Filters perform the important task of moving water that contains ammonia and nitrite past the colonies of bacteria.  Insufficient movement of water can result in a toxic build up of ammonia or nitrite, which can’t be processed quickly enough.  This mostly happens in tanks that are overstocked with fish or over fed with too little filtration and water movement.

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

Why Proper Aquarium Filtration Is Important

A forum member pointed me to a very good resource for getting into African cichlids.  The “Cookie-cutter setup for 55G” recommends a configuration for the tank and some solid options for stocking with fish.  I wish I had found that about 3 weeks ago.

Hopefully this will help someone else avoid the apparent mistake I have.

So, what to do with my bumblebee and kenyi???  I don’t know yet.  I am planning a very large African tank for my basement, and possibly they will end up there.  Otherwise, I will take my own advice on what to do with unwanted fish and put them on Craigslist as free to a good home.

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

African Cichlid Stocking Screw Up

You don’t want to flush him, but what do you do?

There are a few primary options:

1. If the fish was purchased recently, check with the shop to see if you can return the fish for a refund.
2. Contact local aquarium shops to see if they will accept the fish.
3. Advertise the fish as available for free to a good home on Craigslist.
4. Post the fish as available for free to a good home on aquarium forums.
   1. http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/113-classified-section/
   2. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15
   3. http://www.fishforums.com/forum/want-sell.html
   4. http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/buy-sell-trade/

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

What To Do With Unwanted Fish?

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 quick changes in water parameters like temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates, which can stress the fish.
• Bowls do not have filters which allow for efficient cycling of ammonia produced by the fish.
• The geometry of bowls generally provide a small surface to exchange Oxygen and CO2 between the water and the air.

If I Don’t Use A Bowl, I Won’t Have Space Or Money To Keep A Fish

Using a bowl and knowing that it’s not appropriate for fish is like adopting a dog knowing that you have no where for it to run or play – making it live in a cage.  Fish are live animals that have specific environmental needs to keep them healthy.   If you are unable to provide the right environment for a fish, you should not be keeping fish as pets.

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

What Kind Of Fish Can I Keep in a Bowl?

The problems with a betta bowl

There are 3 main problems with bowls for bettas:

1. Bowls are generally quite small.  A betta, just like any other fish, should be kept in a larger volume of water than a bowl can provide to prevent the rapid build up of toxins and organic compounds from the fish and fish food.
2. Bowls are not heated.  Bettas are tropical fish.  They need the water to be between 76F and 82F, which is generally not achievable, at least steadily, without a heater.
3. Bowls are not filtered.  Filtering provides a mechanism for the nitrogen cycle to process ammonia and nitrite.  This is generally off set with frequent changes of the water in the bowl.

Why do stores sell bowls if they should not go in a bowl?

Simple: stores sell betta bowls because people buy them.  Unlike many other pets, there isn’t a big industry built up around preventing abuse and neglect for pet fish.  And the reality is, it keeps people coming back for more.  If you buy a bowl and a betta, the betta will live for some period of time – 6 months, maybe even a year or two.  After that, you’ll come back to buy another betta.  Additionally, selling bowls really expands their customer base.  Relatively speaking, there are not a lot of people who want a big aquarium in their house, but there are many more that find a decorative bowl acceptible.

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

Can a Betta Live in A Bowl?

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 aquaiums will generally result in most or all of the fish dying.

What cycling is NOT

Despite 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.

How to Cycle a Tank

There are three methods for cycling:

• Fishless cycling
• Fish-in cycling
• Seeding a tank

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. 

Fishless

Fishless cycling requires adding a source of ammonia to the tank which will let the bacteria colonies build up to process the ammonia.  The most straight forward source of ammonia is from a bottle.  You’ll want to look for “clear ammonia” that does not have soaps or fragrance additives.

There are many, many resources available on the Internet to help with fishless cycling.

Fish-In

Fish-in cycling uses one or more fish as the source of ammonia.  For those who consciously perform fish-in cycling, a single fish is generally used.  Zebra Danios are probably the most common intentional cycling fish, because of their small size, hardy nature, cheap price and ready availability at most any pet store.

Seeding

Seeding a tank is basically transplanting bacteria from an established, cycled tank to an uncycled tank.  Commonly, gravel or filter pads from the established tank are suspended in the new tank.  A commercial product, called Bio Spira, is also avalable from some retailers.  Bio Spira is a pouch containing a pre-cultured bacteria colony ready to go.

Note that there are MANY products available for sale at stores that claim to cycle your tank, or “help the cycle”.  These don’t actually contain bacteria, meaning that you will still be cycling your tank when using them. (that includes the product called “Cycle”).

Recommendation

Fishless cycling is the generally preferred method for cycling tanks now.  Fish-in cycling is considered inhumane and inflicts damage to the gills of the fish and reduces the fish’s life expectancy.

