Fish Tanks

Fish Tanks - Substrate in your Fish tank

What the heck is “Substrate”, you ask? Well, basically your substrate is the material that you have on the bottom of your aquarium. You can have sand, gravel, small stones, or almost anything really. Half of the fun of owning fish is doing the interior decoration of your tank. Let your imagination run wild, but make sure that you use materials that are safe for your fish.

The most common substrate is gravel. You’ve seen those bags in your local pet store; they come in every color of the rainbow. You can also go to any hardware store and buy natural gravel if you are going for a less artificial look. Just make sure that you rinse whatever you use before you put it into your tank and remove any bits that are unusually sharp.

Gravel gives your tank a nice aesthetic appeal while also anchoring your plants and helping you develop the biological filter within your tank. It’s also the easiest substrate to clean when you are using your gravel vac during your water changes. Gravel is heavy enough to resist being siphoned out of the tank, but light enough to swirl around and release all waste that has become sediment. It is also fairly cheap, especially if you purchased a large bag from the hardware store.

Many hobbyists, especially cichlid owners, prefer to use sand. If you are keeping fish that sift sand looking for food, going with something finer than gravel is the ONLY way to go. Like gravel, you can find it in many different colors, although it is harder to find than gravel; most pet stores carry only white and black, and the black is quite expensive. Here too, you can find a cheaper alternative down at your local hardware store.

Most stores carry bags of sand marketed as “play-sand”. These sands are generally used to fill children’s sandboxes and as such, are safe and ready to go. They’ll require a great deal of pre-washing before you put them into your tank though, because of the dust that they contain, but they are attractive to use and quite cheap. Some larger stores may actually carry some colored sands, but they are harder to find and will probably require a special order. Avoid “silica” sands as they have sharp edges that can cut your fish.

Sand is more difficult to clean however, because of its light weight. You can’t plunge your gravel vac into the sand without sucking it up with your waste water. You have to be a lot more careful while siphoning, and periodically make time to stir the sand by hand to release trapped pockets of waste and biological matter. If you want easy to maintain, sand is not for you.

You can also buy bags of crushed shell or limestone. These are useful if you are putting together a marine tank or an African cichlid tank as they are made up of calcium carbonate and this tends to raise the water hardness and pH, which both of these types of fish will enjoy. This is obviously a poor choice for fish from soft water, low pH environments like many river fish from South and Central America.

Whatever substrate you chose, it will require occasional maintenance. Generally not much more than doing a quick stir and a little redecorating when your fish move it around, but your substrate will last just about forever, so pick one that you can live with.
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Aquarium Tank

Aquarium Tank - Tank Maintenance

You’ve bought your tank, you’ve added your fish, now what? Just feed them and forget it… right? Well no, not exactly. You are going to have to do routine maintenance to your aquarium, but never fear, it really doesn’t have to be a backbreaking chore.

First things first, and this one is key, NEVER and I mean never overfeed your fish. If you have added more food into the tank than your fish can eat in a minute or two, then you’ve overfed your fish. Two things can happen now, and they are both bad: one, your fish will eat all of the food that they’ve been fed, and then they will produce enormous waste, or two: the food will sit on the bottom of your tank, fouling the water and breaking down into dangerous chemicals that will kill your fish.

I know, I know… I said that this was going to be an article on tank maintenance. And it is, just stay with me for a minute! The number one factor in keeping your fish alive and your tank clean is not to foul the water in the first place. Yes, not overfeeding your fish is the world’s best way to keep your tank clean. You can thank me later.

If you’ve fed your fish properly, the next thing to consider is your fish load. Keep in mind that the more fish that you have in your tank, the more often it will need to be cleaned. Yes, you can minimize this chore by having proper filtration for your tank, but you will have to clean it on occasion, and you will have to have the right tools. Fortunately, they are quite cheap and easy to use. You’ll need a gravel vac, a bucket, and a glass brush.

Use your brush to clean any excess algae off of your glass before you go any further. Yes, it will make your tank even dirtier for a bit, but better now than later when you have a nice clean tank. You can also wash off any decorations that your plecostomus has missed… Umm, you do have a pleco in your tank don’t you? They help a lot!

Once you are through with the brush, you can get out your gravel vac. A gravel vac is a basically a self-starting siphoning hose connected to a clear plastic tube. Put it in your tank, move it up and down a couple of times, and the water from your tank will now begin to drain into your bucket. Put the mouth of the siphon over any particulate matter in the bottom of your tank and watch while the fish waste is carried away. If you are close to a window and on the first floor, you can water your plants at the same time. Gravel vacs come in many diameters, suitable for any tank from 5 gallons up to those 300-gallon monster tanks. You can also attach more line and run the dirty water into a nearby drain if you have one handy and you won’t even need the bucket.

Remove about 25% of the water and then replace it with clean water. Remember to use your dechlorinator! Add the chemical to each bucket of clean water, and not into your aquarium directly, or you’ll have to treat the entire tank rather than just the smaller bucket of water. Make sure that the water that you are adding is approximately the same temperature as the tank itself, so as not to shock the fish.

