, but beautiful enough to justify the effort. Sorry, "Live Rock" and 'Base Rock" are not included in this special. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Live Aquarium Plants Too! We just received a large shipment of freshwater aquarium plants last week, so our selection is near peak. Live aquarium plants can be a whole hobby in itself, or a simple addition to a community tank. Now's the perfect time to try a few hardy species for the first time, or add something unusual to your growing collection. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

9-24-09

Week 8: 40% OFF! Aquarium Heaters! For this week's 40th Year specials, from September 24 - September 30, all aquarium heaters will be 40% off original price. With household temperatures fluctuating wildly with the change of season, there's no better to to check your existing heater or install one if you haven't already. Save a few bucks on an economy model, more on a quality Aqueon unit, or serious money on of the the top of the line Hagen E Series heaters. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Pond Heaters Too! Pondkeepers will soon need to plan on how they'll be wintering their fish. For those that keep their fish outdoors, a pond heater (or more accurately de-icer) is a good way to keep that "breather hole" in the ice to allow gas exchange. We stock 8 different models, ranging from an energy-saving 100 watts to a more powerful 1500 watt unit. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

9-17-09

Week 7: 40% OFF! Driftwood For this week's 40th Year specials, from September 17 - September 23, all natural driftwood will be 40% off regular price. Driftwood is a very popular, natural freshwater aquarium decoration, and we have a nice selection currently in stock. (Worth noting: driftwood does frequently discolor aquarium water somewhat during the first few weeks of use.) Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Fish Foods in West Counters! That's right: any of the fish foods in the 4 west-facing counters are 40% off. There's a great selection of foods to choose from, including flakes, granules, and pellets for freshwater fish, saltwater fish and even turtles. Try a new brand or stock up on your old favorite. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

9-10-09

Week 6: 40% OFF! Fish on EAST WALLl For this week's 40th Year specials, from September 10 - September 16, all fish in the tanks on the east wall (farthest from the store entrance) will be 40% off their sticker price. This wall has quite a varied selection: many tetras and rasboras, loaches, catfish, sharks, plus more oddballs including dwarf cichlids and rainbows. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF FALL Pond Foods! For you pondkeepers, it's time to start backing off high animal-protein foods and start feeding one of the wheat germ formulas. As fish metabolism slows with the dropping temperatures, conventional wisdom suggests that easy to digest foods allow you to continue fatten fish up for the winter without the risk of digestion problems of meaty foods. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

9-6-09

OPEN LABOR DAY 10-5 We'll be here; stop in before, during or after your celebration!

9-3-09

40% OFF Nets and Nettingl Continuing our 40th Year specials, from September 3 - September 9, all aquarium nets, pond nets and pond netting will be 40% off the original price. Aquarium nets come in sizes from 3" to 12", with several handle lengths and mesh sizes. Pond nets come in an array of sizes, some with extendable handles, some with fine mesh for skimmer, others with coarser mesh for fish catching. Pond netting comes in sizes from 7x10 to 28x28, in small or coarse (economy) mesh, and is used to help keep fish in and leaves out. Now's the perfect time to place pond netting to deter predators and be ready before the leaves start to fall. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked locally up at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Aquarium Water Conditioners! Freshwater conditioners can be found in the southeast counter, and includes dechlorinators, clearing agents, cycling enhancers, algae control, cleaners and so on. Saltwater conditioners are in the northwest counter, and include all the reef supplements, plus vitamin/hufa Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked locally up at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

8-27-09

Week 4: 40% OFF! Aquarium & Pond Booksl For this week's 40th Year specials, from August 27 - September 2, all in stock books will be 40% off the original price (some books are already at clearance prices of 30%-50% off; we apply the better of the two discounts, but not both). The books shown are but a small sample; we have many dozens of titles in stock and ready to go. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Pond Fish! For you pondkeepers, we're also offering the 40% discount on all in stock pond fish from 8-27 to 9-2. This includes comets (except feeder goldfish), sarasas, shubunkin, koi, butterfly koi and premium koi, most still available in a variety of sizes. Save a few dimes on the small stuff or a few 10-spots on the big guys. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked up locally at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

8-20-09

Week 3: 40% OFF! Frozen Fish Foodsl Continuing our 40th Year specials, from August 20 - August 26, all frozen fish foods will be 40% off their tagged price. We have a wide selection of these fish-frenzying delights, including brine shrimp, bloodworms, krill, mysis, and formula foods, most in multiple sizes of cubes or flatpacks. Give your fish a treat and save. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked locally up at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Pond Water Treatments! For you pondkeepers, we're also offering the 40% discount on all in stock pond treatments from 8-20 to 8-26. This includes dechlorinators, algaecides, colorants, oxidizers, biological clarifiers, flocculants, and medications. Sale applies to in stock items only, being picked locally up at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks, mail orders or layaways.

