The scientific name of the map fish is Astronotus ocellatus, commonly known as tail star fish and pig larvae. It is covered with irregular red and orange stripes, like a map, hence the name. Its origin is in the Amazon River Guyana in South America, and it is mainly distributed in the Amazon River Basin of Paraguay, Brazil, Venezuela, and French Guiana in South America. It is a relatively large fish.

1. Morphological characteristics

The map fish is one of the larger fish in tropical fish. It can reach 30 cm in length under suitable natural conditions. Now there are several different varieties. The map fish is burly, broad and thick, with an oval body, high body and flat side, fan-shaped caudal fin, and a large mouth. map. The large black spots with red and yellow edges appear on the handle of the mature fish tail, which look like eyes, which can be used as a protective color and a lure color, so that the prey can't tell the front and back and can't escape. Because of its dark body color, it is also called black pig fish; at the base of its caudal fin there is a ring with black in the middle and a golden edge around it, which sparkles when swimming, so it is also called tail star fish. The dorsal fin of the map fish is very long, starting from the back of the corresponding part of the pectoral fin to the base of the caudal fin. The front half of the fin rays is composed of short serrated fin spines, and the rear half is composed of longer fin rays; the pelvic fin is long pointed; the outer caudal fin Arc edge. Although the color of map fish is monotonous, its shape is very unique and has unique ornamental value. At the same time, its meat is delicious and edible. According to reports, the map fish is very emotional after being artificially raised. When people approach it, it will swim over and express its welcome.

2. Place of Origin

The map fish is produced in the Amazon River Guiana in South America. It is mainly distributed in the Amazon River Basin of Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil in South America. Up to 30 cm long under suitable natural conditions, there are several different varieties. The map fish is burly, broad and thick, with an oval body, high body and flat side, fan-shaped caudal fin, and a large mouth. map. The large black spots with red and yellow edges appear on the handle of the mature fish tail, which look like eyes, which can be used as a protective color and a lure color, so that the prey can't tell the front and back and can't escape. Because of its dark body color, it is also called black pig fish; at the base of its caudal fin there is a ring with black in the middle and a golden edge around it, which sparkles when swimming, so it is also called tail star fish. The dorsal fin of the map fish is very long, starting from the back of the corresponding part of the pectoral fin to the base of the caudal fin. The front half of the fin rays is composed of short serrated fin spines, and the rear half is composed of longer fin rays; the pelvic fin is long pointed; the outer caudal fin Arc edge. Although the color of map fish is monotonous, its shape is very unique and has unique ornamental value. According to reports, after the map fish has been artificially raised, it is very emotional. When people approach the box, it will swim over and express its welcome.

3. Living habits

Environment: Map fish live in tropical areas, suitable for water temperature: 22-26℃.

Water quality requirements: pH (pH): 7.0-7.5. The hardness of the breeding water is 7-10, ph7-8, and the water temperature is 25-26 degrees Celsius.

Habits: The wild fish are very ferocious, sometimes killing each other or eating their own small fish. But it will protect it if it has been with other kinds of fish for a long time.

Map fish are large in size, slow in action, very ferocious, have an amazing appetite, and are very gluttonous. They devour almost any acceptable bait, but their favorite food is fresh small fish and shrimp. . When eating, even with a small fish in its mouth that has not been swallowed, it chases and preys on others, which shows their greed. Therefore, do not mix them with other smaller fish, so as not to become their snacks! They can live normally in weakly acidic, neutral and alkaline water. Mapfish are oviparous fish, 18 months old In the mature stage, it can reproduce many times a year, mostly in summer and autumn, and it is not difficult to reproduce. By the time they reach sexual maturity, they will fall in love on their own and seek out mates by placing the naturally paired broodstock in the breeding box. The breeding box should also be larger, and some smooth stones or porcelain plates should be placed in the breeding box for spawning attachments.

According to relevant information, there have been records of map fish surviving in the aquarium for 13 years. At the same time, they are also the most affectionate among tropical fish, and they can even recognize their long-term owners. When strangers watch them, they go about their business as if nothing had happened, and when their owners get close to the aquarium, they swim over, roll their big eyes, and wag their tails in welcome. Accepting the owner's touch without the slightest surprise, the trained map fish will even jump from the aquarium to the surface to accept the bait in the owner's hands. In short, the map fish is a very interesting one.

After artificial improvement, the map fish has many similar species, and the body color and shape have become more colorful. A recent hit in the aquarium market is a long-tailed, red-eyed albino mapfish called the "Comet Jasper Pig."

4. Common Diseases

White and cloudy eyes

Reason: This is due to the injury of the eye membrane, the invasion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Vibrio, or HP Caused by shock, improper medication, poor water quality (NO2-), and nitrogen entering the fish.

Symptoms: White fog appears on the eye mask in the early stage, mostly in one eye, the eyeball is cloudy in the middle stage, and the eye is swollen in the end stage, and white cotton wool cones grow. If this period is not handled properly, there will be fear of death.

Treatment method:

(1) Initial stage: The fish eye mask is found to have white fog at the initial stage, and one third of the water should be changed immediately, and appropriate coarse salt should be added to the concentration of Five thousandths; that is, 200 liters of water are put into a pound of coarse salt, and heated to 30 ℃ ~ 32 ℃. Observe whether it improves in two days. If there is no deterioration, you need to strengthen the water change, change a quarter of the water every three days, and add an appropriate amount of salt to recover.

