Blog on hold

I cant afford an annual pass at the moment so as you can see by the lack of new posts I have put this blog on hold. But when I get back from travelling around South East Asia I am hoping to get a pass. Then I will start posting again. 

Diving with sharks

Its been a long time since I've posted on this blog mainly because my annual pass lapsed. But i wanted to share with you my photos of divining with the sharks in the big tank.

It was a fantastic, once in a life time experience and I would recommend to anyone that is even slightly interested in sharks to give it a go. My highlight was when i had a close encounter with a moray eel!

A few more photos of Venom

It's Friday and Venom is due to open soon. Here are a few more photos. I can't wait to see it all finished.

Jellyfish in the Venom display

Ok I was in the blue planet aquarium late on Saturday and I got to see that they have put the Jellyfish into the jellyfish tanks in the Venom display. I only had my phone on me so the pics are low res but you can see some larger red jellyfish in the tank on the left. It's hard to see but the right hand tank has hundreds of small transparent jellyfish in it. I spoke to the staff installing it and they said they will be there all night fine tunning the system so that the jellyfish can not get sucked down into the pumps. I can't wait to see Venom open!

Venom

Ok just stopped into the blue planet, the venom section is nearly ready structurally. I could see so many new tanks including a big circular tank with fake ruins in. I think it will be for the Lionfish display with 360 degree viewing. The other really exciting thing I saw was two jellyfish tanks bigger then any other jellyfish tanks I have seen or read about. The venom display will be great.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Blue Planet Aquarium

Inside information

Ok just a quick update for you today. I was speaking to a staff member and was told a few things. Firstly the beetle in my last post is a poisionus beetle from south east Asia (probably Vietnam but she wasn't certain).

Secondly the work they have started on the bottom floor is to create a brand new exhibition of reptiles and lizards. One in which you will be able to put her head up into a bubble and see creatures all around you. I think some thing like the meerkats tunnels/bubble observations they have in some zoos. I will keep you updated with some pictures soon.

Thirdly and finally she told me that the quarintine area is packed full of fish and they have had to set up more tanks to hold all the fish they have. So even their staff room has some tanks in now. I think this is very hopeful for the future, I'm expecting to see lots of new fish and exhibits soon.

Butterfly Goodeids

Common Name:
Butterfly Goodeids
Scientific Name:
Ameca splendens
Scientific Class:

Actinopterygii
Conservation Status:
Extinct in the wild
Habitat:

Jalisco, Mexico

Life Expectancy:
2 years
Diet:
Mainly insects

Maximum Size:
12cm

Tank Breeding:
Breeding is easy with the right conditions. Gestation takes 55 to 60 days, normally 5 to 30 fry are born depending on the size of the female. Fry do not need to be removed from the parents tank, as they are rarely bothered. The Fry, as many goodeids may have an umbilical cord, as it will disappear within a short amount of time.

Interesting facts:
Found in only two ponds in Mexico. This species is part of an ongoing breeding effort by the livebearer TAG Group. Males of this species may fight fiercely, especially over females.
Private UK Aquarium:
Yes, they are relatively easy to keep and thrive best in clean, well aerated water, at temperatures around 20-25°C and neutral or slightly higher pH. Butterfly goodeids are strong swimmers and social fish; they like to be dwell in groups of 3-5 males and 3-7 females in large tanks (200 L and up) where they can grow to full size. In smaller tanks (60 L) and they will stay smaller, and fewer individuals or no other fish should be kept.

Blue Planet Aquarium Tank:
The Butterfly Goodeids are housed in the tank that used to house the black knife ghost fish. They look to be set up well and thriving in the tank. The most interesting thing in the tank is the addition of some kind of water beetle. I have no idea what the beetle is and the Blue Planet Aquarium has not given any details about it. This is a shame as it is very interesting to see the inclusion of an insect in a display.

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.

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.

Coral Bay Update

Ok stopped in for 5 mins at The Blue Planet Aquarium when i was dropping my girlfriend into work.

AND CORAL BAY LOOKS FANTASTIC

My cam is broke so cant get any pics at the moment but will do soon.

It is great, I think they have done a really good job in filling this large tank with loads of small fish instead of a few mid size fish. I think they have well over 200 small coral fish in the tank. It looks really active, alive and realistic. It reminded me of when I went snorkeling in the Red Sea. It had that sense are a large fish community. I love it.

Big update coming soon

I've been away

I have been away first on holiday and then on a work do so I haven't had the chance to have a proper visit to the Blue Plane Aquarium for a few weeks now. But i popped in once on the way to pick up my girlfriend from work and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the coal bay exhibit I was told wouldn't be ready until October has already been started to be stocked with Fish. They had no information up let and I didn't know the names of the fish off the top of my head. But I think it will look great when its all finished. The did have a couple of very healthy looking neon cleaners in the tank. I love them. Also I saw one in the massive main tank (well in its smaller corner divided section.) They looked happy. As did the 4 different Morays i saw this time. Sometimes i walk round slowly have a detailed look and I don't find any Morays this time i almost run through and found 4. Very strange but very cool. I will hopefully get there this week for a more detailed look and post more information about Coral Bay, with Photos I hope.

