Beginner to Aquarium Fish Keeping Online Aquarium Fish Magazine | Fish Keeping for Beginners - Part 1 Diving into

Fishkeeping

There are many reasons to join the aquarium hobby. Studies have shown that keeping an aquarium relieves stress. They are aesthetically pleasing. Fish are a great way for children to learn about caring for pets, as long as the parents are willing to put work into the aquarium, as well. The list goes on. Whether you are an adult wanting to learn a hobby to enrich your life, or you are a parent of a child who is about to receive his or her first pet, if you're new to the hobby of fish keeping, you probably have a lot of questions, and perhaps a few misconceptions, about how to care for these wonderful little creatures. There was a time when new aquarists had to "dive in" to the hobby with little or no help. Even worse, what little information people had was largely wrong. The information is better, now, and more accurate, but due to the alien nature of the fish and the fact that there is no guarantee that the employee of a pet store will know anything about fish, the information is sometimes hard to get. This guide is an attempt to help alleviate that problem. Though it will span over several months of the Fishlore Magazine's issues, it will not be a comprehensive guide to fish keeping. Rather, it will cover some of the more basic concepts of the hobby. This author assures you, however, that the information in here has just as much importance to someone who wants to buy a goldfish for a child as it does for someone who wants to set up a large tropical aquarium. Tank Size To begin with, you will need to decide upon the size of tank you want. This author would suggest nothing smaller than a ten gallon tank, and twenty gallons would be better. The reason is that it is easier to maintain stable water quality in a larger tank than in a smaller tank. Other than this opinion, there are two different ways to make your decision. The most common method of deciding the size of one's first tank is to base the decision on finances. The larger a tank is, the more expensive it, and the equipment needed for it, will be. The other method is basing the size of the tank on the number and types of fish you want to have. This method requires a bit of math. There is a general rule that a tank must have as many gallons as it will have inches of fish. There are a few things that need to be known about this rule. First is that it applies to the full grown size of the fish. It is a myth that a fish will only grow as large as a tank can support. If a fish does stop growing early, it is due to being stunted, which is no good for the fish, and will likely shorten the life span of the creature. Second, this rule is not all-inclusive, fish that have particularly large bodies for their length produce more waste, as do fish of certain species, such as koi and goldfish. Once a fish gets to a certain point, it will require more space merely so it has space to swim around. The common pleco is one such fish. Though it

grows to about 18 inches, it requires a tank of at least 55 gallons, or it will be curled over itself, unable to rest comfortably in the tank. Myth Alert! This author would also like to take a moment to dispel a popular myth regarding tank size. A fishbowl is an unacceptable aquarium for a betta or goldfish. For that matter, it is unacceptable for any but the smallest of aquatic creatures. Bettas and goldfish both need filtration. Pet stores will tell customers that bettas don't need filtration because they breathe air, and that goldfish don't need filtration because they're so hardy, but neither idea changes the fact that these fish will be soaking in large quantities of ammonia if they don't have filtration, and this will shorten their life dramatically. Tank Placement Another important thing to think of when contemplating tank size is where the tank is going to be. Aquariums should not be kept on standard furniture, unless said furniture is extremely sturdy. Aquariums weigh somewhere around 10 pounds per gallon of water, so a ten gallon tank weighs around one hundred pounds. This makes moving a tank once it is set up very difficult, especially since moving a tank full of water will stress, and possibly break, the glass. Tanks should not be in direct sunlight, nor should they be near any source of heat or cold (such as your vents). Keeping an aquarium in the kitchen is also a bad idea. When cooking with oil, for example, some of the oil vaporizes and floats around the kitchen. It will settle into the tank, along with any smoke or other byproducts of cooking, and stress, or even outright harm, your fish. If you are getting a rather large aquarium, you are also going to want to insure that it is placed with its weight resting across several floor supports, rather than across one or two of them. Even worse than the tank ending up on the floor due to weak furniture is the tank ending up on the floor below. Hopefully this article will whet your appetite and bring you back for more information next month, when this author will discuss the equipment needed to set the aquarium up and the basics of filtration. Though it is a meek beginning, as with all journeys, keeping an aquarium begins with a single step. About the Author Sam Hirte-Runtsch - Started keeping fish when I inherited a tank from a friend's girlfriend. Have since purchased three other tanks, each with an entirely different setup and type of fish. Beginner to Fish Keeping - Part 2: Basic Equipment and Extras Online Aquarium Fish Magazine | Beginner to Fish Keeping - Part 2: Basic Equipment and Extras Last month, this author discussed the beginning of the aquarist's hobby; choosing a tank size and deciding where to put it. To read this article please visit: Fishkeeping Beginner: Part 1. Having made a solid foundation on which to build a successful aquarium, we will now begin discussing the more concrete details of setting up an aquarium. Once you have decided how big your tank is going to be, you will have to purchase the tank, as well as the equipment you will need to get the tank running. Purchasing the tank is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is buy a tank of the proper size. Unless you are getting a very large tank, you are going to want to get a glass tank. Only if your tank is going to be multiple hundreds of gallons should you have to worry about acrylic tanks. The equipment you will need for a tank is very simple. You will need some sort of filter, a heater (probably, this will be discussed later), a thermometer, and lights. Aside from a brief mention of lights, this author will spend the rest of this article discussing filtration. Lighting Aquarium lights are probably the easiest part to cover. This author will presume that you will not begin with a heavily planted tank, so any sort of aquarium light, such as the kinds that will probably come with the tank, will be fine. Filtration For aquarium filters, there are several different types, but before this author goes into detail on those, a few filtration concepts should be explained. The first is mechanical filtration. This is the use of filter media to physically remove particles from the water.

Mechanical filtration can take sediment, bits of floating food, and any other visible particles out of the water. The second is chemical filtration. This is the use of filter media such as activated charcoal to remove chemicals from the water. In this author's opinion, chemical filtration is largely unnecessary, unless a particular chemical, such as medicine from a treatment, needs to be removed from the water. Still, if it is available in a filter, there is little reason not to use it, as activated charcoal isn't expensive. The third is biological filtration. This is the most important type of filtration. Your tank may survive without physical or chemical filtration, but without biological filtration, your fish will suffocate in their own waste. Biological filtration utilizes certain water born bacteria known as nitrifying bacteria to change the ammonia in fish waste first into nitrite and then changes the nitrite into nitrate. This is necessary because ammonia is extremely toxic. Nitrite is less toxic, but is still dangerous for your fish. Nitrate, the final product of this process, is quite a bit less toxic than nitrite, and is only dangerous to your fish in large quantities. Biological filtration requires some sort of media for the nitrifying bacteria to live on. They will attach themselves to anything, so the important part is to have as much surface area as possible for the bacteria colony to live on. Many filters use a piece of sponge-like material for this, others use fancier concepts to increase surface area. With that knowledge in mind, let's discuss the different types of filters. The first, and probably most common, kind of filter is the Hang on Back Filter. As its name suggests, this filter hangs from the back of the tank. Most Hang on Back (or HOB) filters have all three types of filtration. This completeness is the HOB filter's greatest strength. They also take up little space in the tank. Their main downside is that they take up space on the outside of the tank. There is a type of Internal Filter that functions the same as HOB filters, but sits within the tank rather than on the outside. Sponge Filters sit within the tank. They are run either by an airline or a powerhead (which pulls water in one end and pushes it out the other). Sponge filters are very reliable, and provide excellent biological filtration, as well as a bit of mechanical filtration. They're ugly, but they can be hidden behind decorations. The only maintenance they need is a periodic swishing through a bucket of tank water to clear the excess gunk from them. Under Gravel Filters, like sponge filters, use either an airline or a powerhead to pull water down through the gravel, up into pipes at the back of the tank, and out into the tank again. This type of filter pulls some detritus into the gravel, providing a bit of mechanical filtration. However, its greatest function is biological filtration. There is a lot of surface area on the gravel in an aquarium, so it provides excellent nitrification. The downside of UGFs is that areas under the gravel can become clogged with detritus, creating pockets of still, non-aerated water. The anaerobic bacteria that can grow in these spots create very toxic waste, which can kill fish quickly if it's released into the rest of the water. Canister Filters are mostly for larger tanks, and probably not necessary for the beginner. They sit outside of the tank, usually housed in the cabinet of the tank's stand, and draw water out through a hose, returning it by another hose. Canister filters can house a wide variety of filtration media, making them very versatile. Other filters, such as reaffirms, fluidized sand filters, and wet/dry filters are usually used for reef tanks or very large tanks, and are not necessary to discuss in a beginner's guide. Filters are rated for a range of tank sizes. Whenever a filter lists a range, like 20-40 gallons, it is really only good for the low end of the range. In this case, the filter would only be good for a 20 gallon tank. As long as the filter doesn't produce an overwhelmingly strong current, there is no such thing as too much filtration, so a filter rated for a slightly larger tank works, too. Heaters and Thermometers Purchasing a heater is, in this author's opinion, quite a bit more simple than purchasing a filter. The important thing when purchasing a heater is that you want to be sure you get the proper size. The package for the heater should indicate the size of the tank that it will work in. There are two types of heaters that a beginner needs to worry about this, hang on back (HOB) heaters, and submersible heaters. In addition, there are more complicated heaters, such as in-line heaters, but those belong in more advanced setups. HOB Heater The advantages of the HOB heater is that it is generally less expensive than an equivalent quality submersible heater. It is also easier to get at the temperature control knob, which can also be a negative if the

