colin_finlay
New Member
Hello, I am a fellow newbie to the fish world, I have had about 9 months of experience with fish and I would like to add some help to new users to help them have their tank running efficiantly to reduce fish loss in easy to understand terms.
So you've gone out and got a fish tank....Im going to assume you bought a filter, air pump or air stones and a heater. A good start is to fill your tank with water....plug your filter, air and heater in aswell and get that tank cranking! your filter will take out bad things in the water before your fish get to swim in your tank. Leave your tank in this condition for atleast 2 days or more.
This next step is crucial, when your going to buy your fish from your LFS (local fish store) make sure you are really specific in which size of tank you have and ask how many fish your tank can hold, remember fish get bigger and need room too! The first time you go to the fish store you will probably want 80percent of all the fish there. But unfortunitly it cannot be done. Your tank needs to be cycled before you can have all these fish. Experts say to get a goldfish or a betta to get this started but I like to go into the fish store and just getting 1 fish like a guppy something that doesnt like to eat algee that much and buy it. When your at the fish store pick up a small pack of tap water conditioner, this pack kills chlorine and other chemicals that can hurt your fish
Now also decide on getting some food. Ask your fish attendant what type of food your fish eats, usually its flake food. Flake food is great because alot of your fish will eat it without much complaining.
Now hopefully your fish survives the first few days in your new tank, after a week or two its safe to add more fish to your tank. Not 10 fish! maybe another 2 to keep your fish alive and well. As the weeks pass, slowly add one or two fish a week till your happy or your tank is full. Be carefull though with this, tell your fish attendant what types of fish you already have in your tank and how big your tank is in order to acheive fish harmony in your tank. Some fish do not get well together and will kill eachother, its hard seeing a fish die when you worked so hard to make him happy!
Never lie to the fish attendant about the size of your tank, if you want a fish but your tank isnt big enough, your not going to see a happy fish. They want to see the fish happy as well. Remember fish get bigger, Your tank may not look to full now, but its a joy watching your fish grow!
As weeks go by, you are probably wondering why your fish tank is getting so dirty! Well, unfortunitly your fish tank won't clean itself... The green stuff in your tank is ofcourse...algee. But don't be alarmed, algee is good for your fish, but TOO much algee is ofcourse bad. To solve this problem you need to get either a snail, or a common type of pleco. The decicion is yours to make they both do the job well. Personally I prefer a pleco, They grow really fast and do a great job!
When your at the LFS picking up the algee eater of your choice, you also want to pick up what they call a "rock scrubber" a very very usefull and important tool to clean the fish poo and algee from your rocks on your tank. There are instructions on the rock scrubber to how to use it, but in easy terms it takes the poo and algee with water out of your tank.
Now your probably thinking this is alot of work for a fish, but its not even that bad yet! Your filter, pleco or snail and rock scrubber can only do so much to keep your algee levels, ammonia, nitrate and PH levels safe for your fish. But you should be taking out about 15-25 percent of your water every WEEK! yes, thats correct I said week!!! Your water could look clear and fish could be happy but its about keeping them at that happy level. I learned the hard way, fish looked happy but they slowly started to die off because of high iron levels in my water!
Now the filter company urges you to replace your filter every month, but that makes sense right, they want more money and its a great marketing tool! Personally I change my filter every 2 months because I like to keep my water very clean and i check to see how dirty my filter is weekly.
So your algee is under control, your filter is working great, your set right?.....unfortunitly no. Every time I make a trip into the fish store I take a little sample of my water in to get it checked. I know it seems rediculous but im not anal in anyway about fish, honestly im fairly lazy! Your fish attendant will test your water for its PH level, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels and inform you if you need to take home some chemicals for your tank. But if your following all my steps you shouldn't be into that many problems with them unless your tap water quality is really really bad!
Another advanced feature for your tank is bringing in live plants. The way I put it, they are cheaper then fake plants and good for your tank as trees are good for air so why not get into it. I am not a pro on plants AT ALL, but in my experiences ive always been informed to WASH ALL PLANTS OFF BEFORE PUTTING THEM INTO MY TANK! plants carry snails that you cant even see they are so small, they can hatch in your tank and grow over night! its not a good sight when your pleco dies because a group of snails are taking all his algee! And most plants need light! not a regular light a flouresant light will give the proper UV rays that your plants need to survive, Now be careful with your lights, as they can turn your algee in your tank to ammonia! never leave your light on longer then 14 hours a day!
Remember I am just a newbie and I have learned alot in a short ammount of time because of experienced fish users help on this website, Use this website to your advantage and ask questions to get greater knowledge base on fish!
Remember everyone is here to help sometimes people tell your things you dont want to hear like you aren't doing a good enough job keeping your tank safe cause sometimes its true....