8-19-09

Imported Discus Just Arrived Another nice batch of Stendker discus (imported from Germany) arrived this morning. As usual, they're pretty skittish, and will take a little time to acclimate before looking their best, but they should be great fish once they're settled in. This batch is mostly the small 2.5" size, with a few types in 3". See Specials & New Arrivals for details.

8-18-09

Last Koi Shipment of the Season Just arrived, small to medium standard koi, plus small and extra small butterfly koi (finally!). The butterfly are young stock, just starting to show the extended finnage; lots of platinum and gold, and a few other varieties. Waiting for the weather to cool paid off: everybody looks to be in good shape and acclimating nicely.

Thanks to all our pond customers and suppliers for another great season. The fish quality and selection were probably the best ever, and sales were excellent. Remember: remaining pond plants are already marked down, and keep an eye out for other pond specials during our 40th Year sales.

8-13-09

Two Tanks Added to "North Wall" Sale Starting today, you can also take 40% off any fish from the north 155 gallon bow and north 960 gallon tanks (pictured). As of this writing, these include large red parrots, distochodus, enough pacus to feed a small village, and some assorted cichlids and catfish. If you're looking for Great Big Bargains, this is the place to look.

8-12-09

Week 2: 40% OFF! Fish on North Wall Continuing our 40th Year specials, from August 12 - August 19, all fish on the North Wall of the building will be 40% off their tagged price. Those familiar with our layout will recognize this as our "Cichlid Wall", the longest row of tanks in the building, stocked with literally thousands of cichlids, plus some odds and ends including piranhas, knife fish, blue crayfish and so on. Some of the Malawi African cichlids are already on sale, and the 40% discount is still applied. Sale applies to in stock fish currently on that wall, being picked up at time of purchase; no special orders, holds, rain checks or layaways.

... and 40% OFF Pond Food! For you pondkeepers, we're also offering the 40% discount on all in stock pond food from 8-12 to 8-19. This includes all the favorites from Pond Care, Tetra, Hikari and more; a great time to stock up or try a new treat. Limited to stock on hand, no special orders or rain checks.

8-5-09

Artificial Plants 40% OFF! To kick off our 40th Year Celebration, we are offering our huge selection of artificial aquarium plants at 40% off their regular prices through August 11th. Limited to in stock items, but there are literally hundreds to choose from, so now's a great time to replace those old faded plants or just add more. Includes classic versions, fluorescents, glow, rocky mountain and the latest from Aqueon, Tetra and Blue Ribbon.

8-4-09

POND PLANT CLEARANCE! As usual, just when our pond plants start looking their finest, it's time to start clearing them out. There are some GREAT potted water lilies with blooms coming up - regular $29.99 - $39.99 - clearance priced at 18 bucks. Potted marginals (hardy and tropical, regular $14.99 - $24.99) are $9, unpotted marginals $3, water hyacinth $4. As of this writing there are quite a few beauties left to pick from, so if you've got a little space left in your backyard pond, now's the time to fill it.

7-23-09

20% OFF USED EQUIPMENT We can hardly walk through the aisle, so we're offering 20% any USED tank, stand, light or combo until we make a little room. LOTS of good buys, even a bowfront and a couple of hex tanks as of this writing, but shop early for best selection. Limited time offer.

INTERNET ONLY SPECIAL! - print out this online coupon, bring it in, and get an EXTRA 10% OFF used equipment through August 15. (This is a pdf file; you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to view/print it.)

7-14-09

Holy Mackerel - HUGE Clown Loach Trade-Ins Closing in on 40 years in the business, it's not often we can say "biggest ever", but these trade in clown loaches are just that. Some are dang near a foot long and they're all beefy and full of life. We didn't want to spook them by taking a lot of pictures, but this one should give you the idea. Stop in and check 'em out before somebody snaps up these rare treasures. As of this writing, there are residing in tanks EB23 and EB26.

7-1-09

17.6 oz Hikari Koi Foods on Sale Among the first - and still a favorite of many pondkeepers around the world - standard koi pellets from Japan, available in Standard or color-enhancing Gold formula, each in small, medium or large pellets. Vitamin rich, including stabilized Vitamin C. 17.6 ounce resealable bags on sale through July 31st, save $3-$5.

6-28-09

Gourmet Koi Treats - Yummmm... We know many of our pond customers like to baby their fish, and recently added some scrumptious snacks. Small bags in strawberry, blueberry or orange flavors, or a small jug with a mix of all three. Made with real fruit and fortified with vitamins including vitamin C. If they taste as good as they smell, maybe you'll want a pack for yourself as well.

6-28-09

Straight from the Oceans of... Tennessee? Just arrived from Sustainable Aquatics - a saltwater fish farm in Tennessee - some nice tank raised clowns and a few other oddities. The black onyx ocellaris (shown) are quite the hit, but their standard ocellaris (Nemo fish) and other specimens are all very nice as well. This is our first shipment from this new supplier, but certainly won't be our last.

