Aquarium Care 101: Part 2

Aquarium Size

In the last addition of Aquarium Care 101, I discussed balance and stability – two of the key ingredients for creating a nature inspired aquarium.  In this Aquarium Care 101 article, I’ll go over some ways by which you can provide your topical fish with a stable aquarium environment!

Aquarium Care Principle 3: When it comes to aquarium size, bigger is MUCH better

Yes; size makes a difference when it comes to tropical fish aquariums! Bigger is better!

This may seem counterintuitive, but large aquariums are much easier to care for than are smaller fish tanks!

Therefore, I recommend that beginners start out with the largest aquarium they can get. A 40 gallon (150 Liter) aquarium is the minimum aquarium size I’d go with.

Experienced aquarium keepers, on the other hand, will benefit from the low maintenance routine that large aquariums allow for!

So, how exactly do large fish tanks make aquarium care simple?

Well, large aquariums promote a balanced and stable environment – the key points I discussed in the last Aquarium Care 101 article. Two major reasons make this the case.

1) Large aquariums tend to stay cleaner. Think of it this way: if a fish poops in a small body of water (a fish bowl, for example), there’s a good chance that it will poison itself! Conversely, if a fish poops in a large body of water, it will just funk the place up a bit.

Although the ‘fish poop’ example is a simple way of describing a complex subject, it’s fundamentally accurate. In Aquarium Care Principle 6 (featured in the next addition of Aquarium Care 101), I’ll explain the relation between aquarium size and clean and clear aquarium water in more detail.

For now, let’s move on to the next attribute that makes large aquariums better than their smaller counterparts.

2) Large aquariums promote stable water conditions. In addition to cleanliness, aquarium conditions include pH, hardness, and temperature. The larger the body of water is, the less likely it is to suffer from outside disturbance – a cool or hot house, poor tap-water quality, etc.

And remember, tropical fish thrive under stable aquarium conditions. Aquarium stability is an extremely important aquarium care factor that many overlook!

Even “experienced” aquarists make the mistake of perpetually adjusting and tweaking their aquarium water. Many of them are left to wonder why, after so much effort on their part, their tropical fish contract diseases!

Well, stability is a key aquarium care factor! Without a stable environment, no tropical fish will do well!

The first step to creating stable aquarium conditions involves getting the right aquarium! And, again, bigger is better!

Aquarium Care 101: Part 1

The Right Environment

This article is the first installment of a tropical fish and aquarium care series. In this addition, I’ll briefly discuss tropical fish habitats and simple ways by which you can adjust your aquarium conditions to meet the basic needs of your fish.

In particular, I’ll talk about the concept behind the method of creating nature inspired aquariums, a practice that has gained popularity among tropical fish hobbyists in recent years.

Acquiring a basic understanding of the native habitat of your tropical fish is the single most important thing to know about keeping successful aquariums! After all, you don’t want your aquarium to turn into a fish-prison! Instead, you want to create a healthy environment. Tropical Fish Care becomes a lot easier when you take this first and crucial step.

Aquarium Care principle 1: Balance and Stability

All bodies of water that contain fish also house beneficial bacteria. These bacteria consume the most potent compounds found in fish waste – namely ammonia – and they form the backbone of biological filtration.

You can read more about biological filtration in one of the recent filtration articles found on this website.  I also explain, in detail, how this vital filtration method works and how you can make it work for you in The Kick-Ass Aquarium.

For the sake of avoiding repetition, I’ll cover biological filtration only briefly.

Ammonia (NH3) is highly toxic to fish. Fortunately, the naturally occurring beneficial bacteria convert this poisonous substance to far less harmful compounds.

These bacteria are nature’s microscopic filter! They continuously munch on fish waste and thus provide for the water’s sustained cleanliness! (This is the reason why I opt for swimming in lakes over pools; lake water may seem murkier, but it’s actually a lot cleaner than the water you’d find in the average pool!;)

Although many aquarists rely on expensive and bulky filters, the smarter tropical fish enthusiasts rely mostly on biological filtration! The trick is to create an aquarium that imitates nature. It makes sense, really.

