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Sunday, 9 May 2021
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Caring for a Goldfish Aquarium

Keeping Goldfish can be a fun and rewarding hobby. As with any new hobby, especially one that involves living creatures, always consider the maintenance that will be involved. If you care for your aquarium properly, you will be sure to have happy and healthy Goldfish for many years. Goldfish have a life expectancy of five to ten years. If you do a good job maintaining their fish tank, you should have fun, beautiful fish for a long time. Make sure to feed them correctly and keep their water fresh and clear. 


When starting any new aquarium, you should get everything in place before buying the fish. If you are going to put gravel on the bottom, you may want to put only a thin layer. This will make it easier to keep clean, as Goldfish tend to be messy. Make sure that you rinse the gravel thoroughly before placing it in the bottom of the tank. If you have some decorations, you should add them now. Make sure that you rinse them well before putting them into the tank. Also be sure that the goldfish have plenty of room to swim, as they as active fish. Give them a place or two to hide, and that should do nicely. 


Now that you have everything in place, you can add in the water. You will need to use a dechlorinator, as the chlorine in tap water is poisonous to fish. Once the fish tank is filled up, you can turn on the filter. Change it as often as recommended to keep your fish healthy. Goldfish live at room temperature, so you will not need a heater. They are quite comfortable in temperatures from 68 to 80 degrees. However, they should not be exposed to rapid temperature changes. You might want to let the filter run in the new goldfish tank for a day or so to filter out any chemicals or dyes that might have been left on the gravel and decorations that you just added. Waiting to buy new fish can be one of the hardest things about fish keeping! 


You need to add fish gradually. Fish excrete ammonia. If you add too many fish at once to a new fish tank, the water will not be seasoned enough to dissipate it. As the water in your Goldfish tank ages, it builds up beneficial bacteria that turn harmful chemicals excreted by the fish into harmless ones. However, this will take some time. Start out with only one fish. The nitrogen cycle will not begin until you add the fish, so running an empty tank for several days will not help. Since your fish tank is brand new, you might want to consider making partial water changes of about 25 per cent of the total water volume every few days for the first week or so. 


You can find Goldfish food at almost any pet shop. Make sure to purchase some when you buy your first fish. Feed only a small amount. Especially at first. Any uneaten food will sink to the bottom and rot. Keep this to a minimum. Watch your fish the first few times that you feed them. Feed only as much as they will eat in two to three minutes twice a day, or as recommended on the Goldfish food label. Be especially careful not to overfeed when the Goldfish tank is new. This will cause excess build up of toxic chemicals and can kill your fish quickly. 


As the water in your fish tank cycles through the nitrogen cycle, you may notice that is becomes very cloudy. This is a normal process and should clear up in a few days. Do not  add any new fish until the water is crystal clear again. Clear water will signify that the nitrogen cycle is working and that the toxic chemicals are being converted to good ones. 

Remember that Goldfish will grow large and they need a big space. Don't overcrowd the tank if you want to keep healthy fish. If you follow this little guideline, you will be sure to have a healthy goldfish aquarium.


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Aquarium Care for Freshwater Fish

Freshwater fish are perhaps the easiest fish to care for in comparison to saltwater species because they are usually hardier fish.   A basic aquarium set up will be required.  You will need a tank, some rocks or substrate to line bottom of the tank.  You will also need a filter, and some lighting.  When choosing fish, it is imperative to make sure the fish are compatible. Not only do they need to be compatible for water temperature and P.H., but they also should have similar food requirements.  Try to keep the fish relatively the same size.  It has been said that if a fish is small enough to fit in another fishes mouth, that is usually where it ends up.  So don't be discouraged if this happens.  Even fish that have been housed together for several months have been known to disappear on occasion.  


Freshwater fish should be fed twice daily.  Feed only a small amount that can be consumed within the first two to five minutes.  Over feeding is a common mistake among novice fish keepers.  Any excess food should be lifted with a net if possible, as it will become debris and quickly dirty the tank.  Water should be kept regulated and tested weekly.  Any discrepancies in P.H. and water temperature should be corrected immediacy in order to minimize stress caused to the fish.  

Stress is significant because it causes illness in fish.  It is important to monitor the activity and overall well being of the fish in an aquarium.  The signs of stress will be fairly obvious.  Slow moving or lethargic looking fish will require a stress coat that can be purchased at a local pet store. Try to avoid overcrowding the tank.  This should help to reduce the amount of stress caused to the fish.  


Change about a third of the water in the aquarium at a time, because this type of change will cause the least amount of disturbance to the fish and other inhabitants.  This will need to be done every two to three weeks.  Use either a bucket or a siphon to remove the water from the tank.  Try to remove any loose or floating debris at this time.  When adding the new water to the aquarium, be sure that it is within approximately two degrees of the tank water.  The sides of the aquarium should be scrubbed regularly to remove an algae build up.  Again be careful not to disturb the fish.  Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling the aquarium.  Lastly, check the manufacturer's recommendation on filters and change them accordingly. Filters collect any fish waste or left over food.  They can't function properly unless they are clean.  


