Saturday 28 November 2009
White Cloud Mountain Minnow (pictures)
I borrowed a camera from work and got to take some photos of the new white cloud mountain minnow display. The photos proved a bit difficult becouse of a very powerful light above the tank that I think has been added for all the live plants included in the tank. Put below you will find a selection of photos and a short video that shows the white cloud mountain minnows at their best.
Wednesday 18 November 2009
It's getting cold.
Cold water (or more correctly temperate) fish aren't always that popular. In fact I think that most people rush through the temperate freshwater section of the Blue Planet Aquarium "to get to the good stuff". I know that I have been guilty of this many times. Yesterday I went to the aquarium and went through the temperate section and I found an amazing new tank set up. The arch tank that has housed a variety of indistinguished medium sized temperate fish has been re-designed.
The tank is now the biggest and most impressive White Cloud Mountain Minnow tank I have ever seen or heard of. It is stunning (wish my camera wasn't broken!!!). The tank has literally hundreds of White Cloud Mountain Minnows and you get to see them in impressive shoals. It also has a great selection of real stemmed plants, bog wood and moss. It looks great, although I'm not sure how biological correct this is. I believe that White Cloud Mountain Minnow come from streams with more rocks and less plants, fast flowing streams. So it may not be the most correct biotope it is a great tank.
I am loving The Blue Planet Aquariums recent shift to filling large tanks with hundreds of smaller fish instead of a handful of medium or large fish. The new coral bay display is the best example of this but I love this White Cloud Mountain Minnow tank. The Blue Planet has for years had the spectacular Cichlids tank. This tank is that fantastic sight of hundreds of individual fish interacting. I believe this kind of set up is much more impressive then the other option of a small tank with 2 large fish (electric eels?). I know that a large draw of an aquarium is to allow people to see fish they could never own or are unlikely to see in the wild. Therefore larger fish are an important draw.
However, think about how long people spend looking at each tank. The tanks with more fish hold peoples attention for longer, generally the tanks with less (but bigger) fish hold peoples attention for much less time.
Personally I wish more tanks become like the White Cloud Mountain Minnow tank, full of activity. More tanks like this will encourage repeat visits. Maybe the issue comes down to The Blue Planet's Aim. Is it creating a 3D text book of rare/unusual fish or an art gallery showcasing the beauty of fish. I suspect they are trying to do both but personally I am very happy to see the more artistic tanks that have been popping up.
P.S. this post should be tempered by the fact that The Blue Planet Aquarium has also recently replaced its Turtles display (which included dozens or turtles) with a Cayman display. So this tank has moved from lots of a common animal to two of a much rarer animal. It's good to see something rare and unusual, maybe I do prefer the text book approach.
The tank is now the biggest and most impressive White Cloud Mountain Minnow tank I have ever seen or heard of. It is stunning (wish my camera wasn't broken!!!). The tank has literally hundreds of White Cloud Mountain Minnows and you get to see them in impressive shoals. It also has a great selection of real stemmed plants, bog wood and moss. It looks great, although I'm not sure how biological correct this is. I believe that White Cloud Mountain Minnow come from streams with more rocks and less plants, fast flowing streams. So it may not be the most correct biotope it is a great tank.
I am loving The Blue Planet Aquariums recent shift to filling large tanks with hundreds of smaller fish instead of a handful of medium or large fish. The new coral bay display is the best example of this but I love this White Cloud Mountain Minnow tank. The Blue Planet has for years had the spectacular Cichlids tank. This tank is that fantastic sight of hundreds of individual fish interacting. I believe this kind of set up is much more impressive then the other option of a small tank with 2 large fish (electric eels?). I know that a large draw of an aquarium is to allow people to see fish they could never own or are unlikely to see in the wild. Therefore larger fish are an important draw.
However, think about how long people spend looking at each tank. The tanks with more fish hold peoples attention for longer, generally the tanks with less (but bigger) fish hold peoples attention for much less time.
Personally I wish more tanks become like the White Cloud Mountain Minnow tank, full of activity. More tanks like this will encourage repeat visits. Maybe the issue comes down to The Blue Planet's Aim. Is it creating a 3D text book of rare/unusual fish or an art gallery showcasing the beauty of fish. I suspect they are trying to do both but personally I am very happy to see the more artistic tanks that have been popping up.
P.S. this post should be tempered by the fact that The Blue Planet Aquarium has also recently replaced its Turtles display (which included dozens or turtles) with a Cayman display. So this tank has moved from lots of a common animal to two of a much rarer animal. It's good to see something rare and unusual, maybe I do prefer the text book approach.
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