Aquarium Care

Useful articles, news, information, product reviews about aquarium care

Posts Tagged ‘Pet Fish’

Beginner Aquarium Fish Guidelines

Starting your very own aquarium can be very exciting. Knowing just the right things needed for beginner aquarium fish is important. There are quite a few things to consider when starting an aquarium. You will need to consider the water conditions in your area, how easy they are to feed, and where they were raised.

Beginner fish need to be hardy. They can survive in difficult conditions. They can be overfed, underfed, or live in unfavorable water conditions. Starting with hardy ones is important because beginning aquarists are still learning exactly how to take care of their fish. They are learning how much they need to feed them, how often to change the aquarium water, and how many and what kind belong in one tank together.

Beginner fish need to be able to be easily fed. These are the ones that survive solely on dry food. Dry food can be found at many supermarkets and at any pet store. They can also be fed treats. The treats are usually bloodworms and mosquito larvae. However treats are not necessary and the fish do not need fancy frozen foods to survive.

Commercially raised fish are great starter fish. They have shown that they can survive in a tank as opposed to ones that are caught in the wild. Some fish that are caught in the wild will not survive in a tank. Fortunately, there are plenty of options at stores and pet stores.

Purchasing fish that can survive in tap water is also important. It can be difficult and costly to purchase ones that need purified water. Just be certain to use water conditioner to get rid of chloramines in the water. Knowing your water conditions is also important. The two main types are hard and soft. Take the water to the local pet store and they should be able to tell you which ones will survive the best with your water conditions.

Purchasing non-aggressive fish may also be a positive. If aggressive ones are purchased, only one can survive in the tank. If more than one is wanted it is best to get ones that get along well with others. To find out which ones are non-aggressive, just watch the tank and the ones that are getting along with others and not fighting are the ones you want.

Picking ones that meet these qualifications will help you on your way to purchasing good beginner aquarium fish for your tank. There are many options out there to choose from and they are found at a majority of pet stores and some local shops in your area.

Sphere: Related Content

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pet Fish and Animal Care – Tips For Treating and Caring for a Coral Aquarium

When people start a saltwater aquarium they do so because they have an compulsion to create a miniature version of the ocean in their living room. They want the whole kit and caboodle; the brightly colored fish, the flowing plants, the half rotted pirates ship, and the coral reef. Growing a coral reef in your saltwater aquarium is the ultimate goal for many saltwater aquarium enthusiast.

There are some steps to take when setting up a new coral aquarium. The process may seem to take a long time, and because of this, many people opt to use fake coral instead. However, the time spent waiting will be well worth it when you are later able to display your own coral aquarium.

Having good water is especially important if your want your coral reef to survive. An abrupt change in your water can cause the polyps to go into a state of shock, this will cause your reef to become discolored. Your aquarium must be filled with clear water which will allow the coral reef to get the full benefit of your lighting. Coral requires a strong water current, outfit your tank with a filter that circulates the water throughout your entire tank. Avoid a linear current.

After four weeks has passed, you will then add your first living creatures to the tank. It is best to add fish later, and slowly as to make sure the salt balance in the tank is correct and remains that way. At this time, you can add a variety of snails or crabs if you wish to have them part of your tank. You will also need to install a protein skimmer. The tank should be functioning as if it were full of fish.

Throw away any food that has been open for over five months, it becomes stale. You may want to consider purchasing liquid or bottled food for your corral. The size of the polyps in your coral reef will tell you a great deal about their food requirements. If you have large fleshy looking polyps you will be able to feed them large pieces of food, minced meat and large zoo plankton.

Now you have succeeded in creating your reef aquarium. During the course of the 10 to 12 week mark, you may begin adding your fish to your underwater world. It may seem a long drawn out process to get a coral aquarium up and running, but the time and hard work will pay off for years to come. Creating and caring for your coral aquarium will bring you much enjoyment and a wonderful sense of accomplishment for creating a spectacular coral aquarium.