knob is easily turned. However, extra space must be made on the back of the tank and cut out of the hood in order to place the heater. Submersible Heater The submersible heater has a couple of large advantages over the HOB heater. First of all, it can be placed horizontally or at an angle, which spreads the rising column of warm water out, heating the tank more evenly. Second, it can be more easily hidden by landscaping within the tank. Its largest negative is the extra cost. No matter which kind of heater you buy, you get what you pay for. Glass heaters are cheaper than plastic or graphite, but also can break if a panicked fish or cleaning instrument comes into contact with one. One thing you should not make any compromises on is the temperature control knob. If the knob is easily turned, it may be bumped, either dropping the temperature or raising it too high. Either way could kill your fish in a very short amount of time, especially if you have a smaller tank, which will allow the temperature to change more rapidly. There are three different types of thermometer. A glass thermometer is a simple glass tube, and is very reliable. A liquid crystal thermometer is a strip of tape that you stick to the aquarium. The color of the crystals in the tape changes to indicate the temperature. In this author's opinion, this type of thermometer is difficult to read and not terribly accurate, making it acceptable only as a backup for a more reliable thermometer. A digital thermometer is far easier to read than either a glass or a liquid crystal thermometer. With digital thermometers, though, you get what you pay for. A cheap digital thermometer may or may not be accurate. An expensive one is reliable, but for a beginner, probably isn't necessary. Extras The above products are the bare necessities of a functioning tank. Some further things that you may want/need. Substrate This is gravel or sand on the bottom of your tank. Some aquarium critters need a finer substrate so that they may dig around in it. Be sure to use substrate made specifically for aquariums. If you are using a UGF, you will need gravel, not sand. Plants Either real or plastic, aquarium plants provide hiding places for stressed fish, as well as make the tank more aesthetically pleasing. Real plants require care, but provide extra filtration for a tank. Decoration This can range from a piece of driftwood to the stereotypical diver by a treasure chest. Whatever you like, it's not important, as long as what you buy has been made specifically for an aquarium. See Aquarium Aquascape for more ideas. Aeration Oxygen enters your tank through surface area. Bubbles create more surface area, allowing more oxygen to enter the water. Often, your filter will provide enough bubbles to aerate the water. As long as there is a little space between the output of a HOB filter and the surface of the water, it should keep the water oxygenated enough. Sponge filters or UGFs run by air lines also provide aeration. If, however, you have a tall, narrow tank, you may want to provide extra oxygen by putting in an airline. The output can be as simple as a small diffuser, or it can be a decoration that is powered by air bubbles. You now have the knowledge to purchase the basic equipment you will need for your tank. Next month, we will begin talking about setting the tank up, including the dreaded, often misunderstood, and yet very necessary Nitrogen Cycle. Beginner to Fish Keeping - Part 3: Aquarium Setup Online Aquarium Fish Magazine | Beginner to Fish Keeping - Part 3: Aquarium Setup Setting up the Tank At its surface, this part is pretty easy. Follow the directions of whatever equipment you have, and set the tank up. Be sure to rinse everything you purchased, but do not use any cleaners. It's advisable to put the substrate in before putting the water in. Decorations should go in last, as the water will push them around when you

fill the tank. If you use municipal water, be sure to buy some sort of water conditioner to remove the chlorine and chloramine from the water. These chemicals' purpose is to kill off any bacteria in the water, and will work its magic on the nitrifying bacteria. They will also damage the gills of your fish, probably killing them quickly. If your city uses chlorine, you can also condition your water by aging it, letting it sit out for 24 hours or so. The chlorine will evaporate during this time. This will not work with chloramine, however. If you have your own well, you may still want to use a conditioner that neutralizes heavy metals, which may be present in your water. Even if they aren't concentrated enough to harm you, they may be enough to harm your fish. The Cycle This is the point where the most fish are lost. The nitrogen cycle of your tank is a period where the nitrifying bacteria colony sets itself up. Fish produce waste in the form of ammonia. One type of bacteria consumes this ammonia, and produces waste in the form of nitrite. Another type of bacteria consumes the nitrite, and produces waste in the form of nitrate. The end result is that you want no ammonia and no nitrite in your tank. To test this, you will need a water testing kit. The variety that uses vials of liquid is more accurate than the little test strips. Some fellow aquarists have had experiences where the test strips have been entirely wrong in a test. The number one mistake that beginners make is to buy a bunch of fish and toss them into the tank. The fish produce ammonia faster than the bacteria colony can grow to handle, and the fish die of ammonia poisoning. Some very hardy fish have a chance of surviving this process, but it likely shortens their lifespan and is very uncomfortable for them. It is much better to carefully cycle your tank. There are several methods of doing so. With Fish In this method, buy a couple of very hardy fish, such as zebra danios, and introduce them to the tank. This is NOT the preferred method, and this author considers it cruel to the fish. With Ammonia Use an eyedropper to put 5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of water into your tank. Keep doing this daily until you get nitrite readings. After that, put 3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons in daily. Continue until you get nitrate readings. At that point, do a 30% water change and you're ready to add fish. With Fish Food Put a few flakes of fish food into the tank twice a day. As it decomposes, it will release ammonia, feeding the growing colony. Continue feeding the tank until you get nitrate readings. With Raw Fish Drop a 2"x1" chunk of raw fish or shrimp into the aquarium. As it decomposes, it will release ammonia. Remove when you get nitrate readings, do a partial water change, and add fish. With Gravel/Filter Media from an Established Tank This method is this author's favorite method of cycling a tank. If a friend has an established tank and is willing to part with a bit of filter media (or gravel, if you're using a UGF), you can add it to your tank, add some fish food, and you should get nitrate readings in a couple of days. The biggest downside of this method is that there is a possibility of introducing parasites from the established tank into the new tank. If the established tank is healthy, however, this isn't likely. With Bio Spira This author has tried to keep brand names out of this guide, but in the case of Bio Spira, it is a necessity. There are many products that claim to have nitrifying bacteria, but these bacteria are not the aquatic variety, and will be harmful to your tank in the long run. As far as this author knows, Bio Spira is the only brand of nitrifying product that contains the aquatic bacteria. The product is expensive, and is made more so by the fact that it must be shipped express and packaged in a way to keep the heat out. Bio Spira claims to be able to cycle a tank in 24 hours, and the experience of some fellow aquarists seems to support this claim. During your cycling process, test your tank's water once a day. Once you get to the point that your tank is producing nitrate readings, you are nearing the end of the cycle. At this point, it is a matter of opinion, as well as a matter of the hardiness of the fish you are adding to the tank, as to when to add the fish. In this author's opinion, it is safe to add one or two hardy fish, such as zebra danios. If all of your planned fish are more sensitive, it is probably best to wait until your nitrite readings are nearly zero. This may seem like a lot of work to put fish in a tank, but the wait is definitely worth it. Aside from dying

directly of ammonia or nitrite poisoning, there is a greatly increased possibility of your fish suffering from other diseases, as the stress of high ammonia and nitrite levels weakens their immune systems as well as damages their gills. Introducing the Fish (or other Critters) Once your tank is a ready home for its future denizens, it is time to purchase them. This author will not go over how to choose particular animals, or which ones are better for keeping in an aquarium, at least not in this article. However, one must take care when picking fish. Obviously sick or injured fish run the risk of contaminating a tank, and stand a good chance of dying. Still, there is something to be said for rescuing fish, as long as one knows what one is getting into. Your fish will come in a plastic bag, most likely. This is actually better for fish than a hard-sided container, as it allows the fish to bounce off of the sides during the ride. The intended result is to keep the fish in the bag for as little time as possible. To this end, plan your trip around getting the fish, and make sure that the fish going into the bag is the last thing that happens before you go to the register to pay, and that the pet store is the last stop before you head home. If the trip is going to be long, bring a cooler with some sort of soft material you can pack it with to keep the bag from rolling around. Of course, if you are ordering your fish, they will be delivered. Try to be home when they will be delivered, but leave instructions to set the box in some sheltered area (if you have bushes along your house, between them and the house is a good choice), in case you aren't home. Plan on introducing between one and three fish at a time, give the nitrifying bacteria a week to catch up on the waste increase, and introduce one to three more. There are a couple of different ways to actually introduce your fish. The most simple method is to simply float the bag for about ten minutes, to adjust the temperature in the bag to the temperature of the water, and then move the fish into the tank. This method is very stressful to the fish, as there is more to the water than just temperature. The immediate change in water chemistry will be a shock to the fishes' system. The other method is to add small amounts of the new tank water to the water from the bag in order to acclimate the fish more fully. This can be done in a couple of different ways. The bags can be floated, with the tops rolled over to create a sort of float for the bags, and small amounts of tank water poured in the bag every couple of minutes. Or the fish and bag water may be put in a container (this author uses one of the water change buckets) and add small amounts of water every couple of minutes. Just make sure that the bucket is small enough at the base that the water covers the fish, or the change will be just as stressful as dumping them in the tank. A variation on this method is to use an acclimation kit. An acclimation kit is nothing more than a tube, some method of attaching the tube to the aquarium, and an adjustable outlet. This allows a steady drip of water to be transferred from the aquarium to the container. Just be sure to watch that the container doesn't fill too much, or the fish may leap out. Once you've acclimated the fish, it's imperative that you not dump the water into the tank. First of all, this ride would be similar to a trip through rapids to most fish. Second, the water from the bag potentially contains parasites and diseases that you do not want to introduce to your aquarium. Instead, use a net to move the fish, one at a time, to their new home. There are, inevitably, a few types of fish that do not do well with nets, but most of these are not good fish for beginners, anyway. In those cases, it is best to quarantine the fish (more on this in a moment) to be sure that it is not ill, and then move it in a small container, transferring as little water as possible. Quarantine When you get new fish, it is a good idea to quarantine the fish in a separate tank for a week or more in order to verify that the fish is not ill. This tank may be spartan, though it should have the basic amenities of a good aquarium (filter, heater, airstone if necessary). For smaller fish, many pet stores sell tiny 1-5 gallon aquariums that are too small for a permanent home, but make excellent quarantine and hospital tanks. These often are full setups, including a filter (though not usually a heater).

