Learn About Aquariums

Do you dream of watching the natural beauty of the undersea reef life while sitting in your living room?

Whether your goal is a nano reef tank or a 150 gallon aquarium with an ecosystem of coral and saltwater fish, the following five steps will lead you on your way to success.

1) Commit! Decide you are going to spend the $$ it takes to make a proper go of it. At a minimum, most tanks, (from 10 gal to 55 gal) take between $250 and $500 to get going. Can you do it cheaper? Yes, but usually not your first one. You have to know what you are doing and understand how things can and will go wrong before you can choose less expensive husbandry options and/or equipment. Save up if you have to, but count on that first tank being expensive.

Realize that this is not a short term commitment. And as much fun as it is to collect the coolest coral fragments out there and show them off to your friends, there WILL come a time when you are hauling all of those same ‘frags’ out of the tank and into temporary storage when your six year old cracks the side of the display tank with a pool ball or some other calamity occurs.

2) Study! Spend time on the internet, in books and watching nature shows on reefs BEFORE you get your animals. Understand the animals that you are going to keep and how they interact with each other. If you count on the LFS (Local Fish Store) or your buddy down the road to keep you out of trouble and don’t do your homework.. You will fail. That is the one guarantee in this hobby. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

The only way around this is to be able to afford to pay someone else to set-up and maintain your tank.

3) Mingle! (see 2 above) There are plenty of reef-keeping societies out there with lots of experience to help you along your way and teach you what you need to know. As long as you are doing your own homework, they are usually happy to help!

4) Keep an open mind! There is not just one way to keep a reef tank - no matter how loudly people on the various bulletin boards and forums out there might shout that there is.

5) Share! It is amazing how much help people are willing to give when they realize that you are offering a particularly nice specimen that they have always wanted. Equipment that they didn’t even remember they had may magically appear or they might
be willing to share a very nice piece of their own reef frag with you.

Trading frags not only is a great way to increase your variety, but it helps maintain genetic strains of corals (frags are also known as ‘clones’) that might otherwise die out in a single tank struck by the calamity mentioned in 1 above.

About the Author

Chris Knowlton is an avid fan of reef keeping and propagation. He maintains a nano tank and two large saltwater reef aquariums.
To visit his site and read 5 More Steps to Success with Saltwater Coral Reef Aquariums visit http://www.KnowltonsReef.com

(Reprints of this article are allowed, but must have an active link to the authors website.)

Written By: Christopher Knowlton

The first decision you must make when you buy an aquarium is whether you plan to keep freshwater fish or saltwater fish. Its up to you whether you want to keep saltwater or freshwater, but if this is your first aquarium, then I suggest you start with a freshwater aquarium.

Heres why: Saltwater tanks are more expensive and more complex. You have extra things to worry about such as the salinity of the water, water conditioning, and temperature. Because of this, freshwater fish are much easier to care for if youre new to keeping tropical fish.

Heres a few other things to keep in mind when buying an aquarium:

Location
When youre deciding on a location for your aquarium, remember that it cant be placed in direct sunlight, or anywhere else that could result in changes in temperature.

Also remember that your aquarium, when filled with water, can be very heavy. As an example, a filled 20-gallon glass tank will weight about 225 pounds. Bear this in mind when you choose on a location for your aquariumas it will be impossible to move afterwards.

Level floor
You will need a level floor for your aquarium, as this will reduce stress on the tank and reduce the chance of any cracks forming over time due to the floor being uneven.

Electrical outlet
Make sure your new tank is located near an electrical outlet so you can plug in the heaters, lights and pumps.

Accessible
Youll need to have easy access to your tank so you can use the heater controls and air valves. You also need to have room for a net, and room to move decorations around.

Shape
When youre choosing the shape of your aquarium choose short, longer shapes over tall, thinner shapes. This way there will be more surface area at the top of the water, which is much better for your fish.

