Aquarium cleaning

This is another one for my series on Taking care of your aquarium or "the Fishy Business" series. You can find the previous posts here [link]

Its recommended by most hobbyists to replace around 30% volume of water in a freshwater aquarium on a regular basis. I usually do it fortnightly. Replace more than that can create problems like fungus and high levels of ammonia. Its not a hard as many people think and cleaning a medium sized aquarium can be done in an hour's time.

1. Siphon out the water and dirt on the tank bed; for this I use a siphon pump and suck out the dirt much like using a vacuum cleaner.
2. Clean the tank ornaments and the sediments beneath them
3. Replace the sponge element in the filter
4. Wash the activated charcoal layer in the filter
5. Add some water cleaner/conditioner , commonly called "the blue stuff".
you can find their products here [link]

If you have a pump and aerator combined into a single unit then you would have to clean that out when the pump begins to lose power or when you notice lesser bubbles coming out of the aerator . Most pumps can be taken apart and assembled without detailed instructions or complex tools.

Separated parts

Complete (its like assembling a sniper rifle :) )

Thats it !

Aquarium update

These are the guys in my aquarium. This month I lost a couple of fish, a Catfish (also called a shark in most pet stores) and a dwarf Gaurami. I'm not sure what happened coz I'm very careful in taking care of things in my aquarium. One morning I noticed the catfish had some kind of growth on its side and then died the next day. The Gaurami's death was kind of unexpected, I came home from work and found it lying dead on the floor of the aquarium. Both of them were flushed down the toilet after I payed my er... respects :D

Forgive me for my ignorance about the scientific names of these fish.

Gold fish

Catfish

Silver shark

Platti

Gaurami

Suckermouth catfish

Fishy Business Part 2

This is the second part of the Fishy Business series :)
You can find part one here [link]

With ever decreasing temperatures this winter season it very important to a) maintain ideal temperatures and b) water flow.

a) Most of us keep tropical freshwater fish in our aquariums and these little guys love to be in water that's around 25-28 Degrees Celsius. To do this the best option is buying a submersible aquarium heater. Turn the thermostat dial to 27 and install it near the water inlet of your pump. This will circulate warm water around the tank.

You may find this guide useful when buying a heater

	Heater Size Guide
Gallons/Liters	5ºC/9ºF	10ºC/18ºF	15ºC/27ºF
5 gal/25 L	25 watt	50 watt	75 watt
10 gal/50 L	50 watt	75 watt	75 watt
20 gal/75 L	50 watt	75 watt	150 watt
25 gal/100 L	75 watt	100 watt	200 watt
40 gal/150 L	100 watt	150 watt	300 watt
50 gal/200 L	150 watt	200 watt	two 200 watt
65 gal/250 L	200 watt	250 watt	two 250 watt
75 gal/300 L	250 watt	300 watt	two 300 watt

[Courtesy link]

b) All aquariums need a water circulation and filtration system. There are many varieties to choose from. If your tank comes with an overhead system (like my previous one) you don't need an additional pump. The device should be left on all the time coz this can prevent diseases like fungal growth.

Visit to the pet store

This weekend I had to visit the pet stores in Al Rai to pick up some fish food and check to see if they had any new aquarium ornaments.

To buy aquarium equipment I always visit the third store on the left side after you come if from the main entrance. They have a a lot of accessories and essential items for your aquarium.

New Aquarium

Last weekend I went and bought an Aquarium for my new apartment. I bought it from the same shop I bought the previous aquarium from, in Al Rai near the Friday Market. This new tank has dual lights and it looks cool at night with the blue light.

Since its new I haven't bought too many fish, just two pairs of goldfish for the time being till the ammonia levels in the tank stabilize.

For my readers who would like to keep fish as a hobby, here are the essentials.

1. A nice tank (preferably with a built-in filter and moulded front glass)
2. water heater
3. colored gravel
4. fish net
5. siphon (for periodic cleaning)
6. Blue medicine ( you need it for the initial tank setup)
7. activated carbon (for the filter)
8. fibre foam (for the filter)
9. water pump and air pump (you probably wont need it if the tank already comes with one)
10. a few good decorative ornaments
11. and finally some fish !!

