PetSugar

A Tank For Two . . . Too Few?

PetSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:00:05 -0700

So that one fish may be fighting with the only other fish in the tank 'cause he's lonely? According to a recent study, certain species of fishies fight more and act less like themselves when they have few friends along for the ~~ride~~ swim.

The research examined a 2.6-gallon tank filled with either one fish, two fish, five fish, or 10 fish. Of all the pairings, the group of 10 was the "least aggressive, least likely to dart, and most likely to form schools and behave as they do in the wild." Even though the scientists only looked at neon tetras and white cloud mountain minnows, if you've ever owned fish, how many did you keep in a tank at a time?

Source: Discovery News

Check Out the World's First Hotel For Pet Fish!

PetSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:30:37 -0700

Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn for these fishes getting a special vacay spot while their owners are off on holiday. Dive into a slideshow of the world's first fish-only resort - I hope it catches on for all our swimmy friends stateside!

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Brilliant or Baffling? Fishtank Toilet

PetSugar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:30:37 -0700

Seems fans of that fishy bathtub, can get a similar product . . . in a potty. Ha. While this fishtank toilet is still in demo phrase right now, it already raises some questions. Like, where do the swimmers go if you flush too much?!

Instead of the normal handle, users of this invention simply pump enough water with their feet to flush away waste and the fish stay afloat in the remaining water. Now I'm no plumbing expert but then where does the waste go and how do you clean and refill that leftover water?

I guess animal lovers could get a similar effect by installing a normal tank near a normal toilet (or even a picture frame up above), but this model still makes me curious to see how it all goes down once released. If the creation showed up at your local home-improvement store, would you give it a whirl?

So How Would One Transport the World's Largest Fish?

PetSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:19:36 -0700

Holy moly, look how big that Whale Shark is! In case you've forgotten, it's the same creature held in the world's biggest fish tank and is the largest living species of cartilaginous fish.
So how do you transport two (!) of these gigantic specimens? By jumbo jet, of course. The ones seen here weigh about 1,000 pounds - not fully grown - and found a new home in an aquarium in Qingdo, China earlier this month.

To see more pictures of the process, read more.

View 14 Photos ›

Luxury Condo Living Goes to the Fishies

PetSugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:30:17 -0700

I appreciate the privacy my walls and windows provide, so why not give the same to your fish? This modern aquarium by designer Teddy Luong, called House Within a House (for obvious reasons), lets your fish live in a luxurious apartment complete with pearly white walls on the exterior, and a modern maple wood finish on the inside. But don't let the sleek aesthetic fool you, this is a legit fish tank, and one that you can expand upon: each tank is stackable so you can build that deluxe apartment high-rise your fish have always dreamed of movin' on into. Or, you know, something like that.

Psychedelica Is a Trippy, Bouncy New Species

PetSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:30:06 -0800

That's one stunning face on this new species spotted last year off the coast of an island of Indonesia. The "psychedelica" belongs to the frogfish family but has a unique look all its own, covered with swirling white and blue concentric stripes on a peach background. Divers off the coast of Ambon island described it as moving away from them in a series of short hops, like "an inflated rubber ball bouncing along the bottom." After no one was able to identify the aqua-eyed species, pictures were sent to a frogfish expert at the University of Washington who matched it to a mislabeled species first discovered 20 years ago. I wonder if this fish will make it to this year's Top 10 New Species list – but here's to hoping!

Source

Super Cool Phone Booth Transformation Just For Fishes!

PetSugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:45:29 -0800

Be honest, when's the last time you set foot in a phone booth? I couldn't even tell you where to find the closest one to my home, but I definitely wish I could say this super cool aquarium was nearby.

As part of France's Lyon Light Festival, this ordinary looking booth was transformed into a not-so-ordinary fish habitat by artists Benoit Deseille and Benedetto Bufalino, who explain:

With the advent of the mobile telephone, telephone booths lie unused. We rediscover this glass cage transformed into an aquarium, full of exotically colored fish; an invitation to escape and travel.

Wow, I especially love how it looks all lit up at night – see for yourself in the photos below.

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Source

Killer Whales Are Picky Eaters!

PetSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:30:42 -0800

I have a good friend that will travel to great lengths to get the best sushi. Her favorite restaurant is here in SF (she lives about 25 miles outside of town), and she swears by their salmon and yellowtail. Little does she know that her raw fish obsession is one she shares with killer whales!

A recent study finds that salmon is killer whales' favorite food, and they will travel large distances to nosh on the best. Using their Ecolocators (creating an echoing sound), they can scan areas up to a half mile away to find their favorite King Salmon, which provides the high concentration of fats and lipids that these whales seem to prefer. I can see traveling 25 miles to a favorite sushi bar a couple of times a month, but scanning hundreds of miles of ocean for a particular fish? Now that's a dedication that my pal Yum could appreciate!

Source

Hundreds of New Species Found Off Tasmanian Coast

PetSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:00:46 -0700

I think this guy looks like he belongs on a Christmas tree, but this sea crab is just one of the hundreds of new sea creatures discovered off the coast of Tasmania. From crabs to starfish to octopus, these new species were recorded in two separate mile-deep voyages in 2006 and 2007.

Not only did voyagers find new species of animals under the sea, they also discovered miles of coral that is thought to be about 2,000 years old, providing life and food to many creatures. Lead scientist Nic Bax, a marine biologist with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization talks about the discovery in a recent interview saying,"We know very little about the deep sea. Finding out how much live coral is down there, and how large those communities are, is very exciting."

View 5 Photos ›

Source

Guess What Fish?

PetSugar — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:00:28 -0700

It's Nemo!