Sudden Ray Death

I lost the female Potamotrygon sp. 'pearl' today. I found it lying still next to the other one midday and couldn't comprehend until now what happened. The water is perfectly normal that its other tankmates, my lone surviving show-grade discus and a chocolate colored goldfish are doing quite well. For most, this is what one would call a 'sudden ray death.'

Yes, that is the term and it is something that has been quite known among ray enthusiasts (with P. schroederi having the highest mortality rate among all the commonly exported freshwater stingrays) that the only advice is to get the healthiest ray to keep and place them in the biggest fish tank one can afford. Recommended tank length is 5 to 6 x and width 2 x of mature stingray size. Still it happens and a variety of possible reasons for its occurrence which I will be discussing here. I am not in a way pointing to a single reason as it most probably is multi-factorial.

Ammonia

Freshwater stingrays are very sensitive to even the minutest levels of ammonia after evolving from their marine ancestors millions of years ago. This has something with the inability to produce urea from ammonia (which is toxic as it interferes with oxygen extraction in the gills, also the same site where ammonia is excreted in fishes) and its excretion in the presence of ammonia in the water (the process is part of osmoregulation just in case you are interested to read further). Remembering that freshwater stingrays also have high metabolic rates which translate to higher ammonia production then it becomes obvious why even low levels of ammonia in your tank water will be harmful specially to ray pups.


Unhealthy Ray to Start With

Oftentimes, the freshwater stingrays that are imported are tea-cup in size (tea-cup refers to size of pups and not a common name for any freshwater stingray as they grow roughly to a foot in diameter even among the smaller Potamotrygon species) and are quite young really. In transit from their place of origin, they have been subjected to many stresses (stress itself lowers immunity) and may not have been fed to lessen the risk during transport (pups need a lot of food as they have high metabolism for growth) and thus the pups can become 'skinny' (concave between the eyes and protruding bones right before the tail) and susceptible to disease(s) because of the lowered immunity associated with stress.

To be continued....

Potamotrygon schroederi

There are two other P. schroederi variants that may not show the characteristic tail pattern and have dorsal patterns that are dissimilar to the Ventuari. An example, the so-called Sacha ray.....

http://www.elasmodiver.com/Potamotrygon%20schroederi%20Pictures.htm

http://www.amazonasrochen.ch/pictures/dezembernullsechs/mini-P1010033.JPG

http://www.amazonasrochen.ch/pictures/juninullsechs/mini-!cid_image018.jpg

http://www.goslinea.com/Gallerie/Rochen/Seiten/Potamotrygon%20schroederi%20var.htm

Pterophyllum altum

Some observations on the Orinoco angelfish – the community seems to be 'well-behaved' than the P. scalare (Peruvian altum). The Orinocos hasn't been aggressive at all to their present tank mates unlike my wild-caught P. scalare that devastated my stocks of 1.5 in cardinals, mature lemon, head and tail light tetras.

Potamotrygon schroederi

The flower rays 6 hours after I got them. The flowery pattern of the spots are now more distinguishable (the disc base color will darken/develop as they age) and the tail pattern of alternating vertical black and solid white/yellow bands are characteristic of the true Potamotrygon schroederi (the only other Potamotrygon species to show the same tail pattern would be the P. menchacai). This variant is only found in the Ventuari (also Apure River).

Typical adult colors and patterns can be seen on this link: http://www.stingraysource.com/StingraySource/dreamline/p4p.htm

Potamototrygon schroederi

In the past few months, several freshwater stingrays have been sold in the market as flower rays. I bought several of these so-called 'flower ray pups' and after obsessively looking online for pictures of the real 'flower ray' pups (that is the term used for stingray babies), I found that what I got mostly were hybrids of P. motoro and Potamotrygon sp. 'mantilla.' Another thing I learned is that there are probably only two sites that have photos of what a Potamotrygon schroederi 'pup' looked like. Today, I finally got hold of my first two true flower rays.

