RD.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. The following came straight from the horse's mouth so to speak, Allen himself posted the following to me in another discussion that took place a few weeks back. Exactly. Purina has been making specialized powdered "gel" foods for fish for a number of years under their Mazuri line. The nutrient levels shown on the package (on a dry matter basis) are based on the powder itself, NOT the formula created once mixed with water. As an example, check the following PDF for the Mazuri Omnivore formula. http://www.mazuri.com/PDF/5M70.pdf If you scroll down on that page you will find that once that dry powder has been reconstituted with an equal amount of water, the crude protein content drops from 57.1%, down to 28.6%. All other nutrient levels in the food, including the vitamin & mineral content are also cut in half, due to the 50:50 ratio of dry powder to water. In order to ascertain the true nutrient values of any gel food you need to factor in exactly how much water has been used to reconstitute the powder, into the final gel product. In the Mazuri formula it's based on a 50/50 mix of their powder, and hot water. Obviously the more water one adds to the mix, the lower the nutrient value will be in each mouthful of food that your fish consumes. Using the analogy that if one adds 30 grams of powdered protein to a glass of water, you will still have 30 grams of protein (such as posted to you on another forum, Sprucegruve) is very true, but as previously posted water only adds weight/volume, and no nutrient value. The risk then becomes that a young fish fills up with water (satiation), before it's nutrient requirements for optimum growth & normal metabolic function have been met. Which is exactly what the two Professors, from the Dept. of Animal Sciences, and the Dept. of Fisheries and Aquatics at the U of Florida have stated. "When feeds with low nutrient densities are used, the capacity of the gut may be exceeded before the fish consumes adequate amounts of nutrients." A fish will eat until it reaches a point of satiation, at which time it will stop feeding. Whether its stomach is filled with a nutrient dense dry food (broken down by gastric acids & enzymes), or wet food, that consists mostly of water, it will make no difference to a fish. A fish eats to meet energy demands, once it fulfills those demands, or its stomach becomes full, it stops eating, and doesn't resume until that food has been processed. The chart below shows the basic process of how a fish feeds. And all this talk about fish gorging & purging on dry food is ridiculous. Most fish in the wild are opportunistic feeders. When feed is abundant they gorge, when feed is not abundant, or when they are spawning, they are in a state of semi-starvation. In the wild it's a constant feast or famine cycle that repeats itself from season to season, and year after year, and most fish are constantly adapting to those changes. In an aquarium, the only way that a fish can gorge itself to the point of its stomach being packed full to the brim, is if the owner of the fish allows them to. Again, I have no problem with anyone that wants to feed gel foods, or any other type of feed, I would simply like to see the "facts" presented in a more factual manner.

I'm certainly not attempting to discourage anyone from trying gel foods, but I think that one should proceed with their eyes wide open and not be swayed by what some may refer to as what's more "natural" for a fish that's kept in captivity. As an example, With regards to plecos eating driftwood .......... I have been telling people for years that panaques etc. don't eat wood for it's nutrient value, or for digestibility, they eat it as a secondary action when scraping the biofilm that grows on the wood. Just recently there is now science to back that up. (I posted this previously on AA last year) More on that here ......... http://german.bio.uc...K_response.html Even for those not convinced, the simple workaround is simply providing some driftwood in ones tank, there's absolutely no need to add "wood" to a prepared food. IMO all that will accomplish is lowering the overall nutrient value of the food. For decades Tropheus keepers felt that due to the intestinal length & long digestive process in that species, it should only be fed low protein "green" food, and that any amount of animal based protein could cause bloat. Yet science has proven that in captive bred species of Tropheus the intestinal length can be half of what's found in wild specimens. A more recent study that was published in 2009 demonstrates just how great intestinal plasticity can be in response to the diet quality of various species of fish found in Lake Tanganyika. http://limnology.wis...-gut-length.pdf The above paper clearly demonstrates just how adaptive wild Rift Lake cichlids can be when it comes to their diet. As long as one feeds a quality food, diet will generally be a non issue, and will not cause any type of major gastrointestinal stress. These fish were born to adapt. I add driftwood, rocks, and enough lighting to my tanks to provide a steady growth of biofilm & algae, which allows the grazers to graze between meals on a constant basis. I do this not to provide missing nutrients, but to allow me to view the fishes various "natural" feeding behaviour.

