How to Set up a Freshwater Aquarium (Fish Tank)
Monday, 11 August 2008 23:14
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Equipment you will need: Aquarium
Aquarium gravel
Aquarium filter
Replacement filter media
Heater
Other decorations (such as fake or real plants)
Fish food
Aquarium vacuum
Fish net
Aquarium Glass Scrubber
5-gallon bucket
Pasta strainer Aquarium test kits to test water parameters and monitor the infamous aquarium nitrogen cycle STEP 1: Realize the responsibility involved.
A fish tank is just like having a dog or a cat when it comes to the amount of effort on your part. In order to have a successful fish tank you will have to work at it. Once a week, or at most once every two weeks, you will need to perform some kind of maintenance on the tank. Most of the time you will be performing water changes. You will also have to feed your fish at least once a day. If you are up to the challenge, please proceed! STEP 2: Decide on an aquarium size.
It’s a good idea to have in mind what kind of fish you want to keep before you purchase an aquarium. Some fish only grow to be an inch or two, whereas other types of tropical fish can grow 12 or 13 inches or more in length! Knowing what kind of fish you want will help you decide the size of the tank they will need. If this is your first time with an aquarium, it may be a good idea to start with a 10 or 20 gallon aquarium for now and stock it with some smaller and hardier species. STEP 3: Decide on the aquarium’s location.
Place your aquarium in an area where the light and temperature of the tank won’t be affected by external sources such as windows and heater vents. Sunlight that enters the room through an unshaded window could affect the temperature of your tank. This could also lead to green algae problems for your tank down the road. You will want to place your aquarium on a stand that will be able to hold its total weight. You also want to be sure that the floor is able to support the total weight of the aquarium and stand. A good rule of thumb for determining the total weight of a full aquarium is 10 pounds per gallon of water. For example, a 55-gallon tank will weigh approximately 550 pounds when filled with water! STEP 4: Buy your aquarium and equipment.
Now is a good time to decide on the type of aquarium filter you will want to use. You will also need to purchase a heater capable of heating the tank size you have. Buy the gravel, plants, a power strip and other decorations. A good rule of thumb for the amount of gravel that you will need is 1 to 1.5 pounds of gravel per gallon of water. STEP 5: Set up your aquarium and stand.
Wash out your tank with water only! Do not use soap or detergents. Soap residue left behind will be harmful for your tropical fish. If you are going to use an under gravel filter (not recommended) now would be the time to set it up as well. STEP 6: Wash Gravel, plants and decorations.
Be sure to wash the gravel thoroughly before adding it to your tank. An easy way to do this is to put some of the rocks in a pasta strainer and wash them out in your bathtub. Then place the clean gravel in a clean 5-gallon bucket for transport to the aquarium. After adding the gravel you can place your plants and decorations. STEP 7: Add water to the aquarium.
To avoid messing up your gravel and plants, you can place a plate or saucer in the middle of your aquarium and direct the water flow onto the plate. Use room temperature water when filling. To remove the chlorine and chloramine, use something like Tetra AquaSafe for Aquariums. Don’t completely fill up the aquarium until you are sure of the layout of your decorations. Otherwise, when you place your arm in to move stuff around water is going to spill over. Doh! STEP 8: Set up equipment.
Install your heater but don’t plug it in until the thermostat in the heater has adjusted to the water temperature. This usually takes about 15 minutes or so. Hook up your filter and any other equipment you have, then top off the aquarium water to just under the hood lip. Place your hood and tank light on the aquarium and then check your power cords to be sure that they are free of water. I would also recommend using a drip loop on all of the power cords to be extra cautious. For more information on safety, read this great article on aquarium electrical safety. Plug all of the equipment into a power strip and then “turn on” the aquarium. STEP 9. Wait, wait, wait and then wait some more.
I know, you want to add some fish. But, in order to do this right you must wait until your aquarium has cycled before adding any fish. There are ways of speeding up this process. Check out the nitrogen cycle page to learn more about starting the nitrogen cycle and how to speed it up. If you must use fish to cycle, try to get a hardier species like the zebra danio or cherry barb. STEP 10. Add tropical fish.
