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Common Fish Diseases and How To Treat Them

Keeping your fish healthy begins with the proper maintenance and care of your aquarium. But, just like any other pet, no matter how well you try to take care of them, illnesses and diseases sometime occur. And, the best protection for a sick fish is quick treatment.

Two Basic Types Of Fish Disease

All fish diseases are in one of two categories, either infectious or non-infectious. An infectious disease can rapidly empty a well stocked aquarium that you’ve spent lots of money and time in developing. Besides which, you could lose many or all of your much loved pets.

Fish get sick in the same way that people get sick. They experience bacterial infections, parasite infestation, fungus and other illnesses that are very contagious. Non-infectious diseases are contracted through poor diet, dirty or unbalanced aquarium water and other outside sources.

Infectious diseases generally won’t go away on their own, they’ll only…

How To Set Up A New Fish Aquarium

Setting up a new aquarium will add beauty and enjoyment to any room in your home. There are a few things you need to know to get started right and avoid the disappointment and heartache of losing all your work and money by moving too quickly.

The very first thing you need to know is – Do not buy your fish at the same time you get your tank and supplies. This is the biggest mistake most people make when buying aquarium set ups. You and your family are in the store looking at all the beautiful fish and decide an aquarium would be perfect for that corner spot in the living room. You’re right.

Although it would seem to be the thing to do, now is not the time to buy those awesome fish. Your new tank needs to be prepared so…

The Best Snails And Salamanders For Your Aquarium

The fish that you choose for your aquarium can really add a lot of interest and character to your tank. But, if you want a really unique aquarium, add some other aquatic animals such as snails, salamanders, eels, shrimp, turtles, frogs, crabs or even clams!

Adding various other animals to your aquarium will result in a more natural habitat. And, each aquatic animal will have their own different characteristics and habits that can be quite interesting to observe.   But, it will also provide an added benefit. Many of these animals are scavengers and they will help keep your aquarium clean!

Every aquarium needs at least a few scavengers to help keep it clean, they’re sort of the little garbage disposals of the fish world! Scavengers will clean your tank of leftover food, scum, algae and other decayed matter.

Snails

There’s a wide variety of snails to choose from and each…

How To Raise Live Food For Your Aquarium Fish

There are many factors that go into keeping your aquarium fish alive and healthy. Although environmental conditions such as the correct chemical balance and water temperatures are very important, fish in even the best cared for aquariums need the proper nutrition.

While dried, frozen or pellet type foods are nutritious, live foods can provide lot’s of protein and other benefits as well as adding variety to their diet. But, for some species of fish to be able to breed, they require live food.

Any packaged foods that aren’t consumed will quickly decay and end up in your filtration system, cloud your tank and promote bacteria. Another benefit in raising your own live food is that you can control the conditions in which the food is grown and produce foods that are free of bacteria that can cause diseases.

Raising live food is a cheaper way to provide food for your…

Prevention and Control of Aquarium Algae

Algae and water just go together and if you love fish aquariums, you’re going to have to deal with algae. Small amounts of algae are actually healthy for the tank environment. But, in large amounts it will make your tank look like stagnant water and can kill your fish and plants.

Algae grows and survives on the same things that the plant life in your aquarium need to live, water, sunlight and nutrients. There are different types of algae such as, hair algae, slime algae and diatomic algae. No matter how diligent your are in the maintenance of your tank, you can’t totally prevent algae.

Just like it’s name, hair algae resembles fine hairs. It can grow anywhere inside your tank. Slime algae generally grows on the substrate and rocks in the tank. It can be either black, red or green in color. The last type of algae, diatomic algae…

Blue Hippo Tang

Common Names: Blue Hippo Tang, Regal Tang, Regal Blue Tang, Yellow Tail, Blue Tang, Hepatus Tang
Scientific Name: Paracanthurus hepatus
Family: Acanthuridae
Maximum Size: 12 inches
Life expectancy: 20 years
Minimum Tank Size: 70 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 – 78 °F
pH Range: 8.1 – 8.4
SG: 1.020 – 1.025
Water hardness: 8 – 12
Temperament: Peaceful
Origin: Fiji, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Solomon Islands

Aquarium Setup:
The Blue Hippo Tang loves places to hide, provide them with plenty of caves and crevices. They also love to swim and are fast fish, wide open areas are needed.

How to Clean Your Aquarium

If you are just getting into the aquarium hobby than I have to congratulate you for taking the time research how to properly care for your new pets. Far too often people get into fish keeping without taking the time to really understand what they are undertaking. Besides giving your home a lovely display, keeping a commitment to the fish you purchase is also a big part, if not the biggest part of fish keeping.

Besides feeding them, the other part of keeping your fish happy and healthy comes by keeping the water and tank clean. Thankfully with the use of a few key tools you can make your weekly water cleaning and changes a pretty simple task. The main tools you will need to keep your tank in tip top shape are a siphon which is sometimes referred to as a vacuum, a bucket used…

Teaching Children About Nature & Responsibility With A Fish Aquarium

I think most people will agree that one of the best ways to teach a child responsibility is by getting him or her, a pet of their own. I have had the pleasure of giving my daughter a kitten, a puppy, and an aquarium of her very own, since she liked my aquariums so much. And from my experience of giving her things, she was much happier the times she was presented with a pet than the times it was with some candy or a new toy. Little does she know, these acts contain a secret lesson within them; learning responsibility!

Of the pets my daughter has acquired over the years I would have to say she has learned the most from her aquarium. Since her Dad is an experienced aquarium keeper I was able to teach her how to properly care for her fishy friends; and…

Peacock Eel

Common Names: Peacock Eel, Siamese Spiny Eel
Scientific Name: Macrognathus siamensis
Maximum Size: 12 inches
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons
Temperature Range: 73 – 82°F
pH Range: 6 – 8
Water hardness: 6 – 25dH
Temperament: Peaceful and shy
Origin: India, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Sumatra

Aquarium Setup:
The natural habitat for the Peacock eel is the slow moving waters of streams and rivers in Southeast Asia. This eel thrives in the dense aquatic plants and a substrate of sand, silt and fine gravel. These are the conditions that should be duplicated in the aquarium.

The Peacock eel likes to have plenty of hiding places as this helps it to feel safe and secure. A lot of plants, especially floating ones are recommended as well cave like areas created by using rocks, wood, artificial ornaments, and even short sections of PVC piping.