While I do not agree with how certain "facts" have been presented about this product from a few vendors, Allen and I have discussed this matter in public, and private, and I think Allen is a stand up guy who is simply looking to expand his reptile line of food. I wish him nothing but the best in his new venture. Having said that ......... This is precisely why Jason has found that his fish go through so much of this food, 85% of the final product is comprised of water. In order for a fishes energy requirements to be met, especially young fry with high metabolic rates, and much higher energy requirements compared to adults, they will have to eat a LOT of this gel mix. Water adds nothing but weight/volume to a food, it has zero nutrient value to a fish. If one adds 75% water to a powder mix such as this, the nutrient profile of the final (mixed with water) product is then reduced by 75%. What's listed on the label on a dry matter basis, only applies to the dry powder. In other words, Allen's 'meat pie' formula once reconstituted with tap water will no longer be 55% protein, or 8% crude fat, and 8% moisture content, it will be more along the lines of 14% crude protein, 2% crude fat, and 85% moisture content, and that's the food that was formulated for carnivores.The same holds true for all of the various formulas once tap water has been added to the powder mix. Certainly adding moisture will increase the overall palatability of most feeds, so it's no surprise that most fish will eagerly consume it. Some people will have you believe that the water content of the finished product is irrelevant, yet clearly it is not. That high volume of water pushes the rest of the nutrient levels down in the final gel mix, way down, just as it would if one was feeding a pellet food that consisted of 85% water Using the same type of logic it would be like adding 10 ounces of water to 1 ounce of Seachem Prime, and expecting to get the same bang for your buck, when in fact all that's going to accomplish is one having to use 10x what they normally would use to treat the exact same amount of tap water. The following article on Nutrient Dense Fish Feeds and was written by R.D. Miles, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, and F.A. Chapman, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Aquatics, University of Florida. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa145 These are the exact same points that I stated in another discussion on this subject. None of this is exactly new to the world of aquaculture. When it comes to feeding fish, be it fry, juveniles, or adults, the law of diminishing returns often comes into play. A fish can only digest and assimilate so much food in any given period of time. Ideally you do not want the input, to exceed the output. This is where not only digestibility, but the FCR (feed conversion ratio) comes into play. FCR is basically the ratio of the gain in the wet body weight of the fish to the amount of feed fed. A true FCR also includes wasted feed and mortalities. In a properly managed system, where overfeeding doesn't take place, and mortalities are few and far between, the FCR will be low, which is ideal. Overfeeding or underfeeding will increase the FCR, which is not ideal, unless you like wasting your hard earned $$$$. With some of today's nutrient rich diets many hobbyists tend to overfeed, human nature I suppose (my fish are hungry) when in reality they are wasting food ($$$) and creating an excessive bio load (added pollution) on their system. In the average hobbyist set up, fry do not (and IMO should not) stuff themselves on food all day long. Ideally they should be fed close to satiation levels approx. 2-4 times a day, and allowed time in between feedings to fully assimilate and properly digest that food. Fish being fish, many will eat far beyond what they are capable of fully utilizing, or as stated in the paper linked to above there is also the risk that the capacity of the gut may be exceeded before the fish consumes adequate amounts of nutrients. Which is where the law of diminishing returns comes into play. And this is not to beat up on Allen, I have already publicly stated that IMO gel foods can have their applications under certain circumstances. Obligate algae eaters such as wild otocinclus catfish is probably a good example, many die during the acclimation process, as any importer will tell you. Getting them eating (anything) straight away is going to be a big plus. BTW - someone might want to give the kijiji person a heads up on his press release that he used in his ad, some of that info has apparently already changed, including some of the ingredients.(such as corn meal) He might want to check with Allen. Also, last time I checked, anchovy meal and sardine meal were indeed fish meal. lol

Epsom salt (Magnesium sulfate) can be used in conjunction with most over the counter fish medications with no issue. In a bath solution it acts as a mild laxative & will assist in purging internal protozoans such as hexamita/spironucleus. Given as an oral solution it is one of the most, if not the most effective treatment for internal parasites that I have come across in the past 40 years. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29679&st=0&p=2219242 API General Cure is not designed to be used to treat internal bacterial infections, it's designed to treat parasites, and nematodes (worms) with each 10 gallon tablet consisting of 250mg Metronidazole & 75mg of Praziquantel. Neither of those medications will have any great effect on a serious bacterial infection. http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=62 API has products for treating bacterial infections, such as Furan 2, Triple Sulfa, and Erythromycin powder. All three products are good broad spectrum antibacterial treatments, as is Seachem Kanaplex (which I previously suggested) another very effective broad spectrum antibiotic is Maracyn I and Maracyn II, which when combined will treat both gram positive as well as gram negative bacteria. If this is in fact an internal bacterial infection that is now affecting this fishes swim bladder you need to treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic, which is why I originally suggested Seachem Kanaplex. (Kanamycin) The longer that you wait to treat the worse this condition will become. Good Luck!

