Tropical Aquarium Freshwater Fish

You will need a thermometer. You can ones that have suction cups so, you can put them on the wall or you can put them at the bottom of the tank in the gravel. The choice is yours. You will also need attachments for your filter and aeration system. The air is moved through plastic tubes. It is necessary to attach clamps and valves to regulate the flow. The items should be made of plastic not metal. The metal could be poisonous to the fish. I would also recommend that you invest in tubiflex strainers and feeding rings. You install them in the corner of the aquarium and they are used to prevent dry food from spreading throughout the tank. You will need a fish net to catch your fish coming cleaning time. Get a big net. The smaller nets will require you to chase your fish more and will cause more disruptions to the rest of the tank. You can also use a glass trap. This creates less disturbance and the fish are not able to see you coming behind them. They will know something is behind them but they will not be able to determine what that is. Plant tongs are also useful. They will come in handy when you need to thin out the plants or remove dead debris from them. You will also need a hose about 5 feet by inch in diameter. If you have tested your tap water and it is suitable for your tank, you will want a hose that is long enough to reach from your tank to the sink. Depending on the size of your tank, the larger the tank, the easier it is to fill using the tap. It is a pain in the butt to carry large buckets throughout the house to fill up the tank You will also need 2 buckets. Be sure to mark them for tank use only. It is important that they are not used for anything else. Even the smallest amount of soap or detergent will be harmful to your fish. A bucket with a spout is your best bet. The front panel of the tank should be cleaned using a window wiper. Preferably with felt or razor edge. Brass with scratch the surface. IF you are planning to photograph your fish, this will not be in your best interest. Most algae will be able to be wiped off with the foam rubber side. The rougher side of the wiper will remove the calcium and the tougher algae. Other option is a wiper with a magnet. The magnet is placed inside the tank and will clean as it moves. It is important to note if you are going to use household utensils to clean the tank. Remember to place them in hot water for a few hours. IF they still smell of plastic after that, they are not acceptable for aquarium use. Plastic utensils give off a toxic substance which will be harmful to your fish. Once you have installed all the equipment, you are ready to decorate the tank. Setting Up and Decorating the Aquarium The back wall It is not necessary to decorate the back wall but some fish might feel safer if it is protected. The aquarium will also appear more peaceful and deeper if the back it covered. The easiest thing to do is to paint it back or grey. You can make a backdrop behind it and mount it behind the aquarium. Remember that the back wall will get covered with algae and the decorations may vanish out of sight after
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Tropical Fish Secrets idea when you first set up your tank to filter the water through the charcoal which will help to remove harmful substances. Okay, so we have talked about the kinds of filter and but how do we take care of filters. How often you need to clean the filter will depend of a lot of factors. It depends on the filter itself, the quality of your water, the size and number of fish in the tank, and the type of food that you feed them. If you are using a biological filter, it will take 2-3 months before they are 100% effective. If your tank is overcrowded or your fish are overfed, your filter will need to be cleaned frequently. Mechanical filters need to be changed as soon as the water gets slimy or the flow of the water is reduced. Charcoal should be cleaned every 3-4 days. (Tip: wash your filter in cold or lukewarm water. Hot water kills bacteria). If the pump stops, it could be due to the filter. In the case, take out the filter and clean it thoroughly. Bacteria will die in oxygen. It is important to that if you do not clean your filter in the tank, you fish may die within a short time after cleaning. It is important to note that filters are not a substitute for cleaning the tank. It is still important to clean the tank regularly. All healthy aquariums have plants in them. Don t underestimate the contribution of plants in your tank. Remember that the purposes for filters are not just to keep the water clean but to keep the water moving. In a tank with no filters or aeration, the bacteria forms quickly which creates more carbon dioxide and can suffocate the fish. For this reason, it is quite important to get rid of the carbon dioxide. One way that is quite effective is to install the filter so that the outlets are at water surface. This will allow the water to have contact with the air which gives off carbon dioxide and the oxygen is then carried into the aquarium. You filter can also be run on an air pump. The air will run through the stones in the filter. This will create a larger exchange for gases between the water and the air. Air stones should be changed every 3- 4 months because they will clog and start to discharge large bubbles. Larger bubbles will cause the pump to work harder. Arrange the air stone and the filter outlets so that there are no warm or cool spots. The best way to determine how the water moves in your tank is to sprinkle a bit of peat on the water. This will tell you the changes that you need to make in the tank. Tip: the more plants that you have in the tank the more carbon dioxide they will take on. I would recommend that your tank resemble a botanical underwater garden with the fish being used to highlight the garden. Most people do the opposite. What happens in that case is that the tank is overcrowded with fish and the plants because covered with algae and barely survive. You also need to have a strong aeration then in the tank to support the fish and the plants and to get rid of the excess carbon dioxide that is produced. Okay.. so, we have discussed the equipment that you will need. I know what you are thinking. Is that it? Is that all I need? NO, you will need a few more things before you can set up the tank.