Pterophyllum altum

The following pictures will show atleast some of basic differences (however some maybe a bit trivial)....

The seocnd photo is that of an Orinoco angelfish with the opercular spot (behind the eyes). It is also known as the mood spot and is assumed to be a means of communication among fish of the same species, others claim it only appears when the fish is aroused (whatever that means but i believe more of dominance indicator). For P. altum, the spot is a revert d shape while that of P. scalare consist of two crescent forms of darkening behind the eye.

Take note too of the difference in color of the fishes. Most report that in wild-caught P. scalare, there is lost of the bluish iridescence after a while in captivity. The lost is presumed to be due to environmental factors.

Pterophyllum altum

Some more pictures of the Orinoco angelfish

Pterophyllum altum

Two pictures which highlight the acute predorsal notch or indentation which Kullander considers not as solely that of P. altum but may also be seen in P. scalare. This is one but few of the controversies in species identification, the others being collection site and 'height' of an altum angelfish.

Pterophyllum altum

The Orinoco angelfish i have are very similar to the pictures posted by a forumer in cichlid-forum.com. It was considered by some (including Bleher) as the Rio Negro altum, which isn't a true altum. It is according to another, a natural cross between P. scalare and P. altum. although much later, the person acknowledged by Bleher as the only person to have spawned the real P. altum in captivity (documented), stated that the pictures were similar to his own P. altum.

The P. altum is described to have wide deep/dark brown or gray bars/stripes instead of the usual black bars in p. scalare. The vertical stripes in P. altum are also bordered with thin white strips. The rest of the body actually has a greenish hue. But, the P. altum may not always be brown and white; it can also have the silver of a P. scalare. The fins of altum are without markings. Meanwhile the tail fin is said to be fan-shape. In comparison, wild P. scalare is silvery with green iridescence as they mature and the bars or stripes are black and thin. There are other variants of P. scalare like red spotted and red shouldered depending on the source or collection site. Overall, the main body color is silver.

Pterophyllum altum

Let me continue.....

When an ichthyologist (those who specialize in studying fishes) make the meristic count, it is usually from a number of fish specimens from different location or collection points. They do make maps of this (and are readily available online). Which makes the meristic count as a 'range' of all the specimen they collected. the meristic count itself thus shows the natural variation in the species and may show, at least some morphological features of a particular collection site. The mapping of meristics also assist in the visualization of a 'cline.' Simply said - it can show the gradual change of features of a species in a given area of distribution. This also explains the importance of collection sites among ichthyologists and even hobbyists.The P. altum is supposedly only collected from a few sites, namely: Atabapo and Inirida only (Bleher) and Puerto Ayacucho (for some). Others do claim that P. altum can be found in a much wider are although not as wide as that of P. scalare - and the sites include upper Orinoco.

Source or collection site can be a little bit misleading unless one did the collection himself and obviously that is next to impossible in our case when we get our fish mostly from the local fish stores. As to the importers, I believe they follow what the suppliers provide. Which leaves us with no choice but to rely on meristics which is the one reliable (and documented) basis for identifying the P. altum at this time (or for other fishes for that matter aside from genetics), this will be based on fish morphology.

Potamotrygon species

Potamotrygon motoro 'triple spot'

Due to the wide variation in patterns and colors, identification of the different freshwater stingrays usually involves tail markings, presence or absence of denticles, ratio of the tail and body lengths and position of the eye.

Potamotrygon sp. Hybrids

I am into freshwater stingrays. I started with freshwater stingrays in the 90s starting with a P. motoro, after losing my first one, I simply stopped as it was very expensive to acquire another one then. It was only last year after a friend requested if I could give up on one of my zebra plecos (L46) that I decided to take in two P. motoro pups in exchange for the L46 instead of getting paid for it. Since then, I haven't looked back and still quite amazed at the varieties now available in the market.

Here are two pics of some P. motoro hybrids (P. motoro x Potamotrygon sp. Mantilla) that I am taking care in my fiberglass pond now. The pictures were taken on the day I took them home with me. One has since died of unknown causes with 4 remaining showing differing patterns.

