~ Happy New Year 2013 ~

Hallo Aqua-lover! A new year arise...here come 2013! how was your 2012? terrible? just forget about it and make a great new start. Awesome? then keep it up for your good job!

New year, new journey...Have you set your new year resolution? don't forget to write down own a new aquarium', 'set a brand new aquascape', 'visit the Aquarium' or any target related with aquarium in your to-do list!!

How about AquariumMalaysia? In 2013, AquariumMalaysia will do more exposure on Aquascaping, aquarium, pond, gardening, and as well as travel! Hope AquariumMalaysia can bring more benefits to aqua-lovers and share more about my aqua-journey!!

AquariumMalaysia wish you have a great new year ahead! blup blur blue....Ciao~

"Happy New Year 2013!"

How are you? High 5!!

Hi, how are you recently? Sorry for the no update for so long, it's because I have tons of course work need to complete in University. Besides, i am going to take a TourGuide License this December, so i have to be very well-prepared for this test as well! But no worries, i will be back soon and will update once i discovered any interesting thing happened around me!

Keep supporting AquariumMalaysia~ High five!

Alien?! nope, it is the Guitarfish!

What?! is that an Alien??

Alien?!?

 I cant believe that...lets observe it carefully~

 Oh...it is a fish in the aquarium...it is Guitarfish~ dont be afraid ya!

Close-up with this "Alien" (Guitarfish), seriously it looks like having a FACE.

The Guitarfish are Family of Rhinobatidae. The guitar are also known for an elongated body with a flattened head and trunk and small ray like wings. The combined range of the various species is tropical, subtropical and temperate waters worldwide.

Starfish (Cushion stars) - Patrick?

Cushion stars - the commonest starfish around the coast and we can found them in tidal rock pools. Cushion stars do 'wear' a wide range colors of 'shirt', from orange, brown, green,blue, purple....

Cushion stars have five arms (but some do have four or six), and they can grow to 10centimetres in diameter - about the width of an adult;s hand. When cushion stars is turned over, they can right itself by stretching out the tube feet on one side, anchoring them to the sea bed, and pulling.

What do cushion star eat? They mostly feed on detritus and invertebrates, which including live coral.

The edited version (Spongebob Squarepants)

"Hi, Patrick. Wait, I'M PATRICK!" (Missing Identity)

 And Spongebob squarepants fan, don't forget to check on PatrickStar fan page as well~

Spongebob bob bob bob...blup, blur, blue~

Stonefish - Interesting and Amazing facts

Opps, this is not stone. This is stonefish! it is a creature that hide from predators and get their preys by using it's special outlook, which resembling a stone. 

Ya, one of the important thing people wanna beware about is, while swimming in open seas, people do mistake it to be just another pebble and step on it, this is really bad, as this do leading to life-threatening situations. Why?! Because of the pressure applied by one'foot will causes stonefish to release a toxin substance from it gland. This poisonous substance is very strong and can causes pain and paralysis, if do not take proper treatment immediately, this can lead to death of the individual. So, when you guys go for your next adventurous swimming session, please take attention! 

Fast Facts

Scientific Name: Synanceia
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Synanceiidae
Genus: Synanceia
Species: Synanceia alula, Synanceia horrid, Synanceia nana, Synanceia platyrhyncha, and Synanceia verrucosa
Length: Up to 50 cm
Weight: nearly 5 pounds or 2400 grams
Diet: Carnivorous, primarily small fishes and shrimps
Life Span: 5 to 10 years
Nature: Venomous, dangerous and even fatal to humans
Habitat: Coral reef, near and about rocks, mud or sand in tidal inlets
Range: Coastal regions of Indo-Pacific oceans and northern Australian waters