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

Cycling a New Freshwater Tank

Starting Out and Buying Aquarium Stuff

Accept 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

• Pet store employees have a medicine to sell you to cure just about anything you can come up with.  The trouble is, medicine can rarely cure the cause of a problem.

Fish Health

Nearly all fish ailments are due to poor water quality and can only be solved by improving the water quality

Fish from pet stores, particularly the large chain stores, are often infected with ich, internal parasites and other diseases, which can spread to other fish.

Fish that exhibit symptoms of serious illness are often too far gone to save with medicine, or any other treatment.

If a new fish does not eat within the first day (ie, it is not interested in food), it likely never will.  Note: there are some exceptions with particular species that are moody and need to settle in to a new tank, but this is generally true for the common community fish.

Use of antibiotics and anti-bacterial medication will often result in far more severe trouble than the original problem because the medication kills off the beneficial nitrogen-oxidizing bacteria.

The best way to deal with fish diseases is to prevent them by:

1. Not overstocking your tank
2. Performing frequent water changes
3. Using a UV filter

Aquarium Maintenance

Change 20% to 50% of the water every week.

There is a much easier way to change water in your tank than using a siphon and a bucket.  It’s called the “Python No-Spill“.  These are sold at most pet stores now.  Yes, it is OK to put the water directly into the tank from the faucet.  Add the dechlorinator to the tank just before starting to add the water back (freshwater only, of course).

Prime is a very cost effective dechlorinator to use after you change the water – only 2 drops per gallon of water..

Consider using two filters on an aquarium.  This will allow for one to die unexpectedly, or to be cleaned without causing your tank to cycle again.

Keep an eye on the flow rate of filters, particularly as you are changing the water.  If the water if moving slow, clean the filter out and replace the media.  Only clean one filter at a time.

What are your ideas?

Post your wisdom for beginners below.  I know I would have appreciated seeing such a list when I started out.

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

Thinking of getting an Aquarium for Tropical Fish: Aquarium advice I wish I knew from the start

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

• Tank and stand
• Python no-spill for water changes
• Master test kit
• Clear ammonia for initial cycling of the aquarium
• Heater – not glass
• Thermometer
• Filter – canister filter, sponge filter or a “hang on the back” (HOB) kind
• Dechlorinator
• Fish net

Recommended Equipment for Starting an Aquarium

• Canister filter
• UV filter
• Master test kit
• Light

Optional Equipment for Starting an Aquarium

• Hood (may come with light, or may just be a flat piece of glass
• Algae brush
• Gravel
• Decorations
• Air pump/airstone (required if using a sponge filter)

Fish Medication

I don’t recommend beginners purchase any medications or salt.  Nearly all problems with fish fall into one of three categories:

1. Illness caused by poor water conditions
2. Illnesses that are extremely difficult to treat
3. Ich/Ick

Medication is not the best way to address any of these situations, and may well make the problem worse.

Salt

Too many people look for advice on how much salt to put in their freshwater tank.  Some specific fish, such as mollies, may benefit from salt, but in general salt is only needed for brackish or salt water fish.  The exception to this is in the treatment of ich/ick where aquarium salt is helpful during the treatment.  The proper salt is “Aquarium Salt” sold by pet stores.

Do not use:

• Epsom salt
• Marine salt (this is for salt water tanks)
• Table salt

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

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

1. There is no filtration in bowls, allowing ammonia and nitrite to build up – both of which are quite poisonous to fish
2. A bowl is not large enough for a goldfish to grow to it’s intended adult size of 6 to 8 inches.

The first problem can be mitigated with frequent water changes and light feeding.  The second problem can’t be solved in a bowl.

So, what can I expect if I keep a goldfish in a bowl?

In the best case, goldfish kept in a bowl that is regularly cleaned will live for several years, and will die from no apparent cause.  In the worst case, the fish will be weakened from ammonia and nitrite poisoning and will succumb to a bacterial and/or parasitic infection, usually visible as dropsy (where the scales stick out).

What is the best habitat for goldfish?

The best habitat is a large pond.

A more reasonable habitat for most goldfish keepers would be a tank holding over 20 gallons with a filter, for a single goldfish.  Add 10 gallons for each additional goldfish.

Don’t make the problem worse!

Too often, well intentioned “goldfish-in-a-bowl” keepers will see their goldfish displaying what is actually symptoms of infection or ammonia poisoning and interpret those symptoms as “loneliness”.  They will go out and purchase a second fish to go into the polluted bowl.  The combined fish now produce ammonia even faster.

Now that you know a single goldfish should not live in a bowl, you will certainly know not to add additional fish to a bowl.

Here are some videos that will show the size that goldfish will grow to if given the proper environment:

Post from: Tropical Fish Central

Can Goldfish Live In A Bowl?