Your Fish Tank Guru

Well this is the first time I had ich in my tank, I am going to test the water and find out if it is the water condition. After doing that I have to actually buy some Ich medication, and the best one I have found was Rid-Ich By Kordon. I already tested the heater and that is OK.

I also discovered a great new way to prevent ich in the future and that would be to actually add non idonize salt mix it in with the water when you change it do not dump it directly in the tank, this would burn freshwater tropical fish. I found this information on nunnie.com

Ich is easy to see in light it is little salt looking dots on your tropical fish.

Well the tropical fish food I use regularly is Tetra’s TetraMin Tropical Flake in with a brown trim. My Swordtails and Danios seem to like that the best. I just do a pinch of the tropical fish food a day. Once a month I will give them bloodworms or larva.

TetraMin Large Tropical Flakes (5.65 oz.; Large Flakes) The world’s leading fish food for more than 40 years. Each highly nutritious, vitamin enriched flake is firm and highly digestible. Essential nutrients and added vitamin C promote optimum health, energetic fish, and long life.

Besides once a week feeding my Crowntail Betta bloodworms, I would feed him Wardley Premium Betta Food Pellets, I normally just drop in 3 pellets a day, I notice when I did more with past Betta they do not eat them all. Betta’s I found out have smaller stomachs then fish in there size range.

Wardley Premium Betta Food (1.2 oz.) Nutritious ingredients specially blended for bettas. Extraordinary color enhancement is achieved from natural ingredients.Floating mini pellets will not cloud the water.

Pet lovers often prefer Betta fish to other animals because bettas are known to be hardy. They need little care and attention, eat just about anything given to them, or can get without food for a week or more. In fact, they make ideal choice for home or office to add that look of nature.

What many novices don’t know that there’s certain preparation to be made before purchasing a betta fish. While some experts say bettas live happily in small bowels (in which pet shops sell them), it is not the best house for them. Betta-bowls are torturous devices, and it’s insane to make fish live in them. Same with us, humans; we can live in a tiny room, but prefer more spacious apartments and houses. Space is what every living creature needs. Therefore a caring betta fish lover will buy a 3-gallon tank, but normally knowledgeable pet owners tend to buy tanks with 5 gallon capacity. Also, in a bigger space of water the temperature will not shift nearly as quickly or as much.

Keep the water level lower than the tank allows. Bettas need air to inhale and can jump out of the tank. A cover is a good and inexpensive method to protect the fish from leaving home.

Contrary to a popular opinion about live plants needed in tanks, it’s possible to get away with artificial imitations. Live plants are not neutral and may cause water contamination thus deteriorating the living conditions for the betta. Remember that sick betta fish usually lives in dirty, contaminated water.
This is always a reason why regular water change is important. With a large tank, it’s possible to limit changes to once in a month, smaller tanks will need water to be changes once every two weeks. With bowls, this frequency increases to a couple of times a week.

Water temperature is crucial to ensure betta fish is never sick. In cold water, bettas are exposed to diseases. Natural processes in fish body require water temperature to be higher than room temperature. Let’s not forget that betta splendens (also known as Siamese Fighters) come from tropical countries! All Betta keepers should have an aquatic thermometer. The temperature should not drop below the low seventies Fahrenheit. It’s best to maintain the level in upper seventies or even lower eighties, but it is even more important to keep these level protected from vacillation.

There’s no real need to use distilled water. Though paranoid experts in betta fish care defend the idea of purest water, in natural conditions splendens are not found in distilled water. In fact, tapped water is OK, but water conditioner is required. Quality water with regular changes is vital in preventing betta fish diseases.

Betta fish diet should be diverse. Sticking to one kind of food from pet shop is good for manufacturers (because they make profits), but mortal to poor bettas. Make a rule to include frozen worms, betta pellets, meaty foods occasionally. At least once a month it’s good to fasten your betta. That is, give him no food for a day or so. This is absolutely harmless and helps to regulate the digestive system, which in turn is effective in preventing betta diseases (such as constipation). It’s always better take precautionary measures rather than cure illnesses.

In a decent, stable environment betta fish diseases are rare. With a bit of experience you’ll notice what your betta likes best, take not of his behavior, and then you can maintain his healthy being for years to come. Although bettas don’t live that long, when properly cared for they can thrive for several years without any diseases.

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Want to maintain healthy conditions for your betta? Following some simple steps to ensure stress-free environment, you’ll prevent most betta fish diseases with very little expense.
Kelly Wright is a betta fish lover and contributing author to several websites providing tips on betta fish care.

Hello,

I was looking to see how I could improve my aquarium and some times it is good to go back to the basics. So I decided to buy a couple of books including both traditional and ebooks. A really great book for the beginner is David E. Boruchowitz book The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums. In which you learn the basic, some nice hints and even going as far as stating what tropical fish a beginner should and should not get.

The book also is very easy to read and great pictures. So if you get a chance I would get this book.

To prevent new tank syndrome you would need to use a water conditioner. There are a lot of good ones out there but one that gets great reviews by aquatist is One And Only Nitrifying Bacteria Freshwater 2 oz by Dr Tim’s Aquatics actually on sale at Dr Foster and Smith unitl May 26 2008

New tank syndrome could actually kill your tropical fish before you get to enjoy them.  This gets rid of toxic ammonia and nitrite which are deadly towards your fish.  Nitrifying Bacteria Freshwater by Dr Tim’s Aquatics

naturally gets rid of ammonia and nitrites by promoting good natural bacteria in your water.

