Cultivating a reef tank is an exciting but challenging task - learn more about choosing the right size for your reef tank. Bristle Worms in the Marine Tank. Dealing with pests is an inescapable part of cultivating a marine tank. Recommended Species for Nano Tanks. Cultivating a nano tank can be an exciting challenge but unless you choose the right fish for your tank, you may be in trouble.
UV Sterilizers for Reef Aquariums. A UV sterilizer is a valuable piece of equipment to add to your reef tank or fish-only saltwater aquarium. Tips for Lighting a Reef Tank. When it comes to maintaining a thriving reef tank the type of lighting system you choose is incredibly important.
Saltwater Aquarium Lighting and Heating. Foam Build-up on Saltwater Tank Surface. Wavemakers for Saltwater Tanks. If you want to keep your saltwater tank healthy, you need to consider the ideal level of water flow. What is an Aquarium Sump? If you are new to the aquarium hobby you may not be familiar with the term "sump".
What is Protein Skimming? Learn about protein skimming, why it's important, and which aquarists should use it. Common Problems with Heating in Saltwater Tanks. Maintaining a stable water temperature in your saltwater tank is important for the health and well-being of your fish.
Reverse Osmosis for the Saltwater Tank. If you want to keep a healthy and thriving saltwater tank, you need to start with high-quality water. Common Saltwater Aquarium Fish Diseases. No matter how hard you try, you cannot completely protect your fish from falling ill. Marine Ich is a common disease affecting saltwater aquarium fish and, unless you know how to deal with it, it can spread quickly throughout your tank.
Parasites can quickly become a major problem in the saltwater aquarium if you do not address the issue immediately. Good Medications to Keep on Hand. In the event that your fish become ill it is important that you take action to begin a treatment regimen as soon as possible.
How to Prevent Saltwater Fish Diseases. There is nothing quite so heartbreaking as losing one of your fish to disease. Live rock is the foundation for any thriving saltwater tank and it is the base for saltwater aquarium decor. Creating an Aquascape and Choosing Fish. Guide for Keeping Anemones in a Reef Tank. Keeping anemones in a reef tank can be a challenge if you are not fully prepared. Sea Urchins in the Saltwater Tank.
If you are looking for a unique invertebrate to add to your saltwater tank, consider the sea urchin. Learn how to properly select and establish a clean-up crew in a saltwater or reef aquarium. Keeping Lionfish in the Home Aquarium. The lionfish is a beautiful but deadly fish that makes a unique addition to the saltwater aquarium. Stocking Salt Water Reef Tanks. Learn how to select the right quantity and combination of fish for your saltwater aquarium.
Hermit Crabs in Saltwater Tanks. Hermit crabs do more than just add decoration to the saltwater tank -- they can also help to keep your tank clean. What's That? Cultivating a reef tank is a unique challenge, not only because caring for corals is tricky but because it can be difficult to find reef-safe fish.
Tangs are not just some of the most brightly colored species of tropical saltwater fish - they are also great additions to the reef tank.
Marine Shrimp for the Saltwater or Reef Tank. Marine shrimp can be a useful addition to the saltwater tank - just be sure to pick the right species.
Clownfish in the Reef Aquarium. Clownfish are one of the most recognizable types of saltwater aquarium fish. Selecting and Caring for Saltwater Angelfish. Saltwater angelfish are some of the most colorful saltwater fish available. Keeping Moray Eels in the Marine Tank. Moray eels can be a challenge to keep in the home aquarium but they are well worth it. Sea Cucumbers for Reef Tanks. Sea cucumbers are found throughout the ocean but they are a popular addition to saltwater reef tanks.
The Benefits of Snails in the Saltwater Tank. While snails are often viewed as a nuisance in the freshwater tank, they can serve a valuable purpose in the saltwater aquarium. Keeping and Breeding Mandarinfish. Mandarinfish are a small, colorful species of saltwater aquarium fish. Caring for Saltwater Gobies. Such geological change forced some populations to either adapt or face extinction. Time and natural selection due to physical and environmental variation worked in concert with isolation to foster adaptations.
In some cases, these adaptations became permanent and led to species differentiation. One important aspect of environmental variation is the ionic composition of bodies of water utilized as habitat. They use the enzyme to pump sodium out of their gills at the cost of energy. Additionally, their kidneys selectively filter out divalent ions, which they then excrete.
An alternative set of physiological mechanisms allows freshwater fish to concentrate salts to compensate for their low salinity environment. They produce very dilute, copious urine up to a third of their body weight a day to rid themselves of excess water, while conducting active uptake of ions at the gill.