Jeff Parke is a writer and blogger who writes blogs and articles specializing in pets and animals. His betta fish care website is one of his 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.

Sphere: Related Content

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Look To Make Sure That You Are Buying Disease Free Fish At Pet Store

A home aquarium is a thing of beauty, and can add interest to a room. It does require a bit of maintenance to ensure that the tanks occupants are all healthy. It is essential to make sure that you are buying healthy fish at pet store, as if you introduce an unhealthy fish to your aquarium, the disease could spread to everyone else.

Pick a decent pet store to buy your fish from. Examine the tanks when you go in, and ask yourself if it looks immaculately clean and well cared for. Staff should be anxious to help you, and knowledgeable about their stock. You really need to be an enthusiast to work in a pet store.

The fish tanks should look clean and fresh, and should not smell. All the fish should look alert and healthy, and their colors bright. Their fins should be pointing up and should be rigid and not floppy. Fish that look as if they have been bitten by others could be feeling ill, and unable to protect themselves.

Take a close look at the fish you want, as the body should be all nicely proportioned and not bulging out weirdly. There should not be any kind of lumps or bumps, or discolored spots. The gills should be a healthy pink and respiration normal. The fish should be happy to interact with others and not afraid or stressed.

Make sure you are buying fish with the correct temperament for your tank. If you have a nice peaceful tank full of community fish then take care not to add anyone too aggressive. They will not calm down in time, but are more likely to attack your fish.

When you get your new fish home, open the lid of the tank and let the bag just rest on the top of the water. This gives new fish a chance to calm down before being introduced to their new home. It also gives the water in the bag time to reach the same temperature as the water in the tank, avoiding any shock to the fish. This should take twenty minutes or so, after which time they can be let out.

Aquariums can take a bit of time to properly maintain, as water will need partial changing, filters have to be checked and glass cleaned. You may find that the water gets cloudy every so often for no good reason. This is normal but annoying. EcoBio-Blocks are a good addition as they can help the water to clear and cut down on general maintenance time each week.

EcoBio-Blocks are made out of a kind of porous stone which is of volcanic origin. The stone contains many minerals and bacteria which are beneficial to the tank and the fish. The bacteria will act to get water clean and sparkling, and will keep it that way. Your fish will have a much healthier environment and will be easy to see. There will also be no odor in the tank.

Fish tanks can make a great focal point for a room, and are worth the effort that they take to set up and maintain. It is worth making the effort of buying healthy fish at the pet store that will live long and happy lives. Most tanks once they are set-up, will require only a short amount of time each week to maintain, especially if you have solved the problem of cloudy water.

Looking for more information on how to keep fish healthy in your fish tank? Get the lowdown now at complete EcoBio-Block review.

Sphere: Related Content

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One Answer To Thriving Fish: Freshwater Aquarium Water Quality

If you live in an apartment, there is a good chance that the only pets you will be able to keep are fish, and that can actually be a good thing. There are a wide variety of fish, and they have very different personalities. You may not be able to play with them like a puppy or a kitten, but the can be a soothing and fascinating addition to your home nonetheless. They do require a bit of preparation for, so you will need to get a tank ready with freshwater aquarium water quality before you go out to select your new pets.

This is, unfortunately, more difficult that just filling a bowl with water and putting the fish in it. Especially if using tap water, that could lead to a very short experience with the hobby. While still easier than maintaining a saltwater environment, there are basic considerations that must be accounted for before adding the beautiful and interesting fish varieties.

If you want to keep fish as pets, you have to maintain the water they will live in just as nature does in the wild. There are narrow ranges of chemicals you need to monitor to keep the fish healthy. Monitoring ammonia, nitrites, the acidity of the water and its oxygenation are all important to keep fish alive. This is relatively easy to check, with kits available at almost any pet store.