Common Name:
Tete Sea Catfish or Shark Catfish
Scientific Name:
Hexanematichthys seemanni
Scientific Class:
Actinopterygii
Conservation Status:
Not on the threatened species list
Habitat:
This unusual catfish is common in coastal marine, brackish waters and freshwater rivers. It is native to Pacific-draining rivers and estuaries in Central and South America. Young fish appear to favour the fresh water and migrate into salt water as they mature.
Life Expectancy:
Up to 7 years
Diet:
An omnivore but appears to enjoy frozen blood worm when in an aquarium and Blue Planet aquarium lists its diet as Fish and Peas.
Maximum Size:
35cm

Tank Breeding:
"A mouthbrooder, the few, amazingly large eggs are incubated by the male. Reproduction in the aquarium is difficult as the aquarist requires to emulate the migration from marine to fresh water and back again in a spacious aquarium. The is one verbal report of this being accomplished by an American aquarist who spawned the fish by gradually changed the water from marine to fresh water and back again over a 12 month period." from planet catfish
Interesting facts:
They have venomous dorsal spines (unconfirmed).
Private UK Aquarium:
Yes but they are difficult to keep as they grow large and their salt water needs can make it difficult. I have not found any shops selling these but a search on Aquarist classified will often find a private seller.
Blue Planet Aquarium Tank:
These Catfish are housed in a brackish tank (which is not ideal for adults as they prefer full marine) in the "where land meets sea" area. The share a tank with Scats, Monos and Archer Fish. This tank also overflows into the mud skippers and 4 eyed fish display. The two amphibious fish are occasionally seen swimming in the deeper tank.

A Storm In Coral Bay

After going away for a couple of weeks i went to the Blue Planet Aquarium to see how everything was. Well being in the middle of the summer school holiday it was packed full of families. So I put my mp3 player on and went round in my own little world.

Down in the coastal zone I found the Coral Bay exhibition being completely over hauled.

Speaking to the staff I was assured their was no problem with the existing tank. They just wanted to redesign the exhibit. The first stage being a complete strip down, clean and rebuild. The central rock work was solid and could not be removed but all the imitation coral pieces were attached either by a suction cup or by being screwed onto the base. The staff removed each piece individually to be cleaned. Below you can see the imitation coral pieces stacked up against the tank side and the shards of a big piece that broke up in the water.


But in all of this redecorating what about the fish? Most have been transported into the main massive tank. I went and had a look to see if i could find them. I found some. 1 Reef bannerfish, 1 picasso trigger fish and 2 regal tangs. The below blurred pictures shows the tangs and trigger fish. They looked very happy in their new surroundings. (they do look very small compared to their new tank mates, i hope they do well in their new home.)


But not all the fish have had this change of tanks, apparently at least 1 fish has escaped the staff nets and any attempts at catching it have so far failed. I saw its faint shape at the back of the tank but couldn't identify it. Sneaky fish!

The staff said that they haven't yet decided what the new tank will be populated with but they informed me the new display will be fully set up by the 1st of October.

TANK BUSTERS

The Blue Planet Aquarium has just updated, its biggest tank has now been re-branded as a Tank Buster display. This giant tank is full of fish that are regularly sold as juveniles in the ornamental fish trade. Sadly they are often miss sold by pet stores who don't inform the customer how big they get. These fish then quickly grow too large for the tank and either die by being too cramped, or get dumped into rivers where they usually die or they get given away IF they can find someone to take them. The Blue Planet gets at least 1 or 2 calls a week about fish that are too big. Some they are able to re home. The biggest and most impressive fish are now housed in this display. It looks great and shows how fish of this size should be kept.



It is sad to think that for every one fish in this tank so many more end up in tiny cramped tanks where they live short miserable lives. I believe the pet stores and Local Fish shops really need to take more responsibility in informing customers of the eventual size of the fish they sell.

The Blue Planet Aquarium has put up information explaining this to visitors and i hope that this may help to educate more members of the public of the importance of having the right size tank for a fish.

The Tank Busters display currently includes
- Black Pacu (After the common Plec and the Piranha this is the most commonly dumped fish in the UK)
- Ripsaw Catfish
- Vundu
- Tiger Shovelnose catfish (these are my favourite in the tank)
- Nile Perch
- Leopard catfish
- Redtail Catfish (the 2 big redtails they have in this tank are amazing)
the tank also includes a
- Geoffrey's side neck turtle (you can usually find him hidden up in the branches or sometimes scavenging for food on the tank floor)

TAN

Escape from the Ray Pool!

Today I went into the Blue Planet Aquarium early and I believe I was the first member of the public to go down into the coastline exhibition. I was shocked to find a dogfish in the middle of the floor. I quickly ran and informed the staff and then went back to the Ray Pool to make sure no body accidentally hurt the fish. I then managed to snap the below picture.
Seconds after i took the photo a Blue Planet Staff member arrive, he quickly and safely picked up the dog fish and gently put him back into the Ray Pool. As the fish go back into the water he "thanked" his rescuer by splashing the guy with a load of water. The Dogfish quickly swam off.
Me and the staff member spent a few minutes observing him especially trying to see if he had scratched his under belly. But he seemed fine and none the worse for his adventure. I took the below picture of him happily having a well earned rest at the bottom of the tank.

