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 This is a care sheet
I have put together to thoroughly explain how to appropriately attend
to your pets needs. This is a low demand, very gratifying hobby. Granted
it is not for everyone, and as your interest in this hobby may vary
at times, there is just so much to learn, and do differently, you can
never get tired of being an aquarist.
However, you cannot
simply put fish into a tank with water in it, and *presto* have an instant,
healthy fish tank. Not taking into consideration that you do need to
take care of the water is bound to limit and inhibit the success you
have. There are a few things you need to know to have enough knowledge
to get by with. I suggest that before you buy fish, plants or anything
you put in your tank that you attempt to find as much information as
possible, from successful people, and reputable resources on the internet
and books. However, if you are to trust fish vendor’s advice it is wise
to test their water with the appropriate test kits, and then decide
what you want to do.
The most important thing
a fish keeper can strive to achieve and understand is the nitrogen cycle
in a tank. Some things people call *the nitrogen cycle* are seasoned,
broken in, established and finally cycled. I like the term cycled, so
that is what you will hear me refer to it as.
Cycling a tank is the hardest part of fish keeping. You will likely
be doing water changes every three days and sometimes more to keep the
water quality at a reasonable level. The good news is it doesn't take
long until your tank is cycled. Cycling usually takes six weeks but
can take place in a shorter or longer time period. Every tank is different,
and no one can tell you an exact date it will be complete. You will
want test kits for your tank, especially during this stage. Ammonia,
Nitrite, Nitrate and pH kit are bare minimum for testing supplies that
successful fish keepers have. You will know you’re done cycling when
your tests read zero Ammonia and Nitrite and detectable Nitrate.
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By now you are thinking
OK, what exactly is cycling, right?Allow me to explain: After you have
added a dechlorinator to your tank water, allow the temperature of the
water to rise to about 78*, and turn your filter on, your now going
to add your fish. The best choice of fish to do this with are goldfish
(because they are cheap) or danios. You can always give them away back
to your local fish store, or someone that wants them, after your done
cycling.
You feed your fish in
turn they poop and pee, and the uneaten food that may be on the bottom,
rots. This all produces Ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. Within
a few days of adding fish, bacteria’s begins to come to life. This bacterium
is called Nitrosomonas. All it eats is Ammonia, but it poops
Nitrite. Nitrite is also very toxic to your fish. Another bacteria begins
to eat the Nitrite, it's called Nitrobacter and it's by product
is Nitrate.Nitrobacter feed on the Nitrite produced by Nitrosomonas
It is your job, as the caretaker to remove that nitrate. By no means
leaving it in there is "natural". You need to perform 50%
water changes, every week, to keep your fish healthy.
In the wild fish constantly have a fresh supply of water. It
is poor fish keeping to not do water changes on a regular basis. If
you don't want to do them, do not keep fish. The only thing your fish
will ask of you is to feed them, and change their water. You do not
need to bond with them, take them for walks, let them outside, or even
clean up after them if they have an accident. They are wonderful pets
for a responsible child, because of the limited care they require. These
bacteria take up a home in your filter mostly. So care needs to be taken
to the filter. When changing your filter inserts you need to seed the
new inserts with a piece of the old one. You don't need to change the
inserts as often as the packaging says, only once it gets to dirty you
cannot clean it. To clean it, I bi-weekly rinse it in a bucket of old
tank water that I have removed from my water change. I actually prefer
to use polyester floss in my aquaclear filters, instead of brand name
supplies. I buy a large bag of it in Wal*Mart, in the craft section
for about $4 Canadian, it should last you a few years. You can also
use the polyester batting sheets, just make sure whatever you buy is
polyester, and contains no cotton, or other natural materials because
it will break down quickly, adding to the bio-load, and possibly ruining
your water quality. Never rinse your filters in tap water, as the chlorine
will kill all of those bacteria you so badly need for your fish to survive
and you will need to re-cycle your tank. Your tank never really finishes
cycling, as the bacteria are always there, and always need something
to eat. If they are starved (all the fish are removed) all of the bacteria
will die.
*Bio-Spira*
This is the one and
only. Many products out in the market may claim to help cycle your tank.
They don't. Well maybe I should be nicer. They do the same thing fish
food would, except they are already predecomposed. It's more readily
available, but it does not actually contain the bacteria, like Bio-Spira
contains.
Bio-Spira needs to be
constantly refrigerated, if it's not, the bacteria die. It does expire,
so check the date.
After you have had your
fish in the tank for a few days, and you begin to see ammonia building
up, say 1ppm, then this is a good time to add your Bio-Spira. The bacteria
it contains should start to use up what has built up in your tank. Only
put in half the dosage, then the other half 3-4 days later. Make sure
it is kept refrigerated!! Test your water and you should read 0 ppm
Ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrite, and detectable nitrate. You’re finished cycling
when you get these results!!
Tank Maintanence
This is pretty simple.
Weekly water changes of 50%. Do not add salts, they are a waste of your
$$. Most tap water contains some salt, and freshwater fish are fresh
water, not marine, or brackish. Salts in freshwater has very limited
uses. During water changes you need to add the appropriate amount of
dechlorinator. Make sure the product removes metals, chlorine (and chloramines,
if your water supply contains it). You can call your local city to find
this out. When you change your water you need to vacuum your gravel,
with a gravel vacuum, hehe.
You'll want to feed
your fish a very assorted diet, and be aware of what each fish likes
to eat. Feed 2x a day, and only what they eat in 2 minutes. Anymore
than this will only pollute your tank.
