1. Fluval Specs – normally $59.99, on sale for $39.99!!
2. AquaEuro 12.5 gallon Reef Aquarium – normally $99.99, on sale for $79.99
3. All BioOrb aquariums are 15% off!
4. All Hagen aquariums are 20% off! (not including the Spec)
5. In-store specials on fresh and saltwater fish!

Sale prices are limited to inventory in stock, no rain-checks available.

Sale ends Sunday at 5:30 PM.

The JBJ Cabinet Stand is included at no extra charge!

And to top it off, we’re throwing in 25 pounds of Fiji Live Rock, FREE!!

Better come in soon as there are limited quantities available!

With over 33 years of fish keeping experience, we’ve learned a couple tricks of the trade that we feel are key to maintaining a healthy and happy fish aquarium.

1. Get good equipment for your tank – we recommend always going with a larger filter than what is suggested for the size of the aquarium

2. Take time to cycle your tank – don’t rush into adding too many fish as you will undoubtedly lose some of them.

3. Don’t overstock once the tank is cycled – stick to the general rule of one inch of fish per gallon

4. Make sure to have a decent cleaning crew in order to keep algae under control

5. Keep temperature consistent

6. Don’t overfeed – stick to only feeding once a day with as much as they will consume in 30 seconds. They may appear to be hungry ALL the time, but only need to be fed once a day.

7. Do water-changes at least once a month – but don’t do more than 25% as you don’t want to destroy your bacteria bed

8. Change filter items on a monthly basis. Most carbons only last for 30 days and sponges can be a source of high nitrates so make sure to replace your carbon once a month and at minimum wash out any filter sponges.

9. Never use soap around the aquarium. Always treat water with chlorine removers. Additionally, stay away from strong fragrances – perfumes, candles, cleaning supplies, etc as these can cause devastation in a tank, especially if the carbon is old.

10. Enjoy your fish! Your tank is a living piece of art so have fun with it!

 
I’ve never been a big fan of anemones in reef tanks. Having seen too often the injury they can cause on prize corals as they roam around the aquarium looking for that perfect spot, I was always weary of keeping any type of anemone in a reef set-up.

However, in the last several months, a new species of anemone has become available in the aquarium hobby that has begun to change my mind.  Most commonly referred to as maxi mini carpets, these little beauties are bright, sticky and stingy, although they don’t pack as strong of a punch as carpet anemones.  They aren’t known to roam around the aquarium as most bubble tip anemones tend to do; they generally wedge themselves in some crevice on a rock where they get a good water flow that supplies ample nutrients to keep them happy, although I would recommend target feeding with enriched mysis shrimp or other meaty food.  Also, unlike the carpet anemone, these maxi-minis stay “mini” – 5 to 6 inches at most.  Clownfish will not host them, although sexy shrimp and pompom crabs will.

In my opinion, the best part is the range of bright colors these anemones come in. Similar to the wide variety of bright, 80’s style colors ricordeas are available in, maxi mini’s colors range from bright pinks, neon oranges and dazzling yellows, ultra green or vivid blues and purples.  And they’re not limited to just being one color, I’ve seen combinations of bright pink and greens, orange and blue, purple and green – it really seems that the possibilities are endless!

The other quality that makes these maxi-mini carpet anemones so unique is the ability to frag them.  Typically with anemones, in order to propagate, it’s a matter of over-feeding them until they grow so big that they have to split.  With maxi-minis, you can actually frag them – cut them like a piece of pizza, making sure to cut a portion of the mouth as well and viola, you have two!  As with anytime you frag a coral, extra care must be taken in order to ensure that both pieces don’t get infected and can recover quickly.  Iodine dips and dosing with Vitamin C are two ways I recommend to keep your maxi-mini’s healthy after fragging.

Finally, what really sets these anemones apart from the more commonly kept anemones is the fact that these anemones don’t sting each other, so you can have as many as you like in one tank!   I love the idea of a Maxi-Mini garden – a bunch of maxi-mini’s in every color of the rainbow.

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“What are those orange things on my live rock!?” I remember vividly thinking to myself as I ran through my usual water change regimen. Though, I knew exactly what they were, Clownfish eggs!