Quarantining may not be necessary when the fish are the first inhabitants of an aquarium. However, after anything other than plants are living in an aquarium, you will be playing Russian Roulette with your fish if you add fish directly from the store. Supplies There are going to be certain supplies you will need to keep your tank happy and healthy. The most obvious supply you're going to need is Food. There are many different types of food out there. Flakes and pellets are the most common. When getting pellets, make sure that they are the proper size. It's better to get pellets that are too small than too big. Overly large pellets can choke a fish, or can get lodged in the intestine. As with many other things, you get what you pay for. Flakes are cheap and filling for a fish, but are mostly filler. If you are looking for high quality food, your best bet is probably frozen and freeze-dried foods. One big warning: If you are buying carnivorous fish such as piranhas, it is best not to feed them "feeder fish." These are guppies or goldfish that are kept with hundreds of their kind in an under-cleaned, underfiltered, and under-fed tank. Nearly all of them will be packed with disease, and they are not very good for your fish, as their bodies have already used up all available nutrients in an attempt to keep them alive. In addition to food made specifically for fish, there are many other things that your fish will likely eat, depending on its breed. Carniverous fish will likely love all sorts of worms, including the kinds sold in bait shops. Herbivores and omnivores will love nearly any vegetable you can think of. The harder vegetables should be softened a bit by parboiling them (get some water boiling, take it off the heat and drop the vegetables in). This author has fed his fish skinned peas, parboiled zucchini, slices of cucumber, spinach, and lettuce. Vegetables can be left to float, attached to the wall of the tank with a clip made for this purpose, or weighted down to the bottom of the tank, depending on the eating preferences of your fish. Water Testing Equipment has already been covered, but it is a very important supply, and cannot be forgotten. Be sure to test your water frequently. Once everything is stabilized, once a week, or at least once a month, the water should be tested. Medication Actually, medication is on the list of things that you don't necessarily want to have on hand. Most antibiotics have a limited shelf life, and it would be better to purchase them as you need them. There are a few exceptions. It is this author's opinion that, if you are getting a betta, it would be best to have a betta-safe finrot cure available, as many bettas are poorly treated prior to purchase, and are susceptible to fin rot until they have a very stable home. Also, if there is no nearby store where medications are available, it may be best to keep a supply of a "treat-all" type medicine stored in your fridge, as your fish may not have the days it would take to order fresh medicine if they get sick. You're almost there. You have enough information to give you a head start compared to how most people leap into the aquarist's hobby. The next (and final, in this series) article will cover the actual care of the fish and aquarium. Beginner to Fish Keeping - Part 4: Grand Finale Online Aquarium Fish Magazine | Beginner to Fish Keeping - Part 4: Grand Finale Caring for Your Fish Once your tank has been set up and your fish have been introduced to it, your fish will require care. Many people think of taking care of fish as dropping a few flakes in every day and then forgetting about them. This is not the case at all. Fish require about as much care as a cat does. Feeding When feeding your fish, it's very important to avoid overfeeding them. Overfeeding has two negative impacts. First, it causes the fish to grow fat. As with any other animal, this is unhealthy and will shorten your fish's life span. Second, excess food sinks to the bottom of the tank and adds to the aquarium's waste. The best way to feed your fish is to provide one piece of food for each fish twice a day. As long as each of the fish gets a piece most of the time, they will be fine. In fact, it's beneficial for fish to fast for a day or two periodically. As said above, there is a wide variety of foods available to fish. It's a good idea to vary their diet to provide a

wide variety of nutrients. Water Changes Aside from feeding, this is probably the single most important thing you can provide for your fish. Changing the water removes nitrates from the tank, allows you to vacuum the gravel in the tank, which removes excess waste from the tank, and prevents the buildup of minerals in the water. When water evaporates, all of the minerals that are in your tap water remain in the tank. When you replace the evaporated water, you add more minerals. Eventually, the water will become hard enough to start harming your fish. To perform a water change, turn off anything that will be left above the water line as you remove water. Truthfully, the best thing to do is unplug everything from the outlet. In this way, there is no chance of water getting to the socket and either running into the tank or grounding out in you. If your aquarium has an air pump, verify that the water doesn't flow back into the line when you cut the power. With a backflow device, this shouldn't happen, but it still can. Then use a siphon to draw out some of the water. There are several ways to start the siphon. One can simply submerge the hose in the water, cover the non-vacuum end with one's thumb, pull that end of the hose out, and uncover the end over a bucket. There are also squeeze bulbs that can be used to start a siphon. One thing that this author would not suggest is to follow the instructions that come on most gravel vacuums. They say that you can "vigorously shake the vacuum in the water" to start a siphon. This is traumatic for the fish, and potentially harmful if they get struck by the vacuum. Various aquarists suggest anywhere between 10% and 50% (or more) of the water be changed every week. 20% is a good number, 50% would be better. The more you change out on a regular basis, the better it is for your fish. One caveat to this is that you should never change out all of the water at any one time. Too much of a water change will be a shock to the system as the fish go from heavily polluted water to clean water. That's right, overly clean water can be harmful to fish, if their bodies have become accustomed to the pollution. If it's been a while since the last water change, several smaller water changes over a few days is a good way to acclimate your fish to a healthier water quality. Observing Your Fish Of course, the whole point of having an aquarium is to watch your fish, but this means more than that. You should check on each of your fish every day. Look for odd behavior such as gasping at the top of the tank, laying at the bottom of the tank, or swimming off-kilter. Also look for damaged fins, sores, fuzzy patches, or any other difference in appearance. Some fish, such as bettas, are capable of rapidly changing color, and usually are stressed when they do so. This change of color often shocks aquarists the first time they see it, and though it isn't always an immediate danger, it may indicate an issue that needs to be dealt with soon. The first thing you should do any time you see an odd behavior is test all of your water parameters. It is often the case that a change in water quality will stress a fish, opening the way for an illness. The range of fish illnesses is too broad for this article, so this author will leave the extended topic for another article in this magazine. This is the end of the basics of the aquarist's hobby. Learning all of this stuff is kind of like getting a black belt in karate. Now you are ready to begin learning about keeping fish. Everything up until this point can be considered "learning how to learn." So take good care of your fish, pay attention to them, and you will begin truly learning about keeping fish.