Only add one or two fish at a time. Adding a couple fish at a time gives your filtration system the time needed to take on the increased biological load that the new fish introduce. When you bring the fish home let the bag float in the tank for about 15 minutes so that the fish can become acclimated to the temperature and pH of the aquarium water. After 5 minutes of floating the bag you should add some of the aquarium water to the bag so that the fish can become acclimated to the pH level in the aquarium. This will help reduce the amount of stress imposed on the fish. Stressed fish often leads to dead or diseased fish! Don’t feed your fish on the first day. They probably wouldn’t eat any food on the first day anyway. Let them get acquainted with their new home. STEP 11. Get ready for regular maintenance.
Be prepared to spend some time once every week or two to clean your tank. Performing regular water changes will reduce the nitrate levels and keep your tropical fish happy and healthy. Original article at http://www.fishlore.com/FirstTankSetup.htm
Tips for Cycling Your New Aquarium
Monday, 11 August 2008 23:11
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What is Cycling? Cycling your tank is probably something that you have never heard of unless you have been paying attention to the *.aquaria news groups, you have several friends with tanks, or you are working with a fairly good pet shop. The effects of the cycling process are sometimes referred to as “New Tank Syndrome.” “Cycling the tank” means that you are establishing a bacteria bed in your biological filter to remove the toxins that the fish’s metabolism creates. There are right and wrong ways to do this, and several things you can do to slow this process (which you don’t want to do). There are two steps to cycling, but you don’t have to do anything special for either of them. First, your filter will grow a culture of bacteria that digest ammonia and turn it into Nitrite (which is more toxic than the ammonia in hard water or water with a higher pH), then your filter produces bacteria that digest Nitrite and turn it into relatively harmless Nitrate. However, Nitrate will contribute to loss of appetite and stress in your fish, as well as contributing to algae growth, so it is important to do regular small water changes to keep your tank in best condition. Read more on water changes while the tank is cycling. How Do I Cycle My Tank?
You should cycle your tank with a small number of fish. They should be hearty fish, and something that you will want to have in your tank in the long run. Do not cycle your tank with lots of feeder goldfish. Do not cycle your tank with any goldfish unless you intend to keep goldfish. Unfortunately many pet shops suggest this. If you want to know why, you could review my no goldfish page. What Fish Should I Use?
For a tank of small community fish, White Clouds or Zebra Danios are good cycling fish; Cherry Barbs or Tiger Barbs are good for a slightly more aggressive tank; or Pseudotropheus zebra is a good choice for an African Cichlid tank. Your local pet shop should be able to point you toward some hardy fish of the type you are looking to keep. Purchase a small number (the number will depend on the size of your aquarium and type of fish and -to a lesser degree- the type of filter) of these fish and introduce them to your tank. For a ten to twenty gallon tank, two or three small schooling fish or one small cichlid would be more than sufficient. Let the tank sit for a couple of days, feeding your fish carefully to prevent excess food from decaying and fouling the water. There are several reasons that you do not want to cycle your tank with a large number of fish, here are a few: 1. Cycling a tank with many fish will produce a lot more waste, which will be stressful to your fish, resulting in higher die-off and greater susceptibility to disease.
2. Cycling with a large number of fish will increase water problems incurred during the cycling process.
3. Cycling with a lot of fish can contribute to a foul smell coming from the tank. Every couple of days, do a 10%-15% water change, and after about a week, take a sample of your water to a fish store to get it tested. Most pet shops will test fresh water for a minimal fee, or even for free! If the store you got the fish from won’t, check to see if there is another local store that will. At this point, your water should test with high ammonia and maybe a trace of nitrite. If it isn’t, don’t worry. Just give the tank time. The cycling process usually takes four to eight weeks. After about eight weeks, your ammonia and Nitrite levels should be acceptable (about trace levels), and you can add more fish. Do not add more fish until the ammonia and Nitrite levels have both dropped. Remember to add new fish a few at a time to prevent over-stressing the filter. If you add too many at once, your tank will have to cycle again, yet if you add a few at a time, your bacteria growth rate will just increase for a short time, with minimal effect on your fish. What if I am Still Having Problems?
