New way of breeding Flowerhorn

The breeding of Flowerhorns is a rather easy task. There are, though, a few preparations that need to be made prior to breeding. One of the most important things you can do is prepare ar new bare bottom tank to store the tiny fries once they are ready to leave the parents' nest. Do not install any filter mechanisms as the small fries will get sucked into the filtration system. An air stone is particularly sufficient for aeration purposes.

Selection of the breeding pairs is crucial prior to breeding. Desired phenotypic outcomes depend solely on the parents. Most of the time, it is almost possible to predict the external characteristics of the offspring produced by a pair of Flowerhorns. Thus, breeding Flowerhorn has an exciting aspect, as you would know the outcome of the selective breeding. Flowerhorns breed year round. No external stimuli are needed for breeding purposes, but you must place the breeding pair in a clean, big tank. An aquarium heater regulated to 28?C can be placed in the aquarium, but it is not compulsory. The use of a mechanical filtration system is sufficient to remove any feces and debris in order to keep the water quality in check as breeding pairs do not consume much food during this period.

The breeding pair need to be well fed at a fixed regime until they are ready to spawn. A balanced diet is crucial to produce fish well laden with eggs and milt. Broodstock can be fed with various types of food including live and pellet feeds.

If you intend to breed your Flowerhorn, you will need a few pairs of fish. Some pairs might not be suitable for each other. Normally, a mating pair is put in the same aquarium with a partition in the middle to separate the two. The female will usually develop black stripes all over its body when it is time to mate, and appetite loss is quite common. Observations also show that the female's genital papilla will start to swell. It is advisable to cover the sides of your tank with newspapers or any other materials. This provides adequate privacy for the mating pair as they are easily frightened or disturbed during the mating period. When they are ready, females will secrete pheromones, and this signals the males to start spawning. Initially, this pair will show aggression toward each other through the partition. When the pair has stopped showing this behavior, the partition can be removed. Once you remove the partition, if they still seem to be 'fighting', observe further. If one fish is standing its ground instead of running to another corner, it means that they are actually courting each other instead of attacking. If the pair continues fighting until one of them is visibly injured, it means that this pair is not ready or not compatible for the moment. Separate them and try again after a few days.

If they are indeed a mating pair, the male fish will start to search for a breeding spot. In a tank with pebbles and gravels, the male fish will start clearing a chosen spot by removing all the pebbles. However, in a bare tank, none of this activity will take place. If you are using a bare tank, you should place a floor tile in the tank, because Flowerhorns will prefer a rough surface for spawning. Female Flowerhorns normally lay eggs close to the air stone, or where there's a good flow of water, as this can help aerate the eggs. Moreover, because the water circulates in this area, a fungal attack on the eggs is prevented. Female fish will deposit rows of eggs, then the male will follow behind, fertilizing the eggs with its milt. This will continue until the female has deposited all of its eggs. No disturbances are allowed during the spawning moment as this will result in the parent eating the eggs as a natural protective measure.

A female Flowerhorn is able to produce approximately 500-2000 eggs at a time. The parents will usually take turns fanning the eggs with their fins to rid of unwanted debris or to prevent any fungal attack. It is advisable to add methylene blue (Hyperlink) or any anti-fungal treatment at a1mg/l gallon ratio to prevent a possible fungus attack.

The eggs will take a few days to hatch. When this happens, remove the parents. Once the parents are removed, be sure to practice proper fry management.

How to differentiate kamfa and zz

Ways to know kamfa from zz flowerhorn. There are modern kamfa now that has been cross breed to zz but we can recognize easily if this flower horn is a kamfa or a zz. Caring kamfa is so hard because rather than zz. Kamfa Flower horns are late bloomer and super stressful. You have to give and love them more also exert more care to make your kamfa outstanding and beautiful. Inborn characteristics of kamfa's are:


1.FOREHEAD/KOK:
The forehead/kok of the Kamfa rises higher than the ZZ.

2.FLOWER:
On the side of the forehead/kok, the ZZ has more conspicuous/easily seen black mark/flowers than the Kamfa.

3.MOUTH/LIPS:
The lips of the Kamfa is smooth and circular whereas the lower lips of the ZZ is sticking/protruding out and the upper lips is shorter.

4.EYES:
The eyes of the ZZ are usually outstanding/bulge out. The eyes of the Kamfa are hollow/sunken.Also the color of the kamfa's eye are white, the zz possess redness.

