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Pat's Basic Guide to
A Successful
Freshwater Tropical Fish Tank
Read these notes
and maintain a healthy, problem-free aquarium. You won't
encounter the usual problems that occur and you won't be among
those who ask "Why did my fish die?"
Assuming
you have acquired a fish tank that doesn't leak and
have installed an adequate form of filtration, a heater
(necessary for most tropical fish), a cover (preferably
containing a source of light) and have added water, your fish
tank is now starting the process of becoming 'balanced'. This
will happen and takes several weeks, at the end of
which the 'good bacteria', necessary to support life in your
aquarium will reign supreme! This process can be speeded up
by immediately adding a) half a dozen small fish (see below)
that will produce waste to feed the bacteria, and feeding the
fish lightly once or twice a day b) some water from an already
set up, healthy aquarium, which already contains good bacteria
c) some gravel from an already set up, healthy aquarium, which
already contains good bacteria or d) adding an amount of a
product specifically designed for this purpose, sold at your
local aquarium store. If you want to know more about this
'cycle' of the aquarium there are many books available on
starting a new aquarium that will explain it in detail. For now,
suffice it to say that this cycle will happen and unless care is
taken, disaster occurs. Your aquarium may develop a new tank
bloom (fogginess in the water) while this cycle is occurring. It
will clear.
During this
time and as always, regular care and maintenance is
IMPERATIVE if you want your tropical fish to live long and
healthy lives.
Make sure
all equipment used for your aquarium is used
only for your aquarium.
Tropical
Fish may be put into your aquarium as soon as the water
clears from setting up the aquarium and you are sure that all
the equipment is working properly. As stated above, the tropical
fish will start that 'good bacteria' in the aquarium that is
vital. Too many fish in your aquarium now, may result in losses.
More fish may be added in a few weeks. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES
should you add any more tropical fish until then and even then,
add them a couple (if small schooling fish, add four or five) at
a time over a period of a month or so. Try to choose hardy,
easily maintained tropical fish to start with. Some good choices
are Danios, (they like to swim in schools), Platys and/or
Swordtails, (lots of brilliant colors are available) and two or
three Cory Cats to patrol the bottom. If you are obtaining your
tropical fish from someone who is knowledgeable and reputable
tell them about your setup, including the size of your fish
tank, and ask for their advice.
Change
approximately one-quarter of the water in the fish tank
weekly, making sure that the dirt in the bottom of the aquarium
is disturbed and sucked out with your siphon. The replacement
water must be very close in temperature to the water that you
removed and ABSOLUTELY MUST BE DECHLORINATED WATER. THIS WILL
AVOID ANY POSSIBILITY OF GILL DAMAGE. Also, if you buy the
dechlorinating solution, it usually has other 'stuff' in it to
reduce stress and maintain the slime coat.
Continue
regular maintenance, once a week. It should take no
more than 15 minutes.
Keep an eye
on the temperature from time to time. A drop in
temperature will encourage stress-related diseases, e.g.: 'Ich'
and enough of a rise in temperature would cook the tropical fish
and the good bacteria, resulting in the loss of your efforts.
When
changing water, the best advice is to unplug your
heater and power filter. Failure to unplug your heater and
possibly exposing it to the air could result in cracking of the
heater glass. The important thing here, is to
remember to plug everything back in after!
Keep the
glass clean, both inside and out. This can be done with
a razor blade type of scraper, or bunched up white paper towels.
Keeping the glass clean is necessary for aesthetic reasons,
obviously, but also so that you can quickly notice any changes
in the behavior of your tropical fish that will alert you to the
fact that something might be amiss.
If you are
using a power or box filter, ALWAYS leave half of the
dirty filter floss (if that's what you are using) in the filter,
leaving some of those 'good bacteria' to continue their valuable
work. (Change your filter floss when it is really dirty and/or
the flow rate from the filter has slowed down noticeably). Rinse
out the sponge in the power filter, if you are using one, under
TEPID water - never hot. Using hot water will completely destroy
the good bacteria that you are striving to establish and
maintain. Charcoal, if used, can be rinsed each week--tepid
water again. Replace at least once a month. In between times,
when it looks really dirty, it is o.k. to rinse it under the tap
- TEPID water again.