I have been keeping a saltwater reef tank for just about two years now after several years of freshwater experience. I have had my ups and downs learning the intricacies of keeping a marine ecosystem, but on this day I knew all my hard work had paid off. While a breeding pair of clowns isn’t the most advanced thing an aquarist can accomplish, it does mean you are doing a great job with general upkeep of your system.

After a few different setups my current system is a 29gallon Bio-Cube that I have modified a bit. With the stock Bio-Cube I removed the bio-balls and replaced them with a simple refugium setup. The refugium contains in order; a protein skimmer, filter floss, 11oz bag of Chemi Pure Elite, and a 100mL bag of Purigen. After a water change I may add a small bag of carbon to buff the water.

Once I modified the Bio-Cube and decided on my refugium setup things really started to pickup in my tank. The fish seemed to want to swim as much as they could. My coralline algae went nuts and so did my small collection of mushroom corals. I now have mushroom farm! But one other thing happened. My Ocellaris Clownfish began to lay eggs.

The Clownfish have now laid eggs 3 times about 2 weeks apart. Each time there were more eggs than the last. The last time they laid eggs,towards the end of the egg cycle, I decided I would try to see if I could raise the little guys to full blown clowns. While getting supplies together though the eggs hatched and I missed my opportunity. I will be prepared this time to try and raise them.

When Clownfish lay eggs they will do so near whatever they are hosting. Mine currently host in a big green open brain coral and laid their eggs directly on the live rock next to the brain. Over the next week the eggs will start to change color from bright in your face yellow to almost clear and then to silver. When the eggs start to develop eyes, little silver discs, they are close to hatching. At this point you would need to move the eggs to a system setup for raising clowns. I currently have a small 3 gallon tank and a special filter for fry raising which I will use the next time my Clowns do their thing. When Clownfish hatch, they actually float to the top of the tank. Over the next 2 weeks they will eat tiny rotifers then metamorphose into baby clownfish.

I will hopefully have updates for a series of raising tank bred Clownfish… Within writing this blog post tonight my Clownfish have laid eggs again. Here we go!
 

 

 
One Summer day in 2008 I decided (rather ostentatiously) to dig up my parent’s backyard patio and teach myself how to make a koi pond. The process began innocently enough, I took a long hard look at the dilapidated corner of the patio that had been partially eaten away by an old fern in a half whiskey barrel, and decided that a hole filled with water and koi fish would be a much better use of that particular section of the yard…the rest is history.

How To Make a Koi Pond | The Perfect Hole in the Ground

1. Identify the Spot/Dig the Hole: Once you’ve identified a suitable spot to make a koi pond (a partially shaded place where few leaves will fall ) outline the shape of your pond and start digging. If you are planning on making it larger than 5 feet in length and 3 feet in depth, you might need to rent a backhoe…but for an average sized koi pond a pick and a shovel will do just fine. A good sized pond will be 5 feet long by 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep in the shallow end and 3-4 feet deep in the deep end. Be sure to give yourself a shallow end and a deep end, this will give your koi fish a shallow spot to eat, while still giving them plenty of deep swimming space to cruise around and hide from predators in. Fill the very bottom of the hole with 1-2 inches of peat gravel for drainage purposes.
 
2. Shoring up the Sides | Preventing a Pond Cave In: Because I dug my pond into a straight down “bath tub” shape, one of the biggest challenges I had when learning how to make a pond was figuring out how to hold back the earth from caving into my tub. Make a frame of your pond out of 4×8 wooden planks and place it into the hole. Paint the frame with a water proof sealant to slow down the inevitable decay (after all, it is going to be underground) and make sure that it is level once it is in place and screwed together. Use stainless steel screws to join it all together and countersink them into the wood to prevent them from poking into the liner.
 