Ammonia is going to be a continuous concern and must be monitored. The reason it is so problematic is that the food you feed the fish and the waste the fish excrete add to the ammonia concentrations, and can ultimately kill the fish. Other possible concerns are nitrogen and phosphates which contribute to the growth of algae, which then deplete the water oxygen levels. You can reduce the these problems with products like EcoBio-Block which keeps a continuous supply of beneficial bacteria in the water, breaking down toxins like ammonia into safer by-products and creating a clear and healthy environment for your fish.

Chlorine is usually a factor because we are all rather restricted to tap water as our source for the tank. Nearly all municipalities add chlorine or chloramines to our water to make it healthier for us hardy humans. While it kills things that are bad for people and we tolerate it well, the chlorine/chloramine itself will kill fish. Chlorine will dissipate if the water is left out for 24 hours, however; chloramines must be treated with a special additive. Unless you know for sure that you have chlorine, the safest thing to do is to use the additive.

Another concern for fish is the acidity of the water. There is a range of acidity or alkalinity fish can tolerate, and each species has its own preference, but it is something to check. Kits are available which test the water again using color coding which will tell you the measure of hydronium ions in the water. The pH levels go from very acidic at the zero reading to very alkaline or basic at readings up to fourteen. A reading of seven is neutral and most fish will do well in it.

Without an adequate supply of oxygen, your fish will not survive. This seems obvious and it is usually not a great concern, as oxygen dissolves in water naturally. To ensure there is enough, you can add plants to the tank, which produce it, and you can have pumps that keep water moving, as well as adding an air stone that bubbles air up through the tank continuously. Another factor is keeping the number of fish appropriate to the size of the tank.

One way to help with the initial establishment of a healthy aquarium is to use beneficial bacteria to help establish an appropriate balance right at the beginning. Using products from a reputable company will ensure the water is ready to help your new pets survive and thrive. One source of quality products to gain and maintain freshwater aquarium water quality are the EcoBio-Block products which in simplifying the process, will make for a great aquatic pet experience.

Find great deals on EcoBio-Block Products by going online. There you will find how aquarium water will benefit from this product. Head online and learn more now.

Sphere: Related Content

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tropical Fish Diseases Explained

One of the many things that people find interesting is rearing tropical fishes. This is because they can be extremely rewarding and relaxing at the end of the day when you are admiring the vibrant colors you can find on them in your aquarium after a long hard day at work.

That said, it can also quickly turn to be one big stressful and frustrating experience for a lot of people when they find that their fish might not be as healthy. The fact that fishes are very fragile does not help and thus you would definitely want to learn how to properly take care of them before they fall sick. You will find about some of the common diseases that will afflict your fishes and how to treat them in this article.

One of the most common diseases in a fish is fungal disease, and the symptom you will see are white spots on your fishes. This is most commonly associated to stress experienced by your fish, as such those white spots suggest that your fish might be weakened due to prolong stress. What you should do is to isolate them from the rest and help your fish to relax and not further aggregating it.

Your fish might also easily get inflicted with bacterial diseases, and the telling signs are sores, swelling eyes, as well as ulcers. Bacterial disease can be controlled with the use of antibiotic medication that you can apply to the aquarium to stop the spread of such diseases.

Another different ype of disease is parasitic disease; this is easy to spot when you see your fish acting weird in the tank, such as rubbing their bodies on the floor bed or any other objects in the tank. What you should do to stop the parasite is to give your fish a bath with salt solution, as that will usually help stop the problem.

Finally, there are the viral diseases that you need to pay attention to. When you start seeing swelled up white spots on your fish, it is a symptom of viral disease. You need to immediately control the spread of these viruses before they end up afflicting on all your fishes, isolate the one which has the viral disease and clean your tank as soon as possible. While it might be difficult to find a cure and thus you might want to let it run its course, just be sure that the infected fish are not sharing the same tank with your other fishes.

Need a good night sleep? Your mattress will determine on whether you will be getting a quality sleep tonight or not! Find out how to buy the best latex foam mattress and find discounts on various cotton mattress here!

Sphere: Related Content

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

(c) 2008 Aquarium Care.    •    Brought by Wordpress Admin Theme.    •    Entries (RSS)    •    Comments (RSS)