Here are some links to help those starting out.

Freshaquarium

Oursimplejoys

digitalexcellent

homefishaquarium

This link has a lot of nice accessories for your tank;

Thatpetplace.com

Aquarium repair

Its been a while since I've blogged about my aquarium. It had sprung a leak last week at one of the corners and I postponed fixing it till the start of Eid holidays. So i started last night, it took about 2 hours to transfer the fish, drain the tank, strip off the old silicone sealant, dry the tank and apply a new layer of silicone ! Phew ! Am I glad thats over :)



Today morning the I transferred the little guys back into the aquarium, in the process the catfish bumped into the castle ornament and now hes got a sore eye. Hope it heals soon. Everything else looks fine and no more leaks ! :D

Goldfish

It's been a while since I've had any Goldfish in my aquarium, so this weekend I went out and bought a couple. Offhand I would say they're in the adolescent stage and the average life span of these little critters is around 8 years, thats almost mammal territory !!

The good thing about Goldfish is that they get along with almost every kind of aquarium fish, except for the large carnivorous kinds; like Oscars. The only problem I've had with goldfish is that they get bored easily and then start to act like drunk college students; bumping into objects and other fish, uprooting plants and tank fixtures etc. But as long as they're quiet I don't mind !! : )

My little sucker

Lately I've noticed that the sucker catfish has become quiet bold and doesnt shy away when I try to examine him closely. He has also grown considerably in the past 7 months since I brought him home. Guess it must be that German brand fish food I feed him ! I did some reading on this particular species and they are known to grow to 2 meters long !! But I dont think the closed environment of an aquarium will permit similar growth.

Heres some info on the Sucker Catfish

Fish list (habitatnews.nus.edu.sg)

Rising temperatures

Man ! its getting so hot even my fish are feeling the heat ! Luckily I found a way to cool things down, I opened up the enclosure for the water circulation system and now the water flowing thru it gets cooled on it's way back into the tank. Now if only I could get some feedback directly from the little guys ! :)

Fishy Business

Fishy Business (Part1)

I've had my new Aquarium for almost 5 months now. This is the third and is probably the best I've had. Its a Chinese Kit that comes with a built in overhead filter level and lower stand and cabinet. By now I've learnt a lot about ideal water temperature, Nitrogen and Ammonia levels and disease control. This is the first part in a new series on Aquariums and how to care for your fish.

Hope you find this information helpful.

Basic Tank Setup.

I wont be going into detail about the actual tank or tank designs. Cleaning a new tank is very important, gently wash the insides with water and wipe dry. If you'd like you could add some salt and Potassium Permanganate to the wash water. Be sure to clean thoroughly and remove any traces of stickers or glue. Now you can start work setting up the aquarium. First and foremost is the bottom layer. If you're not thinking about growing aquatic plants, a basic gravel layer would suffice. Spread the gravel evenly and let it slope gently towards the rear of the tank. This is to facilitate sedmentation of waste at the rear of the tank. Before you install any caves or ornaments install the plumbing necessary for the air pump and the filter. When keeping tropical fish, care must be taken to maintain an ideal aquarium water temperature. For most fish this is around 26'-28' Celcius (78-82 F). The heater must be positioned near the inlet of the water pump so that the heated water gets circulated in the tank.

I've added a small diagram below that roughly illustrates my aquarium setup.This is the first post in my Aquarium series. Keeping watching this space for more information in the coming weeks.

He sleeps with the fishes tonight

Tragedy struck a couple of days ago.
My fish tank had been fully set up and I was enjoying watching my little fishies swim around when i noticed one of the smaller gold fish swimming rather slowly and aimlessly. I took him out of the main tank and into the observation tray but my best attemps to save him were in vain. I cleaned out tank fearing a bacterial or fungal infection and then installed an Activated Carbon layer in the filter system. Well things look Okay now, and I'm hoping there wont be anymore 'deaths' in the near future.


All Clear now

Thats all for now , till we meet again.