Introduce hardy fish to a new tank.  These fish can withstand higher nitrite levels that are present in a new aquarium.  Choose fish such as danios, barbs, gouramis, and live bearers.  Don't add more than three to four small fish per week.  Acclimation times vary per species, so check with your retailer before adding any other new fish.

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All about Care for an Acrylic Aquarium Kit

The practice of keeping aquariums came about in the late 1800's.  They were fairly crude.  Usually these ancient aquariums only had one side that was made of glass, with the other three sides being made of metal or wood.  Most aquariums consisted of fish that were native to the region of its owner simply because of availability.  Also most old school fish tanks contained only fresh water fish. The reason being that salt water would corrode the metal frame that held the aquarium together. 


Aquariums drastically changed in the 1960's with the invention of silicone adhesive.   Metal frames became obsolete and more people started to keep salt water fish and invertebrates.  More recently glass tanks have become less frequently used due to the flexibility of acrylic.  Literally flexibility!  Acrylic aquariums are far more for forgiving than there glass counterparts.  If a heavy object strikes a glass tank, it will almost certainly break.  The flexibility of an acrylic tank will prevent this catastrophe from happening.  In addition, acrylic offers more flexibility in design than glass.  Acrylic aquariums have been made into everything from coffee tables to gum ball machines.  


That being said, there is a short downfall to owning an acrylic aquarium.  They do scratch more easily than glass.  When cleaning your aquarium, be careful not to use paper towels, and harsh or abrasive chemicals, as they can scratch the acrylic surface of the aquarium.    Always use a cleaner specifically labeled safe for acrylic. Use plastic or rubber scrubbers, rather than metal to clean the sides of an acrylic tank.  Be careful not to accidentally pick up a piece of substrate or gravel while cleaning the inside of the tank.  However, if you do happen to scratch an acrylic aquarium, all is not lost.  The tank can be repaired, unlike glass.  There are acrylic repair kits available at specialty pet stores, your local hardware store and of course online. 


When purchasing an acrylic aquarium kit, there will be many different options to choose from, at many different price points.  Aquarium kits can be purchased at places such as specialty aquatic pet stores, from huge retail chains, or again online.  A fish lover can choose from small cylinder shaped tanks that can double as a coffee table lamp to wall huge wall sized aquariums.  While, there are some basic things that will be included in most kits, such as, a filter, some substrate or coral and sometimes lighting, the kits themselves can vary greatly.   It really doesn't matter where you buy your starter kit, but keep in mind that it is extremely important to buy your fish from a reputable dealer.  Don't buy fish that are hovering near the surface, or that are located in a tank with other dead fish. Fish diseases are extremely communicable.  Be weary of a fish dealer that refuses to catch a specific fish out of the tank for you.  After all this is going to be your fish and you have a right to choose.  


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Adding an Oyster to the Ecosystem Inside a Saltwater Aquarium

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Saltwater aquariums can make a lovely addition to a home, and are a source of endless fascination to young and old alike. The different fish and plant life which are capable of living in a saltwater aquarium are both exotic and beautiful, and provide a rich introduction to life under the sea. Fish and plants are not the only things which can be found in the deep blue, however, and it is becoming more and more common for aquarium owners to attempt to incorporate these other elements into their home aquarium.


Artificial oysters which open up and blow bubbles into the water have been a part of home aquariums for many years. With the increase in desire to perfectly emulate the ocean floor live oysters are becoming a common addition to saltwater aquariums. It is not common but not unheard of for a pearl producing oyster to be offered as an addition to a home aquarium; however, it is generally their less productive relations that become permanent residents. Since scallops and oysters have more specific needs than many of the inhabitants of the home aquarium it is necessary the aquarium owner be sure that they are prepared to make these adjustments prior to installing the oyster into the aquarium.


Oysters require very "pristine" water conditions; these are not the organism of choice for those who tend to be a bit lazy about cleaning their tank, as the oyster will not survive long if their water becomes cluttered with junk. Fortunately, the oyster also filters the water, so this may balance itself out.  They also have specific dietary needs that will not be met with the generic food fed to many saltwater inhabitants. They will need a specialized organic food designed especially for filter feeders which can be inserted with a pipette upstream of the oyster. Each oyster is going to need to be fed individually, so unless an aquarium owner finds themselves with a great deal of time on their hands it may be wise to keep the oyster population of their aquarium to a minimum. These invertebrates also require nutritional supplementation with phytoplankton, a microscopic portion of plankton that drift through the water.


Certain types of oysters have been shown to have a better chance of survival in captivity than others. The beginner would be wise to look to these breeds to begin with, moving on to the more delicate oysters as they become more comfortable with their needs. Common aquarium oysters are the spiny oyster and the thorny oyster; strange yet accurate names for these beautiful and unique creatures. 


Oysters are a demanding but beautiful addition to any home aquarium; for more information on introducing an oyster to a home aquarium consumers should speak with the retailers who sell them. Remember, no detail is too small when attempting to take an organism from its natural environment and watch it thrive.

Sunday, 19 March 2017
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