Learn About Aquariums

No one likes living in a dirty, stuffy house. Thank goodness a little dirt is not hazardous to our health. The same cannot be said for our aquatic friends. Most fish and invertebrates are unable to adapt to changes in water chemistry that result from increased bacteria, waste, and chemicals. Proper filtration can preserve the overall health of the aquarium and maintain its beauty.

Three types of filtration exist on the market – biological, mechanical, and chemical. Varying experts will assert that you must utilize all three in your tank. For a marine aquarium with a reef environment, that may be good advice. There is no definitive answer on what combination is suitable for your aquatic environment. Educating yourself on the functions of all three will enable you to pick the filter(s) that will safeguard your fish and invertebrates’ natural habitat.

Biological Filtration Biological filters are a must for every aquarium. They stimulate the growth of nitrifying bacteria that breaks down harmful ammonia to less toxic chemicals such as nitrate. It sounds simple enough, but how this is accomplished is quite impressive. A widespread method of producing these beneficial bacteria is adding fish to the aquarium. The bacteria, which ride on the fish, drop off and spread throughout the tank and grow. This also leads to increased amounts of dangerous ammonia, so it is important to add fish gradually. It can take several months to establish this cyclical process.

Aquarist believed that they had an easier, quicker solution in under gravel filters and crushed coral. Along with the water, detritus and junk was pulled through the crushed coral, which clogged the filter bed. Some fish enthusiasts have gladly replaced these under gravel filters with biofilters such as canister filters, trickle filters, bio wheels, fluidized bed filters, or sponge filters. These devices incorporate other methods of filtration making them even more useful. Other aquarists opt for the natural route to biological filtration using a mixture of live sand and crushed coral as the tank’s substrate.

Mechanical Filtration Mechanical filters use a more direct approach to remove particulate matter before it decomposes and adds to the ammonia load. These filters are the most versatile since they can be used in most filtration devices. The key to their efficiency is regular cleaning. Otherwise, waste can accumulate and your effort is in vain. Aquarium owners must always be mindful of the flow rate of their device, which is automatically set to manufacturer’s standards. A reduced flow can lead to an unclean filter (or vice versa) and adversely affects the health of the entire aquarium.

There are a variety of mechanical filters on the market, each with its own advantages. The power filters’ low price, ease of use, and maintenance makes it the most popular of all mechanical filtration devices. These quiet devices can also be used for chemical and biological filtration.

Canister filters are equally as versatile. These large-capacity filters, which run on their own pumps, can be used for mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration. Many aquarists prefer the hang-on-tank canister filters to promote water quality, but there are a large variety of canisters styles available.

Wet/Dry filters, also known as trickle filters or bio-towers, are more suitable for fish-only tanks than reef systems. This is due to the biomaterial inside the filter’s wet/dry chamber that becomes dirty and results in a buildup of harmful nitrates.

Internal filters are a great option for smaller tanks. Their compact and simple design makes them easy to operate. As the name suggests, the filter runs within the aquarium and is powered by a small water pump, or air pump.

Protein skimming/foam fractionation is not mandatory, but it is a trusted method of maintaining water quality. Dissolved proteins linger to air bubbles and form protein foam. Protein skimming pumps the air bubbles through a small columnar removing the dissolved proteins from the tank.

Chemical Filtration Particles are not the only thing floating in your aquarium’s water. Copper, ammonia, and phosphates also threaten the stability of your tank’s environment. Chemical filtration utilizes chemically enhanced products to treat the water. Activated carbon is the leading medium used. Others such as calcium hydroxide, zeolite, and even peat moss work as well.

Protein skimming, Power, Canister, and Internal filters are some of the most common filtration devices used for chemical treatment. Of course these double for mechanical filtration devices as well. Trickle filters are a popular choice amongst saltwater aquarium owners. The water is first drawn from the tank. Then, it is siphoned through the mechanical, biological, chemical, and auxiliary filters. Finally, it placed back into the aquarium.

To target specific chemicals, look to Reactors. Water is drawn through a canister-type chamber where it meets the chemical media. For even more effective filtration, they can be run pressurized.