Freshwater Aquarium Setup This freshwater aquarium setup article explains how to set up a basic freshwater fish tank. We'll start with a short list of the equipment you'll need and then give you a step by step guide on setting up or starting your first freshwater fish tank. Equipment you will need: Aquarium Aquarium gravel Aquarium filter

 Replacement filter media Heater Other decorations (such as fake or real plants) Aquarium test kits to test water parameters and monitor the infamous aquarium nitrogen cycle Fish food Aquarium vacuum Fish net Aquarium Glass Scrubber 5-gallon bucket Pasta strainer STEP 1: Realize the responsibility involved. Learning how to set up a fish tank is not all that difficult, but there are some steps you should follow for a freshwater aquarium setup. First, you must realize a few things about an aquarium setup. A tropical fish tank is just like having a dog or a cat when it comes to the amount of effort on your part. In order to have a successful freshwater tropical fish tank you will have to work at it. Once a week, or at most once every two weeks, you will need to perform some kind of maintenance on the tank. Most of the time you will be performing water changes. You will also have to feed your fish at least once a day. Setting up and running a fish tank does cost money. There are recurring expenses such as replacing filter media, buying food, etc. Check out the Freshwater vs. Saltwater Aquarium page to get an idea of the setup costs involved. If you are up to the challenge, please proceed! STEP 2: Decide on an aquarium size. It's a good idea to have in mind what kind of fish you want to keep in your freshwater aquarium setup before you purchase an aquarium. Some fish only grow to be an inch or two, whereas other types of tropical fish can grow 12 or 13 inches or more in length! Knowing what kind of fish you want will help you decide the size of the tank they will need. If this is your first time with an aquarium, it may be a good idea to start with a 10 or 20 gallon aquarium setup for now and stock it with some smaller and hardier species. STEP 3: Decide on the aquarium's location. Place your freshwater aquarium setup in an area where the light and temperature of the tank won't be affected by external sources such as windows and heater vents. Sunlight that enters the room through an unshaded window could affect the temperature of your tank. This could also lead to green algae problems for your tank down the road. You will want to place your aquarium on a stand that will be able to hold its total weight. You also want to be sure that the floor is able to support the total weight of the aquarium and stand. A good rule of thumb for determining the total weight of a full aquarium is 10 pounds per gallon of water. For example, a 55-gallon tank will weigh approximately 550 pounds when filled with water! STEP 4: Buy your aquarium and equipment. Now is a good time to decide on the type of aquarium filter you will want to use. You will also need to purchase a heater capable of heating the freshwater aquarium setup size you have. Buy the gravel, plants, a power strip and other decorations. A good rule of thumb for the amount of gravel that you will need is 1 to 1.5 pounds of gravel per gallon of water. STEP 5: Set up your aquarium and stand. Wash out your tank with water only! Do not use soap or detergents. Soap residue left behind will be harmful for your tropical fish. If you are going to use an under gravel filter (not recommended) now would be the time to set it up as well. STEP 6: Wash Gravel, plants and decorations. Be sure to wash the gravel thoroughly before adding it to your tank. An easy way to do this is to put some of the rocks in a pasta strainer and wash them out in your bath tub. Then place the clean gravel in a clean 5gallon bucket for transport to the aquarium. After adding the gravel you can place your plants and decorations. STEP 7: Add water to the aquarium. To avoid messing up your gravel and plants, you can place a plate or saucer in the middle of your aquarium and direct the water flow onto the plate. Use room temperature water when filling. To remove the chlorine and chloramine, use something like Tetra AquaSafe for Aquariums. Don't completely fill up the aquarium until you are sure of the layout of your decorations. Otherwise, when you place your arm in to move stuff

around water is going to spill over. Doh! STEP 8: Set up equipment. Install your heater but don't plug it in until the thermostat in the heater has adjusted to the water temperature. This usually takes about 15 minutes or so. Hook up your filter and any other equipment you have, then top off the aquarium water in your freshwater aquarium setup to just under the hood lip. Place your hood and tank light on the aquarium and then check your power cords to be sure that they are free of water. I would also recommend using a drip loop on all of the power cords to be extra cautious. For more information on safety, read this great article on aquarium electrical safety. Plug all of the equipment into a power strip and then "turn on" the aquarium. STEP 9. Wait, wait, wait and then wait some more. I know, you want to add some fish. But, in order to do this right you must wait until your aquarium has cycled before adding any fish. There are ways of speeding up this process. Check out the nitrogen cycle page to learn more about starting the nitrogen cycle and how to speed it up. If you must use fish to cycle, try to get a hardier species like the zebra danio or cherry barb. You may notice your fish tank cycle kicking in gear if you start to get some white cloudy aquarium water after a few days. STEP 10. Add tropical fish. Only add one or two fish at a time. Adding a couple fish at a time gives your filtration system the time needed to take on the increased biological load that the new fish introduce. When you bring the fish home let the bag float in the tank for about 15 minutes so that the fish can become acclimated to the temperature and pH of the aquarium water. After 5 minutes of floating the bag you should add some of the aquarium water to the bag so that the fish can become acclimated to the pH level in the aquarium. This will help reduce the amount of stress imposed on the fish. Stressed fish often leads to dead or diseased fish! Don't feed your fish on the first day. They probably wouldn't eat any food on the first day anyway. Let them get acquainted with their new home. If you're interested in some good and hardy first fish, please read the Good First Tropical Fish article. STEP 11. Get ready for regular maintenance. Be prepared to spend some time once every week or two to clean your tank. Performing regular water changes will reduce the nitrate levels and keep your tropical fish happy and healthy. As you can see, the steps for how to set up a fish tank are not that complex and hopefully you now have your aquarium setup and running! Have fun, take care of and enjoy your fish! There are many ways to set up a freshwater aquarium. Here is a quick video showing another way to set up a tank. Freshwater Aquarium Setup Comments, Tips and Questions From: Julie Stafford - Cloudy Aquarium Water We have had a tank for about a month with fish in it. The water all of a sudden turned cloudy last night and has continued that way today. Is this a normal transition process of newer tanks or is it a problem? Cloudy aquarium water in a newly established tank could be attributed to a few different factors: Overfeeding - try to feed your fish very tiny amounts and only give them as much as they can consume within a minute or two. Bacterial Bloom - If your cloudy aquarium water is a cloudy white or gray you may be experiencing a bacterial bloom. This bacteria is talked about on the aquarium nitrogen cycle page. The aquarium nitrogen cycle is an essential cycle that you should definitely know about. Please read the article. Completely replacing filter media - if you change out all of the filter media when you perform your tank maintenance you are removing most of the beneficial bacteria mentioned above and may be causing your tank to go through a mini-cycle. Try to swap out only half of the filter media during maintenance. Power filters sometimes come with two filter slots just for this purpose. Water Changes - if you recently did a water change sometimes the water coming out of the tap can

be cloudy. To avoid this (and some other potential problems, such as pH swings) it can be a good idea to let your water age a day or two before using it in your water change. If we had to guess as to what is currently causing your cloudy water it would probably be the bacterial bloom since you mentioned that your tank is only a month old. Get an aquarium water test kit and monitor your water parameters throughout the nitrogen cycle.

The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle The aquarium nitrogen cycle information presented below may be rather boring to most people, but it is absolutely essential to understand this process if you want to be successful at keeping fish! Some call it the biological cycle, the nitrification process, new tank syndrome or even the start-up cycle. They all are referring to the same cycle - The Nitrogen Cycle. The aquarium nitrogen cycle is a very important process for the establishment of beneficial bacteria in the aquarium and in the filter media that will help in the conversion of ammonia to nitrite and then the conversion of nitrite to nitrates. Check out the aquarium water chemistry page (on the left) for more information on these terms. This process can take from 2 weeks to 2 months or longer to complete. It is vital for anyone planning on keeping aquarium fish to understand this process. Learning about this process will help you to be successful in keeping fish and it should definitely improve your chances when keeping tropical fish. The best way to monitor the nitrogen cycle is to purchase an aquarium test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. Test your aquarium water every other day and write down your readings. You will first see ammonia levels rising. A few weeks or so later you should see the nitrite levels rising and the ammonia levels dropping. Finally, after a few more weeks you should see the nitrate levels rising and the nitrite levels dropping. When you no longer detect ammonia or nitrites but you can detect nitrates you can assume that it is safe to add your tropical fish.

Photo Credit: Ilmari Karonen Nitrogen Cycle Stages Stage 1 Ammonia is introduced into the aquarium via tropical fish waste and uneaten food. The tropical fish waste and excess food will break down into either ionized ammonium (NH4) or un-ionized ammonia (NH3). Ammonium is not harmful to tropical fish but ammonia is. Whether the material turns into ammonium or ammonia depends on the ph level of the water. If the ph is under 7, you will have ammonium. If the ph is 7 or higher you will have ammonia. Stage 2