While most filters degrade over time – a condition that results in unstable and dirty water, some filters (such as canister filters) accommodate biological filtration and thus provide constant aquarium cleanliness for your tropical fish.

By imitating nature, by encouraging the growth of beneficial bacteria, you’ll balance the amount of waste produced with the amount being consumed! It’s really simple, and it’s the right idea!

Aquarium Care principle 2: The physical aquarium environment affects water conditions

Not all tropical fish are the same. The species available on today’s aquarium market originate from a variety of habitats and are used to different water conditions.

While some tropical fish like hard water (water that has a lot of dissolved minerals in it), others prefer soft, mineral poor water. PH, a related water parameter, is also important, and you can refer to Chapter 7 of the book to learn about this complex subject.

For now, though, we should ask ourselves, “how did the water in various tropical fish habitats become soft or hard?”

The answer is simple. The physical environment – which includes rocks, sunken logs, and various bottom materials – of tropical fish habitats determines whether the water will be hard or soft.

A calcareous rock will release a lot of dissolved minerals into the water and thus make it hard. A piece of driftwood, on the other-hand, releases tiny amounts of acid that soften the water.

Africa’s Lake Malawi, for example, is filled with mineral rich rocks. The water there is hard. Conversely, much of the Amazon River Basin is littered with driftwood and contains minute amounts of calcareous rocks. Hence, the water there is soft!

When you set up your aquarium, keep in mind where your fish originate from, and try to imitate their native habitat as much as you can. If your water is too soft, add a calcareous rock. If it’s too hard, a piece of driftwood will do the trick.

Adding the appropriate decorations to your aquarium not only promotes the health of your fish, but it also looks nice!

If you borrow some of nature’s proven “methods”, you will create a thriving aquarium, a beautiful window to the natural world!

That’s it for this article.  In later installments of Aquarium Care 101, I’ll discuss some ways you can apply some of the above concepts to practice.

Until then, happy fish keeping!

Aquarium Newcomers: new additions to my fish tank

My Discus Fish – Joe and his mate – just laid eggs in my 55 gallon freshwater aquarium!

Discus Fish are great parents! In this video you can see the two Discus caring for their eggs. They oscillate their fins to and fro in order to move a fresh supply of oxygen rich water over their still-to-be-born young.

Discus Fish take turns looking after their young. In the video, Joe just got back from foraging.

Discus eggs take about two days to incubate. After the babies hatch, the parents relocate them to a “secret” location within the aquarium. There, the fry are nourished by their egg sacks and grow for the next three days, after which point they become free swimming.

The free-swimming fry will feed off of their parent’ sides (both parents secrete a milk-like substance from their skin) for two to three weeks.

Aquarium Heaters: a Tropical Fish Must

Apart from bettas, goldfish, and a few others, all the freshwater fish available on today’s market are said to be tropical fish.

All tropical fish require a water temperature that ranges from 70°F to 86°F (21°C to 30°C). Most will do best at a water temperature that is nearest 78°F (25°C).

Also, keep in mind that no fish will tolerate rapid swings in temperature, so try to keep your water temperature as stable as possible! For those of you who have read the Kick-Ass Aquarium, you are very familiar with the concept of aquarium stability, and you’re probably grabbing your head in angst while thinking, “yes; we know about aquarium stability!”

Nonetheless, I will continue to emphasize the fact the, yes, stability is key! This is, after all, the most important thing to know about aquarium keeping.

When it comes to water temperature, a submersible heater with a temperature-control dial is the very best design at promoting stable aquarium conditions.

Still, less effective options do exist. For reasons that are unbeknownst to me, many aquarium shops continue to sell heaters that are not fully submersible and ones that do not have a temperature-control dial!

For the benefit of those who may have purchased one of these older heater designs, I’ll briefly go over the proper way to set them up.

