Tropical Fish Information – Your Fish Tank Guru

Installing Aquarium Canister Filters

This is a great video on installing Aquarium Canister Filters which is for Salt Water Aquariums. The video is produced by ThatFishPlace.com: Your source for aquarium supplies and fish up to 60% off retail

Ocean Clear 375 Filter with 18W UV – Mechanical Ocean Clear modular filters allow you to mix and match in order to get just the right combination of filtration for your needs. This system works with freshwater or saltwater aquariums or ponds. Each unit is rated for aquariums or ponds up to 500 gallons. Multiple units can be hooked together to accommadate any size aquarium or pond. The 375 uses a 25 micron pleated cartridge to polish water and an 18 watt UV bulb to kill free floating bacteria and algae. The bulb fits in the center core of the pleated cartridge. Use an external pump with a flow rate of 500-1600 gph. Manufacturer recommends using a pump at the higher end, especially if using more than one unit in tandom.

I just actually bought my first saltwater tank, even though to be honest I still like freshwater tropical fish.

Hello all,

Well starting in March Your Fish Tank Guru is going to have a call in Radio Show on the Blog Talk Radio Network to answere your question on tropical fish.

So check out the radio show coming in March 2009.

Hey I wanted to talk about a problem that is actually common in aquariums, it is Green Water. Well Green water isn’t really bad for fish, its just free floating algae and people actually have green water tanks for their fish cause its good for them. The Algae actually eats up waste which helps reduce ammonia. There are a few down sides though, you cant see your fish very good and at night the algae uses the oxygen in the water so your fish my not have enough.

Well what you could do to reduce the green cloud if you do not want green water and see your tropical fish and have a nice aquarium. First is turn off the lights for 3 to 5 days, and only have the light on when you are feeding your fish. There are also chemicals you can use, even though I am really not a big fan on chemicals to reduce anything but hey it is faster.

AlgaeQuel – 16 oz. Take care of annoying algae growth in your freshwater aquarium, pond or fountain with EPA approved AlgaeQuel. Quickly wipes out green water, algae growth and string algae, without harming your fish or plants. Won’t cloud aquarium water.

I also recommend a book that could help on the subject
Algae: A Problem Solver Guide by Julian Sprung

Algae: A Problem Solver Guide by Julian Sprung This soft cover book identifies algae that becomes “problematic” in tanks. It has over 180 full color photos, some that where taken under the microscope to show important identifying features of algae. Includes chapters that explains the physical, chemical and biological requirements of algae, has extensive recommendations for ways to control algae growth, how to eliminate red slime algae once and for all, how to stop green hair algae from ruining your aquarium, how to stop a dinoflagellate bloom, how to control diatoms, new herbivores for controlling Bryopsis and other hair algae, new herbivores that eat Valonia.

API Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc makes a great line of Aquarium testing supplies and the one I really like using is the 5 in 1 Aquarium Test Strips. It test for the top 5 out of 6 important test like PH, GH General Hardness of Water, KH Carbonate Hardness and NO2 and NO3 which are both levels of Nitrate. I test my water at least once a month, sometimes more. I know some would say you need to do it more and some would say rarely.

I search the web to learn more on tropical fish and I just found a site known as ehow.com on ehow I found a series of informational videos on fish tank maintenance by Stuart Collins and Expert Village.

Clearing Up Cloudy Water in Fish Tanks — powered by eHow.com

Hello

I was just asked by what to use if you had Parasite and the product I use is Tank Buddies Parasite Clear from Jungle Labs which I only found at 2 places That Pet Place in Lancaster, PA or only online at PetSmart.

Tank Buddies Parasite Clear from Jungle Labs

Also another thing you could do to help get ride of Parasites is to increase the tempature of the water in your fish tank to 86 Degrees or higher and add a teaspoon of aquarium salt.

Hello,

There is a great contest at That Fish Place which I just entered you have a chance to will a $1000 Shopping spree and Second Place gets a $500 Shopping Spree. Ending Feb 3rd 2009

1000s of discount aquarium supplies, live tropical fish and Saltwater, and expert advice at ThatFishPlace.com

Aquarium fish can be tremendous and attractive for most people who love to maintain fish at home. Even though there is no aquarium fish is maintenance free, but at least there are some fish that easier to maintain than other fish.

The best and easiest aquarium fish that you can care for in your aquarium is those which are tougher in health and more forgiving of any mistakes, like the freshwater fish. These fish are proper for the beginners who apt to make more mistakes in maintaining fish. The freshwater fish are the Betta, the usual goldfish and the plecostomus.

Bettas

The Betta which is also recognized as the Siamese fighting fish is maybe one of the easiest aquarium fish to care for as well as being one of the most gorgeous fish. He has a robust physical constitution and has been recognized to live in small bowls successfully, unlike other fish. He also emits less waste than goldfish.

