Aquarium Care

Dropsy is a very common, very fatal disease that attacks the betta fish’s internal organs. Very little is known about dropsy, except that it causes kidney failure. No one knows what causes dropsy

Dropsy can be treated with “Maracyn 2″. this is the typical treatment for several ailments such as inner infections, tail rot and gill infections. This antibiotic must be absorbed by the Betta FishCleaning and changeing the water as well as raising the temperature in the tank is a good idea.

Fungal infections generally happen because of bad water conditions. They become visible as white fluffy growths on the betta fish’s mouth, eyes, and fins and are highly infectious.

The Treatment for fungal infections is: Increase the temperature of the betta fish tank. Fungal infections is an outcome of cooler water temperatures. Medicines including Malachite green or Methylene blue are also useful. Malachite green is a totally harmless and helpful cure in fresh and salt water on a wide variety of protozoan, crustacean, and other invertebrate parasites of fishes. Adding ordinary table salt (sodium chloride) to the water, one teaspoon per gallon can lend a hand in minimizing the healing time.

If the water temperature in your tank falls below 80 degrees you may have a battle with Ich or (Ichthyophthirius multifilius) What looks like grains of sugar appearing on the fins and body is a sure indication of Ich.

Useing Malachite green or Methylene blue treatments and adding salt to the tank will help. You must adjust the water temperature to over eighty degrees.

Velvet/Oodinium is an algae parasite found on several freshwater fish. This ailment emerges as a yellow “velvety” covering on the betta fish’s body. It may also become visible as golden or rust colored. It is habitually found in fish which are anxious due to chilling, shipping, water changes or bad water quality. Symptoms comprises of fast breathing and lethargy.

Treatment for Velvety is Raised water temperature and medicines like acriflavine, Methylene Blue or Jungle’s “velvet guard” should help cure this parasite. Bowls or tanks should be drained and unsoiled. Dyes must not be used as they have mercury.

Weaker Betta Fish are suseptable to Fin Rot.

The use of antibiotics and anti-micrbials is used in the treatment of Fin Rot. Adding a teaspoon of table salt and raising the temperature of the water in the tank will help. A common antibiotic tablet is Maracyn 2.

John Anderson has been raising and Caring for Betta Fishfor many years and has compiled a very practical free guide for you at Betta Fish Diseases You will find a lot of facts and some fun.. Also published at How to treat identifieable Betta Fish Diseases.

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Freshwater fish are perhaps the easiest fish to care for in comparison to saltwater species because they are usually hardier fish. You will need a tank, some rocks or substrate to line bottom of the tank. You will also need a filter, and some lighting. When choosing fish, it is imperative to make sure the fish are compatible. Not only do they need to be compatible for water temperature and P.H., but they also should have similar food requirements.

The water temperature in an aquarium for guppies should be kept between seventy two and eighty two degrees. The P.H. level should be kept between 7.0 and 8.2. As you can see these specifications are much more forgiving than those for certain tropical or marine fish. As with any type of aquarium, there are three basic components to caring for the fish.

Freshwater fish should be fed twice daily. Feed only a small amount that can be consumed within the first two to five minutes. Over feeding is a common mistake among novice fish keepers. Any excess food should be lifted with a net if possible, as it will become debris and quickly dirty the tank.

Conversely, most tropical fish will only allow about two degrees of variation in water temperature. It is not uncommon for the novice fish keeper to become easily discouraged. Water conditions are hard to regulate and unfortunately fish, even the freshwater variety, are not the hardiest of creatures. Sometimes they do not survive these fluctuations. It is important to be patient.

Be sure to clean the decorations and any substrate thoroughly before adding them to the aquarium. Live plants are highly recommended in new aquariums as they will help to generate the good bacteria necessary to reduce the amount of ammonia in the tank. It is a good idea to test the ammonia and nitrite levels before adding fish to the aquarium.

A few varieties of guppies are the Fantail, Flagtail, Spadetail, Deltatail and the Roundtail. The names of all of these different types of guppies focus on the tails because they are so remarkable and unique. The tail itself is usually about one third of the size of the whole fish. It is possible to mix guppies with other varieties of fish.