The older heaters lack a temperature controller. You must, therefore, calibrate the heater’s thermostat – the mechanism that gauges water temperature and turns the heater on or off based on the temperature reading.

So, here it goes.

1) Always read the directions on the heater packaging before placing the heater in your aquarium!

2) BEFORE YOU TURN THE HEATER ON, you must first position it inside your aquarium. For hang on the back heaters, the glass tube ought to be positioned beneath the water line. Fully submersible heaters, on the other hand, should be completely enveloped in water.

The heater must be submerged accordingly for a period of fifteen minutes BEFORE you plug it in! During this fifteen minute period, the thermostat in the heater adjusts to the water temperature.

3) After fifteen minutes is up, you can go ahead and plug the heater in. You should then turn the temperature dial, which is usually located at the top end of the heater, all the way up. An indicator light will turn on; this means the heater is on.

4) Pay close attention to the temperature reading on the thermometer (you should always have a good aquarium thermometer in your fish-tank). Once the temperature rises to 78°F (25°C) or to the desired temperature (a process that may take two or more hours), slowly turn the temperature dial down, just until the indicator light turns off.

Congratulations! You have now set the thermostat. The heater will automatically turn on any time the water temperature falls below the level you set the thermostat to.

If you want to save yourself the above trouble, just buy a heater with a temperature controller!

*Also note that you should never turn any aquarium heater on while it’s dry! In fact, even if you need to take a running heater out of the aquarium, you should turn it off and wait until in cools before removing it from the aquarium!

Thank you for reading, and I hope this information proves useful:)

Biological Filtration: making Tropical Fish happy since 500,000,000 B.C.

Biological filtration – the filtration method that depends on the work done by beneficial bacteria – is the most efficient filtration form precisely because it works according to natural laws.

Let’s take a look at an aviation metaphor to flush out the concept.

Did you know that the Wright Brothers were one of many pioneers of powered flight?

They, in fact, had a lot of competition. So, why does history remember the Wright Brothers, but not their competitors? How were the Wrights able to achieve in 1903 what Samuel Pierpont Langley, Alberto-Santos Dumont, and many others couldn’t?

Very simply, the Wright Brothers designed an airplane that worked according to the natural laws.

Langley, on the other hand, tried to overpower nature by mounting brawny engines on his airplane designs. Yes; these heavy engines produced a lot of horsepower, but they also weighed his airplanes down. In fact, his aerodromes had to be launched from a catapult just to get off the ground! …And, even then they didn’t work!

Basically, the Wright Brothers were able to beat their competition because they understood how air behaves. By mounting small engines on efficient wing surfaces, they effectively applied their knowledge of physics to their Kitty Hawk design. They knew that they couldn’t overpower nature, so they decided to work with it!

Well, your filter (the actual machine) is the engine that powers your aquarium.

While many filter designs (the hang-on power filter comes to mind) try to replace biological filtration with brut strength – with mechanical and chemical means of cleaning the water, the best aquarium filters (the most notable of which is the canister filter) optimize Mother Nature’s proven filtration method.

You can learn more about the many benefits of canister filters in The Kick-Ass Aquarium. Very simply, though, canister filters are great at providing biological filtration. That’s because they contain ultra-porous blocks that provide beneficial bacteria with a lot of space to grow on. Canister filters, in effect, increase the total amount of bio-filtration that occurs in your aquarium!

So, don’t follow Mr. Langley’s bad example! Don’t try to overpower nature!

My sincere advice is to take advantage of nature’s timeless filtration method. Increase that beneficial bacteria count! The more beneficial bacteria your aquarium houses, the more stable your fish tank environment will be! Believe me, your tropical fish will reward you for the wise choices you make!

The Discus Fish: The King is Back!

The Discus Fish is a beautiful South American Cichlid.

For a long time, this “King of the Aquarium” was very difficult to care for in captivity. That’s because these fish required pristine tank conditions and soft water that was at a very low pH.

