Tropical Fish Information – Your Fish Tank Guru

Introducing New Freshwater Fish to an Established Tank

By Jason MacParland

Aquarium owners wait for the day their tanks complete the nitrogen cycle so that they can finally add colorful fish to their aquariums. Although most people are in a hurry to add their newly acquired fish to their established tank but there are a few things that have to be kept in mind before putting your new fish in your tank. This article will elaborate on some things to keep in mind while introducing new fish to an established tank.

Quarantining New Fish

Fish purchased from the local fish shop should be first quarantined for a week before adding them to your established tank since many store bought fish are stressed out. A quarantine tank will allow your new fish to get used to your water parameters and this step will also ensure that parasites don’t enter your established tank. The quarantine tank should preferable be an established tank with a sponge filter and a few plastic plants. While putting the new fish in the quarantine tank you should first acclimatize your fish slowly to your water conditions so that they do not get more stressed.

Acclimatizing New Fish

The best way to acclimatize your new fish is to float the bag full of fish in the quarantine tank for 15 minutes so that the temperature of the water in the bag matches your aquarium’s temperature. You should then open the bag and add a cup full of water from your quarantine aquarium into the bag. You will need to add a cup full of water every 15 minutes to the bag full with fish so that the PH of the water in the bag matches the PH of your aquarium. After adding 3 – 4 cups of water you will need to net out the fish carefully and add them to your tank. It is advised not to empty the bag of fish directly into your established tank since store water usually contains pathogens and parasites. Aquarium salt can be used to de-stress your fish while they are in the quarantine tank. Aquarium salt also prevents the onset of various fish illnesses. The right dosage is 1 teaspoon aquarium salt per 10 gallons of water. It is always advised to mix the salt in a bucket of water and then pour the water into the tank.

Things to Remember

While introducing new fish to an established tank you should remember that quarantining your fish prevents them from getting stressed and this step also prevents your other fish from getting illnesses. After quarantining your fish for 1 week to 10 days you should net them out carefully and add them to your main aquarium. Many aquarium owners prefer to use a cup to scoop out fish rather than netting them since scooping out fish with a cup is less stressful. Fish that are hard to catch can be caught using the net and cup technique. This technique involves using a net to chase the fish into a cup. Fish nets should not be used for species that have barbs on their mouth.

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

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Hello All Tropical Fish Enthusist,

Check out my good friend Jason McParland’s new Tropical Fish website on Freshwater Aquarium Maintance – Easy Freshwater Aquarium Care. Join his 10 Day eCourse and check out his new ebook on Freshwater Aquarium Care.

The great thing about having fish is that they are easy to care for and they can add vitality and life to any home. Cleaning and feeding is going to be necessary. If you do a bit of cleaning every week, your regular maintenance does not have to take more than half an hour.

It is a good idea to feed your fish every day. It is very easy to over feed fish so be careful. Fish flakes are the most commonly used food but there are a variety of other things you can choose from. Like most pets a variety of foods has benefits. You can choose things like pellets, freeze dried, live or frozen.

When you are feeding your fish take a minute to check that all your fish are healthy. Watch to make sure that all the fish in the tank are swimming and eating well. Look at each fish for any growths or abnormal behaviour. You want to detect any problems as soon as possible.

The water in your aquarium should be tested every week. You want to check the pH, nitrate and ammonia levels. Any major change in these conditions can result in potentially dangerous or toxic situations. 20% of the water in the tank needs to be changed every week.

Once a week you should also check and see if all the equipment in your tank is functioning correctly. Check to ensure that your filter is in good condition. Not every filter will need to have a weekly cleaning, some may only need to be cleaned every second week. Take a moment to make sure that all plugs and electric cords are in good shape.

Cleaning everything in your tank at once is never a good idea. Each week you should clean only one or two items in your tank. The reason you do this is to prevent your chemical levels from spiking. You also want to make sure that you clean the glass. You should scrape the sides of the glass to remove all the algae.

These are the basic fish care routine things that you should do to make certain that your fish have a healthy, happy life.

Hey I got an great deal on API products. API is a great product line with a very excellent Water Testing Kits that I would highly recommend. That Pet Place has a sale 10% Off Selected API Water Treatment products.

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Using Nano fish tank aquariums

When we think of aquariums, we think of maintenance that are relatively easy to maintain. However, a nano fish tank requires a bit more maintenance.

Should you start a nano reef aquarium?

A nano reef aquarium can be a smaller system or a larger one. In some cases, it’s recommended that especially if you’re a beginner, you start with a larger tank, such as one that’s at least 24 gallons. Smaller systems can also literally “tank” very fast, whereas a larger tank gives you a bit more leeway when it comes to maintenance. This may be advisable if you’re just starting out.

Investment

In general, a nano reef is probably going to cost you a bit MORE than another type of system will, although your final investment will probably be less once you get going. Coral collecting is probably going to be a bit pricier for you, which may up the cost of the nano reef if this is something you get into.

Are they difficult to keep up?

Nano fish tank aquariums are not really difficult keep up once you know what you’re doing. However, you should research thoroughly so that you know what you’re getting into before you decide to start one. As long as you stay on top of things, you’ll need between 5 and 10 minutes a day to keep to keep things functioning on most days; you also have to be careful about any additions you make to your aquarium, as this can upset the balance you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Change your water frequently

Nitrates can build up very quickly in a small body of water, so you have to make sure you keep your water changes up.

What fish or other creatures can you put in your nano reef?

Some good hearty fish for beginners are the pajama cardinals, cardinals, clown gobies, royal grammas, fire fish, pseudochromis, most damsels and basslets. “Clean up” creatures include hermit crabs like red legs and left-handed, astrea snails and turbo snails. You should have a snail for every one to 2 gallons your tank holds, and one crap for every three to 5 gallons. Cleaner shrimp are also good because they will clean your fish of parasites and will help your other “clean up” creatures do their jobs, too.

What coral should I keep?

You can pretty much keep any type of coral, but some will need more light than other kinds. Be careful about coral that puts out sweeper tentacles, because it may affect other coral negatively. Don’t overdo the coral, either, because the coral needs enough room to grow.

Sterilization

Using a UV sterilizer is recommended to keep “bad bacteria” down, or, you can buy an aquarium with a built in wet dry filter. The polycarbonate cover should be left in place over the lights so that UV transmission is properly done. A separate internal filter with a UV sterilizer is still recommended Cured live rock broken up into 1-inch fragments is also a good way to purify.

Finally, change water and check water regularly, including alkali reserve, if necessary. In a nano aquarium, water characteristics change quickly, so you have to keep on top of this.

Filtration is important

For a good marine aquarium, you need good filtration. Filtration turnover should be at least four times per tank per hour, with in tank circulation at eight times an hour, at least. Live rock also performs its own filtration.

Models

Some good models for nano fish tank aquariums include the TRUVU Micro Series NANO Model 6, Model 12, or Model 25 fish tank aquariums. These particular models have easy to remove filtration systems and room for protein skimmers, for easy maintenance.

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.

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.

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.