6-23-09

Pond Fish Stock Report Pond fish season is in full swing, and availability is already becoming limited on some varieties and sizes. Here's what's currently in stock:

• comets - 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-8
• sarasa comet - 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-8
• shubunkin - 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-8
• standard koi - 3-4, 4-5, 6-8, 8-10
• premium koi - 5-6, 6-8, 8-10
• butterfly koi - 5-6, 6-8
• premium butterfly koi - 6-8

3-18-09

First Pond Fish Shipment of '09 Just arrived yesterday, our first official shipment of pond goldfish and koi. That first 70 degree day had many of our pondkeepers out in force, so we thought we'd better have something to show them. Some of the 8"-10" koi are especially nice for domestic stock again - US breeders continue to improve quality and selection every year. We still have plenty of pond supplies in stock, so it's time to start thinking Spring.

1-27-09

Frozen Fish Food Inventory In case you didn't notice the big steel freezer growling away near the counter, we do stock a wide variety of popular frozen fish foods. Here's the current stock list:

11-24-08

Another New De-Icer Also new for 2008, Laguna's PowerHeat, which adds a couple of small extra features to a 300 watt floating de-icer. It includes a 15 watt element on top to melt snowfall so it doesn't get buried, and has a small LED light on top that tells you it's fetting power. Looks like we'll need to update our articles on Winter Pond Care and Pond Heaters soon.

11-23-08

Updated Pond De-Icer One of our more popular pond de-icer models - the Perfect Climate - has recently been updated. Now available in three sizes: 250, 750 and 1500 watts, each comes with a float attachment so the can be used either floating or submerged. They are also rated by the manufacturer for various size ponds depending on the temperature zone, so check the box to make the best pick. See our articles on Winter Pond Care and Pond Heaters for more information.

11-4-08

Instant Fiji Reef Rock Just received some very nice dry reef rock from Fiji, most pieces in the softball to bowling ball range, nice and porous with plenty of character. Some pieces have bits of sponge or other organic matter attached, which are best removed before use and the distributor has had a thin coating of purple color applied so they don't look so out of place before the calcareous algae colonize. At $5.99/lb, it's a nice alternative to much more expensive "live rock".

10-29-08

Thirteen New Aquarium Books Hot off the presses, a baker's dozen of new aquarium books we've barely had a chance to crack open. Several long overdue titles, plus a couple of re-makes of popular topics. Here's the list:

• Pocket Professional Guide to cichlids
• 101 Best Aquarium Plants
• 101 Best Marine Invertebrates
• Quick & Easy Guide to Goldfish Care
• Super Simple Guide to Common Fish Diseases
• Saltwater Aquarium Problem Solver
• Simple Guide to Mini Reef
• Breeding & Raising Angelfishes
• Culturing Live Foods
• Marine Chemistry
• Conscientious Marine Aquarist Revised
• Mini Aquariums
• Brackish Water Fishes

10-27-08

Bargain Pond Nets If you waited until it got REALLY cold before doing your fall pond cleanup, you're in luck - sort of. We just received an assortment of clearance-priced Pond-Plus pond nets of various lengths, sizes and mesh. Most are priced at under 20 bucks apiece, so if you've still got fish to move or gunk to skim, you waited just long enough. Keep warm...

10-27-08

Decorate on a Budget We picked up a few cases of close-out priced aquarium decor, including multipacks of plastic plants, some of those wiggly-jiggly artificial corals and other items, and have them priced and ready to go. If you're looking to spruce up the tank for the holidays while keeping costs down, stop in and check out the cart near the center of the store.

10-26-08

Support the Green & Gold We're not sure how it happened (maybe it was a case of Packermania), but we've got an overstock of green and amber incandescent light bulbs. While supplies last, we're selling them for just 99 cents each (regular $1.99 - $2.49). They're the tubular design used in incandescent aquarium fixtures, but have a standard screw-in light bulb base, so could be used elsewhere as well. The green are 15 watt, amber are 25 watts.

10-23-08

Welcome to Dempseyville, USA We've received quite a few Jack Dempsey trade-ins in the past few weeks, in sizes ranging from 1" babies up to 12" adults, including one known mated pair. You'll find most of them scattered across the cichlid wall, priced anywhere from $1.49 to $29.99 each, depending on size and condition.

Named after the legendary boxer from the early 1900's, Jack Dempseys are tough, aggressive - and pretty much any other adjective you could apply to a champion heavyweight boxer. They are often kept in larger tanks with similar species, where territorial behavior provides as much entertainment as any "Real" TV show.