If, after six to eight weeks of cycling, your ammonia and nitrite levels aren’t satisfactory, you need to trouble shoot your situation. * Did you treat the water you added to the tank to remove chlorine and chloramine? If you didn’t the chlorine you added to the tank may have killed the bacteria who were trying to start the filter. Or the ammonia in the chloramine could be more than your new bacteria colony can handle.
* Did you do water changes regularly? This will remove excess waste before it kills the fish or the bacteria.
* Did you do moderate (10%-15%) water changes rather than large (20%-50%) water changes? Large water changes will stress the bacteria and fish, causing inadequate filtration, as well as removing the ammonia and nitrite the bacteria are trying to metabolize. Cycling the tank takes between two and eight weeks depending on several factors including: * Amount of ammonia in water for bacteria to digest
* Availability of bacteria in atmosphere to colonize filter
* Frequency and relative amount of water changes
* Reliability of source of waste (ammonia and nitrite)
* Amount of excess decaying matter in tank (dead fish, extra food, plant leaves, etc.)
* Presence of toxins/anti-bacterial agents/sanitation chemicals in tank water
* Use of chemicals to remove ammonia from the water. What about Chemicals?
You should not need to use any chemical to stop unwanted increases in ammonia levels. Your biological filter should take care of that for you. If you have ammonia problems after the tank has cycled, then your tank is overpopulated, under-filtered or overfed. Ammonia in the tank is a sign of a problem, not something that is easily treated with a chemical. Use of a chemical to remove ammonia will very often result in starvation of your biological filter leading to more ammonia problems and meaning that you will need to cycle the tank again. Remember, if your ammonia levels are high, you need to treat the problem that is causing the high ammonia levels, not the ammonia itself, which is just a symptom. I recommend against using a bacteria booster or any kind of chemical when cycling your tank. These tend to leave you with a less stable tank in the long run. A tank cycled slowly and carefully with a few fish will usually cycle in four to eight weeks. A tank cycled with a bacteria booster or chemical supplements will take between two days and eight months to cycle, usually completing the cycle at about eight weeks, and these tanks usually do not stabilize for about six months after the last treatment. Do not use these products if you want a stable, easy to care for tank. Article originally found at http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
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Ten Tips for Selecting an Aquarium Store
Monday, 11 August 2008 23:12
administrator
1 ) Do their tanks look good and are their fish healthy? If the tanks in an aquarium store don’t look good, the store is either under-staffed or the owners don’t care. In either case, you may want to think twice about shopping there. Some stores put on a good front with well-decorated tanks, but the fish in them leave a lot to be desired. Look for fish with healthy erect fins. Watch the fish in several aquariums. Are they all swimming upright? Do you see fish hiding in the top corners of a tank? Do they seem to react and respond to each other. Slowly lift your hand up in front of an aquarium and almost touch the top of the tank. The fish should either be looking for food or ducking for cover. Look at the bodies and fins of fish for marks, blemishes, small white spots, or protrusions. Look for heavy respiration. Rapid gill movement may indicate parasites or bad water quality. One or two sick fish in a store may be normal but several tanks with sick fish may indicate a major problem. 2 ) By the way, not all stores have the room for quarantine and hospital tanks. If you see one tank with blue or green water and/or a sign that says: “Not for sale,” that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At least the store’s being careful. Ask the store if they quarantine their saltwater fish. Find out what their guarantee policies are. Do they feed their fish frozen and commercially prepared foods? How often do they change water in their aquariums? Here’s a little secret: Watch them catching fish. Do they use two nets or do they use one net and stress the fish who are much more agile then they are and don’t want to be caught. 3 ) The three dead fish rule. We don’t claim to be original with this one. We’ve read this in several books and magazines, and practiced it ourselves. Dead fish in aquarium retail is a fact of life, but the dead fish should all be removed from the aquariums before the store opens for business. It’s normal for a store to lose a fish in the course of a day, but if you see more than three dead fish, the store may not care about their aquariums. If you (quietly) notify a staff member of a dead fish in a tank, they should act on it as quickly as possible to show that they care about the health of their tanks. 