Now its very late and im sure im missing alot out of here so im sorry for any errors I made and dont feel bad in correcting me!
So you've gone out and got a fish tank....Im going to assume you bought a filter, air pump or air stones and a heater. A good start is to fill your tank with water....plug your filter, air and heater in aswell and get that tank cranking! your filter will take out bad things in the water before your fish get to swim in your tank. Leave your tank in this condition for atleast 2 days or more.
This next step is crucial, when your going to buy your fish from your LFS (local fish store) make sure you are really specific in which size of tank you have and ask how many fish your tank can hold, remember fish get bigger and need room too! The first time you go to the fish store you will probably want 80percent of all the fish there. But unfortunitly it cannot be done. Your tank needs to be cycled before you can have all these fish. Experts say to get a goldfish or a betta to get this started but I like to go into the fish store and just getting 1 fish like a guppy something that doesnt like to eat algee that much and buy it. When your at the fish store pick up a small pack of tap water conditioner, this pack kills chlorine and other chemicals that can hurt your fish
Now also decide on getting some food. Ask your fish attendant what type of food your fish eats, usually its flake food. Flake food is great because alot of your fish will eat it without much complaining.
Now hopefully your fish survives the first few days in your new tank, after a week or two its safe to add more fish to your tank. Not 10 fish! maybe another 2 to keep your fish alive and well. As the weeks pass, slowly add one or two fish a week till your happy or your tank is full. Be carefull though with this, tell your fish attendant what types of fish you already have in your tank and how big your tank is in order to acheive fish harmony in your tank. Some fish do not get well together and will kill eachother, its hard seeing a fish die when you worked so hard to make him happy!
Never lie to the fish attendant about the size of your tank, if you want a fish but your tank isnt big enough, your not going to see a happy fish. They want to see the fish happy as well. Remember fish get bigger, Your tank may not look to full now, but its a joy watching your fish grow!
As weeks go by, you are probably wondering why your fish tank is getting so dirty! Well, unfortunitly your fish tank won't clean itself...
The green stuff in your tank is ofcourse...algee. But don't be alarmed, algee is good for your fish, but TOO much algee is ofcourse bad. To solve this problem you need to get either a snail, or a common type of pleco. The decicion is yours to make they both do the job well. Personally I prefer a pleco, They grow really fast and do a great job!When your at the LFS picking up the algee eater of your choice, you also want to pick up what they call a "rock scrubber" a very very usefull and important tool to clean the fish poo and algee from your rocks on your tank. There are instructions on the rock scrubber to how to use it, but in easy terms it takes the poo and algee with water out of your tank.
Now your probably thinking this is alot of work for a fish, but its not even that bad yet! Your filter, pleco or snail and rock scrubber can only do so much to keep your algee levels, ammonia, nitrate and PH levels safe for your fish. But you should be taking out about 15-25 percent of your water every WEEK! yes, thats correct I said week!!! Your water could look clear and fish could be happy but its about keeping them at that happy level. I learned the hard way, fish looked happy but they slowly started to die off because of high iron levels in my water!
Now the filter company urges you to replace your filter every month, but that makes sense right, they want more money and its a great marketing tool! Personally I change my filter every 2 months because I like to keep my water very clean and i check to see how dirty my filter is weekly.
So your algee is under control, your filter is working great, your set right?.....unfortunitly no. Every time I make a trip into the fish store I take a little sample of my water in to get it checked. I know it seems rediculous but im not anal in anyway about fish, honestly im fairly lazy! Your fish attendant will test your water for its PH level, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels and inform you if you need to take home some chemicals for your tank. But if your following all my steps you shouldn't be into that many problems with them unless your tap water quality is really really bad!
Another advanced feature for your tank is bringing in live plants. The way I put it, they are cheaper then fake plants and good for your tank as trees are good for air so why not get into it. I am not a pro on plants AT ALL, but in my experiences ive always been informed to WASH ALL PLANTS OFF BEFORE PUTTING THEM INTO MY TANK! plants carry snails that you cant even see they are so small, they can hatch in your tank and grow over night! its not a good sight when your pleco dies because a group of snails are taking all his algee! And most plants need light! not a regular light a flouresant light will give the proper UV rays that your plants need to survive, Now be careful with your lights, as they can turn your algee in your tank to ammonia! never leave your light on longer then 14 hours a day!
Remember I am just a newbie and I have learned alot in a short ammount of time because of experienced fish users help on this website, Use this website to your advantage and ask questions to get greater knowledge base on fish!
Remember everyone is here to help sometimes people tell your things you dont want to hear like you aren't doing a good enough job keeping your tank safe cause sometimes its true....
Now its very late and im sure im missing alot out of here so im sorry for any errors I made and dont feel bad in correcting me!
to the forums, im glad you joined us! Good info by the way
