ADVICE ON FISH KEEPING
Note: This page is intended only on giving fish keepers few pointers and some helpful advice. Detailed information on aquarium care can be obtained from some of the sites in the links page, or in a good book.
CONTENTS
GOOD PRACTICES I LEARNED THE HARD WAY
TIPS ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF FISH KEEPING
MAKING YOUR AQUARIUM LOOK GOOD
STARTING OUT
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READ READ READ AVOID IMPULSE BUYING |
You can not over filtrate, but you can under filtrate. Air operated filters are not good enough for most aquariums. I recommend the internal power filter. Try to have the entire volume of the tank passing through the filter three times an hour (i.e. if you have a 100 liter aquarium your filter should cycle 300 liters and hour). In my 380 liter aquarium I have one 1000 liter per hour filter and another filter that does 300 liters per hour. That tank has almost crystal clear water all the time.
FURNISH THE TANK NATURALLY
Avoid placing unnatural objects into your aquarium. Bright colours and sharp edges will do nothing to help your
fish. Bright colours will also detract from the appearance of the fish themselves. Use river washed stones and
drift wood for decoration. Don't go overboard with aquarium decoration. Provide enough wood and rock work to provide
hiding places for the fish but do not clutter the aquarium, make sure that the fish have swimming room.
SET IT UP PROPERLY, DON'T TAKE SHORT CUTS
Buy the recommended equipment and set the tank up as outlined in the aquarium books. Don't introduce the fish too
soon.
JOIN A FISH CLUB
There are aquarium and fish clubs around the place. The help you can get from the other members of such a club can be invaluable. Some such clubs are listed on the links page.
GOOD PRACTICES I LEARNED THE HARD WAY
SET UP YOUR AQUARIUM WHERE IT CAN BE SEEN
Avoid placing aquariums in the spare room/shed. The fish do not acclimatise to having people around and will be
afraid of you. Also you may forget about them every once in a while (which I sometimes did). If you can see the
aquarium all the time then you will be more inclined to keep it clean and healthy. A neglected aquarium is the
fastest way to losing interest in this hobby. I keep all my aquariums in the lounge room and the bed room.
ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE A LOW MAINTENANCE SYSTEM
There is nothing worse than having fish tanks that require constant attention. That is why I use big tanks with good filters and reasonable stocking levels. I can leave my fish tanks virtually uncleaned for up to a month if need be.
WATER CHANGE REGULARLY
Change about one third of the total water in the tank each fortnight (or each week if the tank needs it). You should never have to empty out the tank and give it a more extensive cleaning if the filters are doing their job and you are not over feeding. Failure to water change regularly can lead to disease, stress and even the death of your fish.
KEEP SCHOOLING FISH IN SCHOOLS
A schooling fish will generally feel insecure if kept by itself. It is a good idea to keep such fish in groups.
They will behave in a more natural and confident manner. You will benefit from this because the fish will be less
reclusive and will have better colour.
ALWAYS HAVE A QUARANTINE TANK
Make sure you have at least one empty tank which is set up and ready to go in case you detect a sick fish, or purchase
a new one. New fish must always be isolated before being released into the aquarium.
HOW TO PREVENT DISEASE
No magic cures, no flashy chemicals. Look after your fish and they will look after themselves. Research you fish
so that you understand them. Set up your tank correctly. Don't overstock or under filtrate. Make regular partial
water changes, don't cheat and change most of the water every so often (I killed some fish doing that). Don't mix
incompatible fish. Feed a variety of food. Quarantine new fish. Do these things and fish disease will rarely have
to be prevented.
DON'T TURN OFF YOUR FILTER AT NIGHT TO SAVE ELECTRICITY
Turning off most types of filters kills the bacteria that accumulate in them. This bacteria is in fact the stuff
that is cleaning your tank. By turning off your filter you are basically rendering it useless. You might as well
throw it away.
FEEDING
Young growing fish eat a lot
more than older larger fish. When their appetite starts to drop off, make sure you reduce the food input! If you
feed your fish red meat, ensure that it is totally fat free. Fish cannot digest animal fat and will eventually
die from cholesterol buildup.
FISHES OF THE SAME SPECIES FIGHT
I have found that many fish hate members of their own species but will tolerate fish of other species. Unless you
are sure that the fish gets along with it's own kind, keep only one of each. This is especially the case with cichlids
and many natives. Only schooling fish appreciate company.