AFTER THE
INITIAL PHASE IS OVER, maintain a regular schedule as
always, keeping in mind a few important things that will ensure
a healthy aquarium:
1. It is
inadvisable to add store-bought tropical fish to your aquarium
unless you can quarantine* them for at least three weeks. Some
people may laugh at this because they've never had a problem.
However, it takes one unhealthy fish to wipe out your entire
population and it does happen. Unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure of
your source, PLAY IT SAFE. If you do have a quarantine fish
tank, maintain the same schedule of care as your main fish tank
so that when the time comes to put your fish into the main fish
tank, the water will match and there won't be any shock involved
(either to you or the fish)!
2. When you
quarantine, it is essential that you wash ALL aquarium equipment
under hot water after any use. Otherwise you run the risk of
transferring disease. NEVER USE HOUSEHOLD SOAP when washing
aquariums and related equipment. Salt can be used as an
abrasive/cleaner or a very dilute bleach solution can be used
when cleaning equipment. Always rinse well afterward.
3. When obtaining
tropical fish from ANY SOURCE, never put the water that they
came in into your fish tank. Pour the fish and water into a net
and put only the fish into your aquarium.
4. When bringing
new, healthy fish to your aquarium, check to see if the
temperature in the container and the fish tank is close. A
degree or so fluctuation is not harmful. You may opt to float
your container of tropical fish in the tank for a few minutes
for the temperatures to equalize.
PLANTS:
If you use plastic plants, wash them when dirt and/or algae are
visible. Live plants can be added shortly after your initial
aquarium 'cycle' has finished but once again, unless you are
sure of your source, you might be adding disease, snails or
other unwelcome guests, unless precautions are taken. If you
either don't care, or can't be bothered, plastic plants are for
you. If you do care, a brief live plant sterilization*** can be
used although this doesn't always get rid of snail eggs. So,
sometimes, even though you are careful with new additions,
snails may appear in your aquarium. Then the best you can do is
to take them out as you see them.
LIGHTS:
If you have live plants in your aquarium, they won't survive
unless they have enough light. This usually means at least 10
hours per day. A timer is invaluable for this. (A timer is only
usable on lights that are 'quick start' or incandescent). They
are inexpensive and a must if you ever
spend a day or two, or more, away from home. Be sure to
plug only your lights into the timer. The
heater must be on all the time during the cooler weather and the
filtration must be non-stop all the time. If you have only
plastic plants, then the length of the aquarium 'day' will be up
to you. Try to keep the 'day' uninterrupted if possible. If the
aquarium is in an otherwise dark room, the on and off of lights
is stressful for the fish. Keep in mind that incandescent lights
produce more heat than fluorescent lights. During hotter
weather, this might be a problem. Keeping the temperature
between 75 and 78F should work well for most tropical fish.
So - minimal care
of the right kind can keep your
aquarium in top shape. Your aquarium should be good for many
years of uninterrupted enjoyment.
Anytime you
are away from home for a day or more: don't overfeed
your fish just before you leave. Food they can't eat will rot,
grow fungus and smell. Your adult fish will be o.k. for a
weekend, even a week, without feeding. If you are going to be
away longer and someone else feeds your fish, TELL THEM TO FEED
ONCE EVERY OTHER DAY, while you are away and ONLY SMALL
FEEDINGS****. SHOW THEM HOW SMALL! More tanks have gone bad due
to overfeeding by well-meaning fish-sitters! Your fish will
survive longer unfed, while you are away, than they will if they
are overfed.
Smell:
your aquarium will never smell - unless you have overfed or a
fish has died. Eyeball your aquarium for dead fish or other
problems, once a day - before lights out is a good time.
Algae:
sometimes, due to a number of circumstances, algae will become a
nuisance. Regular maintenance will get it off the plastic plants
and interior of the glass, but if its growth becomes rapid and
unsightly between weekly cleanings, too much light might be the
problem, so reduce the duration of your light period slightly.