Certainly, other adaptations contributed to the capability of isolated populations to adapt more fully to their circumstances. With different sets of predator and prey organisms present in the differing habitats, and different physical ranges available to them, behavioral changes would be required; perhaps a smaller or larger body size or body part would be favored. The accumulation of these kinds of physiological, behavioral and physical changes ultimately led to new species.
Isolation may have forced them to conserve their newly developed adaptations among their own descendants, rather than distribute them more broadly. For some, the rift eventually became complete and there could no longer be any cross-breeding between populations that once interbred.
Not unreasonably, there were multiple instances of colonization of the freshwater environment by seawater species of fish; some were more or less complete. The ability to escape an environment may have been seasonal, or periodic in some other way, or intermittent, and the ability to osmoregulate in freshwater need not have excluded the capacity to revert to a seawater mode of osmoregulation, as long as the capacity could be utilized by a substantial portion of the population, and selected for, rather than simply lost.
Salmon spend a relatively short time in freshwater before developing the capacity to osmoregulate in seawater, where they live for the majority of their lives.
Some species of salmon, like pink salmon, migrate to sea as soon as they emerge from the gravel as free-swimming juveniles. Others, such as sockeye and coho and some chinook salmon, remain in freshwater for one or two years or more before the urge to migrate downstream overcomes them, in a sequence of physiological and physical events that coincides with the development of their capacity to osmoregulate in seawater.
So the different species of salmon exploit different aspects of the freshwater environment, but evidently they all enjoy better life prospects if they are spawned in a freshwater habitat and spend their adult lives in seawater. Other related species, like trout, are physiologically less tolerant of salty water. Most have permanently adapted to life in freshwater. They have probably also lost characteristics e. For reasons that may relate to their geographic distribution, the characteristics that once made life in seawater natural to them eventually became excess baggage and fell into disuse and disrepair.
William A. Wurts is an aquaculture specialist in Kentucky State University's cooperative extension program. He provides additional insight on fish evolution and physiology. The various species of fish found in oceans, lakes, rivers and streams have evolved over millions of years and have adapted to their preferred environments over long periods of time.
Fish are categorized according to their salinity tolerance. Fish that can tolerate only very narrow ranges of salinity such freshwater fish as goldfish and such sea water fish as tuna are known as stenohaline species. These fish die in waters having a salinity that differs from that in their natural environments.
Fish that can tolerate a wide range of salinity at some phase in their life-cycle are called euryhaline species. Most of them live at the bottom of the sea, while some are found near the shore. Rays are carnivores in terms of diet and feed on a variety of sea creatures. However, the way they look for food and their prey varies according to species.
Small species have rounded teeth that feed on snails, clams, oysters, and crustaceans. Large species, like manta rays are mostly filter feeders. Some of them actively prey on bottom-dwelling crustaceans and small fish. Most of them have a sting at the base of their tail and some of them have developed special ways of catching their prey.
For example, electric rays use electricity to stun their prey. There are more than a hundred species of snapper in the world. They normally live near shores with coral reefs and in tropical areas. There is not much of a size difference when you compare the various species of snapper. Examples of snapper species include dog snappers, emperor snappers, yellowtail snappers, gray snappers, and bluefish which is the most famous member of the snapper family.
Like most fish, snappers are carnivores when it comes to their diet. Young snappers are understandably small and feed mostly on plankton.
Adult snappers are hunters and their diet consists of crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. Because they live near rocky areas, their diet is very varied.
Scorpionfish have feathery fins that range in color from dull shades to bright hues, depending on the species. Their fins have venomous glands covered in mucous that can stun prey.
Most scorpionfish are bottom dwellers of shallow water and certain species have been known to live as deep as two kilometers to the ocean floor. As described previously, scorpionfish are omnivores, so their diet is very varied. They prey on small fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other bottom-dwelling creatures. The term bass normally refers to a large number of fish which encompasses three different genera. However, they all belong to the common order of the perciform.
Bass have a wide range of habitats and although they are largely marine species, some are freshwater species. With their varied habitat, they feed on a wide variety of food. Although they are omnivores, many of the scientists consider them to be opportunistic hunters. They eat plankton, small fish and even vegetation. Clownfish or the Anemonefish is one of the most charming species of marine fish.
It is well known for its synergistic partner, the anemone. Clownfish are omnivores in their diet behavior and ones living in aquariums enjoy eating processed food. Most clownfish eat sea plants and small sea animals in the ocean. Sometimes they will eat the residue left behind from their partnering anemone, but their diet consists mostly of zooplankton. Hawkfish do not have a swim bladder so they try and avoid deep water and are mostly found in coral reefs near the shoreline.
Hawkfish have bright colors and sometimes one or two lateral stripes. Hawkfish are so-called due to their hunting techniques, which are very similar to that of a hawk.
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