AquariumHobbyist

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There are lots of great pet photos in our Photo Gallery... and throughout the year, we'll be featuring the best of the best. So come upload yours... it's free.

Be sure to tell Chel you liked it here!

There are lots of great pet photos in our Photo Gallery... and throughout the year, we'll be featuring the best of the best. So come upload yours... it's free

Be sure to tell Teelie you liked it here!

There are lots of great pet photos in our Photo Gallery... and throughout the year, we'll be featuring the best of the best. So come upload yours... it's free.

It's a long, long way from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to Michigan's oil-befouled waterways -- unless you're a migratory bird.

When the fish and birds return, they may have nothing to eat.

The spill's damage is a double whammy for migrating birds, such as the endangered lesser scaup, which stops in the area in the fall on its way to winter grounds in the Gulf of Mexico, hit by the BP oil spill.

Within a couple of hours, pushing their boat over oil-soaked booms, they find seven turtles and a muskrat amid the black, oily vegetation of the Kalamazoo River. The muskrat scoots away, but the turtles are hauled aboard the boat in buckets. The creatures breathe through their skin, which is covered with oil as thick as roofing tar.

The turtles are taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center set up by pipeline operator Enbridge Energy Partners and Focus Wildlife, where oily geese, swans, a heron, frogs, mallards, a red-winged blackbird, muskrats and turtles get a thorough scrubbing after a medical checkup. They will eventually be released back into the wild.

Last week an estimated 820,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River. This is a small amount compared to the Gulf spill, but it's expected to have a large, costly impact. From the Associated Press:

Scientists fear the worse may be yet to come for fish in the river. Jay Wesley, a biologist with the state of Michigan, said the oil spill had killed fish in "very limited numbers" along the affected stretch of the river from Marshall westward into Battle Creek.

The bigger problems for fish may come within a week or so, if the oil spill results in decreased water oxygen levels. Wesley said insects, algae, frogs and turtles along the river have been killed in high numbers — which could hurt the fish food supply.

"The effects are probably going to be more long-term," Wesley said. "We probably won't know the full effects for weeks or months or years."

A wildlife rehabilitation center staffed and managed by a Enbridge contractor near Marshall had received about 50 injured animals — mostly geese — by midday Friday. During a tour, two white-suited workers were trying to clean up an oil-soaked turtle, one holding and rotating the reptile while the other dabbed it with what appeared to be a cloth.

Animal lover Betty White always puts her money where her mouth is when it comes to animals. Thanks to a recent undisclosed donation to the Morris Animal Foundation, research and clean-up efforts in the Gulf are receiving the financial help they need.

The society received the grant from the Morris Animal Foundation’s Betty White Wildlife Rapid Response Fund. The grant provided the opportunity for Dr. Randall Wells, a senior conservation scientist, and his team to work on a health assessment of the 150 dolphins in Sarasota Bay to serve as a benchmark for when oil reaches the region.

“The grant has allowed us to respond to an urgent situation with the oil spill in the Gulf,” Wells said. “There is a strong need to obtain baseline information before the oil comes on shore.”

Wells and his team have been studying dolphin populations in Sarasota Bay for 40 years. Due to the grant, they were able to submit a project proposal and receive grant funding in two weeks, something Wells said he has never done in his four decades of dolphin research.

“We are conducting photographic identification surveys, identifying the dolphins by the nicks and notches on their fins on their backs,” Wells said. “It will helps us determine the density of the dolphin population and judge how they might change after the oil comes into the area.”

California sea otters are struggling to survive.

The sluggish recovery of the southern sea otter of California, a threatened population on the Endangered Species list, appears to have stalled once again.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists say the latest 3-year average (2,813 sea otters) was 0.5 percent lower than last year, the first time the trend has been negative since the late 1990s. A leveling off of population growth has occurred over the last 3 years.

For southern sea otters to be considered for removal from the Endangered Species List, the 3-year running averages would have to exceed 3,090 for 3 continuous years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southern Sea Otter Recovery Plan.

Sergeant's Pet Care Products, Inc. announced the reacall of Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food, saying that they "have been found to contain the contaminant, melamine."

From their website:

Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food are products that are formulated specifically for the feeding of ornamental fish, such as a goldfish and Neon tetra. Atlantis fish food is not formulated for the feeding of fish intended for human consumption.

“At this time, it is not known if melamine contaminated fish feed has any effect on ornamental fish,” says Denise Petty, Aquaculture Extension Veterinarian at the University of Florida. “However, food fish at two commercial U.S. hatcheries were fed melamine contaminated feeds and, after testing by the FDA, these fish were determined to be negative for melamine and safe for human consumption. It is unknown if melamine forms crystals in the kidneys of fish,” says Petty

"Given the uncertain nature of the effect of melamine, the high visibility of this ingredient at this time and Sergeant’s concern for the health and well-being of pets, we believe that removal of the Atlantis product from store shelves is the right thing to do,” says Robert Scharf, president of Sergeant's Pet Care Products, Inc.