3. Pad the Koi Pond | Place the Liner: I found that when making a koi pond, old strips of carpet make fantastic padding for the pond liner. Dig around a trash bin behind a carpet shop, or buy some remnant carpet pieces. It’s very wise to double (or triple) up on the padding under the liner, as it will also tend to break down over time, and you really want to minimize the amount of sharp objects that can put a hole in your pond liner one day and ruin the party. Once your padding is down, you can throw your liner in. It’s a very uncomfortable time of day to do it…but try to lay your liner into the pond when the sun is high and at its hottest. The sun’s heat will loosen up the liner and make it more malleable and manageable, thus making your life much easier. Fold the liner onto itself where it overlaps, then go ahead and “fill er up” with freshwater from the garden hose. Do this slowly and pull and tug at the pond liner to get rid of any slack and wrinkles in the liner as you fill it with water. The water will do most of the work, but be sure that the liner fits snugly into your frame without too much gap at the bottom corners of the tub. If you aren’t satisfied with the fit, you can always walk around and nudge the liner into place. Don’t worry…if you sufficiently padded the ground and frame you won’t poke any holes in your koi pond.
 

The hard work is done, now it’s time to set up your pond filters. Tetra Pond makes fantastic pond products that are relatively inexpensive and easy to install and maintain. If you have some experience in plumbing ponds or aquariums this should be pretty straightforward for you. Otherwise this might be the perfect time to go down to your local fish store and ask for some professional advice. But for those inquiring minds out there who still wanna know how to set-up the whole shebang when it comes to how to make a koi pond, tune in next week and I’ll talk about my aunt’s pond in San Diego and the unique problems involved with trying to build a pond in the middle of a patio garden.

More info on How to Make A Koi Pond | Go To Jim’s Exotic Fish

Zebra Nerite Snail | Algae-Eating Cleaning Machines

We first brought Zebra Algae-eating Nerite Snails (Neritina natalensis) into the store in 2010.  These are great little creatures that love to eat algae.  I put several into my 55 gallon planted display tank and they have eaten almost all of the beard algae growing on the rocks.  Since then, I have put them into all of my planted tanks and enjoy watching them as they scour the surfaces clean.

Zebra Nerite Snail

There are many species of nerite snails.  People have used them mainly as a saltwater algae eater but now there are species such as the Zebra Nerites that adapt themselves to freshwater and can live entirely in it.  They have proven to be an excellent addition to planted aquariums as they eat algae and will not harm other living creatures.  In my tanks, they have never eaten any of the plants nor gone after any shrimp or fish.  I often find them hanging onto long plant leaves such as jungle vallisneria or sword plant leaves with no holes or other damage done.

Red Spot/Onion Nerite Snail

The Zebra Nerite Snail is beautiful, having a gold shell with black stripes running down it.  They grow to about 1 inch and are very hardy.  They like a tank temperature of 72-78 but I have customers keeping them in discus tanks with 84 degrees temperatures.   I have also read that they can tolerate an unheated environment as well.  They do need a pH of at least 7 and like hard water as their shell needs calcium to stay strong.  They are sensitive to high nitrates and any medications that are copper based.  Those can kill them.

Sun Nerite Snail

Zebra nerite snails eat a lot of algae.  They can do such a good job at cleaning the algae up that they may need to be fed other vegetable matter such as sinking algae wafers, sinking algae flakes, or even spinach or romaine lettuce.  When well fed, they will lay a lot of eggs which are white and scattered along the rockwork or wood.  These eggs need brackish water to hatch and so will disappear in time.  You will not see an explosion of snails in your freshwater environment. They will not become a pest like some of the other freshwater snails we see.

I have noticed that Zebra nerite snails are good at escaping their environments.  They can crawl right out of the tank.  However, they can live for some time out of water, so if you find one, simply put it back and it may revive.

Overall, these are wonderful additions to a freshwater environment, whether planted or not.  We try to stock at least the zebra nerites as well as other varieties such as the Onion Nerite and Sun Nerite.  We are hoping to bring in more species as they become available.  We house them in the planted aquariums until purchased; they have been fabulous at keeping these tanks free of algae..

