Caring For Aquarium Fish

It is actually very simple to keep fish in an aquarium. The first thing to do is to learn the basic steps in caring for an aquarium. There are some responsibilities you need to do everyday, while the best only requires minimal effort once a week. The maintenance work you have to perform daily is very simple and pleasurable. It is easy to detect any signs of unhappiness by observing them for a few minutes each day. This may seem silly, but the main cause of sickness in fish is stress so a happy fish is a healthy fish. Regularly observe the filters and the lights in your aquarium as this ensures they are working well and are plugged in correctly. Feed the fish daily. Make it a point not to feed your fish anything that they cannot consume in 2-5 minutes. Residual food left after the fish consume what they want will add to the nitrite levels of the tank and will cause illnesses among the fish. Keep a weekly monitoring on the pH of the water and its temperature. Any necessary adjustment should be made promptly. It is best to check with the pet store and enquire about the exact pH that is most suitable for your fish. Every species of fish will have different requirements.

You cannot avoid the important aspect of cleaning the filter. The aquarium filters will collect all the wastes that the fish produce by way of excretion. The filters will eventually fill with debris and be unable to do their job unless they are cleaned. The filter will also allow oxygen to circulate within the tank and not just allow for removal of wastes. With bunged filters, you will not be able to have as good transmission of gases in your tank as you have with clean ones. Due to this, the available oxygen in the tank can go down. This is highly detrimental to the life of your fish if not solved soon. Be sure to change the filter of the aquarium once in two or three weeks as per need. When you find that the water has become milky in appearance and smells bad, you have to clean out the filter. Depending on the design of the filter, you will either have to clean it with water or to replace it.

The proper way to change water in a tank is to do it gradually. First unplug any lights and equipment before cleaning the aquarium. Change approximately one third of the water in the aquarium every one to two weeks. You also have to see that the temperature of the water is inside 2 degrees plus or minus from the water temperature in the aquarium.Tap water, if added, will need to be treated and arranged at a temperature near two degrees of the fish tank. When purchasing fish for your aquarium, ask your local retailer about the water requirements. For some kinds of tap water, a half hour treatment is enough, but for some kinds you may need to go in for an overnight treatment procedure.

Using a good quality scrubber, remove the alga formations that develop on the sides of your tank. Do this without disturbing the fish at all. Move rocks and decorations to loosen any debris. You can gather this debris when you are eliminating the water by using a bucket, or a siphon made for removing stuff from the water. Prune any dead leaves from aquatic plants. For cleaning the outer area of the fish tank, just sponging the area with a squeegee soaked in tap water will do. Also wipe the lid and cover of the tank clean. Plug all the devices again and check out your newly cleansed tank.This finishes your tank cleaning process so now is the time to sit back and savor its cleanliness.



Caring For Aquarium Fish