Soon, bacteria called nitrosomonas will develop and they will oxidize the ammonia in the tank, essentially eliminating it. The byproduct of ammonia oxidation is Nitrites. So we no longer have ammonia in the tank, but we now have another toxin to deal with - Nitrites. Nitrites are just as toxic to tropical fish as ammonia. If you have a test kit, you should be able to see the nitrite levels rise around the end of the first or second week. Stage 3 Bacteria called nitrobacter will develop and they will convert the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are not as harmful to tropical fish as ammonia or nitrites, but nitrate is still harmful in large amounts. The quickest way to rid your aquarium of nitrates is to perform partial water changes. Once your tank is established you will need to monitor your tank water for high nitrate levels and perform partial water changes as necessary. There are other methods to control nitrates in aquariums besides water changes. For freshwater fish tanks, live aquarium plants will use up some of the nitrates. In saltwater fish tanks, live rock and deep sand beds can have anaerobic areas where denitrifying bacteria can breakdown nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas that escapes through the water surface of the aquarium. Getting The Nitrogen Cycle Started There are two ways to get the aquarium cycle started, either with fish or without fish. Starting The Nitrogen Cycle With Fish This is not the preferred way to get the nitrogen cycle started because the fish are being exposed to ammonia and nitrites during this process. Many fish can not and will not make it through the cycling process. Often times the fish become stressed and fish disease starts to break out. I wonder what percentage of disease is caused by the cycling of new aquariums? Certain species are hardier than others and seem to tolerate the start-up cycle better than others. For freshwater tanks, the zebra danio is a very hardy fish that many use to get the nitrogen cycle started. For saltwater tanks, some have reported success using damselfish to get the process started. Again, using fish to cycle is not a good idea and you may be throwing your money (on dead fish) out the window. There is a better way. Read on, young grasshopper. Starting The Nitrogen Cycle Fishless There are a few different ways to get this process started. To easily get an ammonia reading from your tank water try the Seachem Ammonia Alert. It sticks inside the tank and has a circle that changes color depending on the ammonia levels in the tank. Option 1: Using Fish Food Drop in a few flakes every 12 hours. As the food decomposes it will release ammonia. You will have to continue to "feed" the tank throughout the process to keep it going. Option 2: Use a small piece of raw fish or a raw shrimp Drop a 2 inch by 1 inch chunk of raw fish or a raw shrimp into the tank. As it decomposes it will release ammonia into the tank. Option 3: Use 100% pure ammonia. Using a dropper, add 5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water. If you don't get an ammonia reading with your test kit, add some more drops until you start to see an ammonia reading. Keep track of how many drops you've used so you can repeat this process daily. Continue to dose the tank with ammonia until you start to get nitrite readings with your test kit. Once you can detect nitrites you should only add 3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water, or if you added more drops originally to get an ammonia reading cut the amount of drops used in half. Continue this process daily until you get nitrate readings with your test kit. Do a 30% water change and your tank is ready. Option 4: Use gravel and/or filter media from an established and cycled tank This is the best and fastest way to go. This will seed the tank with all of the necessary bacteria for the nitrogen cycle. "Feed" the tank daily with flake food until you are getting nitrate readings. Depending on how fast you were able to get the gravel and filter media into your tank, you may be

getting nitrate readings in only a day or two. There are some drawbacks to this method. Ask your source if they have recently used any copper medications in the tank. If they have and you are planning to have invertebrates in the tank you should probably not use this method. Invertebrates will not tolerate copper. Get a copper test kit to determine if it's safe to use.

Option 5:
Using live rock in Saltwater Tanks The use of live rock in saltwater tanks has really taken off over the past few years. The reason for this is because it is one of the best forms of biological filtration available for saltwater tanks. The shape the rock is in when you get it will determine how long the nitrogen cycle will take. See step 7 on the saltwater setup page for more information on live rock. Option 6: Use Colonize by Dr. Foster and Smith - claims to colonize your water with the necessary bacteria needed to get the cycle going along with detoxifying ammonia so it doesn't harm the fish. To be used at the start of the tank setup and whenever you add new fish to your tank. Another bacteria culture product is Tetra SafeStart. People have reported success on the forum with using Tetra SafeStart. Do a quick search on the forum for other members' input. Use Instant Ocean BIO-Spira for Saltwater Tanks made by Marineland (the freshwater version may have been discontinued). This product claims to contain some patent pending species of nitrifying bacteria that will cycle your tank in 24 hours. Some of the FishLore forum members have tried it and it sounds like it is legitimate. It is kind of expensive, but if you already have fish in your tank and they are suffering through the cycle, you may want to check this stuff out. 1 ounce of this product is supposed to treat a 30 gallon freshwater tank. There are both freshwater and saltwater versions of Bio-spira. Please let us know if you use this and if it works for you by submitting comments below. Once the cycle has started only add one or two fish at a time. Wait a couple of weeks before adding more fish. This will give your tank the time it needs to catch up with the increased bio-load. Speeding Up the Cycling Process There are things you can do to speed along the process of cycling your aquarium. Increase the temperature of your aquarium water to 80F-82F (27C-28C) Get some beneficial bacteria colonies. Borrow some gravel from an established and cycled aquarium. If you have another tank with an extra filter you can use it. If you have a really nice friend with an established and cycled aquarium, ask if you can have one of their used filter media. It will be loaded with the good bacteria that we are looking for. There are products on the market that claim to introduce the beneficial bacteria. For more information, check out products like Bio-spira and Tetra SafeStart in option 6 above. There are many more products entering the market that contain the beneficial bacteria necessary to seed your tank. Between live rock (for saltwater aquariums) and the bottled bacteria being readily available, there really is no excuse to make fish suffer through a cycle. Tropical Fish and Aquarium Questions Aquarium and Fish FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Listed here are some of the most popular fish tank questions that new hobbyists seem to have. If you have a question that isn't answered here or if you feel that this page doesn't adequately answer your question, please let us know. Frequently Asked Fish Questions How many tropical fish can I have? The often stated general rule of thumb (don't stock your tank using this rule!) is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. Remember to use the future adult size of your fish when computing the total inches of fish you can have. This rule is pretty silly if you think about it though. Do you think a 20 inch fish would be comfortable in a 20 gallon tank? A better rule would be 1 inch of fish per 2 or 3 gallons of water. Avoid the temptation to overcrowd your tank. If you do overcrowd the tank you will need to perform maintenance more often and you risk the health of the fish you are keeping!

Can I add tropical fish right away? You can, but this is not the humane way to cycle your aquarium. There are products on the market that can speed up the aquarium cycling process. If you do decide to use fish to cycle the tank, try to use some of the hardier fish such as zebra danios or cherry barbs. Please read about the Nitrogen cycle. I just set up my tank and now my tropical fish are dying? Most likely the tropical fish are suffering from ammonia poisoning. Please read about the Nitrogen cycle. Can I use tap water to fill my tank? Maybe - first test for chlorine and/or chloramine. Most likely you will have these chemicals in your water and you will need to remove or neutralize them before adding water to your tank. How often should I change the water? It depends on how many fish you have and the quality of your filtration system. In lightly stocked tanks, I would recommend changing 10 percent of the water once a week. You could probably get by with vacuuming the gravel once every two weeks depending on the population of your tank. Heavier stocked tanks will need larger (25% or more) weekly water changes and gravel vaccuming. How often should I feed my tropical fish? It is best to give your fish two or three small feedings per day. Only give an amount of food that the fish can eat in 2 minutes or less. What are some good tropical fish for beginners? There are a few species that are particularly hardy and that can tolerate some of the mistakes that a beginner may make. Check out the Good First Fish page for more information. I have white cloudy aquarium water, what should I do? Check out the White Cloudy Aquarium Water page for more information. I have green cloudy aquarium water, what should I do? Check out the Green Cloudy Aquarium Water page for more information. Do I really need a quarantine tank? If you want to take care of your fish properly and you want to save money over the long run, then you should definitely have a quarantine tank. Read how to setup a quarantine tank. My fish is not acting normal, what should I do? There could be many explanations for the strange behavior. Join the FishLore Tropical Fish Forum and post your question. Our forum is completely free! How should I introduce new fish to my tank? There are a few different methods when it comes to acclimating new fish to your fish tank. Please read the article on How to Acclimate Tropical Fish. Help, I can't find my fish! Where is it? Have you looked around the outside of the tank? Some fish do jump out, especially when there is no hood or it is not properly secured. Look all around the tank, including behind it. Another place to look is inside the filter. Smaller fish can easily get into the filter's intake tube and it will often, unfortunately, kill them. To prevent this from happening in the future, you can place a sponge filter on the outside of the intake tube. You could even use old pantyhose. If you still can't find your fish, don't go rearranging the tank stressing out the rest of the fish. If it turns up, it turns up. It's probably hiding behind an ornament or plant and it will come out when it's ready. What should the fish tank temperature be set at? The aquarium water temperature depends on the fish species in question. Different species require different temperatures. Generally speaking, for tropical fish a good temperature range would be anywhere from 72 F to 78 F (22 C to 26 C);. Research the fish you're interested in keeping before buying since some have different temperature requirements. For instance, the freshwater Discus fish requires higher temperatures than most tropicals. Do I really need to let water sit for a day before using it to replace older water? This could be considered a carry over from earlier times when chlorine was all that we had to worry about in our tap water and letting it sit for a day would remove the chlorine. Nowadays we have chlorine and