Bring a friend

In the last week me and my girlfriend (both annual pass holders) have gone to the Blue Planet Aquarium with friend. Not being over burdened with money at the end of the month this was a very affordable way to spend the day. I meant we could treat our friends to a day at the aquarium with out it costing us much at all! Our annual pass also gives us 10% off admission for our friend.

But the cheap price for a day out was not the best bit of taking our friends. The best bit was acting as a personal guide. We got to show our friends a tour which we made up. One time we followed the standard route through the exhibits the other we made up our own route. Both times we showed them all our favourite bits of the Blue Planet. I have spent a lot of time reading about loads of the fish and it was great to spend time sharing all the knowledge with our friends.

One of our friends is thinking of setting up his own aquarium. I was really happy to walk round showing him the fish that he could easily keep in his home aquarium and explaining about water parameters and compatibility. Of course we also got to show off our favourite My girlfriend showed off her favourite juvenile Lionfish and I showed the fantastic Blind Cave Fish. It has really made a difference spending so much time learning my way around the Aquarium and learning so much about the exhibits from the information boards, the staff and wider reading.

I loved showing my friends round the Blue Planet, having an annual pass has made it a cheap and very enjoyable way to treat friends to a unique day out in Chester.

White-Snout Guitarfish

Common Name:
White-Snout Guitarfish
Scientific Name:
Rhinobatos Leucorhynchus
Scientific Class:
Elasmobranchii
Conservation Status:
Near Threatened
Habitat:
Benthic in shallow waters over sandy bottoms and reef edges of the Eastern Central Pacific coast
Life Expectancy:
Average of 7
Diet:
Crustaceans
Maximum Size:
63cm
Tank Breeding:
Unknown
Interesting facts:
They often hunt and travel in large schools. They have loads of teeth in around 65-70rows.
Private UK Aquarium:
No, this fish can not be kept in private UK Aquariums.
Blue Planet Aquarium Tank
The White-Snout Guitarfish are housed in the main Caribbean Reef Exhibit which holds 3 million litres of water. The Guitarfish can usually be seen on the left hand side as you enter the underwater tunnel.

The Peace of Lake Malawi

The Blue Planet Aquarium has some beautiful displays and some fascinating fish. But this tank, the Lake Malawi Cichlid tanks is one of my favourite. Simply because i believe it is the most relaxing tank to just sit any watch for a long time. The tank is full of around 100 species of Cichlids and if you ever try to count the species in the tank, you will quickly lose count as they are not slow fish. These fish are constantly active. Most of the fish in the tank hang around near the front proudly showing off their colours but look towards the bottom and the back and you see more fish. These fish are showing some truly fascinating behaviour because they are spawning or guarding tiny fry. If you look closely you can occasionally see the fry quickly moving across the stones and rocks. If any other cichlids comes close to the fry/eggs you can see a parent chasing them away. In Fact regularly you will see Cichlids chasing each other, sometime it is clearly because a fish has got to close to a another's territory, other times it seems to be completely random. This just makes them more fun to watch.

I love this tank and i hope you like the videos, the tank is massive and shows the fish off to great effect. It inspires me to try and set up my own Lake Malawi Biotope fish tank. The tank is so big i think it should be described as a tropical pond but then most of the tanks in the Blue Planet Aquarium are this big. What makes this look so beautiful is how big the tank is and compared to how small the fish are. There are hundreds of fish in tank all showing a variety of behaviours. I would recommend any visitor to the Blue Planet to spend some time just watching this tank and try and see if you can spot any fry hiding amongst the rocks at the bottom.

Black Knife Ghost Fish

Common Name:
Black Knife Ghost Fish
Scientific Name:
Apteronotus albifrons
Scientific Class:
Actinopterygii
Conservation Status:
Not evaluated by the iucn redlist
Habitat:
Northern, South America in the Amazon river basin. Found in fast flowing waters of rivers and streams with a sandy bottom
Life Expectancy:
Average of 10 years but reports of longer in well maintained aquariums.
Diet:
Carnivore pellets, bloodworms and feeder fish. They will also eat peas, earthworms and frozen community fish foods.
Maximum Size:
50cm
Tank Breeding:
Commercial breeding in various parts of the world. Some reports of private breeding but no confirmed information about how.
Interesting facts:
Fish generates a weak electric field which can help navigation and hunting.
Private UK Aquarium:
Yes Regularly
These fish require a minimum tank size of 75 US gallons (280 litres) once full grown, due to their large size. They will eat other very small fish in the aquarium. This shy fish needs a hiding place such as a cave if keeping more then one in the same tank a separate hiding place for each fish should be provided.
Blue Planet Aquarium Tank
This fish is usually best kept alone as bullying can occur otherwise at least 6 are recommended for a group, this spreads the aggression out evenly stopping one fish from being harassed to death. Worryingly the Blue Planet Aquarium is housing two together. These fish always appear very shy and I have observed little interaction between them during the day but I am concerned the smaller fish may start to be bullied.