Size
It is best to choose an aquarium over 10 gallons. Why? Because its just easier to take care of a fish in a larger tank than a smaller one. Whatever aquarium you choose, it is going to, over time, have a build up of waste material. In a large tank these toxic materials have more room to be dispersed. This means the water stays cleaner for longer, and will require less cleaning than a smaller tank.

Material
Aquariums can be made from glass or acrylic. Both have there pros and cons, but I recommend beginners to start with a glass aquarium. Why? Firstly, they cost less, secondly, they dont scratch so easily, and thirdly, they only need to be supported by the edges.

As you can see, you need to put some time and consideration into where you choose to place your aquarium. All these things will play a part in which aquarium you choose to buy.

About the Author:

Learn all about tropical fish at the author sites: Tropical Fish, Saltwater Fish, Freshwater Fish

Read more articles by: Taylor Jones

Written By: Taylor Jones

The real apistogramma’s come from southern America, they all have the same characteristics, like a complex breeding behavior, as their large relatives, only their size is different. Besides the apistogramma group there are also some relatively popular dwarf cichlids from Africa, like the Pelvicachromis group. From this group the most widespread cichlid is the Pelvicachromis pulcher, also known as the Kribensis or Purple cichlid. Generally the cichlids from the apistogramma group are more fragile and harder to maintain, and breed, for a longer period of time. In my opinion apistogramma’s are not real beginner species. They are more likely to get diseases if not all the environmental variables are properly taken care of. They need soft and acidic water with a low PH value, a PH of 5.5 to 6 is preferable. They hardly eat dry foods, best is to feed them live foods or frozen food, like bloodworms, brine shrimp and mosquito larvae. Apistogramma species can be kept in a large tropical community aquarium, but be sure the other fish are not too small, they can defend their territory very fiercely, and can be quite aggressive when they are breeding. In my opinion it is best to keep the apistogramma’s on their own, in a larger aquarium you could combine two apistogramma variants together, maybe supplemented with a small group of other fish, like some livebearers or betta’s. They also can be kept together with discus or angel fish. I always have a harem of apisto’s in my discus tanks, just to populate the lower areas of the aquarium and I really like these small dwarfs with a big attitude.

The cichlids from the Pelvicachromis group are much more tolerant when it comes to water values and feeding, I do consider these cichlids a good beginner species. They are hardened, beautiful colored and eat almost anything. The Pelvicachromis pulcher is maybe one of the most easy to breed cichlids as well. If you have an adult couple they will reproduce, in a community tank, a special species tank or in a pond, some people like to breed them in their pond during summer. Actually some of the biggest and nicest colored Pelvicachromis pulcher were pond bred and raised. The only thing to keep in mind with these cichlids is that they are capable of redesigning your aquarium, they can make huge holes and are real little bulldozers. So if you have, or want to setup, a subtile planted tank, don’t add a couple of Pelvicachromis to your aquarium.

The last dwarf cichlid I want to mention is the Microgeophagus ramirezi, or Ram cichlid. Their behavior and care are roughly the same as the apistogramma’s but they are more tolerant when it comes to water values, and in my experience they are easier to keep in good condition. Unlike the apistos they have to be kept as a couple, not a harem but that’s the only breeding experience I have. I have tried several couples, have a couple in a breeding tank right now, but I have never even had a clutch of eggs. I know from other breeders that they are kind of hard to get going, but if they do they never stop.

About the Author

Auke Veenstra is keeping and breeding tropical aquarium fish, and dendrobatea, for years. He shares his experiences on the TinkerFish website.

Written By: Auke veenstra

Aquarium fish fall ill just like any other pet. The illnesses are as a result of disease. The common diseases that affect aquarium fish are mostly stress induced. The micro-organisms which cause these diseases may be present in the water as part of the normal micro fauna and grab the opportunity to infest or infect the fish when it is stressed and its normal defense are weakened.

Different ways aquarium fish suffer from stress

- Aquarium fish usually start experiencing stress starting from the time it’s about living the breeding farm till when the end purchaser finally picked it from retailer. Most beginners don’t really know how to handle fish.