Even after you do a move you should use a water conditioner to help the fish adjust, Nitrifying Bacteria Freshwater by Dr Tim Aquatics is the only one you could use right away and place in the fish right away.  Other conditioners you have to wait at least 12 hours before placing the fish in the tank.

You’re moving and you want to bring your aquarium whether it is next door or across the state or even the country, it’s a delicate process. Follow these steps to make the transaction smooth for everyone involved.

1. Discontinue feeding a two days prior to your move. Don’t worry; your fish won’t starve. This will clear out the digestive system and will prevent the fish from over-contaminating their water during the move-many fish will create excess waste when stressed.  Waste products in the water rob the water of oxygen.

2. Prepare a clean Styrofoam cooler of an appropriate size. You will be placing bags of water and fish into the cooler, so assure that there is enough space for all of your fish. You’ll want to avoid stacking any of the bags, so try to find a cooler with a big enough floor. Procure extra coolers if necessary.  Measure up your tank with a same size cooler, actually for a 10 Gallon Tank get a 12 Gallon Cooler.  Coolers have thicker walls then a fish tank.

3. Prepare some bags in which to transport the fish. Each bag will need to be sealed; you can use zipper-seal bags or standard bags sealed with rubber bands. A local pet store is a good source for these types of bags. You may want to have some spare bags available for packing such things as your filter media, which will benefit from being transported in tank water.

4. When it is time to move, plan on moving the aquarium last. Place the fish in the bags, with each individual or school in its own bag. Each bag should have enough water so that its inhabitants are fully immersed when the bag is placed on the floor of the cooler.

5. Remove the media from your filter and place it in its own bag with water from the aquarium. Fill the remainder of the bag with as much air as possible. This will preserve some of the beneficial bacteria cultures. Place this bag in the cooler along with the fish. Bacteria cultures grow primarily on the filter media, but there is also bacteria contained in the plants and gravel (especially if your filter is the under-gravel type); so you might want to use the same procedure for your tank decorations. Bacteria will die when they’re out of the water, though, so place them in tank water.

6. Empty the aquarium completely and pack it securely for long trips.  For across town and short trips I would actually keep the 1/4th fulled right above the gravel and keep everything in the tank so you do not disturb the enviroment.

7. During your move, try to keep the temperature in the cooler constant. Heat packs can be helpful if the outdoor temperature is very cold. Keep the cooler in a place that is away from direct sunlight. If possible, avoid leaving the cooler in your vehicle overnight. If you’re staying overnight along the way, bring the cooler inside with you.

8. If traveling long-term (more than one or two days), you will need to replenish the oxygen in the bags. The quickest way is to open the bags and capture new air in the bags before resealing them. Also during the opening and shutting of the bags make sure it is warm, you do not want cold are to go into the bags.  It is even better for the fish if you have access to an oxygen pump, or to an aquarium air pump and some airline tubing this would 100% more effective to put oxgen into the water.

9. When you arrive at your destination, set up your aquarium as soon as possible. Fill it with new conditioned water there are good water conditioners out there.  Also allow the filter (with your saved filter media) and heater to run for about an 20 minutes or so to assure that they function properly.

10. Acclimate the fish slowly. Place the bags in the tank for fifteen minutes to allow the water temperatures to equalize. Then, open the bags, and fill each bag with one cup of water from the new tank. Do this several times at five minute intervals.

11. Observe the fish in the bags with the combination of old and new water. If they appear to be healthy, net them and place them in the new tank. If they are darting around or gasping for air, pour out some water from the bag and follow the acclimation process again.

12. For the first three days, carefully observe the fish, and test the water. Ideally, your previously established filter media will allow you to transfer some of the beneficial nitrifying bacteria from the old location into the new tank, but you might also consider treating your tank with a chemical such as Bio-Spira to boost the cycle.  During the first three days your fish are still recovering from the stress of the trip.

I hope you learned something from this article to move your tropical fish tank.  Saltwater tanks are different.

Well A great way to teach your kid responsibility is to get a pet, like a hermit crab, a gerbil or a hamster, and of course tropical fish. Well a few types of tropical fish at least.

Well the easiest is also one of the most prettiest and that is the Betta or Siamese Fighting fish. Even though they come in those little bowls, do not keep them in there get a small gallon or two gallon tank.
Also only buy one. There are complete aquarium one or two gallon tanks which look great.

Another easy fish is of course the traditional gold fish since they could live in colder water and are pretty hearty fish. They to could live in a one or two gallon tank but the max you should get is three fish. Really should only have gold fish together with other goldfish since other tropical fish need warmer water.

Two round up the list of easy fish to get your kid would be Zebra Danios, Neon Tetras. If you get a bigger tank like a ten gallon you could get them Swordtails, Platy, Guppies(Might do not recommend to mix with other fish at first) Also buy a snail for the ten gallon or up to help clean the tank.

Even though gerbils and hamsters are nice they are a lot messier.

Of course if you are a parent you should learn about tropical fish as well and there are many good sources on the internet. A really good source of information on tropical fish tank set up and maintenance of the tank is Katys Tropical Fish - A Complete Guide.