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.