Potamotrygon sp.

Sometimes, I believe the pet finds us. Today while buying some feeder fish at Toto's (Sam's Lagoon), the store owner showed me a newly arrived freshwater stingray and I was totally smitten. So I brought it home to add to my collection. Comparing the photos with online ones, it looks quite similar to a hybrid between Potamotrygon sp. pearl x P. motoro marbled.

Pterophyllum species

According to Kullander, the following can identify the different species.

Pterophyllum altum has 46-48 scales in a lateral row, and notched predorsal contour.
Pterophyllum leopoldi has 27-29 scales in a lateral row, and straight predorsal contour.
Pterophyllum scalare has 30-39 scales in a lateral row, and notched predorsal contour.

Just in case some are wondering - with so much information online about P. scalare and P. altum already - including from well-known personalities involved in the discussions, why am I too keen on Kullander?

Simply because I am following a basic tenet of science - that is, the last published study in the form of a scientific journal/book, is the most authoritative on the subject - that is unless proven otherwise by a newer study backed up by the same scientific inquiry and accepted by the scientific community (atleast by the majority). The last review of the genus Pterophyllum was done in 1986.

Pterophyllum species

Let me first state that this won't be as comprehensive nor can I claim any expertise on the subject matter. But like any serious hobbyist, I am eager to learn more about the hobby and simplifying what I have known or read so that others can understand more of the fish, the issues and even controversies involved.

Science like any other aspects of the real world, is as confusing with the amount of knowledge available (especially through the internet) as there are different school of thoughts on a certain subject or issue. What is really important to understand are the basics of science - science in effect is a means, to understanding and trying to disprove what previously have been well-accepted and even proven. As we go further, a theory in essence is only as good as long as it isn't disproved or replaced with a new one.

How many species are there within the genus Pterophyllum? Answer is simple, depends on whom you listen to or read from. Generally atleast, it is widely accepted that there are three known species, namely scalare, leopoldi and altum. others claim that there are indeed only two, scalare and leopoldi with the altum as a subspecie of the scalare. Thus, P. scalare scalare and P. scalare altum. This is based on the fact that scientists follow several criteria for defining a species. The following are a few of the criterion (thanks to B. Bolival for sharing them):


Typological Species Concept wherein a species is a group of organisms that share a unique set of diagnostic morphological characters that make that group different from all other species.

Biological Species Concept concerns itself with species as a cohesive natural group of interbreeding individuals that are isolated from all other groups (isolated gene pools).

And Recognition Species Concept which states that a species is a group of organisms that recognize and breed only with each other in the wild - it is unimportant what they can and will do so in an artificial no-choice situations in captivity.

To be continued.....

Potamotrygon sp. 'black pearl'

Now there are two of them. One of my favorite freshwater stingrays - Potamotrygon sp. 'pearl ray' are really beautiful when fully grown (details of markings should be seen at 2 years of age) although they are quite similar to P. motoro 'marbled' early in their life .

Pictures of adults (on this link - http://www.h20customaquatics.webs.com/pearl.html)

Things to Remember Before Buying a Pet

As I have been dealing with things to remember before buying a pet, a need that is often overlooked is the need for 'company' for most fishes. I use the word most here as there are certain fishes that are not 'adapted' to a setting where there will be another con-specific (that's the word to indicate the same kind of fish or fish of the same species) and one ends up with too much bullying, infighting and even death of the other. The need for company basically stems as a function obviously for reproductive purposes (ok, another term is survival of the species).

But aside from the obvious, another reason for that need for company in nature is safety (in numbers) or security. Schooling or simply a group of fish together provides the following presumed advantages - it is a form of anti-predation (the chances of being eaten if one is all alone is higher than where there are many other choices from the menu), enhanced foraging (one can easily find more food with more eyes), spawning aggregation (some do congregate for spawning), and schooling also helps in migration (something to do with hydrodynamic efficiency). Some of those reasons should discourage potential pet owners in ending with just a single fish in a tank. I should also note when we speak of schooling, the usual recommended number is around 6 to 8 fishes to consider as a school.

