Aquarium Fish Life Expectancy?

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Biologist's 'magnificent obsession' is to keep rare snails safe

HAMPSTEAD Andy Wood plunged waist-deep into raging floodwaters 15 years ago, to rescue handfuls of scarce snails from Hurricane Fran. Since that night he has carried on his shoulders the survival of a humble species.

A lifelong naturalist and fourth-generation biologist, Wood is protecting a delicate snail called the magnificent ramshorn from extinction.

The snails once flourished in a few lily ponds near Wilmington, but scientists believe there are none living wild anywhere today.

Now the planet's last known population of magnificent ramshorns survives in five, 300-gallon tanks at a secret spot in a Pender County pine forest, under Wood's dogged protection.

"He's been kind of the Lone Ranger in trying to keep the population going," said Jay Levine, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the N.C. State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Levine hopes to establish a second colony of the rare snails.

Wood, 56, is education director for the N.C. Audubon Society, and he discusses natural wonders in weekly radio commentaries for WHQR in Wilmington. Thousands of adults and school children have learned about birds, snakes and sea creatures from Wood since he moved to the area in the 1980s to launch a career as an environmental educator. But he has kept quiet until now about what he calls his "magnificent obsession" with propagating the magnificent ramshorn, in hope of restoring it to the wild.

A good and well taken cared of fish tank will keep your fish alive for ...

Having your own tank set up for tropical fish is a great start for owning your own pets. You’d have a lot of fun watching your fish but guests would also love watching them in your aquarium too. It’s very easy and simple to take care of different kinds of fish in your tank as long as you learn how first. If you don’t want to waste your money and all your efforts in managing your own aquarium then you must learn how to do it properly. In order to keep your fish alive, you must set up the aquarium properly and it’s not as easy as you may think. Fish will be excreting inside the fish bowl or aquarium they live in. Fish manure inside the aquarium will degrade into toxic ammonia in just several hours. Ammonia is a toxin to aquarium fishes and this is a well known information to fish owners. Your way to succeed is with the correct execution of the nitrogen cycle steps before you get your fish to make sure they might thrive within the aquarium. Fish dies when the ammonia concentration in the tank is already high as they excrete in the tank. Mother Nature naturally converts the ammonia into nitrates in the nitrogen cycle steps thus tropical fish thrive. The ammonia is eventually converted to nitrites which is the desirable end product for the fish tank. An aquarium nitrogen test kit is the best way to accurately detect the level of nitrogen and it’s best to buy one for your own aquarium.