Coral Reefs

The following link will take you to INQ7.net :
95% of RP reefs ruined, says group
By Blanche S. Rivera/Inquirer News Service
http://www.inq7.net/globalnation/sec_new/2005/nov/14-02.htm

I saw this today while reading the Inquirer on-line. It was about the state of the country's coral reef and the projects of Reefcheck aimed at conserving it. The work of Reefcheck is commendable. However, there seems to be some inaccuracies in the article.

And it is related to the fishing methods employed:

First, Blast fishing is not employed in catching marine fish for the aquarium trade. It is used to get fish for food. This illegal practice, dynamite is thrown into the sea, kills the fish and as such it is impossible to be used to get live fish. It is true that this type of fishing destroys the reef.

Second, cyanide fishing or by spraying a body of water or a coral colony with diluted cyanide is the illegal way of catching fish for the aquarium trade. The only instance I have learned it being used in catching fish is when they try to catch the big groupers and Napolean wrasse. The cyanide stuns the fish. Although the proper word used should be poisoned. The cyanide poisoned fish enters the aquarium trade and eventually dies after a few months, if it is lucky. Water conditions in the holding facility and in the aquarium might hasten its demise.

Third, the article also failed to mention other destructive means of fishing (the use of children with rocks to scare the fish to the nets - can you imagine the impactof the rocks on the coral) and the actual harvest of the reef themselves for construction and the aquarium trade.

Again I do not have anything against Reefcheck. I checked their site and it seems all informations there are correct. And let me state again I think that their work is laudable. It seems though that the article seems lacking in information.

My Bettas

Giant Gourami: The Magnificent Common Gourami

One of my favourite fishes is the Giant Gourami or Common Gourami (Osphronemus gorami). It is not the first fish I took care of but it is probably the most easiest large freshwater fish to keep. And I still have the first Giant Gourami.

Why do I like to take care of this fish?

First, The Giant Gourami has been succesfully cultured across South East Asia. This means that it is a food fish. Nothing wrong with that if you consider that in the Amazon they eat Discus and the occassional arowana. Plus, consider that the Tilapia is a cichlid; I onced set-up an aquarium for an NGO that had a Tilapia whose total length was around sixteen inches! It was a nice looking fish and probably nice to eat too. I have friends who have eaten their pet fish, one had Silver Arowana and the other had full-grown Pacus, both claim their pets were delectable.

Second, The Giant Gourami being the biggest member of the Labyrinth Fish family is sturdy. It was also omnivorous; It could eat almost anything. It provided no problem for the Aquarist, provided of course the basics (proper feeding, proper fish to water volume ratio and optimum water change).

Third, The Giant Gourami grows and grows.

Fourth, It is cheap at eighty pesos, less than two US dollars.

My first Giant Gourami was black. This is the common strain of the Giant Gourami. My recent purchase are two albino strains. There were four in the shop, I might go back and buy the remaining two.

A few years ago a friend told me they were sellig Giant Gouramis that had distinct red markings on its side. I do not know if these were injected or just abnormalities but they were a little bit expensive. According to my friend they were considered lucky fish.

Here is the picture of a juvenile. It measures around two to three inches. A word of warning though, you need a big aquarium or pond for this fish.

Additional information and pictures of the Giant Gourami:

Information about the Giant Gourami at Animal-world.com

Information about the Giant Gourami at Fish base