chloramines that need to be removed. To our knowledge chloramines will not be neutralized just by letting the water sit for a day or two. You need a neutralizing agent and there are many chlorine/chloramine neutralizers that work well and work rather quickly. Saltwater keepers are still advised to let the water sit for a day or two before adding the freshly mixed saltwater to a tank. Actually "sitting" is kind of an incorrect term to use for saltwater mixes. You really need to keep it agitated for the day with a powerhead (and possibly a heater) to help keep the water moving so that it stays well mixed. Waiting a day to add the new saltwater will let the pH stabilize and you will get a more accurate reading of specific gravity on your hydrometer. Can I leave my aquarium lights on 24 hours? Your fish need some "down time" just like you do. Sure, they don't crawl under the covers and go to sleep, but they do hunker down in a quite place and rest at night. They need this period without lights. A good photoperiod (time the lights are on) is around 10 hours per day. For more info on lighting, check out Aquarium Lighting - Fish Tank Light. Acclimating Tropical Fish to Your Fish Tank This article presents information on how to acclimate fish and invertebrates to your aquarium. So you've went out and bought some fish and the store told you to acclimate the fish by floating the bag in the tank for 15 minutes and then release them into your aquarium. Right? Wrong! The only thing floating the bag accomplishes is that it brings the water in the bag closer to the temperature of the water in your tank. We need to be concerned about more than just temperature. The aquarium water chemistry is just as important as the temperature when it comes to acclimating fish. Don't be afraid to ask the fish clerk to test the store's tank water for you. They shouldn't mind testing their water right in front of you. They're trying to sell fish right? Ask them for, at minimum, the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. When you get home, test your own water to see how much the two sets of results differ. This can provide you with some insight into how slowly and for how long you should acclimate your fish. There are a few different recommended methods for how to acclimate fish to your aquarium and we'll talk about each of these methods. The most commmon tropical fish acclimation methods are: The Floating Bag Method The Bucket Method The Drip Method The Floating Bag Method This is probably the most common fish acclimation method and it works well. You just need to be careful when floating a bag full of unknown water in your tank. Ideally, you're floating the bag in a previously setup quarantine tank but, sadly, many new hobbyists don't use a quarantine tank. After you've been in the hobby for awhile and experience any sort of fish disease outbreak you'll soon come to realize the importance of a simple quarantine tank. After you leave the fish store you will want to go straight home to avoid ammonia accumulating in the bag (in the form of fish waste). Once you get home, open the top of the bag and remove about 25% of the water from the bag. Replace this water with the same amount of water from your tank. Float the bag in your tank and bring down the hood opening on the open end of the bag to help keep the bag secure. Every 10 minutes add about 1 measuring cup (use less if the bag is smaller) of your tank water to the bag. Repeat this process for about an hour. After an hour has passed use a small net to get the fish out of the bag and gently place the fish into your tank. The main idea here is to slowly get the fish used to your tank water (acclimated). Do not dump the bag water into your tank! If you do, you risk exposing your tank to any parasites or diseases that were in the dealer's tanks. Some fish may be difficult to net while in the bag and you don't want to damage the fish while trying to net them. If you're having difficulty netting the fish, get a large bowl (large salad bowl works well) and carefully pour the bag water into the net, allowing the bowl to catch the water. You could bypass the bowl altogether and do it over a sink but make sure that the drain plug is in place just in case you miss the fish with the net.

By slowly adding small amounts of water from the tank we are slowly acclimating the fish. The Bucket Method This fish acclimation method is basically the same as the floating bag method, but instead of floating the bag in the tank you're putting the bag inside a clean bucket instead. The bucket method is better than the floating bag method because you don't have to worry about any of the bag water entering your tank. Open the top of the bag and remove about 25% of the water from the bag. Replace this water with the same amount of water from your tank. Every 10 minutes add about 1 measuring cup of water to the bag. Repeat this process for about an hour. After an hour has passed use a small net to get the fish out of the bag and gently place the fish into your tank. The Drip Method The drip acclimation method is recommended for most saltwater fish and invertebrates because they can be more sensitive to pH, specific gravity and other water chemistry changes. To do the drip method your going to need a bucket, a vegetable clip with a suction cup for holding the tube in the tank and a length of air pump tubing that is long enough to extend from your tank to the bucket. Place one end of the tube into the veggie clip and then place the veggie clip into your tank. Tie a knot in the tubing to regulate the amount of water flow coming out of your tank. Get the siphon going and place the other end of the tubing into the bag in the bucket. You'll want a slow drip, drip, drip going. Aim for drips every one to two seconds. If you're having troubles using the knot to regulate the drip rate, any type of strong clip should work. Vice-grips (locking pliers) or c-clamps would work as well. How long you do the drip method depends on what your acclimating to your fish tank. If your doing this method for most freshwater species you should be ok doing it for an hour or so before introducing the fish to your tank. If you're doing this method on a saltwater invertebrate you may want to take 2 or 3 hours for this acclimation procedure. If you have a good pet shop and you trust their advice, ask for and follow their recommendations on the amount of time needed for acclimation. Acclimating new fish to your aquarium is a critical step and should not be taken lightly. Getting into the habit of using proper acclimation methods is a good way to ensure your long-term success in this wonderful hobby! Check out the video below for more tips. http://www.fishlore.com/acclimating-tropicalfish.htm Tropical Fish Tips We've tried to come up with a list of general tropical fish tips and hints for beginners to the fish keeping hobby. Below you will find our compiled list of the items we thought would especially help a newbie. If you have a good aquarium or tropical fish tip that you would like to share, just complete the form at the bottom of the page and we'll post it. New Fish Tank Tips Realize that if you do things correctly, this can be a long-term commitment. Some fish species can live for a very long time if cared for properly.

Research, research and research some more. It's a really good idea to get as much information as
possible on a fish before buying it. Try to find out things such as: How big it will eventually get and whether you have a large enough aquarium

What are the aquarium water parameters it requires? Find out things such as temperature, pH
ranges, etc. What types of fish foods will it eat? Will it take flake foods?

The general temperament of the fish species. Will it get along with the fish you already have
or plan to get? This is an often overlooked area that needs more attention from hobbyists. Is the species known as a prolific breeder? If so, do you have the equipment needed to keep them or do you have a plan for what happens when your fish has babies? Find out if your local fish store will take the young fish. If you don't have a means of placing them then you should stick with those fish that don't breed as easily in captivity.

 Is the fish easily susceptible to certain fish diseases? Get the biggest tank you can afford. A larger aquarium generally means that your aquarium water parameters will be more stable. A bigger tank gives you some room for error, like when a fish dies and you don't notice it right away. Or, for instance, when your heater breaks and the stores are closed. The water temperature should be more stable in a bigger tank.

Learn about the fish tank nitrogen cycle. This is a crucial process that you must understand if you
want to have long term success with tropical fish. Research aquarium equipment before you buy it. Use google (top right of this page) or any search engine, and type in the particular model you are interested in and read what others have to say about it. If you enjoy reading, go to the library or buy tropical fish books. Get a couple of books on aquarium information or the species you are interested in getting. Reading a book is probably the fastest way to get up to speed and it provides a great reference for the future. On this site you can find some of the fish books we've reviewed. Subscribe to a fish and aquarium magazine. Getting a subscription to a hobby magazine is an easy way to pick up some good tips and it also allows you to stay up to date on anything new in the hobby. Give your fish plenty of places to hide. Ironically, it seems the more places they have to hide the less they do hide. Hiding places can be a place of refuge for your fish and it should lower stress levels for them.

Research the fish you would like to keep and then aquascape your tank for the fish that will be living
in it. You want to be able to meet the requirements of the fish you are keeping and modifying the aquascape afterwards is sometimes not an option.

Get and use an aquarium water test kit to monitor the aquarium nitrogen cycle. The best way to
monitor this cycle is to purchase a freshwater or saltwater test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. Test the water coming out of your tap as well. This will arm you with more information when it comes time for those water changes.

Don't place your tank next to a window. Sunlight entering your aquarium will cause major headaches
in the form of green algae. Direct sunlight will also cause your tank water temperature to increase.

Don't follow the 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon of water rule. A better guide would probably be 1 inch of
fish per 2 or 3 gallons of water. Use the future adult size of your fish when computing how many fish you can keep. Resist the temptation to overcrowd your tank. The more tropical fish you have the more often you will have to perform fish tank maintenance. De-chlorinate your tap water before putting it in your tank. There are many de-chlorinators on the market.

Get an aquarium filter that has multiple (2) media cartridges. This will allow you to change out one
at a time. If you swap out all of the filter media with new media you run the risk of having to go through a mini aquarium cycle. Good power filters that hang on the back of the tank usually come with a separate floss system that you never have to change. Never rinse out your filter media with straight tap water. Use some of the tank water that you've just siphoned out while doing a water change. The chlorine and chloramine in the tap water will kill the nitrifying bacteria in the filter. Stocking Fish Tips

Slowly add fish to your tank. Never go out and buy a bunch of tropical fish because your tank's bioload won't be able to handle it. Slowly adding fish gives your tanks biological filtration a chance to catch up.

Slowly acclimate fish to your current setup or preferrably a quarantine tank. When bringing home
new fish, dump the bag contents (fish and water) into a clean (used only for fish) 5-gallon bucket

and then add about 1 cup of aquarium water to the 5 gallon bucket every 10 minutes. Continue to add 1 cup of aquarium water to the 5-gallon bucket every 10 minutes. After an hour or so your fish should be ready to add to the aquarium.

Make sure that any new fish you are planning to add to your tank will be compatible with the current
inhabitants. You need to look at temperament, water parameters and tank size requirements. For instance, please don't put a common pleco in anything under 55 gallons.