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In addition to the lighting, the filter is an important aspect of your aquarium. It is the filer that will remove leftover food, fish feces and decaying plant material. A filter will improve the quality of the water and make it look cleaner. Remember that water with some debris is far less harmful than crystal clear water over loaded with waste products. Most filters are placed inside the tank and can be used for small aquariums or your breeding or quarantine tank. There are also larger filters can be used if you do not want to use an outside filter. Inside filters can be hidden by the plants without any damage to their functioning. One drawback of an inside filter is that cleaning the filter may disrupt the inhabitants of the tank. Most inside filters come with an air pump. Some new model come equipped with cassettes of filter material so that you don t have to take the entire filter out of the water. Outside filter are used when you don t want to clutter the inside to of the tank. They can be mounded behind the tank or put lower in a cabinet out of sight. It is for this reason that outside filters are generally bigger. Small outside pumps are run by air pumps and large ones are usually run with water pumps. These types of filters create a strong current and clean the water. They work best for tanks that are 30 inches or 80 cm. Outside filters are also better for aquariums that are highly populated. There are three types of filters- biological slow filters, under gravel and mechanical fast filters. Biological slow filters break down the bacteria and algae in the tank after two weeks. The organisms will break down the waste products. Remember that bacteria needs oxygen to survive. Many filters will only filter the first 2-4 inches. It is best to use a filter that passes through 2 inches thick with a large surface. Under-gravel filters are also good. The water is pumped underneath and grated on the bottom of the aquarium. Bottom heating causes the water to flow up through the gravel. You filter should be large enough that the water flows through it every hour. Remember that the efficiency can drop by 50 %. This is important to remember when you are purchasing a filter. Mechanical fast filters are water pumps with small filter that will remove large particles or debris in floating water. They are good for heavily populated tanks. They are no substitute for slow filters or for regular tank upkeep. The filter does require some maintenance. It needs to be washed and replaced frequently. If you do not do the general upkeep, bacteria will form on the filter and it will slow down the filtering system. This defeats the purpose of the filter. There are two reasons for the filter. One is to alter the water and the other is to remove harmful substances from the water. Gravel is a house for bacteria. Polyester fiber takes small particles out of the water. Charcoal draws toxic substances from the water. Substances will soon break down in a charcoal filter. Due to this charcoal filters need to be changed more frequently. You will need to change them every 3-4 days. It is good to keep charcoal on hand. It is a good
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Tropical Fish Secrets It is hard to determine what the exact lighting for the fish is. The advantage to having a well planted aquarium is that if it is too bright for you fish, they can find shade among the plants. The more natural the lighting is to sunlight the more natural the fish and plants will appear. The color of the light varies depending on the time of day. How does that affect your aquarium? Well, the different colours of light encourage different things. Red light which occurs in the morning or the evening encourages vertical growth. Blue light which occurs in the midday fosters the sturdiness of the plants. For these reasons, it is important that you supply your aquarium with both sources of light. Most tanks use fluorescent tubes because light bulbs are too expensive and generally give off too much heat. Fluorescent tubes are also used because you can vary the types of tubes that you use. The variations will provide different coloured lights that will give your aquarium a good mixture for both the fish and the plants. An aquarium should have a combination of warm and cold tone lights. Warm tones tend to use the red end of the spectrum and cold tones tend to use the blue end. White lights will give you a range of the spectrum. (Tip: Grow lights tend to change the look of your fish). If you are going to use grow lights, they should not be used in the first three to six months because they cause algae to form. It is important to note that fluorescent lights will lose half their power within six months. You should replace your lights every 6 months. Most lights have reflectors that will increase the light intensity. If this is not the case, then you can line your cover with foil. This will give you the same effect. Ask your retailer for fluorescent tubes with reflective coating. The light will be more efficient if you clean the cover every week. Mineral deposit and algae will build up on the cover making your fluorescent lights ineffective. It is ideal if you can hang the fluorescent lighting above the tank. They will then not heat the aquarium and they are out of splashing range. It is also easier to clean, catch fish and empty the tank if there are no lights attached to it. IF you have to move the lights to do anything in the tank, you might not be able to see what you need to do in the tank. A good distance between the lights and the cover is 4 inches or 10 cm. Then if you need to do work in the tank, you can raise them. Another type of lighting that has become popular recently is mercury vapor lights. They are usually suspended over the aquarium and they have been quite successful. This type of lighting should only be used in tanks that are 20 inches or higher. They tend to last longer than fluorescent lights and they are still 80% of their original capacity after 2 years of use. They are also at full intensity after about 5 minutes. This mimicks the natural sunrise and may be easier on the occupants of the aquarium. It is not uncommon that plants under this form of lighting will grow quite quickly and will require you to cut them back. I recommend that you plant the back and the side with dense plants and leave the top open. In this case, you may not need to cover the dense area of plants. Fish hardly ever jump where there are dense plants.