Now as for the dreaded pH adjusters
These things are a
debate in aquarists. Many people (and I) believe that these "adjusters"
are just as useless as the products that claim they cycle your tank
(with the exception of Bio-Spira). I'm sure you have heard that "this
fish likes an acidic pH, this one prefers an alkaline, this one basic..."
This speaks some truth, but generally most fish you can obtain is bred
and raised in regular tap water, without such large drastic measures
(adjusting pH) taken to keep them. They may come from those types of
waters, but that does not say that they cannot thrive without them.
There are definite exceptions to this. Some fish will not breed unless
in a specific type of water, some will not thrive, and some still will
not even live without their specific water perimeters. This is true
for many Cichlids, exotic Bettas, and wild caught specimens.
Average aquarists don't
want to have elaborate care. Many have three or more aquariums, and
many just don't want to spend that type of time or $$. This would entail
starting with pure RO water and adding buffers, buffers that cost lots
of $$.
The thing with trying
to "fix" your tap pH is that the tap water already has buffers
in it to hold it at that pH level, steadily. Messing with the pH just
messes with the buffers. Say your pH is 7.4 and you think your pH would
be better at 7.0 (basic), so you put in the pH adjuster and drop it
down. The next morning you are checking your pH again and *DARN IT!!*
It's back up, what are you going to do? Add more, in hopes that it will
stay where you want it. But it doesn't, the pH jumps back up again.
By now you are eroding those buffers, and soon they will just give up,
and your pH will *CRASH!!* All this time that you have been trying to
make your fish’s environment better, all you have done is made it worse.
You have gone through what I call a Yo-Yo effect.Chances are high that
your fish are completely stressed, and may become sick, and possibly
die if you continue to have them endure this.
Considering that your
fish will most likely live long healthy lives in your local tap water,
there should be no need to mess around with your pH like this. There
are "natural" ways to change your pH, like coral sand, crushed
oyster shells, peat moss, bogwood, and a few others. If you want to
keep any African cichlids you may need/want a higher pH for them. Then
you should have a crushed coral or oyster substrate. I think if you
want to explore this option more and are still interested in building
your own water, you should look up the appropriate information, or you
can ask me for help. I also know great websites I can refer you to that
can help you with everything possible, and I have my own collective
information as well.
Stocking
This is another big
issue. First I want you to take that "golden rule of thumb"
1 inch per gallon of water, and FLUSH IT!!!! It is nothing more than
a myth. First consider Neons. They grows to around one inch. It is a
long and slender fish. It is small. Do you think ten would live Ok in
a ten gallon tank? That is ten inches of fish... yes; with adequate
water changes they will be very happy in that tank. Now consider a ten
inch Oscar (which, by the way, they can get larger then that) Do you
think it would live happily in a ten gallon tank? No. It couldn't even
turn around, and that is not to mention the bio-load an Oscar has...
You need to contemplate
is that enough space for the fish you are thinking of getting. Do they
have the swimming room they need? Are they active, fast fish? Or slow
graceful thoughtful fish?
Another thing to consider
is are they always in each others face? Can they have some time by themselves?
Fish need this just as much as you and I do, and it is essential that
they get the space they need to be by themselves, even if just for a
few minutes.
Are these fish all compatible
together? Do you have proper numbers of each species? Tetras, Cories,
loaches, and a few other species need the company of others.
A small school is six, you want to have at least six Cories, Tetras
etc. This doesn't mean you can have several types of different Cories
to make up a school. For example let’s say you want Panda Cories, you'll
need at least six Panda Cories. This gives them security and the fish
that enjoy the same games as one another. It allows them to act more
naturally. Just because it's a tetra, doesn't mean it will be part of
the school.
Another thing that plays
an important role in your stocking is size. Anything that can fit in
another fish’s mouth is food to the bigger fish.
The Personality of each
and every fish is different. You will hear all the time that Bettas
should be in species only tanks, or that they shouldn't be with anything
with long fins. However, in truth every fish is different. Some fish
enjoy company of others, while another may not. One may not like snails
or shrimp, or another of its species, but the next will love his snail
buddy, or the guppy you gave him to eat (but he never did).
And lastly, and most
important, can the tank you want them to live in handle how much bio-load
they are. A goldfish starts out as a small creature, and for centuries
they have been kept in bowls. That is SOO wrong, because they are pooping
machines and are an enormous bio-load. As babies, they should be in
nothing smaller than twenty gallons per goldfish and as they get larger
nothing less than 55g. They also get to at least 12" for almost
every species of goldfish, many get much larger.You may have also heard
the myth that a fish will not grow larger then its tank permits. Yes
that is true, but in some Asian cultures the women may bind their feet,
from infancy, to prevent them from growing. This is not healthy for
their feet. It makes them deformed. The same goes for fish. They may
*look* fine, but inside their bladder may be to large, while the kidneys
to small. Their heart may be too large and the lungs to small. In short
this will give your fish an untimely death, and probably very painful
at that...
Conclusion
Now there are some
things you should live by in this hobby. My personal favourite
and the most common quote you'd hear on Badmans Tropical Fish Board
is "Freshwater fish love fresh water". Do at
least 50% weekly water changes. Bigger is better, the more water in
the box the more it can dilute the toxins produced, besides who doesn't
want a bigger home? And lastly use as little chemicals in your water
as possible.
This is just a basic
hand guide for beginners, and fish keeping has many more aspects to
it, then I have mentioned. It's your responsibility to learn everything
you need and want to know, and I would be more then happy to help you,
it's just up to you to ask.
*We are keepers of water, collectors
of fish*
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