(2) Mid-term: It is necessary to administer medicine for medicated bath treatment. Use water-soluble chlortetracycline, penicillin, or fish-specific drugs. If you use special medicine for fish, you can use it according to the instructions; put 10,000 to 20,000 units of chlortetracycline and penicillin per liter of water. During the medicated bath, the temperature should be increased by 2 ℃ ~ 3 ℃, and the observation should be carried out.

Note: The clouding of the eyeball is serious, and the recovery time is slow, and it will take about three to five months to heal. If the swelling disappears, the dose can be reduced or discontinued. After recovery, the black eyeballs will be smaller than before, but there is no serious problem.

White spot disease

Cause: This disease is caused by protozoa, the pathogen is called white spot worm, which penetrates deep into the cells of the skin, reproduces asexually, and forms white spots. Small punctate cysts. The fish with this disease is covered with white spots all over the body, and each white spot cyst contains many young white spot worms. In the water, it returns to the fish to attack the skin, forming more small white spots.

Symptoms: In the early stages of illness, the body rubs against hard objects, hoping to remove pesky pathogens from the body. Many small white spots can be seen on the body surface, fin rays and gills of diseased fish. Sick fish are thin, floating on the water surface or in a cluster, and rarely move. In the later stage, the body surface seems to be covered with a white film, the mucus increases, and the body color is dull.

Treatment method:

1. Use the method that the white spot is not resistant to high temperature, and increase the water temperature to 30 degrees. To promote the rapid maturation of the spores produced on the surface of the fish, accelerate its growth rate, and change the water after they fall off the surface of the fish.

2. Treat with mercurous nitrate and malachite green (Note: These two drugs are often mentioned in some books, but these two drugs are highly toxic products, which will cause great harm to the human body. It is very easy to cause cancer. Therefore, it is not recommended to use it, and it is mentioned here to remind everyone that it should also be avoided in the treatment of other diseases!)

3. Red syrup treatment. The key to this method is not to add too much, as long as the water color is slightly reddish, rather less than too much! Soak for 5-10 minutes, 1-2 times a day.

Rotten tail and fins

Causes: The reasons are mostly due to poor feeding water, long-term turbid feeding water, excessive stimulation by new water, poor water quality, or fish eating Insufficient, fish bite each other causing bacterial infection.

Symptoms: mildly decayed fins and bacterial infection. The edges of the fins of the diseased fish are milky white, followed by rot, and the fin rays are incomplete, especially the caudal fin. If fin rot is not treated in time, it can also spread the disease to fish.

Therapeutic methods:

(1) Dissolve 1 gram of nitrofurazone or furazolidone in 10 kg of water, soak the sick fish for 10-20 minutes, and the condition can be relieved after multiple treatments.

(2) Put 3--5 pieces of dysentery in 100 kg of water, and soak the sick fish for 30 minutes.

(3) Put 5--8 pieces of oxytetracycline in 100 kg of water for immersion and disinfection, which can prevent juvenile or adult fish from contracting the disease.

(4) Dip with gentamicin, usually put 2 sticks in the middle of 100*50*35CM.

(5) Dissolve 0.1 g of potassium permanganate in 10 kg of water, and soak the sick fish for 10 minutes.

(6) Put in an appropriate amount of methyl blue syrup, penicillin, green F gold or use thin saline for feeding.

Squash disease

Cause: It is caused by protozoa worms invading the skin or gills of fish. Its small melon is a kind of ciliate among protozoa. Microscopic examination showed that the adult worms had a large horseshoe-shaped nucleus. Juveniles have only round, oval or rod-shaped large nuclei. The insect body is soft and plastic, and its shape is changeable. This disease is one of the most common frequently-occurring diseases in China. Its onset is characterized by rapid infection, wide prevalence and great harm.

Symptoms: White spot disease is caused by ciliate infection. Initially, there are some white spots on a certain part of the fish body. After a few days, the white spots will spread to the whole body. It is often lying at the bottom of the box and is still, loss of appetite. During the swimming action, in the later stage, the fish body secretes a large amount of white turbid mucus. The incidence of white spot disease is high and the infection is fast, and it often occurs in the seasons with large temperature changes in early spring, plum rain and early autumn. The fish transfer box or the water temperature is changed too quickly, will cause white spot disease. White spot disease should be detected early, treated early, and the cure rate is high. For example, in the later stage, due to the loss of appetite and physical fitness of the infected fish, it is easy to issue other diseases.

Treatment method: The weakness of small melon insects that are not resistant to high temperature is often used, the water temperature is increased, and drug treatment is provided. Usually, the cure rate can reach more than 90%. If treated in time, the cure rate can reach 100%.

Malachite green at 0.05 parts per million (0.05ppm) and formaldehyde solution at 25 parts per million (25ppm), the effect is better; 1% saline can also be used Soak for several days, or soak with two millionths (2ppm) methyl blue solution for 6 hours a day; or soak with two millionths (2ppm) quinine hydrochloride solution at 28-30℃ for 3-5 days, or soak in mercurous nitrate solution of two parts per million (2ppm) for 30 minutes; or soak in red mercury solution with concentration of fifty to seventy parts per million (50 to 70ppm) for 5 to 15 minutes, or Splashing with 0.1-0.2ppm (0.1-0.2ppm) mercuric nitrate solution can achieve good results.