Fluval Spec — A New Nano Aquarium

The Fluval “Spec” is a new (2010) nano aquarium from Rolf C. Hagen Corp.  Measuring in at 6.75 x 10 x 8.75, it is one of the smallest self-contained, fully filtered nano aquariums on the market.  Made of glass, with brushed aluminum edges, it has a pleasing appearance, neat and compact, that looks great on a desk, dresser or any space you might like to bring a touch of life to.

Jason's Spec for his Betta

Keeping the Spec clean is a unique 3 stage filtratrion system.  The first stage (mechanical) is accomplished with an oversized foam filter block.  It completely fills the chamber trapping debri as water is pulled through it..  The block has two cutouts which holds the carbon (second stage) and BioMax(third stage) inserts.  The  second stage filtration(chemical) is handled by the carbon which pulls inpurities, odor, and discolorations from the water, keeping it clear.  The third stage is biological.  The BioMax insert enhances biological filtration by providing more “growing room” for the beneficial bacteria which aid in the nitrification of fish waste.   Water is pulled through these chambers by a tiny, but powerful (40gph), circulating pump and pushed back into the aquarium through an adjustable nozzle.  This system is very effective at keeping the environment clean.

Box picture of Fluval Spec 3 stage filtration and circulation

Topping off the Spec is a 31 Watt bulb LED light fixture with a flexible gooseneck to make positioning simple and easy.  It also has its own on/off switch and attaches to the Spec with a balanced screw mount.

Box picture Fluval Spec LED lighting

Our Fluval Spec showing gooseneck and LED lighting

We have our Spec at the store set up as a nano saltwater environment ( April 2011).  We have a  Dwarf Banded Coral Shrimp, a Circus Goby, a small Toadstool Leather, a few small Red Mushrooms, a Hermit Crab and Cerith Snail living in it.  Water changes are done twice a week.

Our Fluval Spec Saltwater Nano Tank

I have been very happy with our store Spec and am even thinking of setting up a second one as a freshwater display.  They are really nice to look at and very easy to keep up.  We normally price them at $59.99, but we like them so much that we are giving one away with our win a free fish tank drawing at the end of June 2011. 

Sign Up Now and win a fluval “spec” 2 gallon nano-Aquarium from Jim’s Exotic Fish.

 

Maintaining healthy and harmonious African Cichlids tanks is one of our many specialties here at Jim’s Exotic Fish, and in spite of all the horror stories that you may have heard about the difficulties when keeping african cichlids, there are tricks to help with your success when keeping these vibrant and personable fish.
 

 

African Cichlids Tanks | The Steps For Success

• Feeding Requirements – African Cichlids tanks have very simple feeding requirements. You can feed them frozen or flake food, depending on your budget and how vivid you want their coloration to be. One of the most important factors when trying to bring out the full potential coloration of African cichlids is the type and variety of food you use to feed them. Try to give them a variety of both frozen and flake food, and you can even mix in some live brine shrimp if you have the access. Never feed them black worms or blood worms, Feeding Africans bloodworms can bring about a syndrome known as Malawi Bloat, which will turn your prized African Cichlid fish belly up before you have time to realize what you did wrong.

• Water Quality – It’s very easy to keep your African cichlids tanks clean through regular once a month water changes. African cichlids tanks appreciate a somewhat alkaline PH, but conventional tap water with a little bit of a marine buffer for alkalinity is more than enough to maintain this.

• Environment – African Cichlids (Whether Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika Cichlids) appreciate a good deal of room to swim around in. But More often than not in a spacious aquarium the fish will fall into a sort of hierarchical structure with one male dominating the tank and achieving full coloration and the other fish falling in line behind him. A good way to keep everyone in the tank well occupied is to add as many African Cichlids to the tank as your filters can handle. This creates a sort of territory confusion and cuts down on the agressive behavior of the more dominant fish in your African cichlids tanks.

Keeping and maintaining African cichlids tanks is a rewarding way to introduce yourself to the freshwater aquarium fish hobby, and the vast majority of African Cichlids have enough personality to fill an entire tank all by themselves. If you take the proper steps to provide and maintain the right environment in african cichlids tanks then you will find that they make lively and vibrant freshwater aquarium pets for quite some time.

Jims Exotic Fish | African Cichlids Tanks…And So Much More