If this fish has any type of internal issues going on, which it sounds like it does I personally wouldn't feed it anything until the main issue has been resolved. A fish this size can go a long time without eating, while an internal bacterial infection can lead to far greater problems if it's not resolved early on.

For the most part Prazi-Pro (5% praziquantel) is a deworming agent, IMO the more likely problem is a stress induced internal bacterial infection caused by overcrowding, poor water quality and possibly aggression. Hence the reason why the fish can't swim, or even stay upright. I would try this ....... http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/KanaPlex.html

All food will begin to degrade once the factory seal is broken, how quickly that happens will be largely based on the foods exposure to environmental conditions, such as air, light, heat, and moisture levels. With flakes being paper thin and having a large surface area they are more prone to nutrient loss than a pellet. Having said that, as long as a manufacturer takes into account that a certain percentage of some vitamins will be lost during processing, and storage, and formulates their vitamin supplementation with this in mind and adjusting the ratios accordingly, nutrient loss from a small flake food container will be negligible if that container is stored under proper conditions, and used up within a 6-12 month period. Even more importantly is the nutrient levels found in the food before the factory seal is broken. If those levels are low to begin with, then there will obviously be far greater issues with nutrient loss once the container is opened. In that regards, you have little to worry about when using a premium nutrient dense food such as NLS.

Flakes are designed for small fish, with small mouths & small stomachs. It makes little sense to feed a large (over 5-6") fish with flake food. Flakes are paper thin & very light and have a much larger surface area, and because of this they are more prone to nutrient loss once in the water. Pellets are generally more nutrient dense and far more stable in water. When feeding flake food, in order to reduce nutrient loss once in the water the ideal situation would be that the fish consume all of the food in under 30 seconds. This will result in minimal loss of water soluble nutrients. HTH

There are a lot of FH breeders here in NA that cross their fish with various CA species, but for the most part it's not being done for genetic diversity. From what I've seen it's either an accident that's taken place in a community tank, or kids seeing what kind of "new" look they can create. This is not to say that all FH are genetic weaklings, you can still find locally bred fish that produce some very nice looking, and genetically sound offspring. Ones best bet is to buy a large group of fry/juvies, then grow them out & keep the best.

No worries, I've been called worse. lol Matt - I'm more than happy to help you out, but if you are going to ask for help then you need to be a bit more receptive towards those doing the helping. I was born in Edmonton in the 1950's, so yeah, this isn't my first rodeo with keeping fish in AB water. Bret gave some very sound advice, and this is from someone who never has water issues. As Bret stated, no water treatment facility in AB is going to allow acidic water (below pH 7) to run through their city pipes because doing so would cause an increase in corrosion. So even in the spring when rain/snow melt is peaking, and the waters natural pH is on the low end of the scale, the water treatment facilities will buffer the water back up to over neutral (7 pH) to prevent this type of corrosion. In the fall/winter months this is a non issue, as the river water will naturally climb towards pH 7.5-8.0. This same thing occurs in the bodies of water that supply Red Deer, Calgary, and Edmonton. Some slight differences in some values, but overall very similar parameters. Just keep in mind that solutions with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline, and everything else will begin to make sense. In Calgary, RD, and Edmonton our water is alkaline based, and using things such as peat in attempt to push the pH down in a tank with an auto drip system will be an exercise in futility. The reason being the buffering capacity aka the alkalinity of our glacial fed rivers which predominately comes from Limestone based mountains will neutralize any acid that you add, sometimes almost as fast as you add it. Scott's (Skynoch) tap water is a prime example, short of adding a boat load of straight acid to his "liquid rock" tap water there will be little effect to any great degree on his pH. As fast as he adds it, it's buffered out, and his pH will climb right back to where it normally sits. For the vast majority of freshwater species of fish stability in a tank is far more important than attempting to reach some magical number. The yo-yo effect that takes place in your tank/s is probably causing more stress than if you simply left well enough alone, and allowed your rays to acclimatize to your tap water parameters. If you insist on tweaking things you would be better off using an RO mix, but I doubt that's necessary either. I posted the following link in a previous discussion about Calgary water over on MFK. http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_6_0_777_203_0_43/http%3B/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Water+services/Drinking+water/Annual+water+quality+report/Annual+Water+Quality+Report.htm If you scroll down to the portion titled "We're All Downstream" you can see that from Edmonton south to Lethbridge we are all dealing with the same type of water parameters. If you scroll down further you can view the average values found in Calgary tap water, based on seasonal variations of the river water, and then factor in that the water treatment plants are adding & subtracting during those seasonal swings to ensure year round stability. Your tap water in Calgary should always fall somewhere between slightly over pH 7 (in spring/summer), and a pH of 8.(in the fall/winter) Also as Bret mentioned, if your pH has dropped between water changes, that typically is caused by the organics in your system, fish waste creates acid, as does excess food, and if you find that you're getting pH swings between water changes that typically equates to a bio load that exceeds your tanks capacity, or you simply need to perform larger and/or more frequent water changes to keep things stable. A 300 gpd drip may work perfectly fine in one persons system, and fail miserably in the next. It's all about balance. HTH

