Okay folks here is our latest contest!

Post an article on an aquarium animal that interests you. The article can be simple or as detailed as you like. There is no limit as to how many entries you have so post away.

The winner will receive 8 assassin snails or $10 via paypal.

Last entry will be on 6/3/11 winner will be announced on 6/5/11

Have fun and good luck to all, Moderators welcome to join this contest.

sounds like fun

the mudskipper it is a fish but has some frog like qualities it has 2 back sail fins it has a slim coat like a frog and it eats on land it does so by taking in water and then clamping the gills shut so it holds water in the gills it also stays wet because of the slime coat u can keep them but they eat crickets on land so u need a beach they are very cool

the archer fish it is white with some black the cool part is that they shoot water at there prey they can shoot up to six feet they are very good aimers they can put out a fire on a stick u can keep them to

FLOWERHORN


This is Martha my red dragon Flowerhorn



Flowerhorns are hybrids that are man made and do not occur in the wild. Created in Malaysia in 1994 mixing Red Devil, Trimac and Blood Parrot cichlids (also a hybrid). These fish are known for the hump on the forehead known as the "kok" (formerly known as the "nuchai" hump). Temperament is aggressive so only one per tank after all look at the mix that makes them.
Prefer temp 80 - 85, PH 7.4-8.

In a very short time these fish have caused quite a stir as hybrids are often considered "bad" fish breeds. Well the Flowerhorn is here to stay, man made or not, like it or not they are a favored breed.

Oh and by the way they can be on an individual fish/animal you own that has a quirky or great personality.

r the snails freshwater

Yes they are.

My first entry is the Vampire Squid,

Helping it stay true to its name, the Vampire Squid comes complete with its own cape, made from arms connected by black webbing. The webbing help propel it through the water and almost fly like—you guessed it—a bat. But by far, the coolest/weirdest thing about this sea creature is its ability to hypnotize its prey using what's knowns as "photophores" on its arms. So basically it's a living, breathing dance club.The Vampire Squid is a tiny (6 inches) cephalopod that lives at depths ranging from 2,000-3,000 feet or more. At such great depths, there is very little oxygen. So little that most organisms would not survive. The Vampire Squid is able to live and breathe normally in this oxygen depleted environment as it has a low metabolic rate and blue blood which binds and transports oxygen more efficiently than in other cephalopods. In addition it has gills with a very large surface area.

The Vampire Squid has the largest eye relative to its size of any living organism allowing it to detect even the faintest of movements. It can also generate its own bluish light (bioluminescence) which effectively "cloaks" its presence from any watchful eyes that might be lurking below it.

Bioluminescence can also be used to ward off would be predators. If threatened, instead of ink, a sticky cloud of bioluminescent mucus containing blobs of blue light is ejected from the arm tips. This confuses would-be predators and allows the Vampire Squid to disappear into the blackness without the need to swim far. Another response it has when threatened, is to invert itself, making it appear much larger and allowing it to show off some fearsome looking spines. These spines (called cirri) are actually harmless. In this inverted position, its vital organs are protected and if a predator bites off an arm,the squid can just regenerate it.

The Vampire Squid is also covered entirely in light-producing organs called photophores (see above). With these photophores, the squid can produce disorienting flashes of light for fractions of a second to several minutes in duration.Unlike it counterparts in more shallow depths, the vampire squid cannot change its colors to match its surroundings. This adaptation is unnecessary in the pitch blacks depths where it lives.

for my second entry it has to be the Ocean Sunfish

The ocean sunfish or common mola is the heaviest bony fish in the world, with an average weight of 1000 kilograms.

my third entry has to be the Blue Ringed Octopus

The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball, but its venom is powerful enough to kill humans. There is no known antidote.What could be more cute and cuddly than the tiny blue-ringed octopus? At least some people think so. They're in for a shock though, if they're stupid enough to touch it.
The shimmering, multi-colored octopus does look like a living, moving work of art. It makes its home in tide pools on the coasts of Australia and Japan.
When divers happen upon it, the poor little thing seems so docile and harmless, after all, it's only about five inches in length and the tentacles are smaller than a pencil.It's one of the deadliest creatures on the planet and carries enough venom in its poison glands to kill 26 humans horribly.With a bite worse than the feared Black Momba snake, this little killer will attack immediately if it feels threatened. Divers that accidentally step on it are dead within minutes.

The colorful cone snail

Tourists visiting islands or the coastal waters of the tropics and Southern Hemisphere sometimes meet up with the cone snail. When they spot it they're thrilled, and the shell of the snail is so beautifully formed some people decide to snatch it up off the seafloor and take it back home with them.
If they do that the odds are the snail will remain at its home while the tourist returns to theirs in a coffin.The cone snail protects its shell—and itself—with a deadly harpoon tooth. The tooth is like a hypodermic needle that is designed to ward off an attack by striking out and injecting a fiery toxin into the body of a predator. A human trying to pick up the snail and take it home qualifies as a predator. The snail responds instinctively.
A snail can fire its harpoon tooth in any direction; some snails have multiple harpoons.The deadly toxin is the same as that found in other ocean foes like the blue-ringed octopus and the puffer fish. The nerve poison can ruin your whole day and probably end your life.

Firefly Squid

This squid sees the world in color. And it makes deep-blue pretty light itself.
The Firefly Squid (Watasenia Scintillans), also called the Sparkling Enope Squid has special deep-blue light producing organs called photophores. By flashing the lights on and off, it can attract prey before trapping it with its tentacles. It’s also only cephalopod species which have color vision!
Each year off the coast of Toyama Bay, Japan, billions of these tiny squids will gather to spawn, creating a cool light show.

Robo-Carp- Man made robot fish

October 7, 2005—This week the London Aquarium unveiled the newest "species" to join its collection: robo-carp.

Computer scientists at the University of Essex in the U.K. developed the self-guided robot fish, seen here swimming in the aquarium. The designers say it is the smartest such robot yet created—the fish uses artificial intelligence and built-in sensors to avoid obstacles and respond to environmental changes.

The fish's battery lasts for up to five hours, though the scientists hope to one day program it to search for and access a recharging station when it runs low.

"This work has many real-world applications, including seabed exploration, detecting leaks in oil pipelines, mine countermeasures, and improving the performance of underwater vehicles," project leader Huosheng Hu told the Associated Press.

The bot, which resembles a one-and-a-half-foot-long (half-meter-long) common carp, mimics the undulating motions of a real fish swimming and turning. Three of the cyber-fish will swim in a tank at the aquarium alongside their living counterparts.

does it have to be an animal u can keep because i think it is unfair to be using sea creatures that even very very smart aquarium keppers know and its a sight for aquarium keepers.