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Tropical Fish Secrets It is important to get a thermostat that is UL approved for safety. This heater has the least amount of problems associated with it. Some possible problems are an electric shock. You might need to clip a plant and clean the glass. You usually will not be able to tell if the fish got a shock. To ensure that this does not happen, it is recommended that you invest in an electronic safety device. They are used between the outlet and the unit and automatically shut off if there is a malfunction. Lighting Whether you fish and plants like constant sunlight or thrive in a cycled environment it is important to get proper lighting. Some will suggest that you place your aquarium by the window to get as much daylight as you can. The problem is that you can t control the sunlight. It is also possible that if you place the aquarium by the window, it will follow the seasons. It is not unlikely that you will experience some green algae and turn the water opaque and the plants may wither because it is too dark for them in the winter. Animals and plants are living organisms and they have their own internal clock that determines their daily behavior as well as their seasonal behavior. You have to remember that you are trying to create an environment that is closest to their natural inhabitant. The other area where the element of lighting is important is when you are thinking about breeding. Some species will spawn after sunrise and some will be after dusk. The growth of the plants and fish is based on the length of the day. The length of the day is usually determined by the amount of daylight that they receive. It is important to create an environment that fosters the most growth. Fish that are naturally from areas close to the equator are used to 12 hours of sunlight. To create an environment that is close to their natural inhabit, I advise that you have the aquarium lit for 12- 14 hours a day. I would also advise that you purchase a timer that will turn the lights on automatically. The intensity is also important to keep in mind with regards to your tank. The tank needs the lighting to be supplied for the plants and the fish in the tank. You want the lighting to resemble natural daylight. Your fish will need less light than your plants. Water will also act as a light filter. Smaller plants are more affected by the source of light than the larger plants. Larger plants are closer to the light source. How do you know how much light you need? A good rule of thumb is 0.4 to 0.7 watts per quart (litre) of water. An example is if you aquarium is 48X 12 X 21, your lamp should be about 80 to 140 watts. One thing that is common in the tropics is algae. It is for this reason that you should add algae eating fish immediately. The most common algae eating fish are Siamese Flying Fox, the Sphnenops Molly, and some kind of Bristle- Nose or Chinese Algae- Eater.
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Tropical Fish Secrets you will learn that some are made to be placed inside the tank and others need to mounted on the outside of the tank. If you don t want to see the cords and electrical wires of the heater, you might want to build the heater into the outside filtering equipment. I recommend that you use an automatic temperature heater. I will tell you why. Tropical fish don t really tolerate changes in their water temperature. It should always stay within 2degree F or (1degree C) of the temperature on the thermostat. In a room that is 68 to 73 degrees, your heating capacity of 0.3 to 0.5 is sufficient. The tank only needs to be heated a few degrees above the room temperature. Remember that the lighting will increase the temperature into the tank. It is important that you check the temperature of the tank. During the warm days it might be necessary for you to turn off the thermometer. Okay so, you go to the pet store to buy a thermometer but which one do you buy. The expense one or the cheaper one. In this case, there are some advantages to the cheaper one. The smaller heater will heat the aquarium slower which will allow the fish to adapt better and if there is a problem with it or goes on the blink. You have more time to intervene. The larger thermometers are usually equipped with a heat sensor with a bimetal contact. It will turn off and on constantly and the contact will get stuck. It is possible that it will refuse to open after some time, making it impossible to control the temperature. We have talked about heating the tank for the fish but there are other living organisms in the tank. Plants also require some care. Tropical plants require a warm environment as well. It is for this reason that you need to heat the bottom of the tank. It is important to keep it on degree centigrade above the water. To do this, you will need to put waterproof heating cables on the bottom of the tank. The best way to distribute the heat is in an S shape and should be mounted on tracks or feet so that there is no contact with the glass or you can also incorporate it with the gravel. Another option is to use a heating pad that is placed directly underneath the aquarium separated by the proper insulation. If the heating pad is too strong, it will damage the bottom of the glass. Another advantage of using the bottom heating method is that the fresh water will constantly be flowing through the bottom. This prevents organic matter from rotting at the bottom of the tank. It also helps bring minerals to the plants in the tank, therefore making the aquarium more stable. Heating pads or cables may be able to heat the aquarium without the aid of another heater inside the tank. For best results, you should have one watt for 10 quarts or litres of water. This will ensure proper circulation and it will pass through the gravel one or twice a day. A dual-circuit thermostat will regulate the bottom as well as regulating the tank on the cold days. It is for this reason that this is the best thermometer to get. IF you are going to use a bottom heat, it is important to remember that you will have to change the gravel every year or two. Although gravel will act as a filter, filters do get clogged and dirty. That is the reason for the gravel change.
