NEWS107
16
when they are brooding eggs in their
mouths.Only those that havemanaged to
eat theirway toagoodenergysupplyprior
tobreedingwillbeabletowithstandthede-
mandsof themouthbroodingperiod.
Kasanga in theaquarium
Thehightendencytoaggression in
Tropheus
and theirurge tokeepmovingnecessitatea
largetank.This isalsonecessarybecause
Tro-
pheus
arebest kept ingroupsof 10ormore
individuals,so that theaggression is spread
andthebatteringreceivedbyeachfishredu-
cedtosomedegree.Anutrient-poordiet,rich
in roughage, is important,asotherwise soo-
ner or later the fisheswill becomeobeseor
sufferdiseasesofthedigestivetract.
Tropheus
-and
T
.sp."Kasanga" isnoexception-require
water thatcontainsas littleaspossible in the
wayofmetabolicwastesandhasa lowgerm-
count,asotherwisetheywon'tshowtheirat-
tractivecolors.Thefiltrationmustbedesigned
accordingly. And LakeTanganyika is rather
warm,sodon't skimpon theheating -26-28
°C isbest.Anyonewillingandabletoprovide
theseconditionswillgeta lotofpleasurefrom
anaquariumpopulatedwith
Tropheus
sp."Ka-
sanga"andbeabletomake lotsof interesting
observations.
Note that fishesofotherspeciesareusually
of no particular interest to
Tropheus.
It is
nevertheless not very advisable to keep
otherspecies in the
Tropheus
tank,as in the
long term the constant hectic activitywill
drivequieterspecies to thewall.Inaddition
species that feed on small organisms, for
example the
Lamprologus
assemblage,are
difficult to feed as the fast-moving
Tro-
pheus
areveryquick to take the
Lamprolo-
gus
food,which inanycase isunhealthy for
Tropheus
.
The most suitable tankmates are goby
cichlids (genera
Eretmodus,Spathodus,
and
Tanganicodus
).
TheGoldfishwasthefirstaquariumfish inthetruesenseand istheoldestornamentalfish intheworld.Theearliestreports
ofgold-coloredfishes,knownas"Chi",datefromtheperiod968-975AD;catchingthemwasstrictlyprohibitedbygovern-
mentedict.By the16thcenturypeople inChinahad learned tokeepandbreed theGoldfishand itsvarietiesnotonly in
ponds,butalso inearthenwarecontainers.TheChinesecanthusberegardedasthe inventorsofaquariumhobby,although
thescientificprinciplesofaquariumsciencewerestillunknown.Inthosedayspeopleworkedentirelyontheprincipleof
trial anderror.Thegeneticprinciplesofanimalbreedingwerealsostill completelyunknown.Hence the "sports"already
knownback inthe16thcentury-doublefins,telescopeeyes,etc,andaboveallthemuch-prizedcolorsports-wereobtained
byselection,withoutanyunderstandingof theactualprocesses involved.
Golden fishes - swimming jewels
byFrankSchäfer
Coldwater
PiebaldDragonEyes All photos:FrankSchäfer
he aquariumhobby has tobe lear-
ned!
The first Goldfishes probably came to
Europe in the 17th century.Theywere ex-
pensivecreaturesthatweremaintainedand
bred in ponds, Aquarium maintenance
didn'tbecomepossibleforpeople inEurope
until themiddleofthe19thcentury,afterna-
tural science had superseded superstition
andbroughtgreaterenlightenmentevento
the commonman. Because the same ap-
pliedback thenas today: it isn'tpossible for
someone to care for a fishproperlyby feel
andkeep italive.Theaquariumhobbyhasto
be learned! Inadditiona knowledgeof na-
tural science is justas indispensableassolid
expertisebasedon experience.Bothmust
be learnedeither frombooksor froma tea-
cher.
AquaristsandCo.asconservationists
Aquarium science began in Germany
T