If you are referring to fish bred in Asia, then the answer would be almost never. Breeders of flowerhorn do not focus on disease resistance or overall vigor when attempting to wow the world with their latest greatest new strain of fish. The same could be said for a number of designer fish where the latest new colors, patterns, fin length, nuchal hump size, etc. are what is driving the market. Realistically, disease resistance is most likely at the bottom of some breeders priority list, if it's even considered at all. Nature has it's own way of taking care of genetically weak specimens, humans will take those same fish & breed them for profit. In flowerhorns this has caused a major decline in overall vigor, and lifespan, where now a days you're lucky if an Asian bred fish from Thailand, Taiwan, or Vietnam will live past 3 or 4 years.

Matt - After this exact same discussion on MFK I would think that by now you would understand that I'm fully aware of everything that you just posted. Part of the reason behind that is I've lived here in AB most of my life, and I'm old enough to be your dad, dude. Seems to me you should spend more time reading, and less time typing. BTW - Our tap water in Red Deer comes from a glacial fed river, just as your water supply in Calgary does. Our tap water is almost identical to yours. Your best bet would be to talk to someone at the water treatment facility/s that service your neighborhood, perhaps then you'll get it. Good luck with your rays.

What exactly are you using to test your pH? Also, take a glass of tap water & allow it to sit overnight, not just a couple of hrs, then test your pH & report back. IMO it is virtually impossible for Calgary water to have a pH of 6.8 out of the tap. As previously mentioned tap water contains dissolved atmospheric gas. The colder the water, the more gas, which is why you see small bubbles stuck to everything in your tank during colder weather. Cooler water naturally holds more gas than warmer water, and when that cooler water begins warming up it releases the excess gas. This is why when one allows the gas to escape, only then will you get an accurate pH reading. For some species of fish this gas can indeed cause stress, enough so that it can peel the slime coat right off of some SA species, such as discus, and chocolate cichlids. I've seen it first hand, which is why with AB water you pretty much have to either run a drip system in the winter months, or allow the water to sit overnight before doing large water changes. (for those species) This could be what's causing the stress on your rays, hard to say with any certainty.

Have you considered using epsom salt in his water, as a mild purgitive agent? Also, in the remote chance that his internal blockage issues are parasite related, you might want to consider this. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29679&st=0&p=2219242 If nothing else this type of treatment is very safe, and won't cause any stress on your betta. (unlike most harsher medications)

Hi Shai, Try feeding 1 pellet in the AM, and 1 pellet in the PM, and see if that helps. Your fish may possibly have a swim bladder problem which is causing digestion issues. A good read on this subject. http://nippyfish.net/sick-betta/swim-bladder-disorder/