Keep in mind that if your aquarium is near a window, algae will
grow more rapidly even if there is decorative paper on the back
of the tank. Plants are attractive and if algae continues to be
a problem, adding more live plants might also help.
Quite often
no matter how many helpful hints are listed, there are more
questions, so don't forget, call a more experienced aquarist if
you need help!
Winter is a
time when some real emergencies can happen due to power
outages. This doesn't happen often, but if it does, the aquarium
will be fine for a couple of hours, as long as it isn't
overpopulated. If it's any longer and if the
temperature starts to drop, do a small
(dechlorinated) water change using slightly warmer water for as
long as warm water is available. This will be necessary every
two or three hours thereafter while the power is off. Wrapping
the tank with a blanket or taping styrofoam pieces on all four
sides could be done to reduce heat loss for an extended period
of time, but the water would still have to be changed every few
hours due to lack of filtration and oxygen.
When the
power is back on, uncover the tank and check to see
that everything is working and the fish are o.k.
TO
CALCULATE THE SIZE OF YOUR AQUARIUM (in U.S. gallons):
Width x height x depth (inches) ÷231 = gallons. (For example 12
in. X 12 in. X 24 in. = 3456 cubic inches. 3456/231 = 14.96 (15
gallons)
TO
CALCULATE APPROX. HOW MANY INCHES OF FISH YOUR AQUARIUM CAN
SAFELY HOUSE:
Width x length divided by 30 equals inches of fish. (For example
12 in. X 24 in. = 288 square inches (of water surface). 288/30 =
9.6 (inches of fish) This is a very rough guide. You could have
considerably more than this if the fish are tiny, such as Neon
tetras but perhaps less if the fish is large and full bodied
such as an Oscar.
TO CONVERT
degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius:
Subtract 32 from the number of degrees F. and divide the result
by 1.8. (For example 80° F is 80 - 32 = 48. 48/1.8 =26.7° C )
!
Patience is important when
you start up an aquarium. It always pays off.
*
Quarantining: Use a small heated and filtered tank,
with a lid. (Use a **'dirty' filter.) Take some of the floss
from a filter that is in use, put it with some fresh floss in
the filter in the quarantine tank. At least this will guarantee
that your fish won't suffer as much stress from the tank going
through the 'cycle'. The dirty floss already has some of those
precious 'good bacteria' in it.
***Sterilization of live plants: Use a tablespoon of
Alum (available in any drug store) dissolved in a gallon of
tepid, dechlorinated water, for five minutes ONLY! Remove from
the alum solution and rinse in some clean, tepid, dechlorinated
water. (Repeat this treatment several times at intervals over 7
to 10 days and then inspect the plants carefully. If no live
snails, even very tiny ones, are found, it should be safe to
place the plants in your tank.)
****Feeding: Put A SMALL PINCH OF FOOD IN AND MAKE SURE
THE FISH EAT IT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. AFTER ABOUT 5 MINUTES, THE
UNEATEN FOOD WILL SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK AND MAY NOT BE
EATEN. It will fungus, smell and look unsightly. Feed your fish
once a day. Remember, most fish will always appear to be hungry.
Variety in your fish's diet is a good thing.
GOLDFISH
ARE TEMPERATE NOT TROPICAL FISH
ITEMS YOU
WILL NEED TO BEGIN:
- An aquarium of your choice (Get the largest
you can afford and for which you have space.)
- A lid (canopy with light included)
- A suitable stand
- A heater suitable for the size of the tank
- A filter - many types available - and filter media
- An air pump (for some types of filters).
- Gravel (used with an under-gravel type of filter) or for
aesthetic reasons if you have another type of filtration.
- A scraper
- A siphon for water changes
- A bucket to prepare water to return to the tank
- A stick-on type of thermometer
- Backing for the tank if desired
- A bottle of dechlorinator for water changes. (Get one that
says it removes chloramines.)
- A variety of fish food
- An inexpensive timer
- A site for your aquarium setup where there is an electrical
outlet.
by
Pat Bridges
Pat edited "The Scat" - newsletter of the St. Catherine's
Aquarium Society, Canada, for 9 years
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