To end this topic for now, I should also include the hobbyist's time to care for his or her pet. Time becomes imperative as a basic need simply because our pets will almost entirely depend on the caretaker a lot. Without enough time to maintain your aquarium, feed your fishes and interact with them, it will not be all worth it. Of course,I am not writing here to discourage one into the hobby but more of its realities. As there are realities, there should also be practicalities and I will be writing of these soon. The hobby shouldn't be an enslaving one.

It should be convenient (I should be writing on aquarium, equipment and accessories soon), relaxing (you should see a beautiful aquarium set up and you'll know what I mean, it's one of the best way to de-stress from a hard or difficult day), and functional (I often use aquarium set ups to soften the interiors. Others do ponds.)

Things to Remember Before Buying a Pet

Yesterday, a friend from another website came to see my remaining Japanese kois and to update each other on the happenings in the industry. As an accountant, Paul was inclined to always look into the cost-efficiency of anything he gets into and one of the things he shared was how his goldfishes grew in a few months (and won a prize at another fish event) at less cost by feeding koi pellets (Tomigai's whose formulation is from our very own Mike Hernandez of Kois and Ponds). I am always amazed at the way Paul would do a cost analysis - here's an example that by using koi pellets that the actual cost was only around 10% than using pellets meant for goldfish.

So that's another factor to consider in terms of nutritional requirements - cost especially in the long term.

Just a note on brands I sometimes mention, I am not paid nor given anything by the product distributors or resellers nor do I wish to receive anything from mentioning their products and I am not supposed to. I do recommend the products I mention because I personally use and trust the products which I also buy.

Things to Consider Before Buying a Pet

Back to my previous topic......

Basic needs also include dietary requirements. It is the easiest on anyone's mind but again, this is the pitfall of several beginners and even among experienced hobbyists. It should be easy if we really put ourselves in the fishes' place and fed daily with the same food for every meal (flakes, pellets, or even frozen forms for fish). That would make for a boring existence really. The operative word in fish keeping should be 'variety' and 'appropriate' diet.

Variety to make it not as boring but more so because we want to provide what may be a missing component of the diet in feeding just one kind of fish food. Of course, most producers make the claim of completeness in their fish feeds but why not try. Taking into account how my earlier community of goldfishes gobbled up the duckweed with so much gusto, there must be something when one provides variety or atleast incorporate part of their natural diet once in a while. Of course, I also went for staple, growth and color enhancing fish food.

Appropriate here means knowing whether your fish is an carnivore (or simply meat-eater or high in protein content), herbivore (prefers plants) or an omnivore (will do good with both). In some cases, some may even have special requirements like panaques (a member of the locariids just like the invasive plecostomus inhabitants of Marikina River and elsewhere) need some substance from driftwoods to aid in their digestion. Or fishes whose main staple is algae (like otocinclus), can one provide enough algae (and the right kind) for the fishes?

To be continued....

Tancho Sanke

Monday should have been an easy day. I was almost done setting up two new aquariums and I was looking forward to having a better day after a week of reconditioning back some of my fishes that went on display the week earlier. And what do you know? Upon getting out of bed, I was shock to see my fiberglass fish pond almost empty of water! My super red arowana and other taller fishes were basically lying on their sides gasping as the water was more or less 2 to 3 inches! The others were a bit more 'fortunate' as there was enough to expose the dorsal fins above the water surface. Not wanting any additional distress to my fishes, the first thing I did was to refill the pond with fresh filtered water which fortunately went on maintenance the night before. At the end of the day, I lost my only Tancho Sanke (top-most koi in the picture above and whose head is partly covered by the tail of the showa).

