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The aquarium death spiral is a situation where an action is taken to fix a perceived problem, but that action actually makes the situation worse. Most commonly, the Death Spiral happens when an aquarist doses an aquarium with antibiotics, anti-fungal, or anti-microbial medications. The medication has the unexpected effect of killing off the bacteria . . . → Read More: Aquarium Death Spiral It is obvious to most people that aquarium filters capture the gunk suspended in the tank’s water, leaving it looking clear. This is called mechanical filtration. Filters perform a much more important function, however, called biological filtration. As discussed in the post on cycling an aquarium, fish produce ammonia both directly and through the . . . → Read More: Why Proper Aquarium Filtration Is Important I posted before about converting a 55G tank to African Cichlids. All is going well, but I happened upon a few concerning articles, specifically this one about keeping Mbuna cichlids for beginners. As it turns out, I managed to buy two of the three fish that the author strongly cautions against. I have a . . . → Read More: African Cichlid Stocking Screw Up Maybe the pretty fish you bought has gone on a rampage and killed many of its tank mates. Maybe the fish has grown too large for you to house. Maybe you just don’t want it any more. You don’t want to flush him, but what do you do? There are a few primary options: . . . → Read More: What To Do With Unwanted Fish? A bowl does not provide a proper environment for any kind of fish. Bettas and gold fish are both commonly kept in bowls. though both suffer from it. The Problem With Bowls There are a few major problems with bowls Bowls generally do not hold much water. The small volume of water results in . . . → Read More: What Kind Of Fish Can I Keep in a Bowl? Much like my other post on keeping goldfish in a bowl, the answer is “yes”, a betta can live in a bowl, just not for long and not happily. The problems with a betta bowl There are 3 main problems with bowls for bettas: Bowls are generally quite small. A betta, just like any . . . → Read More: Can a Betta Live in A Bowl? What is “Cycling”?A “cycled aquarium” is a tank that has established bacterial colonies to process fish waste, in the form of ammonia, into nitrates. It is very important for aquariums with fish to be cycled, as ammonia is toxic to fish. Adding fish to un-cycled aquariums will generally result in most or all of the fish dying. What cycling is NOTDespite the bad advice of so many pet store employees, cycling does NOT mean adding water to the aquariums and letting it sit and filter for a few days. Doing that can be useful to make sure your equipment doesn’t die right away, but does nothing to cycle the tank. Cycling a tank requires a source of ammonia for bacteria to consume. How to Cycle a TankThere are three methods for cycling:
EVERYONE who ever keeps fish has used one of those methods. Those that are not aware of the choice have chosen fish-in cycling by default. Continue reading Cycling a New Freshwater Tank Here are some pearls of wisdom I wish I had when I was starting out with my aquarium. Starting Out and Buying Aquarium StuffAccept that you are going to kill some fish on accident. You will either learn from the mistake or drop the hobby. New Aquariums need to be cycled. Taking the time to understand what this means is a must. Small tanks are not easier to keep fish in than large ones. Maintenance on a small tank takes less time, but a larger tank provides a larger volume of water which generally provides a more stable environment for fish, and is more forgiving of mistakes by beginners. Under-gravel filters suck. You will hate them. Also see the comment on gravel. Unless you have a specific need, don’t put gravel in the bottom of your tank. Go with a “bare bottom” tank, and add decorations. Leaving the tank bottom bare will make it easier to clean out the fish waste. If it is not kept clean, it will contaminate the water, causing sick and dying fish. Do not buy fish on impulse. Read up on fish that you are considering buying. Many small and cute, colorful fish in the pet store grow up to be demanding monsters. Don’t rely on the tank size rating when buying a filter for your tank. Most filters are rated on their flow without media, which will slow down the flow. You want filtration that will turn the water over between 5 and 10 times per hour. For a 10 gallon tank, that’s a 50 to 100 gph filter. For a 55G tank, it’s 225 to 550 gph. Canister filters are well worth the extra money. They are quieter and more powerful than the kind that hang on the back of the tank. Maintaining a planted tank is much harder and more expensive than it looks Spend the extra money and get a “master test kit” to test your water with (this is the kind that uses drops of reagent chemicals in test tubes). The test strips are not that reliable. Online pet stores are MUCH cheaper for most food, chemicals and hardware. Pet stores regularly sell fish that are entirely inappropriate for 99.9% of fish keepers. Know what you are buying and whether you can properly care for them. The employees of pet stores only appear to know what they are talking about. Don’t accept the advice of pet store employees on setting up a new tank, particularly the big chain stores like Petco, Petsmart, etc. Don’t accept the advice of pet store employees on how to treat a disease with your fish
People new to the fish keeping hobby are often not fully informed about what equipment they will need. Unfortunately, that often leads to being turned off to the hobby, as it can be considerably more expensive than than originally planned. In this post, I’ll describe the most commonly required equipment and supplies for a standard freshwater aquarium. This is a good list for keeping the most common types of community freshwater fish. If you are keeping some species of fish, such as African cichlids, or you have extreme water conditions, such as very hard well water, you may require some additional equipment. Basic Equipment Required for Starting an Aquarium Continue reading Aquarium Equipment For An Fish Keeping Beginner Large goldfish that barely fits into the small bowl So, can a goldfish survive in a bowl?The short answer is yes – for a while. Many people equate the fact that a goldfish can live for some period of time in a bowl with their ability to live in a bowl in general. The most common “comet” goldfish are generally cheap (under $0.25US) and sold while very small – usually less than 1 inch long and pet stores often have bowls in the vicinity of the gold fish. All of this makes it reasonable to believe that they can be kept in a bowl. No, they can’t. There are two major problems with keeping goldfish in a bowl |
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