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This Southern purple spotted gudgeon lives in my lounge room and is no stranger to people. It's mate, however, has been kept in a back room and cowers at the site of a person. |
TIPS ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF FISH KEEPING
FOOD SUGGESTIONS FOR PREDATORS
I keep a lot of predatory fish and they can prove to be a handful. The first thing it to try and avoid buying prepared foods from aquarium retailers due to the high priced that they charge. I feed about a kilogram of food to my predators each fortnight so there is no way I could ever afford to feed them using such foods.
The first and probably best type of food that I use is white bait and other bait fish. I get my fish from bait shops. If you do this make sure that you are getting good quality fish, many bait fish are rotten and will kill your pets. You can also sometimes buy small fish from seafood shops. I simply defrost the fish and throw them into my tanks whole, unless the fish are too small to eat them whole. In that case I break the fish up, but still throw in everything including the head, stomach and back bone. In my opinion this is an excellent and natural diet. Using marine fish to feed to freshwater fish also ensures that parasites and germs are not introduced.
Another food that I use as a supplement is beef heart that I buy from a butcher's shop. Red meat can be dangerous to fish because they have a hard time digesting fats. I remove all the fat and them mince up the heart. I then freeze portions that will last for three days at a time. All of my fish love beef heart.
Fish are like us in that they should have a variety of foods. I also feed cockroaches, live fish and some prepared foods to my predators to keep them happy.
FOOD SUGGESTIONS FOR OMNIVORES
These fellows are easy. The smaller ones will take flake and the bigger ones will take pellets. I change brands of flake every so often for variety, and throw in something special every so often like some blood worm of beef heart. Vegetarians appreciate lettuce leaves as a snack. Use the dark green leaves as these have the most nutrition.
A murray cod makes a rewarding pet, but it needs room to grow. The small fish shown here will eventually become physically larger than most people's fish tanks!
MAKING YOUR AQUARIUM LOOK GOOD
LOCATION
There is no point in having the worlds best looking fish tank if it is hidden in a back room is there? Try and place the aquarium in a location where is will both be seen and where the fish will see people. If the fish see people regularly they will not panic or hide when someone comes to look at them.
CLEAN GLASS
Having unscratched clean glass makes a huge difference in the appearance of an aquarium. I wash the outside of the glass with diluted methalated spirits and a soft cloth. This inside of the glass I clean with a soft scouring pad and a sponge (no detergent of chemicals). I only clean the front pane of glass and allow algae to grow on the others as fish food.
WATER QUALITY
Super clean glass is fantastic, but useless without crystal clear water. The answer to fantastic water quality is good filtration, water changes and not feeding too much. I find it almost impossible to keep a fully stocked tank clean, so try to limit the density of fish. The filters should cycle the entire water volume of the tank at least three times an hour. Direct sunlight can cause algae to grow in the water, turning it green. Avoid placing a tank where it gets direct sunlight.
LIGHTING
Good bright overhead fluorescent lighting is indispensable when you want to show your tank. Try to place the light forward over the tank to show your fish to best advantage. There are different types of lighting available. Try not to use conventional fluorescent tubes, the colour is terrible!
BACKGROUND
Try and have a background for your aquarium. You can paint the rear pain, attach a printed background or hang a curtain behind the tank. Try hand have the background fairly dark, it adds depth to the tank.
SUBSTRATE
The substrate should be dark but natural. Light coloured substrates reflect light and make the fish look washed out.
The substrate should also be kept clean and free from excess waste. A gravel syphon is the best way of keeping the substrate clean.
PLANTS
Plants look really good, but can be difficult to obtain. I only use the most hardy of plants. Try to keep the plants away from the filter outlet as the current can damage them. Plants need to be illuminated for most of the day to grow.
FURNISHINGS
Use rocks that don't have sharp edges and drift wood to complete the look of your tank. Use your imagination to make an attractive setting. Try to keep it fairly simple and don't clutter the tank.
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The Oscar is an aggressive fish. It can give any fish a hard time. Be sure to only keep it with other fish that can protect themselves. Oscars also have a bad habit of digging up plants and rearranging tank furnishings. Only simple and rugged items like heavy rocks and large stumps will do for a tank housing an oscar. |
USEFUL LINKS
Copyright (c) Alexander Foreman