So why am I sharing this to you? Sad as it maybe, I believe there is a lesson for all of us in here - and it is about equipment failure. I have always been a firm believer of over-filtration (which is actually a misnomer as one can never approximate nature's capacity) and always made sure I have the best equipment I could afford and unbelievably reliable too, but I also do miss out on some things at times. The loss of almost all of the water was not due to a leak from any cracks with the fiberglass material but simply from disconnection of the hose supplying water to the trickle filter from the pre-filter/pump which was easily preventable with the use of clamps to keep it in place. Just as simple as that and I lost a Tancho Sanke! The same thing happened to a hobbyist friend during the christmas holiday who lost many discus while his family was out of the country, and it was all because of a disconnected air tubing. Thus, here's the suggetion, or better still, add it to your checklist, always check on your connections, make sure they won't easily disconnect.

Things to Consider Before Buying a Pet

Cont’d....

An aquarium as a habitat is limited by the available space to start with. Although there are recommendations such as an inch of fish per gallon of water – originally only meant for the likes of smaller tetras but somehow became like a ‘mantra’ for every hobbyists afterwards even with wider and bigger fishes – studies have shown that fishes kept in an aquarium only grows on the average up to 60% of their maximum growth potential compared to that of fishes measured in the natural setting. With this limitation in space, it is thus highly suggested that one get the biggest tank one can afford and keep the number of inhabitants to a minimum.

Related to the available space which in reality also translates into volume is the realization that in reality, a typical aquarium is a closed system. The idea of a closed system is used here to differentiate it from the setting in nature which could be considered as an open one – where nature replenishes what it loses without any intervention. A river is a good example of an open system wherein nothing remains stagnant - upstream water replacing the water that flows downstream with all the waste materials that can be deleterious to living organisms that inhabits that particular space. A close system meanwhile is akin to a pail of water, evaporating a little each day, accumulating dirt thus in a few more days, the water quality will have deteriorated without human intervention. Or just imagine, a person living inside an fully-enclosed room where human waste is produced and not eliminated, the room will definitely will be unbearable once enough waste has accumulated. This is one of the rationales for doing regular water changes in a fish tank.

More tomorrow.....

Things to Consider Before Buying a Pet

Filipinos everywhere tend to keep pets - that literally means almost in every locale where an animal could be tended. Despite this propensity for keeping pets and at times, access to knowledge through the internet and from more readily available sources, very few knowledge is generated and shared that would raise the standard of pet keeping in the country. It doesn't help that a lot of the staff of local pet stores and even among hobbyists themselves are not as knowledgeable or have inadequate know-how and thus are unable to share or even communicate the very basics of pet keeping. Pet keeping should always be easy – convenient to the responsible pet owner and comfortable to the pet one has took care of. The same is true in fish keeping. I have met a lot who wants to get into fish keeping but are discouraged by the 'technicalities' of maintaining an aquarium or a pond. Is it really as technical as one always hear or as simple as others make of it?

I am taking a different tack here. First, one needs to remember that keeping pets will never be easy if one doesn’t understand the concepts of the needs of our pets. Thus, in more responsible websites, a prospective pet owner needs to answer several questions to ascertain whether the selected pet will fit into one’s lifestyle. This is one of the most important factors in any responsible pet keeping and is often the least of concerns for any trader and even to those who are considering taking in a pet. Take for example; the needs of an Asia arowana, the ideal recommended aquarium size is at a minimum of 6 feet (L) x 2 feet (H) x 2 feet (W). But how many keep theirs in smaller tanks? I am quite sure, the majority does. This discrepancy in providing for adequate housing for one’s pets already makes it more difficult in the longer term. And that is only an aspect of the basic needs of a pet one is to care for. Responsible care means one needs to know these basic needs not only in terms of the present but more importantly, in the future when a pet is fully mature. A responsible pet owner should learn more about the pet one is considering and obviously the problem lies when one relies mainly on what a trader shares. There’s a whole gamut of information published online and on paper and there is no reason to miss out on these.