10-22-08

BioSystem Hang-On Power Filters With so many similar hang-on power filters on the market, it takes something special to get our attention. The BioSystem filters have two features that caught our eye. First, they have a built-in adjustable surface skimmer that removes oily film or small particles from the top of the water column, allowing better oxygen exchange. This helps most aquariums, but is particular recommended for planted tanks or others where surface splashing is unwanted. Second, their cartridges are interchangeable with the old-style Whisper filter cartridges. Since the classic Whisper filters themselves have been discontinued, this is a plus for Whisper hobbyists as well as those purchasing the new BioSystems.

In stock in 5 sizes, from 15 to 75 gallon; all on Introductory Special pricing.

10-21-08

TiggerPods - Copepods You Can Actually See! We ordered a few of these last week, and they sold out immediately; just received another dozen bottles. Unlike other copepod products that take an active imagination to see, tiggerpods are "large", red and active; not only are they an appetizing snack for your reef, but you can actually see what you're paying for. Ideally, they should be cultivated in a safer environment like a refugium, sump or small tank, then fed periodically to the main tank.

We've also added other Reef Nutrition products, including Phyto-Feast Live, Phyto-Feast Concentrate, Arcti-Pods, and Roti-Feast. Since these products all have limited shelf life, our plan is to order smaller quantities every week or two. If you'd like to reserve a bottle or two, please call or stop in.

9-15-08

Fall Pond Foods and Netting 20% OFF! Sunday's dreary weather has convinced us that fall isn't just around the corner - it's made the turn and heading right for us. For pondkeepers, this means a couple of things: it's time to stock up on easily digested pond fish foods and some netting to keep the leaves from making a huge mess. Through September 30th, our most popular fall foods and netting are 20% off their original price.

Fall foods provide extra energy to help fish prepare for the winter months while reducing the potential problems of fish metabolism slowing down due to temperature while they have a belly full of hard to digest proteins. See our Fall Pond guide for more.

Good quality pond netting keeps leaves and other debris from accumulating, reducing risk of winter fish kills and shortening fall or spring pond cleanup time dramatically. Our favorite pond netting has a nice finer mesh to catch not only leaves but even some of those maple seed "helicopters", larger acorns and other debris of a similar size. See Pond Netting for more.

9-1-08

Pond Fish Clearance Begins! Thanks to everyone for another excellent pond fish season - it kept us hopping, but the fish were probably the best quality ever, and sales were excellent. Sadly, it's time to start reducing inventory and preparing to consolidate stock into the few indoor ponds for the off season. Starting Labor Day, all pond fish are being reduced to off-season pricing, with savings between 20% and 50%. There are still quite a few nice fish left in most sizes, especially koi.

9-1-08

25% OFF Aquarium Heaters Through September 30th, all in stock aquarium heaters from Aqueon, Stealth and Elite are 25% off our regular price. Many hobbyists forget about heaters during the summer months when room temperatures are warm and stable - then run into ich or other problems as room and tank temperatures start fluctuating rapidly in the fall. Plan ahead, and protect your fish with a brand new reliable aquarium heater.

8-31-08

Coral Frag Kits One of the fastest growing parts of the saltwater aquarium hobby has been "fragging" corals - cutting off sections for propagation, pruning to size or shape, or removal of dead/damaged/infected sections. We've recently added some fragging tools to our stock, including complete kits as well as separate cutters, scalpels, forceps and glue. Shown is the Ultimate Coral Fragging Kit, which includes a heavy duty cutter, curved medium duty cutter, soft coral cutting scissors, scalpels and blades, forceps and glue, all in a convenient case.

8-29-08

Labor Day Hours We are open Labor Day from 10 am to 4 pm. Have a safe and happy holiday!

8-4-08

Humongous Water Hyacinth Along the same vein as the last entry, we just received a trade-in of several dozen HUGE water hyacinth from a local pondkeeper. There's some variety in size, but some of the largest have a "wingspan" of almost 18 inches! Already marked down to $3/$10, they're just waiting for you to snap them up.

7-29-08

Pond Plant Clearance! It's enough to have us crying in our proverbial beer. Just when our pond plants are looking their best, the buying season starts to fizzle, and we end up with vats full of great plants that we don't want to keep for the winter. With the too cold / too hot weather this spring, we have an even bigger stock left over than usual. Oh well, our loss is your gain: effective immediately:

A number of our regular customers waitfor this sale, so as always, shop early for best selection.

7-11-08

Stendker Discus have Arrived Another nice batch of imported Stendker Discus arrived earlier today. The small marlboro reds are especially nice, and the larger fire red and blue diamonds are pretty sharp as well. Discus have come a long way from the delicate, high risk fish of yesteryear, and get sturdier and prettier with each tank-bred generation. They still prefer temperatures near 85 degrees and rich, meaty foods, but are probably no more difficult to keep than angelfish.