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Tropical Fish Secrets Africa This water is rich in minerals and for that reason egg-laying fish such as Cyprinodonts, Characins and Cichlids are found from this area. They are usually slightly acid water with low mineral content. The hardness is usually 2 dH, and a pH level of 6.5. with no ammonium or nitrate. East African waters are a little harder with 10 dH and pH of 7.5 to 9.2. The most common fish from this area is mouth breeding Cichlids. They can survive in water as hard as 25dH. The most common is 17 dH and a pH of 8.2. Southeast Asia Water in this area is very soft 0.2 to 0.7 dH and it is practically neutral. Danios are common in this area. The average is 0.6 dH and a pH of 6. 0. All of these figures are estimates and are taken at different times and different rivers in theses areas. This does not take into account the natural effects of such things as floods in these areas. This information provides us with some guidelines that will help us set up our aquariums. Remember that these figures will be very important if you are thinking about breeding your tropical friends. If you want to breed you new addition to your living room, it is important to create an environment that is close to their natural inhabitant. If that is not your desire, they will be able to handle harder and more alkaline waters. Aquarium Equipment and Accessories When you hear the word tropical fish, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Temperature of the water. In order to have any results with tropical fish, you will need a heater. The water should be about 73 to 79 degrees (23 -26 degrees Celsius). There are several types of heaters and several ways to heat the tank. An aquarium heater consists of a heating coil inside a glass tube filed with sand. It is regulated using a thermostat. The most common heaters are electric rod-type heaters without thermostats and automatic heaters with built in thermostats. If you buy your heater separately,
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Tropical Fish Secrets You fish will exhibit symptoms of oxygen deficiency or excessively high levels of carbon dioxide. IF you see your fish coming to the surface often, check your water first before turning up the air pump. The filter changes the ammonia first into nitrite and then into nitrate. Nitrite is highly poisonous and needs to be changed quickly. You should check your nitrite levels every two weeks with a kit. If it is too high, clean your filter and change your water immediately. An easy way to determine whether this is necessary is to smell the water. Nitrite will smell bad. Too much nitrate will harm the plants in the tank and therefore will affect the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the tank. One thing to remember is that our tap water contains more nitrate than the tropical waters. The transformation of ammonia into nitrate uses up a lot of oxygen. The less this occurs the more oxygen that is available to our fish. Because our tap water is really only for human consumption, it is devoid of carbonic acid. Plants provide phosphate, iron and manganese to survive. Our tap water is devoid of these minerals. It is for this reason that it is important to put plants in the tank. They will remove the poisons in the water before you put the fish in it. It ensures the greatest success in your aquarium is to do a dry run with the tank. Set up the tank for two to three weeks. Set up the tank, fill it with water, air pump, and filter etc without the fish in it. This gives the plants a chance to take root and the bacteria can develop which will create a good aquarium environment. I asked you before to think about what kind of fish that you want to put in your tank to determine the size of the tank that you will need. It is also important to think about the natural environment of the fish that you want in terms of the water. Fish from South America which are Neon Tetras, Discus Fish, Angelfish ( Scalares), Armored Corydoreas, and Dwarf Cichlids. Water from the South American region consists of three different types of water- white water, clear water, and black water. White water is cloudy, yellow and clayey. It is soft, as we discussed before is 0.6 to 1.2 dH. And it is slightly acidic pH 6.5 to 6.9. It does have minimum amounts of ammonium and nitrate. Clear water is transparent and yellow to dark olive green in colour. It is extremely soft 0.3 to 0.8 dH and the acid level 4.6 to 6.6 pH. It has hardly any ammonium or nitrate. Black water is transparent and dark brown. It is 0 to 0.1 dH and 3.8 to 5.3 pH with no ammonium or nitrate. There is no distinct division between the three types of water and many fish come from a combination of these waters. Pure black water is not viable for fish to survive in. Central America This water tends to be medium hard to hard and is neutral and slightly alkaloid. The most common fish that are found in this area is Cyprinodonts and live- bearing Toothed Carps.