Secondly, it is a matter of fact, that we can never really truly approximate what nature provides. It is imperative to state this now - any animal is best kept in their natural environment than owned as a pet. But once one owns one, then one should at least provide something near to the natural conditions with what one can best possibly afford. Unlike in their natural setting, an aquarium is quite a different habitat.

More to follow....

Corydora sterbai eggs

Two weeks ago, I was wondering which of the members of my South American community tank laid eggs on the glass wall. I wish the fish on the background - Pterophyllum altum - were the culprit but the angelfish aren't mature enough to spawn so it occured to me that any of the other fishes in the community were busy 'propagating' the species to say it more mildly. As I was busy then, I just had to let go of idea of catching the culprits 'in the act.'



A few days back, I was surprised to see two Corydora sterbais 'roaming' around depositing eggs on the walls of the fish tank. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready.

Cyphotilapia Gibberosa Community Tank

One of my favorite fish from Lake Tanganyika despite all the controversies related to species identification. More commonly known as Zaire Blue Frontosa and sold as such, these group of Cyphotilapia gibberosas are now considered as entirely different from Cyphotilapia frontosa. The different commercial names like Mpwimbwe and Moba are based on collection point. Issues on inter-breeding between the two members of the genus cyphotilapia remains unanswered.

Dr. Ben Vallejo at PETFish 2010

Dr. Ben Vallejo is an environmental scientist who is working on Philippine endemic freshwater fishes. He is connected with the University of the Philippines Diliman. More on Ben with later posts.

Boni Labatos and Endemic Freshwater Fishes

Boni Labatos, a fish biologist and taxonomist also shared on our country's endemic freshwater fishes at PETFish 2010. He is presently working with the Asean Center for Biodiversity. More on Boni in future posts.

Ken Kennedy and the Pinoy Angelfish

One of the most awaited PETFish 2010 speaker is the world-renowned Ken Kennedy of Pinoy Angelfish fame. Ken, who happens to be a Filipino despite the foreign sounding last name, is a biologist who was able to 'produce' the sought-after Pinoy Angelfishes. More about Ken in future postings.

The Arowana and the Child

At the recently concluded Philippine Expo of Tropical Fishes 2010 (PETFish) at SM City San Lazaro, one picture stood out. It was a child looking intently at a super red arowana while seemingly trying to reach at the fish on display.

As a children's right advocate, I deliberately smudged out the child's face and although the shot may mean differently to anyone - the poignancy remains of the innocent wish of a child to own a pet. We will never know what she was thinking, just that it brings back memories of childhood dreams - of owning, caring for one's own pets.

Photo Credits: Eric Fabico of the Philippine Discus Society

Welcome to the Pinoypethobbyist

Been wanting to post but laziness gets the better of me. So here I am, just managing to post something, partly random thoughts and partly out of some sense of desperation to start somewhere, so that finally I can say I did it, that is I finally started what I have long planned with the pinoypethobbyist.

First, the blog is not about me or of anyone in particular. It is all about the hobby of fishkeeping in the Philippines and hopefully in the near future - of other pets that I have managed to take care of or knowledgeable with. That will mean quite a wide range of topics - including dogs, birds, etc. At this stage though, I will keep to fish profiles and their care. Of course, it is important to also come up with good readings on the basics of the hobby itself - filtration, water parameters, maintenance, etc. Although one may find a lot of the same stuff from other online sources, I will try to make the readings simple but still comprehensive enough to be able to contribute to elevate the fishkeeping hobby into a more scientific approach. The only assurance I can make is, not to bore the reader.

As an advocate for Biodiversity, the blog will also necessarily include stuff about Philippine Endemic Freshwater Fishes. Yes, you read that right, I just wrote down - Endemics or what is left in our country and to truly make it our own, I will also use the term Isdang Tabang. The reasons are simple, this is where we sorely lack - interests, knowledge - for whatever reason, I never truly understood. And this despite the fact that the Philippines is considered a biodiversity hot spot.

Welcome to the pinoypethobbyist! More post to follow......