5.FINNAGE:
The dorsal fin and anal fin of the Kamfa would wrap around the caudal fin and they would look like one whole fin. The dorsal fin and anal fin of a ZZ would usually go upward and downward. The caudal fin of the ZZ is usually smaller also.

6.TAIL:
The bigger & older ZZ, it would have a droopy caudal tail. This condition would not occur to the Kamfa strain.

Hospital Tank

What will you do to quarantine a tank for your new fish?







Quarantining new fish is a good habit for all aquaria, but is not absolutely necessary for success. Quarantining is simply keeping a fish in a separate tank for long enough to be certain that it is disease free. Many beginners do fine without a quarantine tank, and object to the cost of another setup. A quarantine tank does cost more, but if a hobbyist has hundreds of dollars invested in fish, it is cheaper to have a separate quarantine tank than to replace fish killed by a newly introduced disease. Also, many of us become attached to fish and do not want to expose our pets to diseases from newcomers, no matter what the cost.
The purpose of quarantining is to avoid introducing new diseases to a stable system, and to be able to better observe new fish for signs of disease. A quarantine tank can also double as a hospital tank for sick fish. Hospital tanks are good because they lower the cost of using medicines and keep diseased fish separate from healthy ones. Quarantine is probably most important for saltwater tanks/reef systems because of the difficulty of treating diseases, or wild-caught freshwater fish because they are probably not disease-free. Quarantining itself can stress fish so be sure quarantine is as stress-free as possible.

To set up a quarantine or hospital tank:

1.Keep an extra filter — a sponge filter is ideal — or piece of filter floss in an established tank, so that you don’t have to keep the quarantine tank set up at all times. Some people choose instead to keep the filter going with guppies or danios (for freshwater) or mollies (for saltwater).

2. If you don’t keep the tank running, use old tank water to fill the tank. So: old tank water + established filter = instant established tank.

3. Add a spare airpump and heater. If you haven’t messed with the heater during storage, it should come to wherever you had it last time.

4. Consider using Amquel or equivalent when medicating the tank in case the biological filter bacteria are sensitive to the medication. Sick fish are especially susceptible to ammonia. (Note that ammonia which has been bound with Amquel still shows up on a nessler ammonia test. So, if you are planning on testing for ammonia in that tank, you need to use a salicylate ammonia test.)

5. For a hospital tank, do small, frequent water changes (even every day).

If possible, quarantine all of your new fish for about three weeks. During that time, gradually acclimate the fish to your tank’s parameters: hardness, pH, salinity, temperature, etc., and watch for and treat any signs of disease. Do not medicate quarantined fish “just in case.” Only treat evident, definitely identified diseases. Treating all quarantined fish with a bunch of medicines will just lead to weakened fish and antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Once you are done with the quarantine, if you treated any especially nasty diseases, it is good to disinfect the tank and reestablish the filter. Chlorine bleach or strong saltwater (for freshwater) work well. Be sure all traces of bleach are rinsed off. Another good disinfectant is potassium per manganate.

Finally if you choose not to quarantine, do not add store water to your tank with the new fish.

PSP GO

Sony's PlayStation Portable is the most high-powered handheld video-game machine on the market, but it's usually my third choice when it comes to on-the-road action.

It's all a matter of size. Apple's iPhone, which has become a solid casual-gaming platform, slides easily into a pants pocket. Nintendo's DS fits a little more snugly. But even the slimmest version of the old PSP is still nearly 7 inches long and too bulky to carry on everyday errands.

The newest model of Sony's handheld, the PSP go ($250), is less demanding. Only 5 inches long (by 2.75 inches tall by a half-inch thick), it's just a little bigger than an iPhone.

Sony has accomplished this feat with a number of tricks. The video screen is about a half-inch smaller (diagonally), though it has the same wide-screen ratio and looks as sharp as ever. The controls that were once on the sides of the screen are now on a panel that slides out from under the screen.

Most significantly, there's no longer a slot or a drive for the Universal Media Discs that contain PSP games and videos. There's no longer a need to carry a UMD for each game; instead, all your media can be stored on the PSP go's 16-gigabyte hard drive or on a tiny memory stick.

