Morning all!
What I would like to do with this thread is make a repository of neat little ideas that you have come up with yourself or you have seen that that are handy little 'tips and tricks' for fish keeping. To give you an idea of what I mean, here's a couple of mine:
Vegetable clip/weight removal tool - Fed up with plunging your hand into the tank to remove vegetable clips/weights after the food has been eaten? Then worry no more! Simply get a standard metal coat hanger, squeeze both ends together so that the hook is now at the top of the 'rod', and voila - a handy tool for hooking out the clip/weight without getting wet. For taller tanks, do the same thing, but cut one of the wires at the top and then fold it back down to make an extra long version.... especially useful in the morning rush to get to work after your night feeding fish have had their meal.
Please add yours! Even if it seems basic and obvious, some of us might not know it and will find it useful. Doesn't have to be 'DIY' like the above. Could be something like "drop food into the filter stream so some sinks quickly for bottom feeders".....anything!
SUMMARY OF SOME THE TIPS ADDED SO FAR - mainly the ones I found easy to summarize!
Switch Off All Elecricals That Are In Contact With The Water Before Any Water Change - you never know if you might get a nasty shock!
Never Clean Filter Media In Tap Water _ The chlorine will kill your bacteria.
Rinse Your Hands Thoroughly With Plain Tap Water Before Placing Them In The Tank - soaps, hand creams, lotions ect are not something you want to introduce into the water, even small amounts.
Water Changing Large Tanks? Consider A Hose Rather Than Buckets - Can save your back plenty of work! Remember to does the tank for the full volume of water with dechlor before refilling from the tap.
Keep Some Fish Bags Handy _ Keep a few of the fish bags from the LFS. You never know when or iff you'll need to any fish or transport them to a new home.
Keep A Couple Of 'Fish Only' Towles Handy - You never know when you might have a watery accident!
Cross Reference Any Advice _ Be it from a forum or a LFS, always double check advice from a few sources. In a hobby where lots of people have different opinions this is a must!
Water Changes - remove water directly to a waste outlet - save yourself some time!
Buy an extra length of hose pipe (you can buy it on ebay as long as you wish) and attatch it to your gravel cleaner when doing a water change - you can then run straight to your nearest sink or loo when doing your gravel vac, saves your back and cuts the time it takes by half!.
Pre-soak dry foods so that bottom feeders get a better meal!
Put a little tank water in an egg cup and drop in your flake foods, swish it round and add to tank - it will sink rather than float and gives the bottom feeders a chance before the greedy ones gobble it all up.
Take Notes at your LFS
When thinking of buying new fish take a notebook and pen to your local fish shop and jot down the names of the fish you like the look of. You can then google them to read up and find out if they will suit your tank.
A Turkey Baster Can Be Handy
Buy a cheap turkey baster and keep it on hand for moving fry, rearranging sand, sucking the odd snail out of your filter intake ... there's a hundred uses! Just be sure to buy a new one for your tank. Don't use the one in your kitchen drawer.
Rinse any 'play' sand before use
If you're going to use sand as a substrate, it's OK to use play sand, but be sure to rinse, rinse, then rinse some more before putting it in your tank.
What I would like to do with this thread is make a repository of neat little ideas that you have come up with yourself or you have seen that that are handy little 'tips and tricks' for fish keeping. To give you an idea of what I mean, here's a couple of mine:
Vegetable clip/weight removal tool - Fed up with plunging your hand into the tank to remove vegetable clips/weights after the food has been eaten? Then worry no more! Simply get a standard metal coat hanger, squeeze both ends together so that the hook is now at the top of the 'rod', and voila - a handy tool for hooking out the clip/weight without getting wet. For taller tanks, do the same thing, but cut one of the wires at the top and then fold it back down to make an extra long version.... especially useful in the morning rush to get to work after your night feeding fish have had their meal.
Please add yours! Even if it seems basic and obvious, some of us might not know it and will find it useful. Doesn't have to be 'DIY' like the above. Could be something like "drop food into the filter stream so some sinks quickly for bottom feeders".....anything!
SUMMARY OF SOME THE TIPS ADDED SO FAR - mainly the ones I found easy to summarize!
Switch Off All Elecricals That Are In Contact With The Water Before Any Water Change - you never know if you might get a nasty shock!
Never Clean Filter Media In Tap Water _ The chlorine will kill your bacteria.
Rinse Your Hands Thoroughly With Plain Tap Water Before Placing Them In The Tank - soaps, hand creams, lotions ect are not something you want to introduce into the water, even small amounts.
Water Changing Large Tanks? Consider A Hose Rather Than Buckets - Can save your back plenty of work! Remember to does the tank for the full volume of water with dechlor before refilling from the tap.
Keep Some Fish Bags Handy _ Keep a few of the fish bags from the LFS. You never know when or iff you'll need to any fish or transport them to a new home.
Keep A Couple Of 'Fish Only' Towles Handy - You never know when you might have a watery accident!
Cross Reference Any Advice _ Be it from a forum or a LFS, always double check advice from a few sources. In a hobby where lots of people have different opinions this is a must!
Water Changes - remove water directly to a waste outlet - save yourself some time!
Buy an extra length of hose pipe (you can buy it on ebay as long as you wish) and attatch it to your gravel cleaner when doing a water change - you can then run straight to your nearest sink or loo when doing your gravel vac, saves your back and cuts the time it takes by half!.
Pre-soak dry foods so that bottom feeders get a better meal!
Put a little tank water in an egg cup and drop in your flake foods, swish it round and add to tank - it will sink rather than float and gives the bottom feeders a chance before the greedy ones gobble it all up.
Take Notes at your LFS
When thinking of buying new fish take a notebook and pen to your local fish shop and jot down the names of the fish you like the look of. You can then google them to read up and find out if they will suit your tank.
A Turkey Baster Can Be Handy
Buy a cheap turkey baster and keep it on hand for moving fry, rearranging sand, sucking the odd snail out of your filter intake ... there's a hundred uses! Just be sure to buy a new one for your tank. Don't use the one in your kitchen drawer.
Rinse any 'play' sand before use
If you're going to use sand as a substrate, it's OK to use play sand, but be sure to rinse, rinse, then rinse some more before putting it in your tank.