7-10-08

7-9-08

Mated Pair Nicaraguense Among recent trade-ins was a nice pair of Theraps (used to be Cichlasoma) nicaraguense, a beautiful cichlid from Central America (we'll leave you to guess which country). Nicaraguense are somewhat similar in size, shape, and demeanor to the more common Severum, usually reaching 8"-10" and being only moderately aggressive for their size. This is one of the unusual fish species wherein females are considered to be prettier than males. Both have plenty of metallic sheen, males mostly golden, and females more orange, blue and green. They are typically American cichlid spawners, but care must be taken to keep the much smaller female from getting run ragged between spawns.

7-8-08

More Imported Stendker Discus Due Friday Another batch of the beautiful and popular Stendker discus is due late Friday, July 11th.

Arrival times are never certain, so give us a call or check the New Arrivals webpage if you're interested in seeing them.

7-3-08

4th of July Open 10-1 We're open only three hours, but feel free to stop in if you're in the mood for fish-shopping. Then get out and enjoy the day; rumor has it we should be having some great weather. Have a happy and safe holiday.

6-17-08

Water Lettuce We received a nice batch of larger water lettuce recently, healthy and green, ready for your pond. Like water hyacinth, lettuce is a floating plant that grows and multiplies quickly under good conditions. Since it feeds directly from it's dangling roots, it removes nutrients from the pond water, in addition to shading and cooling the pond - a triple threat to pond algae. Lettuce seems to prefer partial shading immediately after being shipped or handled, then partial shade to full sun once established.

6-16-08

Proud Parents A nice young pair of Red Head Geophagus Tapajos has set up housekeeping in the heavily planted 960 gallon tank near the west wall. Like many American cichlids, Geophagus try to be excellent parents, taking their babies out for an occasional stroll, but watching over them very closely, always on the alert for intruders. Definitely fun to watch, especially when one of their neighbors (tetras or discus fish) get a little too close for their liking.

6-12-08

Nautic Treasures Ornaments Just received a shipment of these detailed resin aquarium ornaments of classic ships and airplanes from days gone by. Included are Chinese Sailing Junk, Bismark Battleship, U-Boat Submarine, US Echo II, Royal Navy Holland #1, Battleship Asahi, US Navy DD115 Fletcher, Stuka ZU-87D-5 Bomber, US Curtiss P-40 Battleplane, 7.5cm Anti-Tank Gun and the ever-popular Titanic (DiCaprio not included).

6-11-08

Green Severum Severum are a larger (up to 12" or so) less aggressive American cichlid - a mainstay in the hobby years ago, but not always available more recently. They eat flake and pellet foods well and can be kept with medium and larger fish that aren't too aggressive, including things like oscars, silver dollars, tinfoil barbs, rainbows and even most barbs and larger tetras. A beautiful fish with olive-to-turquoise body color, reddish freckles, orange bottom fins and a blue-green face, green severum also have black vertical bars that come and go depending on their mood. Photo is of a nice 9" trade-in adult, and we also have a tankful of babies available.

6-8-08

CLEARANCE! - Finnex T5 HO & CFL Lights HALF OFF! We're closing out all remaining Finnex brand light fixtures at HALF our original price. These are high output fixtures ideal for heavily planted or reef type aquariums, but like many lighting fixtures, they do not have a warranty. These are closeout priced with no return. Stock as of this writing:

• 2 - 19" CFL 36WX2
• 2 - 23" T5 HO 24WX2
• 3 - 23" T5 HO 24WX6
• 4 - 34.5" CFL 96WX2
• 1 - 35" T5 HO 39WX2
• 4 - 35" T5 HO 39WX6
• 2 - 46.5" CFL 55WX4
• 3 - 47" T5 HO 54WX2
• 1 - 47" T5 HO 54WX4
• 3 - 47" T5 HO 54WX6 (refurbished)

6-3-08

Tetra Vacation and Weekend Feeders on Sale! It's almost that time of year, and as vacation season arrives, aquarists will soon be asking the Eternal Question: "Who's gonna feed the fish?". We stock a number of mechanical and block-type options, but the most popular are Tetra's vacation and weekend blocks. Unlike old school plaster blocks that add quite a bit of chemical to the tank as they dissolve, Tetra's blocks are held together with gelatin which is eaten and digested by the fish. Both the 5 Day "weekend" and 14 day "vacation" blocks are on sale through June 30th.

6-1-08

Whisper Power Filters on Sale! Among the most popular hang-on power filters on the market, Whisper power filters come in 5 sizes to handle tanks from 6 to 60 gallons. Quiet and reliable, these filters also use cartridges that are reasonably priced when purchased in 4 or 12 packs. All 5 sizes on sale through 6-30-08.

5-29-08

Finally - Fancy Goldfish due June 6th We apologize to those of you who have been waiting, but our fancy goldfish suppliers have had a rather weak selection for quite a while now, and we've put off ordering several times in recent weeks. The wait should be over, and we are anticipating a nice shipment with good variety to arrive friday evening June 6th. Stop back here or check the new arrivals page for details.