The methods of keeping your aquarium’s waters clean are numerous. Using biological filters as a base, there is a wealth of combinations that you can build upon to create a healthy environment for your pets.

About the author:

Copyright 2006 Reef Saltwateraquarium – http://www.reefsaltwateraquarium.com

Written By: Reef Saltwateraquarium

The hobby of aquarium keeping and tropic fish as pets is fairly recent in the Western World, and took a while to catch on. The keeping of fish in small indoor tanks was only seriously considered in the middle of the last century, when both in Britain and the rest of Europe a considerable interest in the subject developed… At the beginning of the 1900′s aquarists around the world began to keep tropical fishes, and it was the “trend” of so doing that started a new wave of popular fish culture (keeping fish as pets)…

The older aquarists were obsessed with copying nature in their tanks–or rather with the attempt to try and copy nature–whereas the keepers of warm-water fishes had to experiment and create suitable environments for them…

Often they started only with the knowledge that the fish must be kept warm, and this in itself raised problems, including the death of favorite weeds and water snails at higher temperatures…

So the aquarium gradually came to be regarded as most of us see it today, as a beautiful display, not a mirror held up to nature…

However, until the keeping of tropical fish, it seems that aquarists in general thought that the proper aim of an aquarium keeper was to reproduce a segment of nature…

They now realize that their task is the maintenance of a highly artificial and restricted community of animals and plants, with a balance that can easily topple with disastrous results to at least some of the members. At the same time, aquariums can generally be easily maintained as long as a few fundamental facts are recognized and applied with commonsense to the problems that arise…

So lets talk now about some of the characteristics of aquariums and tropical fish…

The old fashioned fish bowl has almost completely replaced for serious fish-keeping by the rectangular glass tank, either made wholly of glass or with a metal frame and glass sides and a bottom of glass, slate, or other rigid material…

Except when used for spawning, for exhibition purposes, or as a hospital tank for the treatment of disease, the tank contains growing, rooted plants; these are set in a sand or gravel layer 1 or 2 inches thick. There may be decorative rocks, but the chief decoration is usually the plants themselves, which contribute more to the attractive appearance of a well set-up tank than do the fishes…

Rectangular tanks are usually between 5 and 25 gallons in capacity; a 15-gallon tank measures 24 X 12 X 12 inches and is a favorite size. Smaller tanks than these cannot house many fish or allow proper development of the plants…

Larger tanks are very attractive and give scope for beautiful planting arrangements and for fine growth of the fishes, but they are expensive and not likely to become generally popular. Most fish lovers therefore prefer a range of medium tanks rather than one or two very large ones, but it must be emphasized that fine fishes can be grown in large tanks…

In general, tropical fishes can be housed in smaller tanks than cold-water fishes. This is because they are usually smaller and are also better able to withstand a relative deficiency of oxygen in the water…

Size for size, most tropical fishes can be crowded a good deal more than the common goldfish and very much more than fancy varieties of goldfish. A 15-gallon tank might comfortably contain a dozen 3-inch rosy barbs, four or five 3-inch common goldfish at the most, and not more than a pair of Orandas of the same size…

Fish consume solid food and excrete solid faeces. They breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, and therefore they tend to deplete their environment of oxygen and to pollute it with carbon dioxide and excrement…

Plants also breathe oxygen, but in sufficiently bright light they manufacture sugars, etc., from carbon dioxide taken from their surroundings, whether air or water, and they release oxygen. This is done in the green leaf…

Plants also absorb dissolved salts and use these together with carbon dioxide in building up complex organic compounds. Very few higher plants can utilize solid or very complex substances, and before animal excrement (usually known as “mulm” in the fish tank) is available to them it must be broken down by fungi or bacteria and made soluble…

So plants, in adequate light, tend to restore oxygen to the environment and to remove the waste products of animals. In poor light or in darkness they deplete the water or air of oxygen just as animals do. It is only in the daytime, or under bright artificial light, that they perform the complementary function to animals…

From these facts grew the concept of a balanced aquarium, with the waste products of the fishes absorbed by the plants, and the oxygen necessary for the fishes provided by the action of the plants in light…

The moral of the story? A well-planted tank with adequate illumination will usually stay clear and sweet for months or years with little attention…

Hopefully this article has given you a great insight into tropical fish as pets and the healthy keeping of aquariums.