Guppies breed very quickly, usually about every three to four weeks. They will interbreed amongst themselves, so the aquarium could very quickly become filled with many different varieties of color. It is very feasible to have an attractive aquarium without having any other fish at all. If you don’t want the species to interbreed, simply keep them in separate tanks.

Jeff Parke is a writer and blogger who writes articles and blog posts specializing in animals, pets and animals rights. His betta fish care site is one of his many projects that he is passionate about. Along with betta fish care he has written about cats, dog and animal rights just to name a few. Click one of those links to learn more.

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Angelfish, Pterophyllum Scalare, are classified to the family Cichlidae. This family is more casually identified as cichlids. Angelfish are endemic to the Amazon River.

Cichlids have become ever more popular with freshwater aquarists since they started being exported by the aquarium trade after the conclusion of WWII. Angelfish are undoubtedly among the most popular and easily recognizable freshwater fish in the world. Their unique triangular profile makes them one of the most exotic freshwater species on the market. The selective breeding of these creatures has dramatically increased the assortment of angelfish available to the consumer. Angels come in an array of colors, from white, silver, gold and black to striped, marbled and Koi. Their abundance keeps their price exceptionally reasonable. They are a robust species that can stay alive in a multitude of environmental conditions. Angels are one of the most care free fish you can own. Their ease of care has undoubtedly contributed to their global popularity.

Appearances can be misleading. The fish available at the retail stores are not fully grown. Angels routinely grow to six inches in diameter as adults. They can be housed in a fish tank as little as 10 gallons however 20 gallons and is ideal.

Angelfish are non-aggressive. Angelfish make excellent additions to a community tank. Angels will, however, deem smaller community dwellers as a source of nutrition. Avoid keeping them with smaller varieties like rasboras, zebra danios or fancy guppies. It is also ill advisable housing them with species like barbs and tetras. These are fin nippers by nature. An angelfish’s long, flowing fins are delicious taste treat, just begging to be snacked on.

Angelfish are omnivores. Their diet should consist of both plant and animal matter. You will want to make sure to choose a fish food prepared for omnivores as their main staple. A good quality flake food is all you will need to keep your angelfish healthy and happy. Many fish hobbyists prefer to provide an assortment of nutritional choices in addition to the main staple. Although this is not strictly mandatory, it is recommended. You might want to ask yourself; would you want to eat the exact same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of your life? A varied regimen will help to ensure optimum health. Dried seaweed sheets are a wonderful dietary supplement for omnivores. High protein supplements such as brine shrimp, tubifex and bloodworms make ideal dietary supplements. If you can not find them fresh, frozen and freeze-dried preparations are available commercially.

Angels inhabit the Amazon River. They are accustomed to water with a slightly acidic base. A pH factor of 6.8 and temperatures ranging between 72-86 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal environment. If maintained properly an angelfish can live in excess of 10 years.

When it comes to parenting, fish in general can be divided into two basic categories. There are those fish that will abandon their unborn eggs or even ingest them in complete disregard for nature’s mandate to prorogate the species. Then there are the fish that express varying amounts of brooding intuition. All cichlids fall to some extent in the latter category. Angelfish are commonly called open brooders. This simply means that they will prepare a flat surface like a rock or piece of wood in order to lay their eggs on. A common trait among brooders is that they will guard over their unborn offspring until they hatch. Typically the male adopts the role as the protector by standing guard while the female becomes the eggs’ caregiver. Once they are hatched, both parents will take an active role in tending the newborn.

Keeping a specific fish in a fish tank that is not large enough could have catastrophic results. A savvy aquarist wouldn’t think about attempting to keep an angel nano fish tank. To discover more fun filled facts on freshwater aquarium fish browse through my online fish guide.

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It doesn’t readily occur to people that the aquatic creatures in ponds, lakes, rivers, what have you, live the same way that we do – on energy from the sun. It’s easy to look down into the gloomy half-dark world they inhabit and to feel that in an aquarium, they could not want anything more than to be kept in a dark corner all the time and be blinded with bright lights when guests need to see how the light bounces off their iridescent scales. As it turns out, fish and all the pretty plants in an aquarium don’t quite work that way.