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Tropical Fish Secrets better in combination with humic acid. Humic acid maintains the acidity better than carbonic acid because carbonic acid fluctuates more with the metabolic action of the plants that are into eh tanks. In their natural habitats, humic acid comes from dead leaves, wood and other plant matter in the water. So, how do we get this in our aquariums? Easy.. you can circulate it through the peat filters or by adding liquid peat extract. Some other factors that affect the water are of course our fish. Fish excrete ammonia. Ammonia can be found in the water from a variety of different sources. Decomposing animal proteins- fish food, dead snails, dead fish, feces and urine all create ammonia in the water. If you over feed your fish, you might be the main reason for high levels of ammonia. The unused food will fall to the bottom of the tank and create ammonia. Ammonia is poisonous even in low amounts. Slightly acidic water will change the water to a less toxic ammonium. Here is a chart that demonstrates the ammonia and ammonium concentrations at different pH levels. pH % Ammonia % Ammonium 6 789 0 1 4 25 100 99 96 75 As long as the pH stays around 5.8 to 7, you fish will be safe from ammonia poisoning. An aquarium that is not cleaned for some time will have a high amount of debris food and the levels of nitrogen will be high. If you circulate is water through an acid-enhancing filter material such as peat, it will convert to ammonium and your fish will be fine. This is the reason why when you decide to change the water in your tank after a long while, some of your fish die. It is because you have changed the environment and the pH in the aquarium has risen from the tap water. When the ammonium rises, there is a change in the ammonia and the fish die from ammonia poisoning. Long gone are the days where people believe that fish can t handle the water change. Now, they are devices available to eliminating cloudily debris without the removing water. It is important to know that aged water means the aquarium has plants but no fish for several weeks. Fresh water is tap water that has sat for a while. One kind of fish that is in constant danger of ammonia poisoning is an East African Cichlids. They are used to alkaline the water. They are heavy feeders and plants do not usually survive in their tanks. It is important to use powerful filters and change their water more frequently. How do you know if you fish is suffering from ammonia poisoning?
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Tropical Fish Secrets purchase from your pet shop. In highly populated areas, you water will come from a variety of different areas. Water from different areas will have a different hardness and chemical composition. Due to this, your tap water will change composition. It is necessary to check your water periodically. Okay… you have check the water using the indicator strips or test kits, how do you know whether it is hard or soft. Going forward, the hardness of the water will be expresses as dH. Each degree of dH is 30 milligrams of calcium carbonate per quart (1 litre) of water. 0-4 degree dH = very soft 5-8 degree dH= soft 9-12 degree dH = medium hard 13 degree dH and up = hard water Tropical fish adapt very well to soft water. The soil in their natural environments have little or no calcium. That is the reason that they adapt so well to soft water. East African Cichlids are the only tropical fish that live in medium or hard water. Water hardness varies on the parts of the country. For this reason, it would be wise to check your water hardness and choose fish that will thrive in that environment. You can change the hardness of the water by mixing distilled water with the tap water to get the proper degree of hardness. It might be expensive to do it this way. Rain water is not an option because it is often too polluted. I know what you are thinking.. You are thinking what I do if the water hardness is too hard or I don t want to have to add distilled water all the time. Well, I have a solution for you. You can buy an ion-exchanger. This is used to remove minerals from the water and will soften the water even purify the water. The type of ion-exchanger that you will need will depend on the hardness of your water. Another way to change the dH in the water is to add fish. There are several fish that you can add to the water depending on what the dH is. If the water is soft, you can get some live-bearing Toothed Carps or large Cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika. If you need to harden the water, you will need some gypsum. You can also buy plastic gypsum at the pet store. The acidity of the water is just as important as the minerals. I will express the acidity in terms of pH. Natural water contains certain substances that react in either an alkaline or acidic fashion. Neutral water has a pH of 7. Water below 7 tells you that the water is acidic. Water above 7 is alkaline. For our purposes, most tropical fish need an pH of 5.8 to 7. (East African Cichlids need a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 pH). It is necessary to test your tank for the pH level periodically. You can do this with a test kit or indicator strips. If you water is below 5.5 pH or above 9 pH, your fish will show signs of illness. Tropical fish come from an environment which consists of carbonic acid, carbon dioxide and humic acid. Plants are able to absorb minerals and trace element
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