About the Author

Dave Klein is the author of http://www.tropicalfishltd.com a comprehensive resource on tropical fish and aquariums. Visit http://www.tropicalfishltd.com to learn more about tropical fish as pets and how to keep them happy and healthy.

Written By: Dave Klein

The benefits of feeding live food to fish in a community tank are many: live food will improve vigor and color, and more closely resemble the food found in the fish’s natural habitat. Live food is easily obtained.

Some drawbacks include the transmission of diseases or parasites to the aquarium, it is time consuming to maintain the cultures, and a lot of space needs to be devoted to raising live foods. The cost of equipment and supplies needed to maintain cultures is also a consideration for the beginner.

In this article I will discuss how to raise Daphnia. This article will be part of an on-going series on live foods. You can find many more related articles on http://www.kingdiscus.com.

Daphnia belong to a group known as the Daphniidae, and are close relatives of the freshwater shrimp, and the brine shrimp (Artemia). Their generic name is generally referred to as “water flea.” This common name is derived from the jerky movements of Daphnia in the water. The over 150 different species can be found in North America, with a similar amount of species growing in Europe. Some of these species find common ground on both continents.

Daphnia are a small crustacean, and are great to use as a fresh food because they will exist in the tank water until eaten by the fish. Daphnia can also be sterilized if it is felt necessary by placing in a 5% solution of Clorox for 3 to 5 minutes. Very few micro-organisms can survive this. Be sure, however, to rinse them thoroughly before feeding!

Daphnia can be raised both indoors and outside. Many people raise daphnia in a small children’s wading pool. A more controlled environment, however, is done indoors, and can be done year round if one lives in northern climes. This can be as simple as a couple of two liter bottles, to a 20 gallon tub purchased from a store such as Menard’s. The ideal situation is to have as much oxygenated surface area as possible, so if there is room for a larger container, by all means use it. A shallower environment suits daphnia best for prolific growth.

Setting up the environment for daphnia is quite simple. Many methods are used for collecting the water to use for the culture. The best advice I have heard is from Joe F. of Circle City Aquarium Club in Indianapolis, IN. He gave a presentation at the August meeting of Southwestern Michigan Aquarium Society, and recommends using tank water saved from a tank change. Joe has been raising live foods for a long time, and has had good success. His video presentation was top notch.

PH levels for successful Daphnia cultures should be in the range of 6-8, and should be more alkaline than acidic. If raised outdoors, no aeration is needed. If raised indoors, aeration should be adjusted to produce large bubbles. Small bubbles in the daphnia culture will cause the bubbles to become lodged in the carapace of the culture, and they will die.

Water temperatures for Daphnia magna are not a high requirement, but the optimal temperature should be in the 64-72 degree range. they are very tolerant to changes in temperature, and can withstand fluctuations down to freezing. In fact, Daphnia can be frozen and kept in the freezer, and then revived when needed. Moina withstand a higher fluctuation in temperature than do D. magna.

Lighting should be in the neighborhood of eight or more hours light per day and light intensity equal to or greater than 850 lux. A simple light and a timer can accomplish this indoors.

Feeding the Daphnia is where most aquarists fail. Daphnia feed on dissolved organic matter, yeast, various groups of bacteria, microalgae, and detritus, or mulm. Organic fertilizers, such as fresh cow manure. It is not recommended by our breeder, though, because of the antibiotics and supplements fed to dairy and beef cattle. A much better mixture is a combination of one tablespoon each of spirulina, soy flour, and active dry yeast, added to a pint of water. This mixture should be added so that the water is cloudy, but you are able to see the bottom clearly, and observe the Daphnia swimming in the culture. This mixture should be added carefully every two or three days, being careful not to over feed. At this time, you should see an abundance of Daphnia, and they can be harvested to feed your fish.

