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 >>

The Water Cycle in your Aquarium

You have probably already realized that you can’t just toss your fish into a tank full of tap water and have it remain healthy. It’s important to understand the water cycle and how cycling your tank can improve your pet’s chance of survival.

During the first couple of months after an aquarium is set up, many people experience higher than normal rates of fish loss. This has usually been referred to as “new tank syndrome”, and while there are many causes why the fish die, in this instance it’s usually due to ammonia spikes caused by an ineffective biological filter.

The good news is this is usually a temporary problem that goes away with time, and while we’ll explain how this works and what you can do about it, we’ll also recommend against buying any fragile fish for the first couple of months. It is best to start with a couple of cheap, hardy and difficult to kill fish. You can always give them back to the pet store after a couple of months if they are not the type of fish that you want to keep forever.

The biological filter develops over time as bacteria grow inside of your filter (and your water, and your substrate). This bacterium is beneficial to you, attacking the fish wastes in your tank and breaking them down into less harmful chemicals. The pattern goes from waste to ammonia into nitrites and next into nitrates. Nitrates are the least harmful of these, but can still sicken and damage your fish if not removed by the regular water changes that you must be doing.

This bacterium grows slowly over time, and is odorless and completely safe for your fish. It is present in every fish tank and must be carefully maintained, your fishes’ lives depend on it. So here are a few suggestions that will benefit you and your fish by keeping these bacteria alive.

Never replace more than 50% of your water at any one time. Indeed, 20-25% of your water at one time is probably your best bet. Remember, if you change all of your water, you will also remove the beneficial bacterial colony.

When you establish your tank, make sure that you have some sort of substrate at the bottom: gravel, rocks, sand, any of them will work just fine. You can go with the natural gravel or buy the brightly colored stuff from the pet store. Either way, you will be giving the bacteria a place to live, as well as beautifying your tank.

When you do your water changes, never wash your filters in tap water. The chlorine from the tap will kill the bacteria. Chlorine is good for drinking water, but bad for your fish! Instead, hand-rinse your filters in your bucket of removed water. Rinse out the large particulate matter from the filters and then put them back in the filter unit. If you have a sponge type filter, you will almost never have to replace them, just rinse and replace.

Just follow few simple steps, and most of them require that you do absolutely nothing. It just doesn’t get any easier than that to maintain a healthy water balance in your fish tanks. …Read more >>