It appears that Marinelands little investigation that started several months back has now been updated to a voluntary recall. At this point pretty much every Stealth heater ever sold has now become a risk for fire and/or injury. I pulled all of mine a few months back when I found that one of my older Stealths was leaking stray current. NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2011 Release #11-202 Firm's Recall Hotline: (800) 338-4896 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 Aquarium Heaters Recalled by United Pet Group Due to Fire and Laceration Hazards WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product. Name of Product: Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro Aquarium Heaters Units: About 1.2 million Importer: United Pet Group, of Cincinnati, Ohio Hazard: A wiring problem can cause the aquarium heaters to overheat or break during normal use, damaging the aquarium and posing fire and laceration hazards to consumers. Overheating can cause the heater to shatter or the aquarium glass to break. Incidents/Injuries: United Pet Group has received 38 reports of fires resulting in property damage and 45 reports of broken aquarium glass. United Pet Group has received one report of a consumer who suffered an eye injury when the aquarium heater forcefully broke while he held it. Description: The recall involves the following Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro aquarium heaters. The heaters are black plastic tubes and have a temperature adjustment knob at the top. The model name "Stealth" (in white letters) or "Stealth Pro" (in red letters) is printed on the side of the heater. The model number and the wattage rating are printed below the model name. Stealth Pro heaters were also sold as part of aquarium starter kits. Marineland Stealth ModelsMarineland Stealth Pro Models WattageModel #WattageModel # 25W ETP25, 25W ML90447-00, 50W ETP50, 50W ML90448-00, 75W ETP75, 75WML90449-00, 100W ETP100, 100W ML90450-00, 150W ETP150, 150W ML90451-00, 200W ETP200, 200W ML90452-00, 250W ETP250, 250W ML90453-00, 300W ML90454-00 Sold at: Pet stores nationwide and on various websites from January 2004 through February 2011 for between $20 and $300. Manufactured in: China and Italy Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled aquarium heaters and contact United Pet Group for a free replacement aquarium heater or a full refund. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact United Pet Group at (800) 338-4896 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's website at www.marineland.com

5 grams of levamisole will treat 500 gallons. See the info in the following link for more details ..... http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29236&st=0&p=2216984 Good luck with your fish.

Not to knock the detailed explanation & instructions in Jay's post, but speaking strictly about the vast majority of fish, especially fresh water fish, and almost any fish that is purchased at your LFS, by far the best manner to acclimatize them is to: 1. open bag 2. net fish 3. place fish into an established quarantine tank There is no need to float the bags, fish will typically take several days to fully acclimatize to a temperature change so floating for a short duration isn't accomplishing much if anything unless the water in the bag is warmer than the water in the tank. In the vast majority of cases the bag water will be cooler than the tank water, and going from cooler water to warmer water is never an issue with fish. In an emergency situation I once moved some bagged fish that were at a temp of 57F, to a tank of 78F, with no issues. (not something that I would recommend) The main point is to never take bagged fish & move them into a tank that is at cooler temps than what's in the bag. Cold water can cause shock, even death in sensitive species of fish. The larger the fish, and/or the greater of number of fish per water volume in the bag, and the longer the fish have been in the bag, the faster you want to get them out of that bag & in to fresh, clean, water. The term "pH shock" is a total misnomer, and is often used as the reasoning behind drip type acclimatization. What one really needs to pay attention to is TDS (total dissolved solids). Moving fish from water with low TDS to high TDS is usually tolerated fairly well, where as moving a fish from high TDS to low TDS can often cause a great deal of osmotic stress, even death. In transit fish excrete waste, that waste creates ammonia. Fish waste is acidic, which eventually drives the pH down in the transport bag. As 02 levels decrease, and C02 levels increase, this too will affect the pH and cause it to shift downward. In shipping situations this is a good thing, as the lower pH protects the fish from ammonia. Once the bag is opened, and C02 escapes, the (fish safe) ammonium, converts to ammonia, which can be toxic to fish at higher pH values. (such as our water here in AB) An increase in water temp will also cause an increase in ammonia toxicity. Hence the reason why you don't want to use a drip system, or add tank water to the transport bag to acclimatize fish. The longer the fish have been in the bag, and the more foul the bag water, the more chance one has of exposing their fish to ammonia toxicity when using these methods. Hence the reason that most importers simply open the bags, net the fish out, and drop them into their holding tanks. Experienced commercial importers learned a long time ago that the quicker you get the fish out of that toxic soup in a bag, the better. I have seen & been involved with fish imported from all points on the globe, Africa, South America, SE Asia, Europe, etc, with some of these fish valued in the thousands of $$$ (for a single specimen) and every last one of them went straight from the bag, straight to a holding tank, I have never seen any signs of stress from doing so. This is how I have been acclimatizing fish for as far back as I can recall, and IMO in most cases is by far the safest manner to do so. This is not to suggest that one should take fish such as German Rams bred & kept in a low pH & low TDS & simply drop them into a tank with a high pH, and high TDS. Some common sense applies. The only caveat I would add to the above is that if one is dealing in large bags, with large amounts of fish that have to be removed, adding an ammonia reducing agent such as Prime immediately after opening the bag is probably a good idea, before you begin the drop & plop method. This is exactly how Harold/Fairdeal & Jorg handle their SA imports. HTH