For new tanks, be sure the fish that you add to your tank are hardy. After the tank has aged for a few
months, less hardy fish can be added. A tank needs to "mature" (complete the aquarium nitrogen cycle) before it can accomodate certain species of fish. Submitted by: Dahly Feeding Your Fish Tips Give your fish a variety of tropical fish food and not just flakes. Read the nutritional information on the canister of food to see what vitamins and minerals your fish is getting. Flakes can be the primary diet for many fish because they are packed with the vitamins and minerals your fish needs. However, try to supplement their diet with other types of food every once in a while. You should see better colors and increased vitality by varying their diet. Do not overfeed your fish. Try for two small feedings per day instead of one large feeding. Give your fish a small pinch of food and see if they eat it all within a minute or two. If you see flakes floating to the bottom of the tank, then you put in too much food. That is, unless you have bottom feeders. Overfeeding will lead to poor aquarium water quality and will increase the stress levels in your fish. Fish Tank Maintenance Tips

Always turn off the electricity before working in or around your tank. Use a powerstrip connected to
a gfci outlet and all you have to do to turn off the electricity is flip a switch. Also, use drip loops on all of the cords or hang the power strip on the wall, thereby causing the cords to loop before reaching the plug in. Read the aquarium electrical safety article. Try to change some of the water in the tank on a regular basis. Small frequent (weekly or every two weeks) water changes are better than infrequent large water changes. Small water changes will cause less stress and shouldn't interfere with the biological cycle in the tank. If you have a larger tank, get a Python Aquarium Vacuum. These vacuums make doing water changes a breeze. Gravel vac only half of the tank with each water change. Switch sides on the next water change. Avoid wide fluctuations in your water parameters such as temperature and pH. Try to refill your aquarium with water that is as close to the current tank water as possible. Fish Disease Tips

Set up and use a quarantine tank. This is a small inconvenience that can really save your butt. Only medicate your main tank as a last resort. Use the quarantine tank setup for medicating sick fish
and for monitoring new arrivals.

Figure out what caused the fish disease or problem in the first place. Has your tank completed the
aquarium nitrogen cycle? Did you quarantine the new fish? Have you been keeping up on those water changes? What are the readings on your aquarium test kits? Try to accurately diagnose the disease before using medication.

Remove any carbon in your fish tank filters before using medications because the carbon will
remove medication that you add to your water.

Turn off the protein skimmer in saltwater fish tanks while medicating because it can skim off certain
medicines. Aquarium Lighting Tips

Don't leave the fish tank lights on all of the time. Try for a 8 to 12 hour period of time for lighting.
Most want to have the lights on while they are home. You can get the 8 to 12 hours needed by using a timer. For instance, set it to make the lights come on at 10am and off at 10pm. This will let you

view your tank when you get home from work. If you are wanting to keep aquarium plants, be sure to research their light requirements first. Determine if you can meet those requirements with your existing lights or if you need more wattage, which might require a different and usually more expensive aquarium hood. Breeding Fish Tips

Make sure that you have the necessary equipment before you start breeding fish. If you don't have
the space to keep the fry and don't have anyone you can give them to, please don't keep males and females in the same tank. This is especially applicable to those keeping livebearer fish like Mollies, Platies, the Guppy and the Swordtail.

When breeding tropical freshwater fish, always make note of temperature, ph, water quality, food
intake and unusual behavior. That way you can breed fish again easily by recreating these conditons or by observing unusual behavior between pairs. You set yourself up for the possibilities of new arrivals. Submitted By: Eric Aquarium Fish Care While On Vacation Tips Aquarium Fish Care While On Vacation Tips - What to do? Time for vacation! You've been working hard all year long and it's finally time for that well deserved vacation. Ah, just to think about it gives me the vacation fever. The time is drawing near and you suddenly realize - what the heck am I going to do about the aquarium and fish care? Who's going to feed the fish? What do I need to do to get my fish tank ready before I leave on my trip? There are several things to keep in mind and we'll try to help you get things in order before you leave so you can have a stress free and relaxing vacation not worrying about your fish and your aquarium! What about feeding the fish? Fish can go for several weeks without food. Some believe they can go for 3 or more weeks even. Yes, this is true believe it or not and your fish will be fine while you're away. Your tank may even look cleaner when you get home from vacation since there should be less wastes in the water from the lack of fish food entering the aquarium and less wastes being produced from fish eating that fish food. If you just can't stand the thought of your fish not eating for the amount of time you'll be gone, invest in an automatic fish feeder. These fish food dispensers are relatively inexpensive and they can actually be put into full time use, even when you are at home. You can fill them with a mix of tropical fish flakes (or other flake or pellet foods, depending on the fish you keep) and it should be several weeks before you need to refill the food container. Most are fully adjustable (you can release as little or as much food as allowed), operate on batteries and will easily attach to the top of the tank. Another option is to use one of those plastic pill boxes that are composed of small boxes corresponding to the day of the week. You put in the amount of food that day's container that you'd like for your friend, family member or neighbor to give to your fish and then you don't have to worry about them overfeeding and polluting the aquarium water. Try to do a partial water change right before you leave for vacation. This accomplishes a couple of things. The fish will get some good clean water, which should lower their stress levels and should help keep them healthy in your absence. This also gets the water level topped off so you may not have to worry about a low water level in the tank, but it depends on the rate of evaporation of course. Rinse out the aquarium filter media, or replace half of it. A clogged filter shouldn't pose a problem since many filters (especially power filters) have an alternate path for the water to return to the tank should the filter become clogged. You may be concerned about what to do with the aquarium lighting while you're gone. Should I leave it on or leave it off? There is a very simple solution here... The aquarium lighting can easily be turned on and off automatically using an aquarium light timer. If you're keeping freshwater plants or saltwater corals in a reef tank or macro algae in your refugium, you really should have a light timer anyway so that your plants and corals receive adequate amounts of aquarium light. We try to go on vacation at least once a year (if we're lucky) and we have a neighbor come over several times

a day to let our dog out. They have a dog too and we do this favor for each other when we go out of town. It really is extremely beneficial to have a good neighbor you can trust. While they are letting the dog out, I just ask them to check out the aquariums to make sure nothing is leaking and that nothing looks out of the ordinary. I have asked them to rinse out a protein skimmer collection cup before while I was away. If you've never seen a full cup of skimmer gunk, it can be very dark colored, yucky and smelly. They did it for me. I guess I really do have some good neighbors. Make sure you give the fish sitter a phone number to reach you at while on vacation just in case of an emergency with your fish or tank. A leak could develop, the heater could stick in the on position leading to a rise in temperature, the automatic water top off system could stick in the on position, etc. Remember Murphy's law here - "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong at the worst possible time". Write down a small list of tasks you'd like for them to do. Keep it short and don't put anything that is not absolutely essential. Here is a sample aquarium list of things you could ask your fish sitter to take care of: Feed the fish daily from that day's slot in the pill box - just that amount and no more please. Look at the temperature of the tank and if it's above 84 degrees F, call me. Quickly look around the base of the tank and on the floor in the immediate vicinity and inspect for leaking tank water. Dump out the contents of the protein skimmer collection cup (saltwater tanks only). Thank you for doing this for me while I'm on vacation - I really appreciate it! Invite the fish sitter over a day or two before you leave and walk them through your list. Show them exactly how to do the various tasks. Don't expect them to know what a protein skimmer collection is or looks like! Show them exactly how to put the food in the water and exactly how to empty the collection cup, etc. What if I don't have someone to come over? If you're only going to be away for a week, your fish should be fine without food as mentioned above. If you have a saltwater aquarium you may need to adjust the skimmer collection cup so that it doesn't collect as much since you won't be there to empty it. If you're going to be away for a longer period of time, than say two weeks, you will be really risking it not having someone come over. This is from a water evaporation and feeding standpoint. Although you're fish should be ok from a food standpoint, your tank water may not be in the best shape after two weeks without your care. So, plan ahead, take proper pre-cautions and show the fish sitter exactly what needs to be done and rest easy knowing that your fish will be fine. Have fun on vacation and we'll see you when you get back! Aquascape Aquarium Design Ideas For many fish tank hobbyists, aquascaping or aquarium aquascape design can be one of the most enjoyable parts about setting up a fish tank. Decorating your aquarium can be quite fun, but coming up with a good aquarium aquascape is not just about making the tank look nice. You really should take into account the tank's future inhabitants when figuring out what you need to do. This is where you get to exercise both sides of your brain to try and come up with something that is not only nice to look at but something that is functional as well. Research Fish and Animals First Ideally, you should research and decide on the fish and any other animals you want to keep before you even buy a tank. Many freshwater hobbyists think the common pleco is a cool fish to have and indeed it is. But, the common pleco really has no place in a tank smaller than 55 gallons as adults. Many saltwater hobbyists are really taken by many of the tangs (surgeonfish). Without research, they have no clue that tangs really need a large tank for adequate swimming space. Dottybacks are another popular species and one that needs hiding spaces to feel secure. Creating hiding places for your dottyback is an important consideration in your aquarium aquascaping plans. For the future reef tank keepers out there, some corals need intense aquarium lighting whereas others prefer less lighting. Figuring out which corals you would like to keep may dictate your aquarium aquascape and the arrangement of the saltwater live rock in your tank. For instance, if you want to keep some light loving corals you may need to build up the rockwork so that you could place these corals with the intense lighting requirements higher in the tank.

