Freshwater Aquarium Guide
April 8, 2009 by admin
Filed under Keeping Tropical Fish
A major mistake many people make is adding too many fish. Fish need space! You can get three to four small fish per gallon, or one to two medium fish per gallon, or one large fish per gallon. Make sure that the fish you get can be housed together so that you will not have any fish fighting. When you bring your fish home, float the bag in the tank for about twenty minutes so they will adjust to your tank’s temperature. After that you can put them in the aquarium.
Freshwater aquariums generally have a capacity of between 30 and 60 gallons. You need to have an inlet, pumps, a filtration system and an outlet. It’s very important to keep the water cycling through a filtration system in order to maintain the fine ecological balance of your aquarium. The pump is used to keep the water circulating. You can use normal tap water when you fill up your tank initially, or to top it up, but it’s important to make sure it’s of good quality or has been filtered first.
You have endless possibilities when setting up an aquarium of your own in your home. A fresh or saltwater aquarium can be a great addition to any room of the house, and you can create any environment you like using an array of aquarium supplies for your fish to live in. It is important to keep in mind that there are things to consider when first setting up an aquarium, such as the type of fish you would like to have in it.
Many mechanical filters also contain activated carbon, which functions as a biological filter. The chemicals in your freshwater aquarium need to be kept in balance, so zeolites are used to remove ammonia, and water hardness is reduced by ion exchange resins. A biological filter also recycles nitrogen, which is an essential requirement for keeping your fish alive. It’s also a good idea to have an air pump, which increases the circulation of oxygen and its concentration.
You can also get gravel, plants and decorations for your tank. Gravel comes in many colors, such as green, blue, pink and natural colors. If you have a small tank, then get small gravel. For plants, you can use real ones or fake ones. Plastic plants don’t require extra care and come in many varieties. If you want to do real plants, I would wait until you are familiar with taking care of the tank. Decorations for tanks include castles, mu
shrooms, bubble wands, ships and many other plastic things. Just make sure that whatever you put in your tank doesn’t clutter it up.
You should also know that in order to maintain your aquarium, supplies are a necessity. For starters, your tank will need a hood to prevent the fish from jumping out, a filter to keep the water clean, water testing kit for PH water levels, a pump, lighting and others depending on type of aquarium.
The most important maintenance to do on the tank is water changes. Every month you should change about one-third of the water. Use a siphon hose with a suction tube and siphon out about one-third of the water into a bucket. Replace with clean freshwater. Just make sure that the water you replace with is the same temperature as the tank.
The most important maintenance to do on the tank is water changes. Every month you should change about one-third of the water. Use a siphon hose with a suction tube and siphon out about one-third of the water into a bucket. Replace with clean freshwater. Just make sure that the water you replace with is the same temperature as the tank.
What You Must Know Before Releasing Your Fish Into Their New Aquarium
So you’ve went out and bought some fish and the store told you to float the bag for a while and then release them in a tropical fish tank, right? Wrong!
You need to make certain your fish are much more acclimated to the water in a tropical fish tank than that.
Don’t be afraid to ask anyone where you purchase the fish what you should do. They shouldn’t mind testing their water right in front of you.
They’re trying to sell fish right? Ask them for, at minimum, the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. When you get home, test your own water to see how much the two sets of results differ.
This can really help you set the right water for your tropical fish aquarium.
The floating bag method is probably the most common acclimation method and it works well. You just need to be careful when floating a bag full of unknown water in your tank. Ideally, you’re floating the bag in a previously setup quarantine tank but, sadly, many new hobbyists don’t use a quarantine tank. After you’ve been in this a while you can get much more used to how things are done.
Once you leave with your fish, you will want to go straight home to avoid ammonia accumulating in the bag (in the form of fish waste). Once you get home, open the top of the bag and remove about 25% of the water and then replace this water with the same amount of water from your tank.
Next, float the bag in your tank and bring down the hood opening on the open end of the bag to help keep the bag secure. Every 10 minutes add about 1 measuring cup (use less if the bag is smaller) of your tank water to the bag. Repeat this process for about an hour. After an hour has passed use a small net to get the fish out of the bag and gently place the fish into your tank. The main idea here is to slowly get the fish used to your tank water (acclimated). Do not dump the bag water into your tank! If you do, you risk exposing your tropical fish tank to risks.
Some fish may be difficult to net while in the bag and you don’t want to damage the fish while trying to net them. If you’re having difficulty netting the fish, get a large bowl (large salad bowl works well) and carefully pour the bag water into the net, allowing the bowl to catch the water. You could bypass the bowl altogether and do it over a sink but make sure that the drain plug is in place just in case you miss the fish with the net.
This is a great method to use because when you slowly put in the water, you are acclimating the water to the proper way it should be.