I did a bit more digging this morning & I believe that the exemption is simply referring to the species of fish, molluscs, and crustaceans listed under Schedule III. The entire list for Schedule III species can be found in the link below. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._296/FullText.html That list is what the CFIA has determined to be their "Susceptible Species of Aquatic Animals". http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/aqua/disemala/spliste.shtml So the new amendment has simply added approx 15 species of finfish that if imported under their "pet" guidelines, will now be exempt from requiring a health certificate, or an import permit. To make a long story short, I believe that fishclubgirl was correct.

Just to add to this, from the CFIA's Dec. 2010 announcement ..... http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/aqua/queste.shtml Will the pet fish or aquarium industry require import permits? All aquatic animals in Schedule III of the Health of Animals Regulations will need an import permit as of December 10, 2011. However, the CFIA recognizes that pet fish in home aquariums represent a low risk for the spread of diseases. An exemption from requiring an import permit has been made for approximately fifteen species of aquatic animals listed in Schedule III. This exemption only applies if they are imported as personal pets and owners meet the criteria outlined in the Health of Animals Regulations. .................................................. So beyond that very short exemption list, one will require a permit in the future. At least that's how it reads to me.

Perhaps I read it wrong, but the following seemed pretty clear to me. An import permit will be required as of December 10, 2011, if the pet aquatic animal •does not meet the following criteria, or •is not a member of the following mentioned species. and then ..... •The pet aquatic animal must also be a member of one of the following species:

I'm not sure when this was last amended, but it appears that the CFIA have some new criteria for importing "pet" fish. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/imp/petani/fispoie.shtml This certainly limits what will soon be allowed for importation on a hobbyist level, sans an import permit. •The pet aquatic animal must also be a member of one of the following species: ◦Barbonymus gonionotus ◦Carassius auratus ◦Colisa lalia ◦Danio rerio ◦Glossogobius giuris ◦Osphronemus goramy ◦Oxyeleotris marmorata ◦Poecilia reticulata ◦Puntius sophore ◦Symphysodon discus ◦Toxotes chatareus ◦Trichogaster pectoralis ◦Trichogaster trichopterus. So other than barbs, goldfish, dwarf gourami, zebra danio, flat head goby, giant gourami, marble goby, guppy, pool barb, discus (Symphysodon spp.), seven spot archerfish, snakeskin gourami, and blue/gold gourami, it appears that all other fish will soon require an import permit. The new regs also limit one pet fish importation per 90 day period.

Congrats Jonah, good luck with them!

There are in fact two different variants of G. "orange heads". The most common, and certainly the most desirable is the G. Tapajos Orange Head which originates from the Rio Tapajos River. G. sp. Araguaia Orange Head, which is sometimes referred to as "Tapajos II", has far less orange on its head (almost none at all), has a longer lateral spot, is generally slimmer than the Tapajos, and its upper head profile is more rounded. (as per Thomas Weidner) This species is monomorphic, and typically the first to color up will be the most dominant fish (both males & females) in the group. Social rank plays a large role in overall coloration. Males generally grow larger, and will have longer, more pointed, fin extensions. I wouldn't be overly concerned if your group aren't showing a lot of color yet at 3-3.5", but for the reason that jay just mentioned I would be concerned if I saw a tank full of 2" juvies all showing bright orange/red heads. HTH

Just something that I felt was worth sharing for those that don't understand the role that copper plays in the diet of a shrimp. This topic comes up from time to time on various forums, and is something that many shrimp owners do not fully understand. In small quantities, copper is an essential element to all life forms, including shrimp. Copper and Aquatic Life Copper.org: Innovations: Copper and Aquatic Life HTH