Harvesting is quite simple – simply use a small aquarium net, observing that the smaller Daphnia fall through the netting to grow further. In this way, the adults are harvested, and can be fed to your fish. The younger Daphnia can go on to produce still more fish food. Harvested Daphnia can be kept in the refrigerator for several days in clean water.

Daphnia are high in protein, and a very good diet for tropical fish. Some aquarists feed them exclusively. They provide up to 70% protein to your tropical fish, and are an excellent source of live food for the aquarium.

Much can be written on the culturing of Daphnia. this guide is only meant to help the beginner to live foods to establish a colony, and feed live food high in protein to their fish. A series of article on live foods is forthcoming, and can be viewed at http://www.kingdiscus.com.

About The Author

Alden Smith is a published author who has been publishing on the internet for 7 years. Visit his website, http://www.kindiscus.com, for articles, software, and other resources. This article is one of a series available at http://www.kingdiscus.com.

Written By: Alden Smith

It is not hard to understand why plants are present in so many aquariums. Lush and healthy plants are stunning to look at and will create a much more natural environment in the aquarium. Most fish species feel safer and less stressed when they have plants to hide among, and many species will never thrive in an unplanted aquarium. If your fish species inhabit densely grown waters in the wild, they will feel very insecure in a plant without any vegetation. A lot of fish species are however rock dwellers and can get the same sense of security from caves and rocky formations in the aquarium. If your fish disturb the plants and damage them by nibbling of the leaves or digging up the roots, caves and wood can be a better solution than plants. If uprooting is the main problem, you can choose plants that float and do not require any anchorage in the substrate. If your fish are vigorous plant eaters, artificial plants can be used instead of live plants. It can also be possible to find a few live plant species that your fish do not like the taste of. If your fish only nibble on the plants, you can choose strong and fast growing live plants that can tolerate some snacking.

Plants will not only provide your fish with valuable shelters and make your aquarium look beautiful; they will also help you to keep the water quality up. Fish and plants coexist in the wild and will complement each other well in the aquarium. The waste products released by fish will contain compounds that the plants can use as nutrition. Organic waste will therefore be contained within the plant instead of floating around in the water where it can harm the fish. You should however keep in mind that these compounds will not “disappear”, they will just be confined within the plant. If you allow dead and decaying plant material to stay in the aquarium, the organic compounds will be released again and begin to pollute the water. Plants must therefore be regularly pruned and unhealthy parts must be removed from the water as soon as possible. In return for the organic compounds that they receive from the fish, the plants will produce oxygen which is essential to the fish. The plants will also use dissolved carbon dioxide and thereby lower the levels of carbon dioxide in the aquarium.

The direct exchange between fish and plants is important, but it is not the only thing that help keeping the water quality up. The plants will also provide a home for a wide range of micro organisms that are beneficial for the ecosystem in the aquarium. Plants are also capable of inhibiting ugly algae growth since plants and algae compete over the same nutrients.

Many fish species will never spawn in an unplanted aquarium. Some species need the plants to feel safe enough to spawn, while others need leaves to attach their eggs on. A densely planted aquarium will also increase the fry survival growth if you wish to raise fry in the same aquarium as adult fish, since the fry will hide among the plants. Busy plants with a lot of smaller leaves are ideal for this purpose. It should however be noted that there are other ways to provide fry with good shelters. Newly hatched fry can for instance hide among larger marbles on the bottom of the aquarium. Caves, roots, stones and artificial aquarium decoration will also give the fry hiding places where they can stay out of harms way.

