BlindFish Ideas

These photos are from a week or so ago when we were in Nha Trang, Vietnam. I have delayed in posting these photos because they just didn't look that great due to the green water making all the photos green. I then put the images into GIMP 2.0 (open source image manipulation programme) and experimented with changing the colours to compensate for the green water. I tried a few  different  things but in the end the simplest best way to improve the images was to use the curves tool, selected the green channel and lower the line with a simple adjustment. Then a few more tweeks with saturation and contrast lead me to be happy with the images. Please tell me what you think.     

Improving subsistence farmers diet with fish husbandry in Cambodia How can a bunch of fish ponds make a real difference? This summer I am travelling around South-East Asia, including Cambodia. In Cambodia I will be visiting some NGOs and  voluntary aid projects . I meet with our main contact this week and most of the work is focused on people projects, teaching English,  prison visits , drug addiction etc but they mentioned one project where they help rice farmers start fish husbandry projects. These projects are designed to help the local subsistence farmers grow on fish to adult size for increasing the protein component of their diet. Being interested in all forms of fish keeping I hope that when we travel to Cambodia I can visit the project or at least meet up with the team managing the project. It sounds like a fascinating and practical way to help some of the worlds poorest improve th...

Killifish are beautiful and fascinating  After watching this video they have now moved up to the top of my Fish wish list . Next time I get to set up a new tank these will be in it! Currently I am not sure if I would want to start with an annual or a non-annual variety but I am very attracted to the colouration of the  Blue Lyretail . These small fish seem both tough and clever at avoiding predators (see the water scorpion in video), catching prey and breeding.  The video shows some annual Killifish displaying there amazing ability to have eggs laid in damp mud wait for water to return and then hatch. This curious ability allows these fish to thrive in areas with varying water levels. Their annual breeding ability also allows their eggs to be swapped, traded and sent by post between breeder and collectors both across a country and internationally. Their annual nature greatly appeals to me as a project that allows me to view a compl...

Just read this article at Practical Fishkeeping Fish evolve quicker then you think . It made me think about what is a good definition of evolution? and how does it differ from adaptation? does it matter?  For many Darwinist and creationist they terms matters a lot and they go to great lengths to specify  exactly  what they support (or don't). I can imagine that individuals on both side would argue at great length about this particular bit of research. Claiming it is either proof or a mini distraction.   Personally this research chiefly makes me question how much things can change in the animal world under what kind of timescale. I can think of at least two examples where speedy adaptation would be a great help to a species survival (not sure how much adaptation would happen before it becomes a new species but that is a secondary point.) i am thinking about polar bears and coral reefs. Both are under ...

Reading this article I am struck by how easily marine impacts are being ignored. Even within developments that relate to the marine world and explicitly use the sea as a selling point whilst slowly bringing about it's death. I know that the Arab gulf is not the only place in the world where marine ecosystems are being ruined by development but the rapid development of the mega structures on the coast could have so many unpredictable results.  Historically it seems that humans have always found it easy to ignore damage in the sea, from dumping waste to the rise of the whaling trade we just love to cause destruction. I believe we find it so easy because we simple have the attitude of out of sight out of mind.  When we cut down the rainforests it is easy to see, when we create massive landfill sites we see it when we create concrete jungles clogged with pollution we see it. But the waves cover the marine world so that most of us never notice the grow...

There are many fish I would like to own at some point. Some are very possible I just don't have the space yet. Some are possible just very expensive. Some may never be possible as they are very rare fish I have seen on TV. But I'm gonna share some of my wish list. I've divided it into four sections. Common, uncommon, rare and impossible. I will update this list regularly and re post. Common Killifish  ( Blue Lyretail ) Triops Albino Bristlenose Catfish Kribensis A large 50+ shoal of small fish. (Maybe White Cloud Mountain Minnows .) Uncommon Fresh water Crabs Chalk Goby Australian Desert Goby (chlamydogobius eremius) Golden Panchax (Killifish) Snowflake Moray Eel Volitans Lionfish UK native pond biotope (maybe fishless) maybe frogs and stuff Emperor Angel Rare Filament Glassfish Freshwater Moray Eels (well Brackish) Graham's Soda Cichlids/Alkaline Talapia from Lake Magadi Tropical Water beetle UK native rockpool tank with simulated tide...