Do fish sleep?

The answer to this question is actually “yes”. Although fish do not close their eyes and lie down just like human does, what they will do is that, the fish will just stay idle and rest quietly at the bottom of the tank or maintain the position right beneath the water surface. That’s why it is very important to have a day and night cycle in your aquarium and ensure that the water movement is not vigorously or else the fish won’t be able to keep still and maintain the same position in the water while they sleep. Equip your fish tank lighting with a timer so that it will automatically turned off during nighttime to allow them to take a rest.

Ensuring that your fish is getting enough sleep is very important because without sufficient resting time, you will notice that the fish will start to lose coloration and they will not develop good appetite for food during feeding. Some fish may even become stunted as well if the condition persists. In fact, past research reported in PLoS Biology Journals even suggested that fish can ever suffer sleepless nights that will eventually disrupt their health.

Laws Regarding Abuse of Pet Fish

The Scottish SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) recently issued a warning served to the organizing committee of a fund raising charity gala about using goldfish table as a centerpiece. Fish tank coffee table is quite a popular unique aquarium idea in the US but it seems that in the UK, the laws are much stricter regarding abuse of pets. In Scotland, fish are protected species under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2006.

The reason behind the decision lies mainly on the fact that welfare of the fish stuffed in tank table has been neglected because they are cramped into tight living space without proper ventilation and aquarium filter. Perhaps the greatest concern is usually related to drunk patrons doing all sorts of funny things such as emptying alcoholic drink into the fish tank and smashing the glasses causing the fish to suffer. Fish certainly do not deserve such treatment at all.

Laws regarding abuse of pet fish differs from one country to another. In Italy fish bowl is considered a banned item while in UK, giving away goldfish as carnival prizes is an offence. In the US however, the only act frown upon is when you decided to release your unwanted pet fish into ponds, rivers and lakes whereby this will cause imbalance in the natural ecosystem with introduction of new species of fish. If you are an avid aquarium owner who plans to buy fish tank coffee table, first think of the welfare of the fish and find out whether the living condition is suitable for your pet. (See picture above showing unique aquarium wash basin)

Finally, a common sense question you should ask yourself before buying unique aquarium is that, whether there are large enough space for the fish to swim around, and also whether the aquarium coffee table is equipped with a filter and air pump. Remember, just like any living creature, your pet deserves a fair and just treatment.

Interested in this topic? Read more on Unique Aquarium.

Selecting Right Fish for Community Tank

Generally, fish can be categorized into 3 different groups based on their defining characteristic and behavior, which can be either community fish, semi-aggressive and over-aggressive fish. Your choice of fish to put into a community tank is very important because if you overlook on the fish compatibility issue, you will tend to mess up things and lose your whole stock of new fish. During the selection process, it might be a good idea to find out which particular fish, belongs to which group that I’ve mentioned here earlier.

Community Fish: This group usually comprises of non-aggressive, peaceful, and small-sized aquarium fish. Generally it is made up of tetras, such as neon fish, live-bearers including guppy, platy and swordtail, and finally danio species. When it comes to these types of aquarium species, you can mix with any combination to form your aquarium community.

Semi-aggressive: The fish that made up this group can be territorial especially those with fin-nipping behavior. Common examples are angelfish, silver dollar, discus, clown loach, gouramis, and catfish. Trying to mix semi-aggressive fish can be a bit tricky because basically what you need is fairly large tank size usually 55-gallon aquarium tank is the minimum requirement and heavily planted with live plants. These requirements are important so that the smaller sized community fish can find a place to hide when these semi-aggressive fish tried to pick on them.

Aggressive: Usually comprises of large, predatory, and highly territorial fish like oscar, and arowana. One should never try putting the fish into community tank because it will do more harms than good. Even with proper hiding place, you will soon find that all the smaller fish will ended up getting eaten or injured. It’s not worth taking the risk trying to introduce aggressive fish into community aquarium.

Studying Lionfish Species

Georgia Aquarium is planning to setup a new exhibit specially for lionfish, which is considered as one of the most colorful marine tropical fish species. It is meant to educate pet enthusiast to be responsible owners and not dumping their unwanted pets to the environment and thus cause imbalance in natural ecosystem. And because lionfish has no natural predators, their presence have caused other native fish species to dwindle.

The lionfish has now made Florida waters as their new home and their population has even spread up to New York. Researchers are currently trying to estimate their numbers and the current trend on population growth is indeed worrying. They are known to be able to reproduce quickly and because the fish has natural spine, which protects itself against attack, catching the fish for study has to be done using protective glove.

Some interesting facts about the fish species relates to its feeding habit that hunts for prey using its quick reflexes and then swallow as whole. They can also grow up to very large size reaching almost 35cms.

Interesting Facts About Pet Fish

Some people may not believe it but similar like humans, goldfish also have feelings too! According to a research done by Australian vets, it was found that goldfish can even recalled memories of past events and they will even miss the person who feeds them.

Sounds extraordinary as it can be but in another separate study conducted by British scientists, there are reasons to suggest that they even posses certain ability such as knowing when to push the lever at particular time to gain access to fish food. We may have heard before some common natural responses such as ability to avoid dangers that will harm them but in more established findings, researchers also come to the conclusion saying that the acquired information are actually stored in their memory and recalled later.

Somehow, all these will later be used as basis and supporting evidence to pass the bill dealing with fish cruelty.