5-28-08

Nice Water Hyacinth back in stock. Just received a nice batch of water hyacinth for ponds; an unusual early demand and a mis-sent shipment had left us with only a few weather-beaten plants over the weekend. Today's batch is nice, firm, and some beginning to bloom. Though not winter hardy, hyacinth make an excellent algae-control agent for ponds, as they grow and multiply rapidly when things start warming up, shading and cooling the pond while absorbing nutrients that would otherwise be algae-chow.

5-27-08

Pseudotropheus demasoni These are beautiful, boldly striped African cichlids from lake Malawi that only get about 3" long but often hold their own with much larger cichlids. Highly territorial, demasoni are best kept in good-sized tanks (50 gallons or larger) with at least a dozen other African cichlids; there should either be plenty of decoration to allow each male to have his own special "home", or few decorations so that territory is not easily defined.

We recently received a very nice batch of nearly full-sized demasoni, currently housed in the 150 gallon display tank near the back of the store.

5-25-08

Holiday Hours: We'll be open Memorial Day from 10 AM to 5 PM.

5-20-08

Huge Pond Plant Shipment Due Friday We're keeping our fingers crossed after the delay in the first major pond FISH shipment, but we have a large order of pond plants that should be arriving late Friday (check our New Arrivals page or give us a call for details). There should be plenty of water lilies (hardy and tropical), marginals (hardy and tropical), water hyacinth, water lettuce, anacharis and more.

A special note for budget watchers: we'll be stocking un-potted marginals at the $7.99&up prices for only a few weeks. The price goes up (although for many it's a better value) once we pot them in normal size pots. So if you want to save a few bucks and pot your own, don't wait. And as always, shop early for the best selection.

5-4-08

Aqueon Water Changers on Sale! Relatively new to the market, Aqueon Water Changers are well made, with a reasonably tough venturi attachment, valves that turn easily and fully, and the tubing isn't pre-kinked when you take it out of the package. Water changers hook up to your sink (standard adapter included, odd-size adapters available at your local hardware store) to both remove water from your tank(s) and fill them back up when finished. If you're still lugging and sloshing buckets, it's time to take a look at these. Both the 25 and 50 foot models are on sale through May 31st.

5-3-08

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 Spring and the Garden Pond.

4-30-08

Plenty O' Pond Fish Yesterday's shipment of pond fish (see Specials & New Arrivals for complete list) nearly filled up all our vats inside and out, and the premium koi in particular were outstanding. We finally wised up and put most of the small and medium fish in the outside vats, so the temperature will be closer to your outside pond. Be sure to check them out, as well as the big vats and cement ponds inside.

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.

4-22-08

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.

4-22-08

Due Friday Night: First Pond Plants of the Season With the recent break in the weather, many pondkeepers are anxious to get started and add new plants, but it's still a little too early for marginals and floating plants. Water lilies, on the other hand, like an early start, and since their leaves are at the surface of the water, they're quite resistant to the occasional cool might we'll still be getting. We have hardy lilies in red, white, yellow, pink and changeable flowers due Friday night. You can buy them bare root Friday and probably at least part of saturday, when we'll be getting them potted up.

4-20-08

We're Back! Some duty reorganization, plenty of flu to go around, and the pond season coming on like gangbusters left us with very limited time to post blog entries or take photos over the last month or so. Rest assured that we haven't forgotten about this page, and as things settle down, we'll be posting things we find interesting on a more regular basis.

3-17-08

Spring Cleaning HALF OFF Sale! We got a jump on our spring cleaning, and found literally hundreds of items we just plain have too many of, including some decorations, reef chemicals, test kits, light fixtures, filter media and a whole lot more. We set up a couple of tables and some barrels near the center of the store, and are offering these for a limited time at HALF OFF the original price. Shop early so nobody beats you to the good stuff - then come back to see if we've found anything else!

3-12-08

Mbig Mbad Mbunas These rock-dwelling, algae-scraping, mouth-brooding cichlids from Lake Malawi are commonly referred to as "African Cichlids", but if you were around during their heyday in the 1970's, you were required to call them by their local name "mbuna". You were also required to know that in their natural habitat they graze upon "aufwuchs", which is apparently German for "algae and anything else stuck on underwater rocks". If you were an expert, you'd also need to know all their scientific names, which are changed more often than scientific socks.

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.

3-11-08

Pike Livebearer Talk about your "best of both worlds": the Pike Livebearer, Belonesox belizanus, is a livebearer like a common guppy or swordtail, but also an ambush predator like a miniature tiger musky. Mature at 4-6 inches, pike livebearers typically eat only live foods, primarily smaller fishes. Even their babies are fussy, and must be provided with even smaller babies or sometimes live brine shrimp.

