Tag Archives: Captivity

The Asiatic Tooth Carps

Somewhere down in the drain ditches, ponds, and fast-moving streams are the little wonders of life, known as the Asiatic Tooth Carps. The Genera Aplochelilus and Oryzias carps reside in water conditions between 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The Tooth Carps tend to live off surface areas, which the fish detest hard alkalinity waters. Tooth Carbs inhabitant home enables them to feast on insects, such as mosquito larvae and related bugs. Tooth Carbs on occasion will enjoy dried foods, however while in captivity you should continue feeding the Tooth Carps their desired foods.

Tooth Carps prefer to live in smaller or medium aquariums, which have a maximum of 10 gallons of water. The fish adore moderate hard water, and reasonably, acid based where deposits of organic debris reside. The peaty waters should include fine leaf plants, gravel free of lime, and plants that float.

How they spawn

The Tooth Carps will produce a rapid growth of spawn. The fish mate well, and will produce a small number of eggs daily over the course of three weeks. Tooth Carps will not harm the spawn; however once they become fry, the Carps tend to feast on its own kind. If you want to save the fry, move mom and pops out of the tank before the eggs hatch. Aquarists also have the option of removing the eggs to another tank, which is loaded with plants. The first choice is the better option for aquarists, since the method takes less time to accomplish. In addition, when the eggs fry, you want to occasionally sort through the carp size to avoid cannibalism.

Kin to the Tooth Carps is the Dwarf of Green Panchax, which is sometimes called the Panchax Parvus. This breed comes from the Aplocheilus blocki group. Dwarf fish originated in the waters of Ceylon and India. The fish mature at 1 ¾ in size. The smaller fish are aquarium choice fish. Dwarf of Green Panchax has a green-yellow shaded body, which is set off by rows of yellow and red marks. Dwarf of Green Panchax can handle tank water, since the fish is naturally mild in temper. Dwarf of Green Panchax feasts on dried and live dishes.

Water conditions
During breeding the Dwarf of Green Panchax, prefer water conditions set at 78 degrees Fahrenheit. When spawns are produced, they generally fry in two weeks, sometimes earlier. You should mate the Dwarf of Green Panchax with two choice males and a selection of female fish.

Kin to the Dwarf of Green Panchax is the Oryzias latipes, which is popularly known as the Geisha Girl Medaka. The fish is commonly known as the Ricefish and Japanese Medaka as well. Obviously, the fish comes from Japan. Geisha Girl Medaka typically grows ½ inches in size. Geisha Girl Medaka has an amusing breeding pattern, which makes this an amusing fish. The fish has gray-green bodies, which the Strain kin has golden or red toned bodies. The fish are colorless.

Geisha Girl Medaka breeds will feast on all foodstuff, and adapt well in soft moderate waters. The fish also adapt to soft acidy waters. If you choose acidy waters, it is recommended that you add 1-leveled teaspoon of salt to 3 gallons of water. The fish dwell in water conditions, or temperatures set at 78 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the best option. The fish can also live in waters at 75 degrees Fahrenheit and up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Finally, if you are breeding the Geisha Girl Medaka or members of this family you can spot the female by their rounded fins and plumper body. As well, the fish are shorter than their male counterpart.

Learn about endangered sharks and sharks habitat at the Types Of Sharks site.

The Carp Fishing Record – Will The Next One Count?

The emergence of Carp fishing as an expanding specialist sport during the seventies has grown ever more popular, one of the pioneers of carp fishing was the great Richard Walker who was a renowned Carp specialist in the forties and fifties. His record Carp Clarissa lived her days out in captivity after being caught at Redmire Pool, she weighed in at 44lbs and is possibly the most famous fish in the angling world.


But why was she so famous and why has Carp fishing continued to be so popular?


Well Clarissa was special, she not only broke the British record she smashed it, almost doubling the previous record of 26lb and this type of record breaking in fishing is unheard of in modern times. In addition to this apart from the Salmon caught in 1922 by Mrs Ballantyne it was the biggest freshwater fish ever caught.


She was possibly the most inspirational fish that a single generation has ever experienced and lived to the age of 34 before her death in Regents Park Zoo in 1971. It is probable that the death was premature and if left in the wild Clarissa may well have reached an age of 50 or 60 years. The tragedy here is that after her capture and transfer to the Zoo she never grew any bigger, contrast this to other fish in Redmire including the fish caught by Chris Yates at 51lb then a conclusion could be made that Clarissa never reached her true potential.


There is a train of thought that Clarissa could have eventually weighed 60lb had she been left in her natural home and imagine what that would have done for Carp fishing!


Add all this to this the fact that Richard Walker was a prolific writer as well as a prolific angler then the two combined factors would be the inspiration for countless young people to get into Carp Fishing. The next ingredient is the “air of superiority” and the atmosphere of secrecy that surrounds the carp world when you add this to the technical innovation and development of techniques and tackle then there is truly a magical draw for many people.


As time went by the growth of publicity for successful specialist carp anglers started to drive the potential to earn real money from the sport. Sponsorship, tackle design, bait evolution and syndicate waters started to provide anglers with the potential to earn serious money and many anglers either partnered or setup business around their success. Magazines and advertising then came on the scene and now there are many television programmes on SKY television and other subscription based media.


Tackle development has continued at an amazing rate and the industry continues to grow, its now more than 35 years since Clarissa died, there have been a string of new pretenders to her crown, bigger fish of course but none with the same aura and esteem.


Now as we move through 2007 we now see a new direction, the imported monsters that are coming into the country are being stocked at weights in excess of Clarissa when she broke the record!


These fast grown bloated fish are about to break and break again the Carp record but not one of these fish will ever match Clarissa no matter how big they are caught at. Of course the original strains of Carp were brought to the UK by the Romans, monks also farmed them and many stately homes were stocked with a new strain of Carp in between 1930 and 1940, it is known that some of these fish reached ages of 60+ which is amazing.


I liken this latest crop of imports to comparing a true diamond with Cubic Zirconia, you can have the biggest rock in the world on display on your finger but if its not a true diamond it is worthless!


Where will this end? Well the first issue will be whether to accept these new fish as true records (a dilemma already faced in the trout fishing world), secondly identifying the fish as a true contender or not, these are two very difficult questions which will now rock and divide the Carp fishing world over the next months and years.

Shaun Parker has been a Carp fisherman since 1970 the year before the world famous British carp record Clarissa died. The modern era enables him to get his Carp bait and Fishing Tackle online.