The light from the sun and moon may not be quite so bright for them in their natural habitat, but it does exist, and if you see yourself running an aquarium full of bright happy and healthy fish, you do need to replicate for them in your aquarium lighting, the kind of light and darkness that they would have enjoyed in their natural habitat.

Aquarium lighting comes in all kinds intensities and technologies. There are the regular fluorescent strips, the compact fluorescent lamps, metal halide lamps and light emitting diodes – every kind of lighting technology there is, as you can see. If what you have on your hands is an aquarium with freshwater fish, these can survive very well on low-intensity fluorescent lighting. Fish actually like fluorescent lighting much better than incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent lights run cooler, and the light they put out is closer in appearance to daylight. If you’ve been kind to your little finny friends, you’ll have a few little plants colorfully waving around your tank looking for a little light for their photosynthesis.

Plants can’t do with the mild lighting that fish can get by on; they will need brighter aquarium lighting, typically around 5 Watts of fluorescent light for every gallon of water your tank holds. Plants actually use the light they receive for energy; if you have a saltwater aquarium, the algae on the live rock you’ll have used, will appreciate much better lighting too. The key word here is “full spectrum lighting”; these life forms need to receive light on all the wavelengths or colors that the sunlight would let them have. Regular fluorescent lighting will work fine, but actinic light will work even better for plants and algae.

But there can be too much of a good thing too when it comes to lighting. The fish have wake- and sleep-cycles just like us; the idea is then to give them as much darkness as they would have in nature. About 12 hours of darkness would not be a bad idea. Using aquarium lighting of too high an intensity or leaving it turned on for too long can be harmful for the environment in the tank; nuisance algae tend to feel encouraged and tend to take over your tank if there is too much lighting too. A good way to go about it would be to buy an aquarium light timer. The fish will have a steady day- and night-cycle they can count on and you can be sure that you will never forget to make the sun come up or go down for the fish. You wouldn’t want to pull a Truman Show climax-like scene on your fish now would you?

I like writing about fish and christian books on my writing book reviews website daily.

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If you want to have healthy fish, you need to have the right type of water in your fish tank. Many people who are just beginning to set up a fish tank don’t understand how important it is to test your water and treat it for any imbalances. You need to have the right water for your fish.

Different fish have different requirements when it comes to the condition of the water that they will do best in. It is always a good idea to test your water for the pH, gH, and kH levels and try to get fish that thrive in water similar to the water that you already have. This will mean less work for you when it comes to fish tank water treatment.

Tap water tends to be the best type of water for your freshwater fish tanks, but it does need some treatment before it can be used. Chlorine is not good for fish, so you need to remove the chlorine from the water before adding it to your tank. You can use a conditioner as a way to try to correct any imbalances in your water and add beneficial substances. This type of fish tank water treatment is common. It will get rid of the chlorine. You can also leave tap water sitting out for 24 hours to get rid of chlorine, though this will not correct any other imbalances.

If the pH of your water is not at the right level, or is not remaining stable, you might need to do a fish tank water treatment in order to correct this. Sometimes this can be as simple as mixing a small amount of spring water in with the tank water. Other times you will need to treat whatever is causing the pH fluctuation.

You also need to make sure that the kH, or concentration of carbonates and bicarbonates, in your water is at the proper level. These help to buffer the water so that the pH stays more constant, otherwise as time goes on it will get acidic. There are a number of different options you can use for fish tank water treatment if you have high or low kH levels, including various chemicals you can purchase at the store.

You gH is the general hardness of your water. Some fish prefer harder water and some prefer softer water. You can use peat moss to soften the water, or add rocks to help harden the water. The simplest thing to do is get fish that suit the water that you already have so you don’t need to do too much treatment of your water.

Dustin Williams is a writer and hobbyist who has kept aquarium fish for several years. He has learned much about owning a home aquarium from reading books and personal experience. To learn more about proper fish tank water treatment please visit HomeAquariumSupplies.com.

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