Hopefully you can start to see the importance of figuring out what you want to keep before you buy your first piece of fish tank equipment. Keep Aquarium Maintenance In Mind You've got your tank setup and your aquascape looks fantastic! Everyone compliments you on how nice it looks and you're feeling really good. However, a week or two goes by and it's time for some routine fish tank maintenance tasks. Namely, scraping the tank glass to get rid of some unsightly algae that is starting to grow on the front viewing panel of the tank. But wait, aah man, I've put the rock too close to the front glass and I can't get the scraper in between the rock and the glass. Doh! Another favorite task of many aquarists is gravel vacuuming. Yeah! Don't you just love vacuuming the gravel? Just kidding. However, what must be done, must be done. It's time for another - doh! I've grouped too many of these plants together and it's going to be darn near impossible to effectively clean the gravel in that part of the tank. Looks like the beginnings of a small nitrate factory in the making, which may be a big headache down the road. The point here is that you want to aquascape effectively. Arrange the fish tank so that future tank maintenance tasks remain as easy and efficient as possible. Freshwater Tank Decorations Aquarium ornaments Roman columns, the Parthenon, funny signs, the classic treasure chest or underwater diver that does double duty as a bubbler, small replica bridges, sunken ships, replica battleships, you name it. The amount of available aquarium decor is vast. Kids almost unanimously get that small underwater diver in their first tank. You know the one. It has a red diving suit and the bubble mask that is waving hello. It's almost like a right of passage of some sort. Driftwood Often seen in live plant setups, a nice piece of driftwood can be a great centerpiece of the aquascape in a freshwater tank. Don't just pick any old piece of wood and place it into your tank. Get some from you local fish store and ask questions about the curing process. To be on the safe side, you really need to monitor any wood in a separate quarantine tank and use your aquarium test kit to test the water parameters in the quarantine tank for several weeks or months before you can assume that it's safe to add to your main tank. Rock Just like driftwood, rocks can make nice additions to freshwater tanks. You sometimes see larger flat shaped rocks that can form ledges that provide hiding places for your fish. A lot of African cichlid lovers really like Texas Holey rock because it contains limestone that slowly dissolves in the tank water increasing the buffering capacity. Just like the driftwood, you will want to thoroughly clean any rock and quarantine it for several weeks/months before putting it into a display tank. Fake Plants The nice thing about fake plants is the ease of cleaning them. The bad thing about fake plants is that, well, they sometimes look really fake - especially when the base of the artificial plant pokes out of the substrate. These can sometimes detract from the aquascape... but if done right, you can pull it off. Live Plants Live aquarium plants provide functionality as well as beauty. Nitrate removal, oxygenation, shelter and breeding sites are just some of the wonderful benefits of keeping live aquarium plants. Live plants kept properly can help create some truly breathtaking, realistic looking aquarium scenes. There are many live aquarium plants available each having differing lighting and supplement requirements. Research any live plants that you're interested in beforehand is the key. Saltwater Tank Decorations Fake Coral or Dead Coral Fake or Dead Coral will look nice (depends on who you ask) for a very short period of time in your aquascape and can be a major pain in the butt to clean and will make you wish you never shelled out the money for it. Try the more natural route (live rock - see below) and avoid fake corals and dead coral skeletons altogether. Live Corals

The ultimate aquarium decoration that is actually a living animal! Corals are not for the beginner and should be thoroughly researched beforehand because of their often hefty price tag and demanding water, lighting and feeding requirements. Live Rock The great part about live rock, aside from the biological importance of using it, is that you can use aquarium silicon sealant to shape the rocks into any type of design you desire for your aquascape. We now have a new term - "rockscaping". You can also use a drill to create small holes in the rock and use pvc pipes to hold them together to make columns or archways. The rockscaping possibilities are endless. Another thing you'll probably need to do is place the rock directly on the tank bottom and not on top of the sand. Sand burrowing species could get injured or worse if you place the rock on top of the sand. Here are some typical saltwater live rock layouts to help kick-start your creative genius. Front View of Island Aquascape Design

Front View of Slope Aquascape Design

Front View of Cove Aquascape

Aquarium Background The tank's background can sometimes really set off the aquascaping in a tank. You have many options here. There are tons of ready-made tank backgrounds that are of picturesque nature scenes, coral reefs, etc. Choose one that you like and one that won't clash with what's going to be in the tank. Another option is to paint the outside back glass of the tank a solid color such as black, dark green, deep blue, slate blue, etc. Appliance spray paint sticks to the glass well. Many hobbyists like painting the outside back glass better than using a tank background because you don't have to worry about water getting in between the background and the back glass. Believe me, it will happen and then it can be a pain to clean it. It's not as big a problem for freshwater tanks as it is for saltwater tanks. In marine tanks, salt creep will eventually make its way in between the background and the glass causing unsightly salt creep on the glass

Aquarium Maintenance - Fish Tank Maintenance Aquarium maintenance or fish tank maintenance is something that absolutely has to be done on a regular basis to get the most out of this hobby. So you've finally got your fish tank up and running but you're noticing that it's starting to look a little dirty. Or, you notice that you need to top off some evaporated water. This is the time for some routine aquarium care or maintenance. Aquarium maintenance or fish tank maintenance can sometimes be a bother for hobbyists but it doesn't have to be that way. Develop a schedule for carrying out these aquarium maintenance tasks and it will make this hobby more enjoyable. Staying on top of those water changes should increase the health of your fish and make your tank look nicer. It's important to note that you don't need to completely break down the tank everytime you have to "clean your tank" or perform aquarium maintenance. Most of the time you will just need to perform a partial water change (20 percent or so) with a good gravel vacuuming and maybe scrape a little algae off the front viewing panel. If you have a major algae problem then something is out of whack. You may be feeding too much, your tank may be overstocked, you're not performing frequent enough water changes, you're feeding the wrong types of foods, etc. Or, it could be a combination of the above. If you have a problem with cloudy water, please read the article on Cloudy Aquarium Water and be sure to keep up with your fish tank maintenance! Ok, lets talk about cleaning your fish tank: Items you will need Aquarium Glass Scrubber Aquarium Vacuum 5-gallon bucket OR Python Aquarium Vacuum (Lee's makes an aquarium vacuum too) STEP 1: Develop an aquarium maintenance schedule You will want to clean your fish tank at least once every 2 weeks. Once a week would be even better to take care of your fish tank and it will be easier each time you clean. STEP 2: Turn off the electricity to the fish tank. This will be safer for you and it will keep the filter from clogging up with the debris you pull from the gravel. Read this article on Aquarium Electrical Safety for more information. STEP 3: Clean your fish tank Each time you clean your aquarium you will need to replace about 20% of the water. Use your algae scrubber to scrape any algae off the front and maybe the sides of the tank. For acrylic aquariums, make sure that you won't scratch the acrylic with whatever you're using to clean the sides. Some use an old credit card for acrylic tanks. Check out the filter media (i.e. filter floss). If it needs cleaning you can rinse it in some of the discarded tank water. This filter media will have loads of the beneficial bacteria needed for the aquarium nitrogen cycle and rinsing it in tap water with chlorine and/or chloramine can kill some of the bacteria, so use tank water. The vacuum and bucket method Place the bucket below the aquarium. Insert the end of the vacuum hose into the bucket and the vacuum completely into the aquarium. Use an up and down motion or a 45 angled up and down motion with the vacuum until the water starts flowing into the bucket. Clean as much of the gravel as possible until 20 percent of the water is drained. The Python vacuum method Hook up the python to the sink. Insert the vacuum completely into the aquarium. Turn on the faucet to begin the siphoning process. Clean as much of the gravel as possible until 20 percent of the water is drained. STEP 4: Refill aquarium with de-chlorinated water. Before adding water to the tank you should add the proper amount of chemicals that will remove the chlorine and chloramine from the incoming water. Try to add water that is the same temperature as you tank water. High temperature swings would be very stressful for your tropical fish.

For Saltwater aquariums you will want to have some saltwater mixed up and ready to go at least the day before you plan on doing water changes. Freshly mixed saltwater can be fairly toxic to fish and you need to allow a day or so to allow the salt mix to properly dissolve. Many use new and clean 5-gallon buckets or rubber trash cans for this purpose. Mix up the salt, pop in a powerhead and maybe a heater and you have saltwater ready for when you need it. Once a week, clean out the skimmer collection cup, scrape off any salt creep back into the tank if possible. If you don't have saltwater snails you'll need to use an algae scrubber to remove any algae that has built up on the front and sides of the glass. See the note above if you have an acrylic tank (scratches easily!). This is also a good time to test the tank water salinity with your hydrometer. Top off any evaporated tank water with dechlorinated fresh water.