However, the betta is an aggressive fellow and often fights with other fish. He will slay another male Betta as he was breed to battle in fish fights. Female Bettas are more social with other tropical fish. They are drabber in color and have much shorter fins than the male bettas. They can eat the similar foods as the other tropical fish with a fussy desirability to bloodworms.

Widespread Goldfish

Many hobbyists claim that the usual goldfish and its close relation, the Comet Goldfish are the easiest aquarium fish to maintain. These goldfish are much more social than the Bettas and they have brilliant colors. They don’t require distinctive diets and they can tolerate just about any ornament you care to plop into the aquariums.

But not all goldfish are easy to care for. You must understand that the egg-shaped goldfish that have bubble eyes, swim slowly, no top fin or have long fins are not considered easy to care for. They should not live in the same aquarium with usual or comet goldfish. It is as they swim so fast that the fan-tailed or egg-shaped goldfish will never be able to get their fair share of food.

The Plecostomus

The name “plecostomus” refers to a family of aquarium fish that has hundreds of varieties. Some of the plecostomus are harder to care for than others. They are bottom feeders like catfish or Chinese Algae Eaters and require their own sorts of food.
But any plecostumus you may find in your local pet stores amongst other tropical fish should be easy to maintain.

The plecostomus are somewhat strong and tough if you compare them with other sorts of aquarium fish. You must be careful as they are quickly to overgrow in the aquarium they live in. It is frequently occur unpredictably and there is still no reason that can explain that occurrence.

In order to keep your gorgeous fish alive and have their pleasant place to live, you must be aware of their foods and their habitats. You can have a book or search on the internet to find the best thing for your fish. This is to keep up your aquatic hobby.

Want to know further about aquarium fish? Let’s explore more on the links here and you will get much more about aquarium as well as any thing related.

When you decide that you want to have your own fish aquariums, one of the most important things that you need to control for your fish is the temperature of the water. Every species of fish has somewhat different water temperature requirements depending on their natural habitats. Aquarium heaters are a must to be sure that fish tank water temperatures are stable.

Seasonal fluctuations do effect the water temperature of many natural fish habitats, so many fish species do have a degree of tolerance to fluctuations in water temperatures. But with aquarium-raised tropical fish, it is best to use aquarium heaters to keep the temperatures from fluctuating too much.

aquarium heaters
Aquarium heaters are simple and basic devices that generate heat so that proper water temperatures can be maintained in fish tanks. An aquarium heater is actually comprised of two components: the heating element and the thermostat. This allows you to have control over the device and set the correct temperature for the type of fish you have in your tropical fish tank.

Just like the thermostat in your home, the thermostat on aquarium heaters can be set to pre-determined settings for temperature. When the water temperature dips below the thermostat setting, the heating element will turn on to bring the water back to the temperature zone desired for your tropical aquarium habitat. As the temperature of the water rises, the thermostat will also disengage the heating element when the water reaches the proper temperature.

The most common of aquarium heaters use a long glass tube, similar to the shape of a cigar, to house the heating element and the thermostat. Typically the heating element is located at the bottom area of the tube while the thermostat is placed above and is closer to the surface of the tropical aquarium water.

fish aquariums
Aquarium heaters come in a number of different wattage ranges. The wattage of the aquarium heater will determine how much heat can be generated. Of course, this output capacity effects how much aquarium water will be effectively heated, so you must choose the right heater for the size of your tropical fish tank.

There are guidelines printed on the packaging to help you choose the right aquarium heater for your situation. For larger tropical aquariums you may need to utilize two or more aquarium heaters.

It is very important to select high quality aquarium heaters because if they malfunction, the water in your tropical fish tank could either overheat or become too cold. Such drastic changes in the temperature of the tropical aquarium environment can create disastrous consequences for the population of tropical fish in your care.

Recently some of the high-end aquarium heaters have begun to offer five year guarantees, which are effective if the unit is used according to manufacturer specifications and guidelines.

tropical aquarium
But, no matter how long the warranty on an aquarium heater unit is good for, it needs to be understood that the manufacturer will only replace the heater if it stops working correctly. There is no reimbursement for the cost of the fish that might be lost due to a break down in functionality.

The ideal pH setting for most tropical fish is 7pH which could be kinda hard to do, granted most tropical fish have a range but 7 pH for your fish tank allows for the most verity of tropical fish from Angelfish to more Brackish fish like Mollies. Even though I encourage more natural was of doing this such as driftwood of coral crunches there is another natural way and that would be to use
Wardley Bullseye 7.0 Neutral pH Regulator (4 oz.; pH 7.0) which you should use every time you do your monthly or bi-monthy water changes.