3-2-08

Two New Frozen Foods We recently added a couple of new frozen foods that our staff is getting a kick out of. First, we've got frozen Prawn Roe, tiny crustacean eggs that live corals, other filter feeding invertebrates, and some small fish go crazy over. You can actually watch many live corals extend their polyps and start grabbing within seconds of adding the food to the water. Second, there's Clams on the Half Shell - little clams about an inch or so across served on their own shell. These are great for some of the grazing fishes like puffers, triggers and even butterfly fish as well as starfish and other natural predators.

3-1-08

Crushed Coral & Aragonite Gravel Sale While supplies last, we are offering our two most popular saltwater gravels - CaribSea's Florida Crushed Coral and Special Grade Reef Sand - at special prices. These two gravels look natural, and help raise and maintain a stable pH in marine aquarium systems.

• 15 lb crushed coral - $11
• 40 lb crushed coral - $25
• 15 lb reef sand - $16
• 40 lb reef sand - $35

2-21-08

Telling the Boys From the Girls: German Blue Rams These pictures came from the new tank of German Blue Rams on the back wall, and illustrate some of the differences between male (on the left) and females (right). Females have a much deeper body and somewhat shorter fins, but the dead giveaway is the bright pink belly. While in most cases, the male of the species is the more brilliantly colored sex, female rams give the males a run for their money.

2-12-08

More Imported Stendker Discus Due Thursday We recently set up a section of column tanks near the back of the store, and the first batch of Stendker discus is due to stock them on Thursday. These discus come in a variety of great colors and patterns (photo is from an earlier batch), and are often as hardy as angelfish. They should ideally be kept at 85 degress F. in water that is not high in minerals (Milwaukee / Lake Michigan water is OK for raising, some R/O should be used for spawning). Discus have more difficulty than most fish in dealing with intestinal parasites, so they should generally not be mixed with new, wild-caught species, especially those from the Amazon.

Arrival times are never certain, so give us a call or check the New Arrivals webpage if you're interested in seeing them.

2-6-08

FREE BETTA with BettaSphere or BettaKit OK, maybe Siamese Fighting Fish shouldn't leap to mind when thinking about Valentine's Day, but the BettaSphere and BettaKit both make great gifts and last a lot longer than roses. The Sphere includes a tiny LED light that won't overheat the small bowl; the Kit includes color-coordinated gravel and a cover. Both come in several colors and include trial size betta food and water conditioner. Pick one up through February 14th, and get a free standard male betta ($3.99 value) at no additional charge.

2-4-08

Living Up to Their Reputation President Teddy Roosevelt called them the "most ferocious fish in the world" when he visited Brazil in the early 1900's, and anybody who's ever watched a B-grade movie knows piranhas as insatiable predators just waiting for somebody to wiggle a toe in the water. In real life, piranhas aren't particularly feared by local residents, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous: they do have razor-sharp teeth and know how to use them.

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.

2-3-08

25% OFF Pink, White or Red Artificial Coral Decorations For the Month of February, take 25% OFF any Red, White or Pink Synthetic Coral ornament in stock. Unlike natural corals, artificial corals are safe for both saltwater and freshwater aquariums, and we stock a nice variety of sizes and styles. As always, stop in early for the best selection.

2-1-08

Not Just Goldfish The short-awaited shipment of fancy goldfish arrived, and there's a nice looking mix including lionheads, orandas, bubble eyes, telescopes and more. These are imported from the Far East - where they've been selectively bred literally for centuries - and have taken a couple of long trips lately, but most look to be settling in nicely already.

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.

1-31-08

Fancy Goldfish Due Tomorrow Night There's a nice shipment of fancy goldfish due Friday February 1st, probably 6PM or later. There should be multiple sizes of orandas, ryukins, bubble eyes and others. If interested, feel free to call to see if they've arrived - or check out the Specials & New Arrivals page periodically. We'll post more details here as well.

1-30-08

Nice Cardinal Tetras in Stock The tanks of cardinal tetras that arrived yesterday look to be in very good condition and color. This varies considerably from batch to batch, due to collection, storage and shipping issues. Cardinals are mostly wild-caught in South America by local fisherman, travel by dugout canoe to holding facilities, then make several additional trips in cars, boats and planes before even finding their way to the United States, only to hit the road again to get to us and then to you. The handling, storage, temperature changes and exposure to other fish all along the way can take quite a toll, and some batches suffer pretty high mortality rates or take a lot of tender loving care before they become stable.

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.

1-29-08

Freshwater Leaf Fish Here's another oddity that takes camouflage seriously; the freshwater leaf fish does indeed look remarkably like a dead brown leaf - stem and all - floating in the water. It s-l-o-w-l-y approaches smaller fish so as to not blow its cover, and when it's within an inch or two, gulps them down in an instant. Their mouth parts unfold and allow them to eat fish much bigger than one would expect for a fish that maxes out at about 6 inches. Leaf fish are quite peaceful with fish too big to swallow, but generally require live fish (guppies or rosy reds) as food.