Testing by Sergeant’s has confirmed the presence of very low levels of melamine, approximately 20-80 parts per million (ppm), in some lots of Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and also in Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food. Melamine is water-soluble, and fish food is dispersed and diluted in the water of an aquarium. Therefore, when used as directed, an average dose of fish food containing these levels of melamine would result in contamination in a typical fish tank at minute levels, under 10 parts per billion (ppb).

Sergeant's believes that these levels are so low that even if a pet owner accidentally sprinkled an entire package of fish food into the fish tank, the fish would be harmed by over-feeding than by melamine contamination.

Sergeant’s has advised all national and international distributors and retailers who currently carry Atlantis fish food products to remove the products. Sergeant’s is recommending consumers either discard the product or return it to their retailer for a credit.

The affected Atlantis fish food products are the following:

10006 Atlantis® Tropical Fish Flake Food, 0.88 oz.
10057 Atlantis® Tropical Fish Flake Food, 2.25 oz.
10154 Atlantis® Goldfish Flake Food, 0.75 oz.
10731 Atlantis® Goldfish Flake Food, 2.15 oz.
10847 Atlantis® Color Enhance Tropical Fish Flake Food, 0.88 oz.
10926 Atlantis® Betta Food, 1.2 oz.
88515 Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food, 0.42 oz.
88516 Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food, 0.42 oz.

Sergeant’s representatives are currently conducting an investigation of the manufacturing facility located in Taiwan to determine the source of contamination. Sergeant’s will resume shipping of Atlantis fish food products following the completion of a thorough investigation and documentation that product is contaminant-free.

Concerned consumers can contact Sergeant's by phone at 866.740.4969 or via e-mail at atlantis info for more product information.

Sergeant's Pet Care Products, Inc. announced the reacall of Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food, saying that they "have been found to contain the contaminant, melamine."

From their website:

Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food are products that are formulated specifically for the feeding of ornamental fish, such as a goldfish and Neon tetra. Atlantis fish food is not formulated for the feeding of fish intended for human consumption.

“At this time, it is not known if melamine contaminated fish feed has any effect on ornamental fish,” says Denise Petty, Aquaculture Extension Veterinarian at the University of Florida. “However, food fish at two commercial U.S. hatcheries were fed melamine contaminated feeds and, after testing by the FDA, these fish were determined to be negative for melamine and safe for human consumption. It is unknown if melamine forms crystals in the kidneys of fish,” says Petty

"Given the uncertain nature of the effect of melamine, the high visibility of this ingredient at this time and Sergeant’s concern for the health and well-being of pets, we believe that removal of the Atlantis product from store shelves is the right thing to do,” says Robert Scharf, president of Sergeant's Pet Care Products, Inc.

Testing by Sergeant’s has confirmed the presence of very low levels of melamine, approximately 20-80 parts per million (ppm), in some lots of Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and also in Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food. Melamine is water-soluble, and fish food is dispersed and diluted in the water of an aquarium. Therefore, when used as directed, an average dose of fish food containing these levels of melamine would result in contamination in a typical fish tank at minute levels, under 10 parts per billion (ppb).

Sergeant's believes that these levels are so low that even if a pet owner accidentally sprinkled an entire package of fish food into the fish tank, the fish would be harmed by over-feeding than by melamine contamination.

Sergeant’s has advised all national and international distributors and retailers who currently carry Atlantis fish food products to remove the products. Sergeant’s is recommending consumers either discard the product or return it to their retailer for a credit.

The affected Atlantis fish food products are the following:

10006 Atlantis® Tropical Fish Flake Food, 0.88 oz.
10057 Atlantis® Tropical Fish Flake Food, 2.25 oz.
10154 Atlantis® Goldfish Flake Food, 0.75 oz.
10731 Atlantis® Goldfish Flake Food, 2.15 oz.
10847 Atlantis® Color Enhance Tropical Fish Flake Food, 0.88 oz.
10926 Atlantis® Betta Food, 1.2 oz.
88515 Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food, 0.42 oz.
88516 Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food, 0.42 oz.

Sergeant’s representatives are currently conducting an investigation of the manufacturing facility located in Taiwan to determine the source of contamination. Sergeant’s will resume shipping of Atlantis fish food products following the completion of a thorough investigation and documentation that product is contaminant-free.

Concerned consumers can contact Sergeant's by phone at 866.740.4969 or via e-mail at atlantis info for more product information.