A plant relies on photosynthesis and light is therefore essential to it. A fish only aquarium requires little light, but if you wish to keep a densely planted aquarium you might be forced to install new lights. Fluorescent light is better than the standard incandescent light in planted aquarium. Some plant species are very demanding in require even stronger light than the fluorescent, but these species are not recommended for beginners. Fluorescent lights are more expensive than incandescent lights, but fluorescent lights will on the other hand burn cooler and use less electricity. Java Fern and Java Moss are two examples of suitable beginner species. They are tough plants that can survive in a wide range of pH-values and water hardiness. They can even be kept in a slightly brackish aquarium, such as a Molly aquarium. Unlike many other aquatic plants, Java Fern should not be planted in the substrate in the aquarium. Java Fern should instead be attached to rock, wood or aquarium decorations where it will form roots. Once your have purchased your first Java Fern or Java Moss, the plants will propagate themselves. New plants will develop on the old plants, and eventually break off. You can attach these tiny plants to some type of decoration in the aquarium and wait for them to grow large.

About the author:

More information about Aquatic plants can be found on AC tropical fish. A comprehensive aquarium website which is offering all visitors an almost 100 pages long free ebook named Tropical Fish – A beginners Guide

Written By: William Berg

It really took the introduction of the undergravel filter to get the idea of cycling started. By then, you didn’t want too many fish until the gravel bed got established. The first ones I saw came as a set of green plastic tubes and elbows, with little holes drilled in the tubes. I’ve wondered if reviving the tube system might be a compromise for an undergravel with plants- the roots could steer away from conditions they didn’t like.

A really good pet store would only sell you a few fish to start off with – usually a pair of guppies for your 10 gallon. The chain fish store was normally a 5 and 10 cent store. They had pictures of the fish next to the prices, because the staff knew nothing about fish.

Before that “The Balanced Aquarium” was in, if you were an advanced aquarist. You would put heaps of plants in the tank, with the idea that the plants would absorb the fish waste. Incandescent light was what you got, in stainless-steel hoods. Somehow, people with a green thumb could raise spectacular plants without CO tanks! Maybe the coal furnace helped?

Other “old-time” fishy stuff:
¤ Stainless-steel frame tanks, or even better, the “lab” tanks with the funky spatter paintjob.

¤ Filter Floss – this was spun glass fibers, and you would get the darn stuff in your hands when you put it in the filter, just like a million cactus thorns. No way to rinse it- when it got dirty you just threw it away. A million whacky filter systems have come and gone- some using huge amounts of activated charcoal.

¤ Those antique Chinese take-home containers – instead of plastic bags, the fish store would fold up these wax-covered paper boxes with a little wire handle, with your fish inside.

¤ Glass Dip Tubes – for catching smaller fish. Sneak up on them, take your thumb off the stem to let the air out, and the fish would get sucked in. A great way to catch fry.

¤ TFH Magazine – always with the subscription page with the native guy with the huge plate in his lip reading a copy. You got a couple loose-leaf pages for your giant TFH encyclopaedia, two new species every month.

¤ Really Big Livebearers For Sale – the fish farms had not yet discovered good business principles, and sometimes messed up and grew fish to spectacular size. Sometimes the Mollies offered for sale were healthy and vigorous!

¤ Lots of fishkeepers were trying to develop their own strain of guppy, platy, molly, or swordtail. Some would sell their culls to the fish store, but most were afraid that the competition would get the jump on them, so they’d have some oscars to act as garbage cans.

¤ “Cichlids” meant angelfish, discus, severums, Jack Dempseys, “Ports”, etc. “African Cichlids” were Kribs and Egyptian Mouthbrooders. Angelfish were very hard to breed, and discus were almost impossible. The parents of “domestic” strains were better about rearing their young.

¤ Killies would occasionally show up in the store, but the “secret society” of guys sending fish and eggs through the mail was active back then, too. They had little ads in the back of TFH magazine to join the “AKA”.

¤ Corydoras were “garbagemen”, and people didn’t get that excited about them. Sometimes strange ones would come in that would cost a few cents more- so you could snag some sterbai, natteri, etc. The idea was that you would pay discuss prices for catfish would have made people faint, back then.

This article may be used freely as long as this resource box, with intact hyperlinks, is included.
CoupeDeFleur is the author of this article, sourced and used with permission by Chris Merriman

To Learn How To Obtain, Sustain & Maintain Your Aquatic Mini-World, visit LearnAboutAquariums.com