1-28-08

What the Heck Is THAT? It's arawana breeding time in the Amazon, but no, that's not a diaper bag hanging under a mommy arawana; it's actually a yolk sac dangling from one of the babies. Compared to most aquarium fish, arawana babies are huge - 3" or so when released from the father's mouth (these are paternal mouthbrooders). When young are harvested for sale to aquarists, they are often still relying on their yolk sac for nourishment. The sac is absorbed over the next few weeks, and the young will be looking for small fish to start slurping up. The sac is very vulnerable, so young arawana need to be handled with care during this period.

1-27-08

.. And It Really, Really Works... It's been a fact of life with aquarium backgrounds: they look brilliant and vibrantly colored on the roll, but comparably dull and lifeless on the tank. This is due to the refraction and reflection that takes place as light passes through air, water, glass, then back again. Until recently, only the plain colored vinyl backgrounds which actually adhered to the glass looked as bright after installation. However, a new product called Seaview can now be applied to any standard aquarium background to achieve the same effect. The gel is simply spread evenly on the background, the background applied to the tank, and any bubbles smoothed out. We recently utilized this product on a 110 gallon tank (soon to become a Tanganyikan cichlid display), and the results were excellent.

1-25-08

And the Award Goes To... in the Hardest Aquarium Fish to Catch category, the hands down favorite would have to be the horseface loach. These streamlined little lightning bolts are extremely wary, dart madly when spooked, and not only bury in the gravel, but actually swim through it. It's not unusual to have to remove most of the plants and other decorations and stir up the gravel to sell one of these. Once home, they make interesting specimens that clean the bottom, including all the nooks and crannies. When they don't feel threatened, they spend a little more time out in the open, but it's still akin to a bigfoot sighting when one is spotted.

1-24-08

Nice Fancy Guppy Mix The latest batch of assorted male fancy guppies is an exceptionally nice mix, including green snakeskin, red snakeskin, redtail halfblack, variegated halfblack, redtail gold and even a blue halfblack. Their long, flowing delta tails make male fancy guppies vulnerable to fin nippers and other aggressive fish, so they are best kept with smaller peaceful species - they work well with neon or cardinal tetras, glass cats, cory cats, rasboras and platies. Their reproductive powers are legendary, and while some of the fancies are a little less fertile, it's still pretty easy to get a population going. We have several varieties of females available as well.

1-23-08

Platies - the Perfect Livebearer? Less aggressive and flighty than swordtails, not as vulnerable as fancy guppies, and less disease prone than mollies, platies have a lot going for them. They are beautiful fish that are available in a wide variety of colors from whites, golds, reds, blacks and even blues and in several color patterns as well. Old-timers often refer to these fish as "moons", as many had that crescent-shaped black pattern at the base of the tail; in more recent years, that pattern is often referred to as "Mickey Mouse", as in the Mousketeer hat.

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.

How to Make Fish Pretty The beckford's pencil fish in tank EM23 area great example of how fish that feel at home in their tank exhibit their best colors. The picture at left was taken a few days after their arrival and placement into a relatively barren tank; at right, they've settled down for a few extra days and lots of fine-leaved plants have been added. Click on the small pics to see more detail, but the difference is night & day. Keep this in mind when fish-shopping: many fish aren't showing their full color, especially popular species that have to worry about being chased with nets every few hours. Also consider this when your fish aren't coloring up as expected - making them comfortable will bring out their best.

1-22-08

"I can see right through you" - A Good Thing? - maybe not for presidential politicians, but as Arnold Schwarzenegger discovered in the movie Predator, transparency is pretty hard to beat in the world of camouflage. This principle is not only handy for sneaking up and ripping people's body parts off, but also for avoiding being victimized of by critters bigger and faster than you. Glass catfish are rather slow, docile, gentle fish that would undoubtedly be easy pickings were they easy to see. They make excellent community fish in a peaceful setting, and while they prefer frozen meaty foods like brine shrimp and bloodworms, they often learn to accept small pellets, freeze-dried and even flake foods. You can actually see much of the skeleton of these fish; the working body parts are hidden in the silver sac up near the head.

1-20-08

Undergravel Fishes Spiny Eels spend the bulk of their daylight hours with 90% of their bodies buried in the gravel with only their heads sticking up, keeping their eyes open for easy meals until dark, when they more actively hunt. They rarely accept flake foods, sometimes small pellets, but what they're waiting for is frozen or live meaty foods, like brine shrimp, bloodworms or blackworms. They wouldn't say no to a couple of neon tetras, either. They're also great jumpers: a 6" eel will have no problem squirming through a dime size opening, so make sure their tank is well covered. The yellowtail spiny eels (shown) are a medium-sized species, generally reaching 6"-10" in aquariums; some of the other spinies can reach several feet in length.

1-17-08

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