That also means no more trips to the game store. Instead, you have to download software from Sony's PlayStation Store — a process that shouldn't be too alien now that Apple has trained everyone to download media through iTunes. Sony says there are more than 225 games available, as well as 2,300 movies and 13,300 TV episodes.

The game library runs the gamut from elegant puzzlers like "Echochrome" to elaborate role-playing dramas like "Jeanne d'Arc." There are PSP originals like "Patapon 2" and remakes of PlayStation 1 classics like "Metal Gear Solid." And there will be a whole section of PSP Minis, inexpensive casual games like "Pac-Man" and "Tetris" that are meant to compete with the offering in Apple's App Store.

Sony is delivering two full-featured racing games to coincide with the PSP go's launch. "Gran Turismo" is the show-stopper, delivering the wealth of realistic cars and racetracks we've come to expect from the series. It's missing some features from its home console brethren — most notably, a career mode — but it looks and feels wonderful.

"MotorStorm: Arctic Edge" is less ambitious, although its renderings of snow-packed off-road courses are eye-catching. It's more of an arcade racer, so you have nitro-boosted engines, ridiculous jumps and the ability to keep racing after crashes that should be debilitating. It's reckless, fast-paced fun.

Either game takes about 45 minutes to download over a wireless Internet connection. "Gran Turismo" and "MotorStorm" can also be purchased at stores in the old UMD format for PSP owners who don't want to spring for the new model.

If you do already own a PSP, you'll want to hold onto it, because there's no way to transfer your UMD-based games to the PSP go. That and the hefty price tag are the two biggest drawbacks to the new device.

However, I won't miss the noisy, sometimes sluggish UMD drive, and I like the evolution into a download-only device. It feels sturdier than its predecessors, without the wiggly controls of older PSPs. And its compact size makes the PSP go, at long last, a worthwhile travel companion. by: philstar.com

oscar fish tank set-up

If you have decided you want to start keeping oscars then I would urge you read this page very carefully as it could save you a lot of hassle, inconvenience and most importantly for a lot of people, money. If you know anything about the Oscarfish, you will know that they get very big, and they get big in a relatively short space of time. They are also very messy fish, both in their eating and toilet habits. For this reason I would suggest that you set yourself up with the right equipment at the very beginning. I know that a 2 inch Oscar doesn't look anything in a big tank, but believe me, that 2 inch Oscar won't stay 2 inches for very long. Far too many people think they have got time on their hands when purchasing Oscars. They think they can house their little friend in a 10 gallon tank for a few months while they think about getting a larger tank. I am afraid that is not the case with Oscars. Oscars need big tanks and they need very good filtration. If you can't provide these two vital components then please don't even consider buying an Oscar.

There is one thing every new Oscar owner should know. Oscars love moving things around inside the tank. You can bet your bottom dollar that if you arrange the tank in a way you like it, they will prefer it completely the opposite way, and boy will you know about it. Oscars are very powerful fish, they can move just about anything in a tank, even large rocks. Don't be surprised if you wake up to find a large pit dug out in the substrate, heaters detached from side of the tank, plants ripped to shreds and you thinking "I'm sure I didn't put that rock there" If you want a pretty tank that looks nice, don't bother getting Oscars. There really isn't any point in you putting things back to where you like them, I can promise you that you will give up before the Oscar does when it comes to rearranging the tank. And to be fair , why shouldn't the Oscar be allowed to do what he wants in the tank? After all, it is his home, not yours. Anyway, how would you like if your next-door neighbour walked into your house unannounced and uninvited and started rearranging all your furniture, let the Oscar get on with it.

Oscar Aquarium

It's very sad but fish don't seem to command the respect that other pets like dogs, cats and even horses do. Nobody would go out and buy a horse if all they had was a small garden. So why get a fish that can often exceed 1 foot if all you have got is a small community tank?

Many people agree that 55 UK gallons is the absolute minimum to house one Oscar. Like I said, this is contentious and not everybody agrees. I am one of those that recommends a larger tank than 55 gallons. My personal opinion is that for one Oscar, you should be considering a tank of around 75 UK gallons (350 L). If you are looking to keep two Oscars, seriously consider going for a tank that is over 100 gallons. 6 x 2 x 2 aquariums are readily available. These normally hold around 125 gallons of water and are perfect for two Oscars and a few tankmates.

