Tropical Fish Information – Your Fish Tank Guru

Hello, Patty here.

Everyone has heard the old saying “you are what you eat” and, when considering your diet, we all know which foods we’re supposed to eat (not that we always do) to keep our bodies happy and live long and healthy lives. The same goes for our pets; even our fish! Just as we supplement and vary the diets of dogs, cats, and other pets, it is important to vary the foods we give our fish, so that they can develop to their full potential with regards to color and size and so they can get nutrition necessary for breeding, fighting parasites and diseases, and for looking their best for years in your aquarium.

Tropical Flake Food. is a staple

Flake Food There is a plethora of foods in the market today for feeding aquarium fish. Most of the foods aquarists are accustomed to are in flake, pellet or granule form. These foods are the staple diet most people feed their fish as they are economical, well preserved, easy to store and convenient to feed. They are formulated with ingredients like fish meal, wheat flour, and a laundry list of other ingredients including added colors and vitamins to make up for the natural nutrients lost in the preparation of these foods. These foods are often sold as complete diets, and will keep fish alive and well-colored, but may ultimately be lacking. Kind of like one of us eating ramen noodles or some similar packaged food, every meal of every day.
Fresh is best, Frozen is still better

Frozen FoodSo what do you do if you want to give your fish a diet upgrade? There are very few fresh or live fish foods available to consumers, but earthworms, blackworms, ghost shrimp and some others can be a nice treat for some fish if you can find them. A terrific alternative is choosing frozen foods and formulas to supplement the flake food regimen several times through the week. These foods are harvested and frozen at the peak of freshness, preserving the naturally occurring vitamins and nutrients. Many of these foods are (or are very similar to) foods that the fish in your aquarium would seek out in their natural environment. Today, there are varieties of frozen foods available to suit the needs of just about any type of fish you keep. These high-quality, high-protein food items increase the vitality and color of your fish, and allow you to see the fish develop and thrive.

Frozen FoodMany of the frozen foods on the market are aimed at marine fish and corals, but not exclusively. There are brine shrimp, mysis, plankton, baby brine shrimp, clam, mussel, and more which give you lots of options for variety and each with its own benefits. Baby Brine, for example are very tiny but high in nutrition and ideal for fish fry and filter feeding inverts and corals, while clam, mussel, and squid come in larger pieces for larger fish. Whole silversides and sand eels are great for groupers, eels and other larger fish with big appetites!

Freshwater options include bloodworms, glass worms, and beef heart, though mysis shrimp, plankton and brine may also be fed.

Frozen FoodThere are also several formula foods available, which are combinations of these proteins which may be suspended in a gel with other foods such as spirulina, sponge or other specialty food bits to enhance the diets of specialty feeders like marine angels and omnivores. Consider the fish you’re keeping and what they might eat on the reef or in the river bed to select what’s best.
Some Things About Frozen Foods

Frozen foods are available for purchase online or in retail stores. Being frozen, these foods are shipped with dry ice to keep them in that state. The foods must be thawed before feeding, but this is easy as the foods are usually in cube serving form or in thin flat packs that can easily portioned and the appropriate portion snapped off from the body of the pack. The food portions can be placed in a small vessel of cool water (never warm or hot water as it will cook the food and break down the nutrients) and will be thawed in minutes and ready to feed. You may even choose to soak frozen foods in additional vitamin supplements like garlic extract or Selcon as they thaw to enhance them even more.

Frozen foods may be a bit more expensive and perishable, but the benefits to the food will outweigh the disadvantages. Give it a try – your fish will love you for it!

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions about feeding frozen foods or feeding fish in general let us know!

Until Next Time,

Patty

From That Fish Place – That Pet Place

Treating Common Ailments in Freshwater Aquarium Fish
By Jason MacParland

Although partial water changes and good quality food lower the chances of fish ailments, fish keepers should always know ways to treating common ailments in freshwater aquarium fish. There are many diseases that can strike fish and while some of these diseases are rare, others are more common. This article will elaborate on all you need to know about treating common ailments in aquarium fish.

Illness in Fish

Aquariums contain many parasites that cause diseases like hex, ich, hole in the head disease, velvet and dropsy. Fish that have a healthy immune system fight off these parasites but fish that are stressed out get affected by these parasites. Partial water changes and good food ensure that your fish have a strong immune system.

Treating Ich

Ich is also known as white spots since the main symptom of this disease is white spots on the body of the affected fish. Fish that are affected by ich often scratch their bodies on decorations and the glass which causes wounds along with secondary infection. Treatment of this disease consists of raising the temperature of the water by 2 – 3 degrees and using 1 teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon water. If the affected fish does not improve with this course of treatment then you can use malachite green or methylene blue to treat the fish.

Treating Hole in The Head

Hole in the head is caused due to a lot of factors but the most common cause is bad water conditions. The main symptom of this illness is a hole in the forehead of the fish. Angelfish, Oscars and discus are often affected by this illness. Treatment of this illness consists of improving water quality by changing 30% water every 2 days for 1 month. While changing the water you should also use 1 teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon water. After this disease has been cured you should continue to maintain water quality so that your fish are not affected by this illness again. A combination of Marcyn medications are sometimes used to treat hole in the head disease.

Treating Dropsy

Dropsy in fish is caused due to bacteria and symptoms of dropsy include a swollen tummy and scales that protrude like a pine cone when looked from above. This disease is considered fatal and hard to treat if not caught in time. Treatment of dropsy consists of using Epsom salt to extract water from the body of the fish. Anti bacterial medicines like teramycin can also be used but antibiotics should be used if Epsom salt does not work.