- The quality of water is another cause of aquarium fish stress. Different fish species have different water quality that will make the environment conducive for them. Quality parameters like pH, water hardness, high nitrite and carbon dioxide level, low dissolved oxygen salinity of water, water temperature and others.

- Any change in environment like physical damage, leaches, lice and introduction of new fish that is not quarantine could lead to stress in aquarium, thus making life non conducive for fish in aquarium tank

- Change in weather condition is another factor that leads to aquarium fish stress. When there is heavy downfall as you know the weather will become cold and this could lead to stress in aquarium.

- Poor Diet as a result of lack in nutritional requirement always leads to poor performance in fish immune system. Fish immune system will struggle to operate efficiently. This will result in a stressed fish.

Warning signs of illness in aquarium fish

You can easily know when your fish are going through stress if you watch them very well and often. You will notice signs like fish swimming with clamps up (closed) in their fins, hovering in a corner, heavy breathing and fish brushing its body against objects. These are warning signs you need to act on immediately.

How to reduce stress in aquarium

To reduce stress in aquarium, you need to guide against factors that lead to stress. The following are tips on how to prevent stress that ultimately leads to illness:

- Make sure you have detail information about the fish species that you will be introducing to your tank. Enquiring about its requirements before you buy it will help you a lot. Thus, ask lots of questions before making your purchase.

- Knowing the right food for your fish is another important thing you have to know as this may vary from species to species. If you have this knowledge you will be able to provide foods that are rich in nutritional ingredients that your fish require.

- Keep the environment clean.

- When you want to introduce new fish, make sure it’s quarantined to reduce the risk of disease.

About the Author

For more great aquarium related articles and resources check out http://tropicalfish.aquariumspot.com

Written By: John Gorecki

Quite simply, a saltwater aquarium is designed to offer saltwater marine life with a familiar and contained environment. As a hobby, saltwater aquariums allow individuals to purchase fish as pets and keep them inside their home. The first saltwater fishkeeping, for personal use, became increasingly popular in the 1950’s and was widely enjoyed through the use of glass aquariums that are still famous today.

A saltwater aquarium typically features the tank itself, along with a filter, lighting and an aquarium heater. A saltwater aquarium can be purchased in a variety of different sizes, including small to the very large models. For this reason, prices vary greatly depending on the size and features of the saltwater aquarium.

The features of a saltwater aquarium are very important to the survival of the marine life. As they are used to moving water, filtration is a must. Otherwise, the water would become cloudy and the fish would deteriorate quickly. While lighting is perhaps not as important as a quality filtration unit, it does provide a sense of a routine in a distinction between light and dark. While in the wild, marine life experiences the difference between day and night and will find a similar lighting routine to be similar to their natural habitat.

It is very important that the water in a saltwater aquarium be tested regularly with the use of a test kit. In addition, regular water changes are required of every saltwater aquarium in order to keep the fishs life clean and safe. Regular tap water, however, will likely feature contamination that may prove harmful to the fish. Chemicals and purifiers used to treat the water is found in most tap waters so, instead, a saltwater aquarium should be filled with distilled water. When changing the water in a saltwater aquarium, the owner must remove up to 20% of the current water and replace it with new saltwater, which is achieved through the use of a saltwater mix.

There are a number of ways to find the perfect fish and a saltwater aquarium to keep it safe. A pet shop is the most likely place to find rare saltwater marine life and provides the biggest selection, while many retail stores offer a freshwater fish selection. When purchasing, it is a good idea to ask if the fish comes with any type of guarantee and/or special car instructions. Saltwater fish are fragile and must be treated according to specific guidelines, which any pet shop owner will detail depending on the fish that you select.

About the Author:

Want to learn more about salt water aquarium? Make sure you visit our site at: http://www.saltwateraquariumreview.info for access to additional salt water aquarium tips and information.

Read more articles by: Angel Estrella

Written By: Angel Estrella