Cattle

Posts Tagged ‘fine’

Oriental Shorthair is a feline breed that has occurred in Thailand, alongside the Siamese, for a long time as a self-colored cat and was brought over with other cats from the Orient to Britain in nineteenth century. Even as it was initially just considered a non-pointed version of the Siamese, the Oriental Shorthair gained formal recognition only in the twentieth century when, in the fifties, development of the cat was started through breeding with Abyssinians, Domestic Shorthairs, Russian Blues and Siamese. The cat was termed as ‘Foreign’ in United Kingdom and ‘Oriental’ in United States. It was another two decades before official recognition and championship status was given to the graceful cat. Today it is registered and recognized as a distinct entity in nearly all cat fancies around the world. Occasionally, as in the case of Cat Fanciers’ Association, it is coupled with its sister breed, the Oriental Longhair, into a single breed called simply the Oriental.

A svelte and finely built animal, the Oriental Shorthair is amongst the most attractive of all domestic cats. Its lithe, tubular body appears slender but is in fact quite well muscled. Head is wedge shaped with large pointed ears and slanted almond shaped eyes that occur in blue or green colors. Legs and tail are long. Coat of the Oriental Shorthair occurs in an amazing array of colors and patterns, with over three hundred variations recognized. Combinations include bi-color, parti-color, shaded, smoke, solid and tabby.

Like their longhair counterparts Oriental Shorthairs are prone to certain ailments in some of their lines. These include dental disorder, Amyloidosis of liver and dilated cardiomyopathy. These conditions are rare overall though and generally the cats live a long healthy life of fifteen years or more.

Oriental Shorthairs are very curious and intelligent. They like to explore everything and are not shy to open cabinets and get on top of cupboards to satisfy their natural inquisitiveness. They are athletic and maintain their active, playful lifestyle even as they age.

As mentioned, an unsightly protein scum may appear on the surface of the water. This is the result of dissolved organic waste separating out and attaching itself to bubbles of air. A foam fractionator’s, sometimes known as a protein skimmer, is a controlled mechanical way of removing the protein, or dissolved organic carbon, from the water.

In one design of protein skimmer, fine bubbles of air are injected at the bottom of the device and as they rise through the water, they collect or adsorb the organic carbon on their surface. This action prevents the bubbles from bursting and foam collects on the water surface, from where it is skimmed off to waste.

Switch off foam fractionators when you use a pond medication, otherwise they will remove the medication from the water as well. These devices have been available to the aquarium keeper for many years and some homemade designs work well on ponds. The ozone kills free swimming or motile bacteria and algal cells, producing clearer and cleaner water.

Using an ozonizer would render an ultraviolet light clarifier unnecessary. These are known as anaerobic bacteria and they thrive in oxygen depleted water. If you use an anaerobic filter, it will require very careful monitoring. When construction is complete, the pond and filter system should be filled through a water meter to ascertain its total working volume.

Knowing this figure is important, because it enables you to calculate accurate dosage when the pond needs to be medicated. If a water change is required, a check on the meter reading will enable, say, a 10% change to be made accurately. If possible, plumb a meter into the pond main water supply so that you can always monitor the water usage.

Allow the system to circulate for a few days to ensure there are no leaks.

The Dwarf Pencil Fish, the Green Rivulus and the Hunchbacked Limia could be three freshwater fish in your tank. Find out about their behavior, what they look like, water conditions, how to feed them and how to breed them.

Dwarf Pencil Fish – Nannostomus marginatus (Family: Lebiasinidae)

Behavior:
It is a bit timid and likes its fellow dwarfs so its better to have few of them in your aquarium. They will grow to about 3 cms when adult and are slow swimmers so you will have plenty of time to admire them!.

Water and Tank Conditions:
This shy fish will need sheltered areas so make sure there is a well planted area and also a good amount of free space for it to swim around in. Ideally the water should be at about twenty four degrees Celcius.