Assembling a First Aid Kit for Fish

Your first aid kit for treating common ailments in aquarium fish should contain aquarium salt, Marcyn I, Marcyn II, teramycin, metronidazole and Epsom salt. You should replace medicines whenever you use them and you should replace medicines that have expired.

Note

While treating common ailments in aquarium fish you should partially change the water once to keep the nitrate levels in control. It is important to remember that copper based medications kill invertebrates, plants and scale less fish so these medicines should be used with caution.

Jason MacParland is a freshwater aquarium expert. For more great information on home freshwater aquariums, visit http://www.easyfreshwateraquariumcare.com to learn more about setting up and maintaining a home freshwater aquarium.

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How to Select Fish For Your New Freshwater Aquarium
By Jason MacParland

New freshwater aquariums owners often can’t wait to add a lot of colorful fish to their established tank. While it is tempting to add the best looking fish to the first aquarium it is beneficial to select compatible fish so that the chosen fish live happily. This article will provide information on how to select fish for your new aquarium.

Requirements of Various Fish

Barbs are tetras are small colorful fish that look very beautiful. The tetras available in local fish shops are usually less than 1.5 inches while the barbs available in local fish shops are usually less than 2.5 inches. Barbs make great additions to a community tank but some barbs like tiger barbs are known to nip fins so they should be kept in a species only tank. Tetras on the other hand do well in small schools since they feel comfortable when they are with others of their own species. Small loaches and cory cat fish can be kept with barbs and tetras.

Livebearers like guppies and swordtails can be kept in community tanks since they are peaceful. Since mollies require brackish water to grow well it is recommended not to keep mollies with freshwater fish.

Goldfish are cold water fish that should not be mixed with tropical water fish since their temperature requirements are different.

Bettas a very beautiful and common fish are very territorial fish and males should be kept alone. Female bettas can be kept in groups of five or more provided there is enough place to hide.

Cichlids are aggressive fish that need to be kept with compatible tank mates. Oscars are large cichlids that should be kept alone. Cory cat and clown loaches fish do well in small schools.

Things to Keep in Mind

While learning how to select fish for your new aquarium you should remember that your aquarium should not be over crowded. Fish in overcrowded aquariums are prone to illnesses due to stress and bad water conditions. The fish you choose should also be comfortable in the aquarium you have. Small fish like neons and barbs can be kept in aquariums more than 10 gallons but Oscars or other larger fish need bigger aquariums. Plecos that are commonly sold as sucker catfish grow to a length of 24 inches and they should not be kept in tanks that are lesser than 60 gallons.

While selecting fish for your new aquarium you should stock your tank based on the adult size of the fish. Oscars are large fish that reach a size of 12 inches and Australian arowanas can reach a size of 26 inches. The inch per gallon rule is not the right way to calculate the number of fish you can keep since this rule is only meant for slim bodied fish like tetras. As a general rule you should give 20 gallons of water per goldfish, 55 gallons of water per Oscar, 2 gallons of water per tetra or barb and 5 gallons of water per betta. Small sized loaches and cory cat fish should be given 5 gallons of water per fish. Since clown loaches can grow to a size of 18 inches and they need to be kept in small schools these fish should be kept only in large tanks.

James MacParland is a freshwater aquarium expert. For more great information on freshwater aquarium fish, visit http://www.easyfreshwateraquariumcare.com to learn more about how to pick the right freshwater aquarium fish as well as properly setting up and maintaining a freshwater aquarium.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_MacParland
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Owning an aquarium is not that easy as it may seem from the first side. If you think that it is not a big deal and all you have to do is just to buy a fish tank and fill it with water and fish – you are deeply mistaken. Starting up an aquarium, you create a small ecosystem, which needs to be maintained and supported. You cannot just install a fish tank with fish in your room and forget about it. There are many more things to be done. You are probably feeling frustrated at the moment, so, let us start from the very beginning and tell you what steps you have to undertake in order to arrange your aquarium the right way.

1. To begin with, decide on what type of aquarium you want to have. There are two major types – the saltwater and the freshwater aquariums. Freshwater aquariums are much better for your home, because if you have a saltwater aquarium, you probably have to hire a special person, who would take care of it. You have to have much knowledge about saltwater aquariums. If you don’t have them, you can have real problems with maintenance. So, don’t you experiment with this and choose the freshwater aquarium. Suppose, you have already chosen a freshwater one.

2. Choose the right type of fish tank. You have to understand what size is better for your room, so that it looks proportional. Modern manufacturers produce fish tanks of different shapes such square, round, elliptic, rectangular fish tanks, etc. The most popular ones are rectangular.

3. Choose the proper filter for your aquarium. It would be great if you had a friend, who could advice you the type of filter, but if you don’t, well, examine some literature on this question and consult a pet shop assistant. In general, the expensive filters are better and more durable comparing them to the cheap sponge filters.

4. Buy all needed measuring devices like thermometer and PH level measurer. You have to know the requirements for the species you have chosen. Be sure that you buy species, requiring similar temperature and PH conditions.

5. Buy the gravel you like more. It can be artificial colored gravel or natural one. Irrespectively of the time, you have to boil the gravel thoroughly not to infect the water and species in it.

6. Get lighting equipment. It is considered to be one of the most important issues, because the lighting is to provide the habitat for you fish as much similar to their natural one as possible.

7. Get the species you like in the nearest pet shop and let them into the assembled fish tank, filled with water.

For the information about fish aquariums, freshwater aquarium tips and resources to get fish tank table – please visit this blog.

And use your golden chance to find the best bargain on the market. We are living in the world where knowledge makes life easier.

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