4 ) Ooooh! That smell! If a store smells bad, they don’t care about their image. A good clean aquarium store may smell a little musty or may have an earthy odor, but should not smell like a seafood store or a public zoo. If a store has a bad odor, they may not be taking care of their animals. If they sell animals other than fish, there may be an odor around the small animal and reptile cages, but the entire store should not smell like old urine or worse. It’s been our experience that a clean store usually means clean aquariums and healthy fish. 5 ) Attitude. You already know this one. The salespeople working in the store should be alert. If the store is slow, the staff should be busy cleaning aquariums and stocking shelves, but they should also be willing to wait on you if you need help. Don’t get us wrong. Good fish people have a reputation for being a little strange or eccentric. We’re not always known for our good manners either. We don’t mean these eccentricities, we’re talking about bad attitude - plain and simple. When you feel like you’re being talked down to or patronized, you know you don’t want to learn anything from the person talking to you. A staff member can be the most knowledgeable fish person in the world, but if you don’t feel comfortable talking to them, you won’t learn much. If a salesperson makes you feel like they’re going out of their way to wait on you, they need to find a new job and/or you need to find a new store. Bad attitudes are bad for business. Let the store owner know why you’re taking yours elsewhere. 6 ) Test their knowledge, but before you do, buy an aquarium book and do a little reading. If you’re new to the hobby, sometimes it can feel like anyone knows more than you do. That doesn’t mean that everyone working in an aquarium store is competent. It just means they know more than you do, and yes, there is a difference. Read enough to be able to ask some very basic questions and take note of the answers you get. Then compare what you’ve been told with the book you read when you get home. If you’re a more experienced aquarist, try asking some questions for which you know the answers: “Will this damsel go in my aquarium with my six inch Lionfish?” or “I have a planted aquarium. How will these African cichlids work in my tank?” You don’t have to get quite that silly, but we hope you get the idea. You’ll be shocked at some of the answers you’ll get! 7 ) What’s their motivation? Does the store seem to want to sell, inform, or both? If you find yourself feeling like you’re in a used-car lot, you know the store’s more interested in selling you. Try to slow them down and ask some questions. If every answer to a question or an aquarium problem you’re having involves spending money, watch out! Many aquarium problems can be solved simply by doing a water change, testing water for problems, or adjusting water chemistry. It is okay, however, if they go out of their way to try to sell you a book. That’s always a good investment. Take their advice and buy it. 8 ) What you want vs. what they do. What do you want with an aquarium? Are you looking for a hobby or do you want a piece of living sculpture? Are you willing to get your hands wet or do you want someone to do the dirty work? Are you interested in fish or do you just want to decorate your family room? These are important questions to ask yourself before you shop for an aquarium store. Not all aquarium stores provide outside maintenance services and many that do don’t do it well. Many excellent aquarium stores do a great job working with hobbyists, but get frustrated with aquarium owners who only want to look at the fish. Take our advice: If you don’t want to be an aquarist and you’re not going to clean the tank yourself, buy your aquarium from a reputable maintenance company or an aquarium store that does a lot of maintenance business. Tip: Ask them how many people they have doing maintenance. If the answer is two or more, and everything else falls into place, you’ve found your store. 9 ) Shop around. Look in the phonebook and make a list of stores in your area. Then take a tour! Spend a day or two exploring all the available resources before you pick your aquarium store. Sometimes it’s worth it to drive a little out of your way to find an excellent aquarium store. 10 ) Prices? Prices are not as important as quality. Don’t expect a retail store to have prices as low as a mail order company or an e-commerce business. They have a much higher overhead, and when you need help they’ll be there for you. In our opinion, it is better to pay more for quality fish and invertebrates, especially if you’re also getting sound, knowledgeable advice. BIG NO NOS!
Take it from someone who spent fifteen years working in large retail aquarium stores. The staff of a store will remember you in either a positive or negative way, depending on how you conduct yourself when shopping for merchandise. If they don’t seem to want to spend time with you now, but were eager to do so when you first met them, you have probably committed one or more of these aquarium-store faux paus. Don’t ask so many questions that you monopolize a salesperson’s time.