Furthermore, these fish were initially wild-caught, and the journey from Brazil to North America and Europe often caused irremediable levels of stress.

Their difficulty in care contributed to the Discus’ royal status. Some (elitist) aquarists prided themselves for being able to keep and breed Discus in captivity.

Yes; the Discus had a bumpy entry in the aquarium hobby. But, times have changed and so has our understanding of this extraordinary fish. Even the fish, itself, has changed. The king is back, but he’s wearing a different robe.

Sadly, the Discus’ former reputation of being a very difficult fish to keep in the home aquarium has generated a lot of myths and misconceptions about this beautiful species.

In this Fish-of-the-Month post, I hope to debunk some of these half-truths.

Discus have come a long way in recent years. Although they’re still not a good beginner fish, Discus have become much easier to keep. Selective breeding has produced not only a multitude of color variations, but also hardier fish.

While wild-caught specimens should only be kept by experienced aquarists, captive bred varieties will fare well under the care of hobbyists with moderate experience.

The vast majority of Discus Fish available on today’s market are captive raised. You can have great success with these fish, provided that you arm yourself with knowledge of both Discus and of aquariums in general. The Kick-Ass Aquarium is a good place to start.

Basically, Discus Fish need three things to do well in an aquarium. They need efficient and quite filtration (canister filters are great at providing both), a hearty and varied diet, and the appropriate tank and water conditions (see Aquarium Care below)

Okay, what about the myths, then?

Myth #1: Discus Fish are finicky eaters.

The people who claim that Discus will eat only one type of food are doing something wrong! Loss of appetite is a sign of stress.

Discus will take a variety of foods as long as you provide them with a healthy environment. A healthy environment makes for a healthy appetite.

My Discus gobble up frozen beef heart, frozen mysis shrimp, frozen brine shrimp, and even flake food. You too should offer your fish a varied diet in order to ensure their long term wellbeing.

Of course, if you train your fish to take only one type of food, they will learn to accept only that food.

Myth #2: Discus are very shy.

Discus can be shy, especially in aquariums that have noisy power filters and in ones that house boisterous fish. But, if you provide your fish with a quite tank and suitable tankmates, Discus can be very sociable.

My beauties stay in the front of the aquarium most of the time. Rarely do they hide. In fact, when I stick my hands in the aquarium to do some tank maintenance, I often have to physically (but gently) push the curious critters aside! They just follow me around!

Myth #3: Discus have to be in a species-only tank.

Some people think that Discus should not be kept with other fish. This is a valid concern, but this “rule” is not etched in stone.

No; Discus should not be kept with large, fast swimming, or aggressive fish. But, there are plenty of fish in the sea, as the saying goes. If you do some research, you’ll find that there are a few types of fish, such as cardinal tetras and blue rams, which make for great additions to a Discus tank.

Again, provide your fish with the right environment, and they’ll reward you with beautiful displays of color and long life.

Aquarium Care

-Scientific Name: Symphysodon aequifasciata spp.

-Origin: Parts of the Amazon River, but most occur in some of the Amazon’s many tributaries, including the Rio Negro.

-Water Temperature Range: 82-86 °F (28-30 ºC)

-Water pH Range: 5.8-6.8

-Temperament: peaceful but territorial during spawning.

- Maximum Size: 8 inches (20 cm)

- Minimum Tank Size: 50 U.S. gallons (190 liters)

- Diet: Frozen beef heart (recommended), Frozen mysis shrimp, frozen brine shrimp, frozen bloodworms (not recommended), flake food (okay when fed in addition to frozen foods).

The Undergravel Filter in Freshwater Fish Tanks

Aquarium filtration is a heated topic.While most experienced aquarists, including myself, recommend the use of canister filters in freshwater fish tanks, some “experts” continue to advocate the use of filters that are bulky, inefficient, and obsolete!

