The Fish Vet's Blog

I’ve been asked by a colleague to ask a favour of my “followers/readers”. I hope you can help this student out. I completed the survey in under 4 minutes, provided the YouTube video works for you.

See email pasted below.

Many “Tanks!”

R<><

From: M. Sullivan
Date: Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 1:47 PM
Subject: Fish owner survey
To: Dr Richmond Loh <thefishvet>

Hi Richmond,

As part of my PhD, I’m looking for fish owners to take part in a short (5 minute) online survey and follow‐up after a month. The study explores how we can better provide information about fish care. Is there any chance you would be interested in taking part and maybe sharing with your contacts? I’d be super grateful!

The survey is online at  https://edu.surveygizmo.com/s3/1012880/fish

Can you please like my fanpage?

http://www.facebook.com/thefishvetdrloh

Thank you kindly.

Check out these critters who’ve been massacring my hibiscus in the backyard. Anyone know a good recipe for these or will they become fish food?

That’s very cruel and I saw it previously on a TV show called “Japanese Mad About Fish”. There are some very sick people out there is all I can say.

This was brought to my attention by, Faheem Noor.

—
Yours sincerely,

Dr Richmond Loh
BSc BVMS MPhil MANZCVS (Aq & Pathol)
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia.
Veterinary Medicine for fish.
http://www.thefishvet.com.au
Ph: +61 (0)421 822 383

—
Follow me on: Facebook “Fin Page” – Linkedin – YouTube – Twitter – Blog

What do you get if you cross a hydroponics setup with seahorses?

Hydroponies.

I’ve been able to grow vine crops (cherry tomatoes, peas), herbs (mint, coriander) and lettuce. Other crops you can try include strawberries, Asian veggies and wheat grass.

Check out pics of my setup at http://www.facebook.com/thefishvetdrloh

Make sure you LIKE the “fin” page.

Shark netting, drum lines, exclusion areas / swimming enclosures?

Check out the latest findings as it applies to Perth’s beaches:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wa-shark-report-open-to-the-public/story-e6frg13u-1226463792738?from=public_rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Dr Don Stremme shared this with us:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/How-Can-a-Jellyfish-This-Slow-Be-So-Deadly-Its-Invisible-165590366.html?utm_source=smithsoniantopic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120902-Weekender

The rule of thumb in most aquaria, it is recommended to feed the fish two to three times a day, as much as they will consume within 5 minutes. The case might be different in seahorses. Reading this article, I wonder if we can glean from it that seahorses should be fed more continuously through the daytime and not at all during the night, “The gut of caged seahorses was generally full during daytime but declined in the evening, becoming almost empty at midnight”

Aquaculture
Volume 359, Number 5 (August 2012)
	Diet composition and feeding periodicity of the seahorse Hippocampus barbourireared in illuminated sea cages
	Authors:	Luis Maria B. Garcia, Grace V. Hilomen-Garcia, Fritzie T. Celino, Tomas T. Gonzales, Ronald J. Maliao
	Author Affiliations:	no affiliations available
	Source:	Aquaculture, Volume 359, Number 5 (August 2012)
	Page Numbers:	1 – 5
	Available Full Text:	Full Text: Subscription Required to view full text Format: PDF Size: Unknown Location: Publisher’s Site Authentication: Publisher’s Site
	Abstract:	The zooplankton prey composition and feeding periodicity of juvenile and adult seahorses Hippocampus barbourireared in illuminated and non-illuminated sea cages were compared. Mean frequency of occurrence (%FO), prey composition (%N), and gut fullness of seahorses were calculated from analyses of gut contents. Compared with juvenile seahorses, adults consumed more variety of prey consisting of copepods, larvae of decapods, polychaetes and fish, and euphausid shrimps. Calanoid copedods were found in the gut of more juvenile (%FO=47) and adult (%FO=64) seahorses in illuminated cages but harpacticoid copepods were ingested by more juvenile fish (%FO=50) in non-illuminated cages. Decapod larvae (%N=66) in illuminated cages dominated the diet of juvenile seahorses, whereas in non-illuminated cages harpacticoid copepods (%N=59) did. Calanoid copepods and decapod larvae (%N=91–97) comprised the bulk of ingested prey among adult seahorses in all experimental cages. The gut of caged seahorses was generally full during daytime but declined in the evening, becoming almost empty at midnight, particularly among juveniles. Cage illumination commencing at midnight increased the number of filled guts at dawn (0400h) among juvenile and adult seahorses. Unlike adult seahorses over a 24-h period, the overall incidence of filled guts among juveniles was not different between those in non-illuminated and illuminated cages. These results provide an alternative to growing caged H. barbourion cultured live food, particularly copepods attracted by night illumination.
	Citation:	Luis Maria B. Garcia, Grace V. Hilomen-Garcia, Fritzie T. Celino, Tomas T. Gonzales, Ronald J. Maliao . Diet composition and feeding periodicity of the seahorse Hippocampus barbourireared in illuminated sea cages. Aquaculture, Volume 359, Number 5 (August 2012), pp. 1-5, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4A6C89E79B3A8C923BAE&gt;
	URL:	http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4A6C89E79B3A8C923BAE