Interesting And Amazing Facts About Stonefish 

• Stonefish is the most venomous fish the world. It is also known as dornorn, rockfish, and reef stonefish.
• Though primarily a marine creature, some of the species of stonefish are also found dwelling in rivers as well.
• A stonefish, on average is around 30 to 40 cm long. Some stonefish are also known to grow to 50 cm, though the number of such cases is very low.
• A stonefish has two pelvic and three anal spines buried in its shell. The grey and brown coloured fishes have red, orange or yellow patches on their skin.
• Its name, ‘stonefish’, reflects its ability to camouflage itself with the help of its grey and mottled colour similar to a stone.
• Due to its camouflage properties, many a time swimmers, unable to differentiate between a stonefish and a stone, accidentally step on them, often leading to fatal situations.
• The only prevention that swimmers can take to avoid such poisonous encounters with stonefish is to wear thick-soled shoes and stepping very lightly in water.
• Its glands have neurotoxins at the base of its needle-like dorsal fin spines, 13 of them. The stonefish emits toxins when it feels threatened or is disturbed.
• The amount of injected poison, usually, is directly proportional to the pressure applied on it by an external object. It is an involuntary activity of the stonefish and serves as its defence mechanism.
• Depending on the depth of the penetration of its poisonous spines, the poison takes as less as 2 hours to kill a human being after driving him into severe pain, tissue death and paralysis.
• Once attacked by the stonefish, the individual is advised to seek a medical aid as soon as possible. Temporary relief from severe pain can be attained by immersing the stung area in hot water.
• Traditional approach of restricting the movement of injected toxin by tying a cloth or bandage is not recommended. The treatment involves intravenous narcotic analgesia, local anaesthetic infiltration and administration of stonefish antivenin.
• Once the venom is discharged by the glands it takes a few weeks to refill the glands back with the toxin.
• The venom of a stonefish is made of a mixture of proteins, like the haemolytic stonustoxin, the protinaceous verrucotoxin and the cardioactive cardioleputin.
• In order to reproduce, a stonefish lays as many as a million eggs. In the initial stage of pregnancy, the unfertilized eggs remain inside female stonefish’s body. It then releases these eggs on the sea floor, and the male stonefish fertilizes the eggs by releasing its sperm all over them.
• Once hatched, baby stonefish are released in water where many other fish prey on them. Out of this huge number, only a few survive to maturity.
• Major preys of a stonefish are small fish and shrimps. When they come across, it slowly opens its mouth and swallows them immediately. It just takes about 0.015 seconds to perform the entire attack.
• Bottom-feeding sharks and rays are its predators against whose attacks a stonefish is susceptible. The string of 13 poisonous spines then helps it defend itself in such encounters.
• The conservation status of a stonefish is that of a ‘Non-threatened Creature’.
• Indo-pacific regions have around 20 subspecies of stonefish.
• A stonefish can live for nearly 24 hours outside water.
• A stonefish has a very low swimming speed.
• One weird fact about a stonefish is that it spits water.
• Stonefish is an attraction for aquarists. It is commercially sold on a large scale as an aquarium pet.
• Japanese are known to consume stonefish as a part of their expensive sashimi cuisine.

reference: http://www.interestingfunfacts.com/amazing-information-about-stonefish.html

Chambered Nautilus

I would like to introduce a deep sea creatures, Chambered Nautilus Scientific Name: Nautilus pompilius

"Appearing to be a delicate creature, the nautilus is a brutal predator. Using 90 arms, the nautilus snatches up a shrimp or crab, passes its prey to its mouth, and crushes the crustacean’s shell with its beak. Nautilus will travel up to 1,500 feet each night to feed."

more information: http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/chambered-nautilus.html

The Cute Spotted Garden Eel

Yes, let me introduces you guys a very cute creatures --- the Spotted Garden Eel (Heteroconger hassi)~

Overview

The Garden Eel, also known as Hass's Garden Eel, looks like a colony of seagrass.The main portion of the Garden eel is usually buried in the sand, and if approached, retreats into the substrate. Several of these eels may be kept together in a 100 gallon or larger aquarium with at least 6 inches of sand, a gentle current, and without aggressive tank mates. Decor should be kept at a minimum. A tight-fitting lid is required to prevent escape.
The Garden Eel diet consists of meaty foods and live foods such as freshwater ghost shrimp or small feeder fish.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 3" to 4" Medium: 4" to 7"

Special Threats and Management

Garden eels are the hardest of all eels to keep in the home aquarium. They require lots of special planning and care. These eels need to spread out, so the tank needs to be quite large because if the males are too close to one another, they will fight. The sand also needs to be at least one-half foot deep or the garden eels will hurt their tails by trying to drive into the bottom of the tank when forming their burrow. There also needs to be an artificial current to bring them their live food. All of these factors make garden eels hard to keep at home. Their population remains stable, but if too many are collected in the pet trade and sold in pet stores, they may decline.

Did You Know?

Sneaky snake eels dive deep into the sand, far from a colony of gardens eels. The snake eels then slither their way underneath the garden eels' burrows, attacking them from underneath.

Large triggerfish dive bomb garden eel colonies, digging them out of the sand when the eels try to hide inside.

In the wild, a small percentage of garden eels get a disease called blisterhead. Their head swells up much larger than their body. Blisterhead is caused by an infection from a parasite.

resource: http://sea.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fact_sheets.asp?id=108