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by Sherron Ostrander

How to Keep Tropical Fishes in Fish Tanks – Patience is Key.

April 13, 2012 in Aquarium Care, Aquarium Plants, Aquariums, Fish Keeping Mistakes, Fish Tanks, Freshwater Aquariums

The best advice for setting up and maintaining a good-looking, healthy, low-maintenance aquarium is “Don’t Rush!” Plan on the set up of your aquarium taking weeks. The more weeks the better. And that’s before you even look at the first fish!

Pick the perfect spot in your home, well lit but out of direct sun. It’s better to pick a dark spot and add extra lighting than have to fight the natural sunshine, which will promote too much algae growth and even cause overheating.

Partially fill the tank and then plant your plants. Use lots of plants, they are your healthy-fish secret. Then fill the tank the rest of the way, turn on the filtration system, and wait. The longer you can stand to wait, the better experience you will have. Waiting gives your tank and its natural ecosystem time to stabilize. It gives the plants a chance to put down some roots before the fish start knocking against them. It also allows you time to decide if you tank design is pleasing, and to change it if necessary. Fish don’t like change, so giving yourself time to get their home perfectly arranged before you bring them home is key.

Good tank preparation is more important than what type of fish or plants or filtration you choose, or any other single factor.

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Avatar of Sherron Ostrander

by Sherron Ostrander

Keeping Goldfish in a Fish Tank

April 13, 2012 in Aquarium Fishes, Aquariums, Fish Keeping Mistakes, Fish Tanks, Fishes, Freshwater Aquariums

Goldfish deserve real tanks too. A goldfish bowl is almost certainly an early death sentence for a fish that, properly cared for, could live 10 years or longer. Goldfish naturally grow to become 6 or even 12 inches long, so that cute little goldfish in that one gallon bowl is either not grown or has had its growth severely stunted.

GoldFish

GoldFish

While goldfish are very hardy and can survive in cold, unfiltered water, and cramped quarters, they are not happy or healthy. And small goldfish bowls aren’t really any easier to care for than a full size tank. The water so quickly becomes fouled in that small volume that you waste a lot of enjoyment time replacing water by hand.

Given a well set up tank and with only mild filtration, goldfish are generally  hardier and easier to care for than tropical fish. They are able to thrive in lower water temperatures than tropical fish, and since a full-size tank will naturally change temperature more slowly than a tiny bowl, in typical homes it won’t need a heater.

Since goldfish come in so many beautiful and multicolored varieties, a full-size aquarium with only goldfish as occupants would be a handsome addition to any room, outdoing the color and attractiveness of any other kind of fish.

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Avatar of Sherron Ostrander

by Sherron Ostrander

Before You Spend One Penny on Fish, Research!

April 10, 2012 in Aquariums, Fish Keeping Mistakes, Fish Tank Dealers, Fish Tanks

Of course you’ve already researched the kind of fish you want, right? What about the place you’re going to buy them from? Just like you should never get a kitten or puppy on impulse, you should never just go to a pet store and point to pretty fish to take home. People who do this always end up with too many fish at one time, and often with incompatible fish or fragile, difficult to keep fish. You are about to take on responsibility for a living thing. Make sure you are prepared and that you are buying young, healthy, hardy fish.

Before you ultimately buy, visit several places where there are fish for sale. Remember that you are not only researching what type of fish to buy, but where to buy them. Notice the conditions of the tanks in the shop you will be buying from. A shop with dirty tanks and floating fish should be quickly marked off your list. Ask questions. Find out if the employees are helpful and knowledgeable. Just as you don’t want to buy from tanks that are dirty or unhealthy, you don’t want to buy from a retailer that can’t guide your selection and offer information. Stay away from shops that do not have fish experts on hand.

Aquarium Setup

Aquarium Setup

Only after you’ve done this basic research and found a qualified seller of the type of fish you are hoping to keep should you even think about that first real fish.

 

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Avatar of Sherron Ostrander

by Sherron Ostrander

Beginner Fish Tank

April 7, 2012 in Aquarium Care, Aquariums, Fish Keeping Mistakes, Fish Tanks, Freshwater Aquariums, Saltwater Aquarium

Again I want to go against popular wisdom about what kind of tank a beginner should try. Most people who think they would love to have an aquarium, but are afraid of doing it wrong, think that they should start small. They run down to the fish store and get that cute little desktop fish tank kit with “everything you need,” including a cute little five gallon tank. This is exactly the wrong thing to do, unless you just want to kill fish and convince yourself that you should never have an aquarium.

No Beginner Fish Tank

No Beginner Fish Tank

Small tanks are actually more difficult to maintain because they don’t offer the environmental stability that a larger tank automatically affords. A larger aquarium, even a medium-sized twenty-gallon tank, would be much easier to take care of once set up. The mere fact that you have that much water and room to install a decent filtration system and live plants will provide a safer, healthier, less stressful home for your fish.

The most common causes of pet fish deaths are stress caused by rapid temperature fluctuation and the spoiling of the water by over feeding. Both of these can be better dealt with in a larger aquarium.  The more water, the more slowly the temperature can change, giving the fish time to adjust and/or the human time to step in before conditions reach critical. Pollutant buildup will also happen much more slowly, giving the tank-owner time to intervene. The main pollutant is often uneaten, decaying food, so a new aquarist’s first responsibility is to learn the proper amount to feed. But just in case of a slip, a larger tank has more room for the food and other contaminants to be diluted in.

Lastly, a larger tank gives you room for live plants, nature’s natural filtration systems. Plants also help provide hiding and resting spots when the fish don’t want to be seen.

 

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by Cory Lover Shara

Aquarium Care : Cleaning & Maintaining your Fish Tank

April 5, 2012 in Aquarium Care, Aquariums, Fish Tanks

Clean your substrate with an aquarium vacuum to remove debris.

Clean your substrate with an aquarium vacuum to remove debris.Photo courtesy of Victor Martinez
flickr.com/photos/osseous/5891344636...

A clean, well-maintained aquarium keeps fish healthy and allows you to enjoy them more. Dirty aquariums are hazardous to the fish’s health, shorten their lifespan and look cloudy and grimy. Set up a schedule for maintaining your aquarium and stick to it. You’ll do less cleaning if you do it regularly than a big cleaning less frequently. Unplug all the equipment to the aquarium before you begin maintenance inside.

Daily Maintenance: 

Aquariums don’t need a lot of work on the daily basis. Feed your fish according to the needs of the species. Check your aquarium each day to make sure the equipment is operating properly and that the fish are in good health.

Weekly Maintenance: 

Clean the inside walls of the aquarium with an aquarium brush once a week.

Vacuum the aquarium’s substrate to remove any dead plant debris and leftover food.

Remove one-third to two-thirds of the water and replace with clean, dechlorinated water.

Wipe the outside of the aquarium with a soft, damp cloth to remove water spots.

Monthly Maintenance:

Once a month, test your water for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and pH. Test the water weekly, if your aquarium is new.

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