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Re: Flag Fish and Reef Tanks
>But on topic, I got four American Flag Fish. One male and three females.
>They graze very very sparingly at my hair algae and haven't made much of a
>dent in it. What did happen is the male took over half of my 65 gallon tank
>as his personal harem space. He fans the eggs, they hatch, the other fish
>eat them, and the next female flag fish in line spawns with him. Rinse,
>repeat!
>
>I see the fry for a day or two and then they all mysteriously disappear, and
>suddenly, the male flag fish is spawning again with a different female.
>
>Your mileage may vary of course, but the flag fish didn't do much for my
>hair algae problem (fine green filamentatious and staghorn varieties),
>
>Neil
>Whose glossostigma is finally creating a fine green clover field.
Relating to your Florida Flag Fish (Jordanella floridae)or FFF aka
American Flag Fish, the answer lies in two parts:
Part 1: of your answer is w/in your post...get the male out unless you
want to breed them! Keep males OR females in the same tank, but you will
have a lot less "anti-algae" performance if the male is all juiced-up
trying- to score, spawning or defending eggs / fry. Likewise, the females
will eat less if they are spending their time looking over their sholder or
being chased about by a randy male.
Second, if you are serious about getting rid of the hair algae in a hurry,
do not feed the FFF. If you have other fish in the aquarium and are
feeding them, the FFF will be more happy eating an omniviorous artificial
fishfood diet than eating algae. In my aquariums I'm down to just algae
eaters having eliminated food feedings for over a year, giving them no
choice. Once the algae is gone, you can always go back to food since they
will now be responsible for maintainance not elimination.
The FFF are far less interested in BBA or staghorns, though they will nip
the ends off. This is one little fish whose hairalgae eating credentials
I'll stand behind, having seen 'em in action for quite some time. Others
will tell you the same.
As for reef tanks, your arguement about artificial coral/live rock
reproduction is sound, but who has a salt water tank w/o the fish and fancy
fauna? Unless you are talking about a damsel fish tank, I'll have to say
marine aquaria are still more destructive than planted aquaria since the
"beast must be fed" w/ new live wild specimins each year to fill hobbyists
aquaria.
Yes, aquaria in terms of introduced plants can be destructive. But, only
due to the irresponsibility of some hobbyists that handle their plant
cuttings in irresponsible ways instead of shipping them to ME!:-) I'm sure
you see the point that even though hydro polysperma or other plants is/are
banned, there will be no real shotage of them w/in the planted aquaria
world. Should we so the same to the trade in reef fish/fauna that were not
bred in captivity...I'm sure you'll agree that would be the end of 90% of
the trade in marine animals since they cant be bred.
Versitility: Well, what can I say ... we planted people have more ...Style!
Look at what we have to chose from; at least 2-whole Japanese styles and
different European styles as well. W/in each style are so many variances
its endless the distinct looks you can do. In saltwater ... you have to
already be a saltwater enthusiast to figure out differences in their
decorating styles... they don't look very distinguishable; at least to me.
Its the fancy fish in saltwater aquaria that gets to me though. No one
will spend much time ogling rocks w/o fish. Contrast that to an Amano or a
European tank w/o fish .. you don't even notice fish if they arnt there!
Ebay Plant Specials:
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/boukmn/