compatible fish for a freshwater aquarium
Sep 9th, 2008 | By thulas | Category: EducationFish kept in an aquarium are definitely the easiest pets you can keep. Take adequate measures to care for your fish after you have established the fish tank. There are things that should be done daily to care for fish and some things that need only be done weekly or bi-weekly. Note that there are not many things that you will have to do everyday for care of your fish tank. You will need to look at the fish every day to make sure they appear to be overall healthy and happy. Fish, suffer from stress as well and you would want to make sure the living environment does not cause any form of unnecessary stress that can threaten their health and well being.
Check the lights and the filters of the aquarium daily to see if they are working correctly and they are properly plugged. Make sure you feed your fish on a daily basis. Foods that you give your fish should not take more than two to five minutes for consumption. Anything more than that will sink to he bottom and become debris. Once every week, you will have to look at the pH and the temperature of the water. Make it a habit to make the necessary changes immediately. When you are buying your fish from your pet store, ask them what levels will be suitable. The conditions are different for each kind of fish.
You have to spend time to clean the filter too. The waste materials that are produced in the tank due to excretion of the fish are collected in the filters. Unless you clean out these filters, they will simply go on accumulating the waste and will not be able to perform their job well. The filter will also allow oxygen to circulate within the tank and not just allow for removal of wastes. You will find that the cycling of gases within the tank will become reduced in speed if the filters are clogged. This tampers with the oxygen supply in the aquarium. This could also be a cause of the untimely death of your fish. Do not keep the same filter for more than two to three weeks in the aquarium. One indication that tells you that the filters need cleaning is when the water becomes murky or develops bad odor. Your filter could either be simply cleaned with water or need a complete replacement.
Water changing in the aquarium should not be done too quickly. See carefully if you have removed the lights and other arrangements from the fish tank before starting to clean it. Replace about a third of the total water in the aquarium once in every one or two weeks. Water can be added from the tank provided you treat it for temperature, keeping it near two degrees of the water in the aquarium. The retailer at the pet store will guide you on the proper kind of water to be used. Some treatments allow the tap water to be ready in as little as an hour, while others need to sit overnight before being added to the tank.
When cleaning the tank, clean from the sides to scrub out any buildup of alga. While cleaning, do not agitate the fish. Move rocks and decorations to loosen any debris. When the water is being changed, try and remove all of these residual wastes using a small bucket or a siphon to do this. You will have to remove the leaves of the aquarium plants as they die. Use a squeegee soaked in clean water to clean the outer surface of the aquarium. Do not miss out on cleaning the lid and the cover of the tank. Your cleaning is done.