Tropical Fish are some of the most wonderful types
of animals to look at due to their unique color and patterns covering their
bodies. In order to have a successful freshwater tropical fish aquarium you will
have to work hard. Once a week, preferably 2 times a week you will need to
perform maintenance on the tank. Most of the time you will be performing water
changes and water test. And every day you have to feed the fish, and keep record
of temperature. You will also have to spent time in front of aquarium to look if
the fish are ok, looking for signs of sickness can be rewarding. It’s the time
you will relax in front of the aquarium and enjoying the peaceful movements of
the fish.
It's a good idea to have in mind what kind of fish
you want to keep 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. But it’s always better to take the bigger tank, the
biggest money will allow. The simple reason for this is that the more water you
have the les chance you will have of sudden spikes in ph and or nitrite or
nitrate. No sudden water parameter changes will take place.
Place your
aquarium 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 un-shaded window could affect the temperature of your
tank and even give you algae battle.
Before you fill your aquarium test your
water supply.
Fill tank with tap water. Set up the pump, filter and water
heater.
Set the water heater temperature to 20-24C.
The Light should be
on for NO MORE than 8 hours a day.
The pump should be on 24 hours a day
every day.
Leave for 4 weeks.
DO NOT change the water during this time.
After 4 weeks test the water for ph and ammonia nitrate.
Then you can
begin to introduce fish to the tank. Buy 4 very hardy fish (i.e. Guppies or
Platies). They will be able to withstand the water in the new tank, which will
not be 100% ready. DO NOT put the fish straight into the tank. Place the bag
they are in, into the tank to let them get used to the temperature.
Leave
them like this for AT LEAST 10 minutes. Open the bag and let some of the tanks
water into the bag or you can use the drip system. Leave for another 10 minutes.
This will let them get used to the different water chemistry gradually. When
time is over use a net and put the fish in the tank. NEVER throw the pet shop or
supplier water in your aquarium. It may have parasites or sickness what the eye
can’t see. You can only add more fish after 1 month. If you over populate the
aquarium with fish the water will not be able to stay in balance. NEVER put in
more than 5-6 new fish at a time.
Allow AT LEAST 4 weeks between introducing new
fish and only after you have kept them in quarantine for 2 weeks. Avoid
overfeeding, which results in poor water quality because of surplus food floating around in the tank.
Perform a partial water change weekly is fine.
NEVER under any circumstances change all the water. You will be right back to
stage one. Fill a bucket with tap water and leave to stand for 24 hours. This is
to get rid of the chlorine, which is poisonous to your fish. Also remember to
put a heater in there to preheat the water. It is best if and when you do water
changes the water temperature is the same as the water in aquarium. If water
temperature differs more than 1.5Celcius the fish will most likely get a
sickness called ich, but ich is not all that can go wrong. So to avoid trouble
keep the water the same and less stress will be on the fish.
When the water
is right the using a second bucket to remove dirty water from the tank and gives
you the chance to use the vacuum to suck up all dirt at the bottom. Then you can
introduce the new clean preheated water to the tank.
DO NOT over feed your
fish. This is one of the quickest ways to kill them. They will simply eat
themselves to death. Also the excess food which is not eaten will pollute the
tank's water and cause disease and stress.