At a push, you could probably keep three Oscars in a tank of this size. However, if you intend on keeping more Oscars, or lots of tank mates, you're probably going to have to go down the road of commissioning a custom-made tank.

What you have got to remember is that you need plenty of water to cope with what we call the bio-load. Basically this means the amount of waste the fish produces. A good way of describing how this works is if we create a scenario where we let a stink bomb off in a telephone box, one of the old ones with a door. You know for sure that within a a few seconds, it is going to be absolutely unbearable inside that small amount of space. Now imagine letting that same stink bomb in a very large room. Okay, you are still going to smell it, but the smell won't be half as pungent because there is that much more space. That's how it works in a fish tank.

If you house an Oscar in a very small tank, you will find that the water will become contaminated that much quicker than if you have a lot of water. As the fish gets bigger, it produces more waste and that's when you have problems with water quality. Not only will your nitrate levels build up a lot quicker, you could also start having ammonia and nitrite present which is really bad news.

Just remember that if you go for the minimum tank size, you can only have an Oscar, you can't start adding tankmates to the aquarium, I'm afraid you're stuck with one Oscar. That is why I always think it's a good idea to think this through properly. Once you have got your tank set up with fish, it's a huge convenience having to start again with a larger tank because you realise that you wished you'd had done it in the first place.

Oscars Popularity

They have become very popular with fish keepers and have gained the nickname water, or river dog. This came about because of the way they act whilst in the tank. These fish are professional beggars, they are always on the lookout for food. As soon as you approach the tank, they'll be there wriggling and opening their mouths in the hope that you will drop some food in for them.

Contrary to popular belief, Oscars are not aggressive fish. You often see them labelled as killers of other fish. Yes, an Oscar is more than capable of killing another fish but they don't make a habit of terrorising their tankmates. You may well have problems if you keep two Oscars that just don't like each other, but as a rule, Oscars are definitely not among the most aggressive of the South American Cichlids.



Oscars can be moody fish and have been known to sulk for various reasons. This normally occurs if you move things around in their tank, or sometimes when water changes are carried out, especially if there are sudden changes in water temperature. As you can see in the photograph to the left, the two Oscars are sulking after a water change, this behaviour didn't last very long on they were soon swimming around normally. I would dismiss statements that quote Oscars sulking for days or even weeks. I have kept many Oscars and I've never seen this happen. If you keep Oscars in the correct environment, they should live quite happily without getting upset. Yes Oscars will sulk, but not for very long, and certainly not for days at a time. if you observe your Oscar sitting on the bottom of the tank looking unhappy for days, then you should be looking for an underlying problem, possibly poor water conditions, or may be illness in the Oscar itself.

They will also become very tame and will show little fear if you put your hand in the tank, if you are lucky, they may even let you caress and stroke them. It's no wonder people have fallen in love with them. Having said that, try not to handle them too much, the delicate membrane that covers their skin can easily be damaged which could leave them open to infection. What I actually do sometimes is put my hand in and let them come to me, rather than chase them. Remember that it is not natural for fish to let you touch it so if you want to pet your Oscar, take your time and don't rush things. Don't just shove your hand in the tank and expect the Oscar to let you touch it, it won't. You could start by hand feeding your Oscar. Quite often, Oscars are so interested in the food, they will actually barge through your hand to get to it. Once they become accustomed to taking food from your hands, you could try just touching your Oscars head with a finger. Once they get used to this try putting your hand in the water whilst they are feeding and let them brush up against your hand. Once again, don't make any sudden movements, just keep your hands still and they will just get on with things. You could also start petting them whilst you are cleaning the tank. They will often approach you by themselves, just leave your hand in one place and they may just brush past.



Putting your hand in their tank if they have eggs is certainly not advisable. Oscars have got very small teeth in their mouths. They won't be very apparent until an Oscar actually catches you on the finger when feeding. A large Oscar is more than capable of drawing blood.

Legend of OSCAR

You may ask where all of the different types of Oscar came from. Well, as we know, there are many types of Oscar available. Tiger Oscar, Red Oscar, Albino Oscar, Red Tiger Oscar, Lemon Oscar, the list goes on. None of these Oscars will be found in the wild, they have all been bred from one original species of Oscar. This species is the Wild Oscar, sometimes referred to as the Common Oscar. Most of us have heard of the Tiger Oscar, in fact, according to the poll on this website, the Tiger Oscar is the most popular choice. The Tiger Oscar was the first commercially available strain that was developed from the original Wild Oscar. While it retains all the colours of the wild Oscar, it does contain other colours such as red or orange which was thought to be a considerable improvement on the original.

