Aquarium News of the Week - 30 August 2025

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Aquarist’s Edge, your trusted source for freshwater aquarium news and insights. Join Arthur Preston as we explore ten fascinating stories that connect science, conservation, and the home aquarium hobby. 🔍 In This Episode: 🐟 Bumblebee catfish caught on camera climbing waterfalls in Brazil 👁️ Blind cavefish that have survived without light for over 11 million years 🐠 The giants of the Mekong River are shrinking fast 🌱 The IAPLC 2025 Finals — the world’s biggest aquascaping event 🎣 A fresh look at Cupid Cichlids and their family tree 🌿 Nutmeg oil as a safe way to calm fish during treatment ❄️ Breeding secrets of the cold-water burbot 🌊 Why lampreys need free-flowing rivers to spawn 🌍 The Yangtze River shows us that stability is more important than perfection 🧠 What zebrafish are teaching us about social behavior 📌 Sources & Further Reading: Thousands of bumblebee catfish captured climbing a waterfall (LiveScience) 👉 https://www.livescience.com/animals/fish/thousands-of-bumblebee-catfish-captured-climbing-waterfall-in-never-before-seen-footage In the dark for 11 million years: How blind cavefish rewrote the timeline (ScienceDaily / Yale) 👉 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250828002412.htm Shrinking Mekong megafish underlines risks to the river, study finds (Mongabay) 👉 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/ International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest (IAPLC 2025) — Official English Site 👉 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2025.1623517/full Using machine learning to predict anesthetic dose in fish with nutmeg oil (Frontiers in Veterinary Science) 👉 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1652115/full Reproductive ecology of burbot (Lota lota) in the Great Lakes (Northern Michigan University Thesis) 👉 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935125019139 Zebrafish neurodevelopment and social behavior study (Communications Biology – Nature) 👉 https://www.nature.com/commsbio/articles?year=2025 📺 About the Show The Aquarist’s Edge brings you weekly freshwater aquarium news, science discoveries, and practical tips for aquarists of all levels. Whether you’re a planted tank enthusiast, a breeder, or a beginner, you’ll find inspiration and insights to keep your fish thriving. Music: Pool Sticker – Dylan Sitts (Epidemic Sound – https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/EwXrPyvCvY/)