Thinking of getting an Aquarium for Tropical Fish: Aquarium advice I wish I knew from the start
Here are some pearls of wisdom I wish I had when I was starting out with my aquarium.
Starting Out and Buying Aquarium Stuff
Accept that you are probably going to kill some fish on accident. You will either learn from the mistake or drop the hobby.
New Aquariums need to be cycled.
Small tanks are not easier to maintain than large ones. The large volume of water 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. If it is not kept clean, it will contaminate the water, causing sick and dying fish.
Do not buy fish on impulse
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
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 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
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, and the medication kills off the beneficial nitrogen-oxidizing bacteria.
The best way to deal with fish diseases is to prevent them by:
- Not overstocking your tank
- Performing frequent water changes
- Using a UV filter
Aquarium Maintenance
Change 20% to 50% of the water every week.
Prime is a very cost effective dechlorinator to use after you change the water.
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.
Use two filters on any 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.