Features and Colors:
It is not easy to tell the differences between the sexes. The males are thicker than the females and more brightly colored. The fish has three stripes running laterally along its flanks. Dark brown bands are located above and below the central gold one. The back is a golden brown with the body browny gray.

The fins are red around the perimeter and the bottom parts are also red. The Nannostomus genus has a unique characteristic in that its lateral bands change if they get frightened or at dusk. They change to stripes that slope instead.

Feeding:
This fish will eat a wide range of foods but due to its small mouth ensure the food size is sufficiently small.

Breeding Conditions:
Like the Croaking tetra the pencil fish does not readily breed. A shallow depth of slightly acidic water, about 12 cms, is needed for the breeding tank and a temperature of about 24 degrees centigrade. You will need two males to mate with one female and the use of a breeding trap.

Remove the fish once spawning has taken place. Deposited eggs will be found all over the place. It will be a couple of days before the fry hatch. Once hatched feed them infusoria initially followed by fine dry food and as they grow micro-worms, sieved daphnia and flaked foods.

Green Rivulus – Rivulus cylindraceus (Family: Cyprinodontidae)

Behavior:
The green rivulus is a hardy fish, peaceful and good at leaping so keep the cover on! It is is regarded as a bit of joker in the fish world due to its habit of taking up unusual positions and maintaining them for a while. It is best to keep these with fish around the same size.

Water and Tank Conditions:
With respect to plant requirements, have both floating and submerged plant types. For the water, an average temperature of about 22 degrees centigrade will be alright although it can tolerate a fairly wide range.

Features and Colors:
The green rivulus, as its name suggests, is olive-green with spots that are darker green. It also has reddish spots near the back end. This fish is also called the cuban rivulus.

This genus has many species all differing in color but their major characteristics and behavior remain unchanged. One specific characteristic they have is the presence of a spot found adjacent the top area of the peduncle fin and is referred to as a false eye.

Other species you will come across are the eye spot or ocellated rivulus (Rivulus ocellatus), the herring-bone rivulus (Rivulus strigatus), the yellow banded rivulus (Rivulus xanthonotus), the fire-tail rivulus (Rivulus milesi) and Hart’s rivulus (Rivulus harti).

Feeding:
You will notice how these fish become more a lot mmore lively when they are about to be fed. In general they are not fussy about the food they are given.

Breeding Conditions:
The difference between male and female is easy as the female has the large rivulus spot and is not as brightly colored compared to the male. A thickly planted breeding tank at 26 degrees centigrade is required with two females for each male.

They breed easily and once the eggs have been scattered about, take the plants and fertilized eggs to a separate incubation tank. The eggs will hatch after about two weeks and the fry can be fed for the first week on infusoria.

Hunchbacked Limia – Poecilia nigrofasciata (Family: Poeciliidae)

Behavior:
Also known as the Humpbacked limia and the Black-barred limia. These fish are peaceful and females can reach lengths of 6 cms or more. The Poecilia caudofasciata species is smaller and the male and female reach lengths of about 4 and 6 cms respectively.

Water and Tank Conditions:
twenty four degrees Celcius is adequate.

Features and Colors:
They are called hunchbacked because the young fish exhibit an arched back, which becomes greater as they age. The other parameter that also changes with age is the color. The younger are recognized by their olive color, dark vertical bands and yellow underneath.

The older fish has iridescent green spots on the bands, the stomach has a dark border, the dorsal fin is bigger with spines becoming black. Regarding color the male is a lot brighter than the female!

Feeding:
The main diet for the Hunchbacked limia is algae and other vegetable matter with the odd live meal thrown in (literally!).

Breeding Conditions:
The usual process for live-bearing fish can be applied but these fry are more difficult to raise and it will help if the breeding tank is in a position so that sunlight can fall on it.

Now you can have three additional freshwater fish to put in a tank and look after. Before you add more fish, ensure your aquarium can accommodate your newcomers.