In the late 60s, the Red Oscar made an appearance for the first time. It was completely different to what was already available which got people very excited. The fish was originally bred by a businessman in Thailand. He had discovered a few unusual Oscars amongst many others and after much hard work, finally managed to breed the Red Oscar which is much loved by Many an Oscar enthusiast.

The albino Oscar is relatively new, in fact, it was developed around 20 years after the Red Oscar so I suppose it could be classed as "the new kid on the block". actually, in many cases, you be no Oscars more than likely a Lutino Oscar.If you want to be really pedantic, a true albino contains no pigmentation and will have red eyes. However, Oscars that are white and not round I referred to as albino Oscars.

There are many other species of Oscar that you may never heard of. I will briefly cover a couple. At some stage you may come across a purple, or even a raspberry Oscar. They will probably be very striking with vibrant colours which may take your fancy. You may wonder how they manage to breed the colours in to these type of Oscars. Well, they don't, they dye them in many cases. You may be wondering how they do that to a fish, surely all the colours will run off as soon as they put it back into the water. This is where things get quite horrible. What they do is dip the fish in what can be only described as a sort of acid. The protective membrane is then burnt away and then the dye is literally painted on. They are then treated once again so that the membrane grows back. The problem is, the dye often wears off in time which leaves you with a dreary looking fish. In many people's opinion, a horrible disgusting practice that should be phased out.

Finally, I will just mention an Oscar called the vieltail. These Oscars were developed quite a few years ago but don't seem to be as abundant as all their other counterparts. Occasionally you may come across one in the fish shop. If you do decide to purchase one of these, you have to be aware that they should be kept alone so their fins can develop properly. Also, their fins are prone to damage which can expose them to various fin diseases so do think carefully before purchasing one of these.

How to Choosing your Oscar

It's time your tank is fully cycled and you are ready to choose your Oscar. When you go to the fish shop to choose your Oscar, have a very good look at them before you actually buy. Try to go for ones that are nice and alert, in other words, they are very perky and active. Don't choose any that are just lying on the bottom of the tank, there's a possibility they may be something wrong with that particular fish. If you are choosing from a tank that has a lot of babies and they are all nice and healthy, they should all be acting the same, probably hanging around hoping to be fed. The picture above shows some 3 inch baby red Oscars. They are always alert and on on the lookout for food, this is the sign of a healthy fish.

If you are going for a mature Oscar, study it very carefully. If it has any pitting, or holes around its head, leave well clear. There is a possibility it could have hole in the head disease. You never know how it has been treated and what kind of environment it has been kept in before. Having said that, if you want to buy a diseased fish and try and treat it, go-ahead. Just remember that the treatment could be very time-consuming and expensive, and it may not work at the end of the day.

Because Oscars come from the tropics, their tank water needs to be warm. Oscars will be okay with temperatures ranging from 22°C (72°F) to 28°C (82°F) You would normally have transported your fish home in a large plastic bag. Don't just open the bag and pour the fish in. Float the bag in the tank for around 15 minutes until the water inside the bag has had time to match that in the tank. The fish will already be a little bit stressed out from the journey, putting them straight into a tank that has a different temperature water could very well stress them even more, which could increase their chances of developing diseases.

When you first put your new Oscar in the tank, you may well find that he just swims to the bottom and sits motionless. Don't panic, he may just be a little bit stressed. After all it can't be a very nice being dragged out of your tank leaving all your mates behind, and then bouncing up and down while you're transported in a car. If you purchase more than one Oscar, they are normally more relaxed, safety in numbers I suppose.

Super Typhoon codename Pepeng

Another super typhoon codename Pepeng (international name Parma) is approaching the country and is threatening Northern Luzon. As of 4am today Signal Number 1 is place in the Bicol Region. Pepeng has also a backup typhoon with an international name of Melor. Melor might be following Pepeng at least within a range of 3-4 days. Everyone is advised to be prepared and ready since this typhoon is stronger than Ondoy. Let us pray that the typhoon hits mountainous area so that it might weaken the typhoon. Let us also hope that we will be spared from another or more worst situation than Ondoy. Let Offer a prayer. please pass.