In particular, some people still use the undergravel filter (UGF), and many aquarium stores and pet shops continue to sell these obsolete filters. My sincere advice is to stay away from these ancient filter designs.

In The Kick-Ass Aquarium, I explain the drawbacks of UGFs in detail, and I point to a few great alternatives. If you read my book, you understand how UGFs work, so I won’t spend more time on the matter. Instead, I’ll talk about the flawed arguments supporting the use of undergravel filters.

One recent argument comes to mind. In his article, “In Defense of the Humble UGF,” Gio Maletti suggests that undergravel filters are well suited for growing live aquarium plants, and that they are efficient and barely visible.

Plant roots do best in fish tanks that have a sand or clay bottom (both materials look great, by the way), and they don’t tolerate a lot of water movement through the substrate, through the bottom material.

Well, the UGF can only be used with gravel because sand will clog this type of filter. Also, UGFs will produce a lot of water movement through the substrate!

Maletti’s solution to these two drawbacks seems simple. He suggests placing plants in pots that contain sand or clay in order to alleviate the two problems caused by undergravel filters (Maletti 95). So, now we need plant pots to make UGFs work? Apparently, the list of equipment needed for using undergravel filters is growing!

That brings us to the next issue: bulkiness. UGFs consist of a large plastic tray and two or more wide plastic tubes that protrude from the bottom of the fish tank. The tray will take up an inch of vertical space, thus decreasing the height of your aquarium by that amount! Also, the plastic tubes are far from inconspicuous! On top of this, you’ll need those bulky plant pots to make the whole setup work!

To Maletti’s credit, he correctly asserts that undergravel filters encourage biological filtration (95). But, there are much better ways of promoting this very important filtration method.

First, keep in mind that the beneficial bacteria that provide biological filtration naturally occur in the gravel or sand bed. In fact, sand has a much larger total surface area than gravel, so a sand bottom will house more beneficial bacteria than will a gravel bottom. The more poop-eating bacteria you have, the cleaner your water will be. Again, UGFs can only be used with gravel.

Also, you can increase water flow through the sand or gravel bottom, but to a degree that won’t harm plants, by taking a simple step that will actually make your aquarium look nicer!

By simply shaping the sand into a wavelike surface, as opposed to a completely flat surface, you will significantly increase water flow throughout the sand or gravel bed. And that’s all there is to it!

Finally, why rely on a bulky UGF to promote biological filtration when you can actually increase the beneficial bacteria population in your aquarium by attaching a canister filter to your fish tank?

With a UGF, you will only encourage the biological filtration that is already occurring in the substrate. As we discussed above, doing things this way is problematic.

By using a canister filter, on the other hand, you will increase the total amount of biological filtration! That’s because the beneficial bacteria will now have two places to colonize: the sand/gravel bed and the canister filter!

In short, UGFs are cheap (in terms of both price and quality), and any money you’d spend on them you would be wasting!

Bibliography:

Maletti, Gio. “In Defense of the Humble UGF.” Tropical Fish Hobbyist, November 2006, 94-95.

Hi, I’m Luke

On this blog, I’ll be talking about my favorite hobby: AQUARIUMS!

I’ve been keeping aquariums and tropical fish for over fifteen years. Like all beginners, I initially made a lot of mistakes and, sadly, I sent many fish on the toilet bowl ride. That was largely due to the fact that there was no information (that was simple to understand) available on keeping my fish healthy and happy.

Fortunately, I got passed those stumbling blocks a long time ago. Still, I had to learn the hard way: through experience.

And, that’s why I’m writing this blog. I want you to learn from my experience so that you can set up and maintain a successful aquarium right from the start!

Currently, I have three beautiful aquariums that house a dazzling array of fish! I’ve worked at two very well respected aquarium stores. I’ve even written an ebook, The Kick-Ass Aquarium, on the subject which you can find on this website!

I want to share both my knowledge of the hobby and my passion for it, so I encourage beginners and experienced aquarists to view my blog and comment on it.

Happy Fish Keeping!