And finally, clean your filters, replacing any filters that are in poor shape. Then put the lid back on, and treat yourself to a cold beverage. You are done for the day. That wasn’t that hard now was it?
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Lighting your Aquarium

You spotted a great looking fish at the local pet store so you bought him; you brought him home, and now he doesn’t look the same! Why does this happen? Your problem could well be a lighting issue. Yes, the type of lighting in your tank has a major impact on every aspect of your aquarium.

When it comes to aquarium lighting, it isn’t just a question of how many watts that your bulb has; there is much more to it than this! You can use incandescent or fluorescent lighting, you can position your light source in different locations over the tank, and you can even purchase bulbs that give off different spectrums of light. Yes, the perfect tank just got harder to obtain, and more expensive too, but the way you light your fish can have a huge impact on your enjoyment of your hobby.

First of all, incandescent bulbs (the normal light bulbs in your home) are really unsuitable for anything other than a very small tank. They emit a very low spectrum of light and they produce more heat than is healthy for your fish. In addition, this type of bulb uses more energy than a fluorescent bulb, so unless your tank is 10 gallons or smaller, I wouldn’t even consider incandescent.

Fluorescent bulbs are the way to go. They emit much less heat, use less energy and come in a variety of spectrums. Most of the bulb manufacturers have bulbs specs listed on the side of the package, but a handy reference is usually included in the bulbs name. They have names like aqua-glo or sun-glo or plant-gro. Their names hint at what spectrum they produce and this is a good cue about which color(s) of fish look best under that lighting. For instance, if the bulb is rated high in the blue scale, then blue fish tend to look remarkable under that bulb. If your goal is to promote plant growth, then the plant bulb is the one for you.

As important as the right bulb is, the location of your fixture can be even more important. Most canopies are constructed with the opening in the front, for ease of feeding, and this is unfortunate. Almost every longtime aquarist agrees that tanks look much better when they are “front-lit”, in other words, the fixture sits toward the front of the tank, rather than where the hoods position them—in the back.

Experiment with the set up that you currently have. Take the top off of your tank and move the light around. Try it in different locations. See if it makes a difference to you. Where do you want the light? Where do you want the shadows?

A front-lit tank presents the light on the front of the fish, emphasizing their colors and bringing your fish out of the shadows. If your tank came with this sort of hood, you might consider exchanging your hood for a simple pane of glass or plexi-glass. You can get these made at any glass shop and even at many of the hardware warehouses. It’s a cheap, one time expense that will pay dividends for the life of your tank.

Whatever you decide, do not be afraid to experiment. Bulbs do eventually need to be replaced, so try a different kind of bulb next time. See what you like best; it’s all part of making your tank the best that it can possibly be. …Read more >>

Buying an Aquarium

So, it’s come time to buy yourself a new aquarium, and now you are wondering what size you should buy. There are a number of factors that must be considered before you shell out your hard earned cash for that new tank, but don’t lose heart now; this won’t be all that hard to figure out. The first thing that you should know is that bigger IS better. Not only will you have the most impressive looking tank possible, a larger tank is healthier for your fish, as well as easier to maintain in the long run.

But first, let’s take a look at what’s available. In theory, any size of tank is possible, and there are companies that can and will build a tank for you in any dimension that you would like, but since these tanks are quite expensive, we’ll limit our analysis to the most common sizes that you will find stocked in your local pet store.

Aquariums come in three basic dimensions: the regular or rectangular configuration, the “tall”, and the hexagon tank. Each tank has benefits to its design, as well as specific fish that do well in these types of tanks. The “tall” tank style is essentially the same as the standard. These tanks have the same “footprint” as the rectangular tanks, but their height is greater—allowing more gallons per floor area. Hexagon, or corner, tanks are similar to “tall” tanks, but tend to be even taller than the talls—beautiful to look at, but somewhat difficult to clean unless you have arms like a NBA center.

In addition to these basic configurations, aquariums also come in different lengths and widths, but in the long run, every fish enthusiast wants to discuss volume—how many gallons does it hold? The most typical volumes are 10, 20, 29, 55, 80, and 125, although finer pet stores will carry tanks that are even larger, or smaller than those listed here.

So which one do you want? This depends on three main factors: your budget, the amount of space that you have available in your home, and the needs of the particular fish that you will be putting into the tank. There is no one size fits all answer for you here, only you know much money and space that you have to put into this project.

If an inexpensive tank is a must, your best bet is probably going to be the kits that most of the chain stores now offer. A 55 Gallon kit (rectangular) will generally cost around 150$ plus tax in these stores. For this price, you will get the tank, a hang-on-the-back style water filter, heater, hoods and lighting—just add water, decorations, and fish. For a 29 Gallon kit, you can expect to pay about 100$, and the price will go down as your tank size does the same.

But remember, and this seems illogical to most beginners, but large tanks are easier to maintain than small ones. This is largely due to the volume of water, as a large quantity of water is more difficult to foul than a small one. Small tanks really are for experts or alternately--for fish that have really low requirements to stay alive, like goldfish and betas. So, if your budget allows for it, go one size larger than you are now considering. You’ll thank yourself later. If you have an unlimited budget, shoot for the moon! …Read more >>