Be polite, especially if you know you won’t be spending money right away. Remember that they have a store to run and other customers who need them. Let them go if they need to catch fish or wait on somebody else. They’ll come back to you. By the way, if you do find that you’re getting intelligent answers to your questions and the store is nice in other respects, LET THEM KNOW that you’ll be spending your money there. Don’t tap on the fish tanks!
This one’s for the uninitiated: that’s the fastest way to get yourself thrown out of a fish store! Don’t be a nudge!
Hey! You found a good store with healthy fish, beautiful aquariums, and a knowledgeable staff that’s willing to spend time with you even when you aren’t spending money. You’re going to pay a little more for that kind of quality. Do them a favor. Don’t try to talk them down on their prices. Trust us. It’s a sore spot in the aquarium retail industry. Spend some money and support your store! The biggest no no! Don’t take up a ton of a store’s time, get all your free advice and knowledge, take advantage of their generosity, and then buy all your stuff mail-order or from the internet. Even if you buy fish there and everything else mail-order, you should know that fish are no longer the high-profit item they once were. This is especially true for marine fish and invertebrates. Remember that if that store goes out of business, the mail-order joints (including us) won’t come close to taking their place. Providing information costs money because the person providing the information gets paid for their time. Respect that. Once again, spend some money and support your store! Article originally from http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/tentips.shtml
Tropical Fish Species for Beginners
Monday, 11 August 2008 23:10
administrator
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 So, you’ve found your sea legs as a fishkeeper by setting up and maintaining a coldwater tank. Are you ready to take your hobby to the next step? As an “advanced beginner,” you’re suitably prepared for the challenge of tropical species. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of warmwater tropical fish sold as aquarium pets. Most require a constant temperature in the tank of about 78 degrees Fahrenheit, but depending on the kind of fish you choose, the optimum environment may range somewhere between 70 and 84 degrees. You’ll need a a good-quality, thermostatically-controlled heater of the correct wattage to maintain water temperature. As a tropical fishkeeper, you will have a large selection of species to pick from. Among the most popular are members of the tetra family, from the bright red and electric blue neon tetra to the silvery-yellow lemon tetra. Ranging from about one to three inches, tetras are quick movers and like to form schools, so it’s a good idea to get four to eight of the same type. These peaceful swimmers are relatively easy to care for and can live up to 10 years. If housed in a large enough tank, elegant angelfish will grow up to six inches or larger. Members of this species are easily identified by their long, flowing fins and flat, triangle-shaped bodies. Although their original coloring is silver with black stripes, other varieties, including marbled, all-black and pink, are available. If you plan to keep some, please pay attention to size–larger angels have been known to eat their smaller tankmates. Hardy platys are also good additions to a warmwater community. And if you like dramatic-looking fish, consider the swordtail–but do make sure your aquarium has a secure cover or these champion jumpers may leap out. Note that only the males have long, swordlike tails. Tropical catfish are good choices, too–and there’s lots of variety, from small one-inch species to the larger six-inch kinds. Those from the Corydoras group make a great clean-up crew, as they’re bottom feeders that will gobble up any food that ends up on the floor of the tank. There are many different kinds of barbs–and in general, these fish are best kept in small schools of three or four. Among the most popular are the shy, delicate-looking cherry barb and the black and orange tiger barb. Note that the larger, two- to four-inch varieties may nip at the fins of any slower, long-tailed residents of the tank. Fast-moving danios are also popular and easy-to-care-for tropical species. Consider the blue and silver zebra danio, who can live up to 5 years, and the four-inch giant danio, who’ll appreciate lots of room for swimming. When selecting fish for your warmwater aquarium, the old rule of thumb of one inch of fish per gallon is a good guide to follow. In a 10-gallon tank, for example, you could keep 10 one-inch fish or 5 two-inch fish. And remember, one of the hardest, most important parts of tropical fishkeeping is selecting species that will do well in the same type of water conditions and will get along with each other. Be sure to ask at your aquarium store and determine your fishes’ needs before you buy. Original article by Hagen at http://www.aquariumlife.net/articles/beginner/54.asp
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