Fish Keeping Tips & Tricks

[Gilli]

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!.

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.

Chop your bloodworm with scissors before feeding - makes it easier for the smaller fish to eat it and saves greedy fish getting them stuck!

When re-landscaping your tank or changing from gravel to sand buy a big plastic builders bucket which are cheap and handy from your local DIY store. Empty your tank water into it you can then put the fish and plants in and run your heater and filter in it for a few days while you take your time with the new arrangements and let it settle before putting everything back.

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.

 

[mark2109111]

Dont be afraid to ask for help

 

[Cazgar]

Decide what fish you'd like to keep & do research before buying the tank

 

[pablothebetta]

IMO, this really deserves pinning, there are some good tips here

The tip I was going to add about research has already been

 

[micko]

Never eat yellow snow.


Ask, research, water test and water change.

 

[Primous]

Buy an aqueon water changer/python!

Previously my WC's would take about two hours, you all know the drill.

Water out > Rinse buckets > Adjust temp for each bucket > Fill > Clean the inevitable and unavoidable spillage. Yup my water change would take about and hour 30-two hours. But now...

Time lapsed vid of my wc's (14 mins and change)

 

[ZoddyZod]

I'll give this a Monday morning bump with a couple more added to the list.

Try to make the tips more practical rather than theoretical and concentrate on those that you have tried and tested yourself, rather than having heard of them elsewhere.

 

[Blubble37]

if you have an external filter, use it to hel[p with water changes

 

[This Old Spouse]

Read the previous posts so we're not getting a bunch of repeats!

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.

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.

Do NOT buy fish that will become too big for your tank, thinking they'll only grow as big as your tank allows!

And yes, this is repeating, but research, research, research every single thing before you buy it or subject your fish to it. Start on the Internet, NOT the LFS.

 

[Aqua Tom]

When buying filter wool or floss, do not buy it from your LFS as it will be too expensive & you wont get much of it.

Buy a lifetimes supply for very little money from Ebay. You know it makes sense.

http/www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4712.m570.l1313&_nkw=filter+wool&_sacat=See-All-Categories


Tom

 

[blinky000]

Sucking up eggs into a straw/turkey baster can help you sort out which ones are fertile and which ones aren't earlier than you could detect it with your eyes. After a few days, you'll notice the fertile ones sink a lot faster than the infertile ones. The ones left in the straw, simply chuck out. It'll prevent fungus getting to the healthy ones so you'll have a bigger, healthier batch of babies

 

[Lufbramatt]

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.

Or, get a iPhone/Andriod type smartphone and you can google the the fish names in the shop. If you get one of the product recognition type apps, such as Google Goggles, you can just take a photo of the label on the tank and you don't even have to type the name in

 

[ultimatebob]

i buy those little square filter sponge media thingys, slice a cut at the center, then slip them over the intakes of any mechanical filters. adds just a lil bit more biological advantage.
also like to keep an ice chest full of water with an airstone, for when the water level gets too low or for water changes. saves you money on dechlorinator.
i also aim filter outakes towards the surface for more surface agitation or oxygenizing.
when feeding, i feed my fish and not my tank. something i have seen a lot of people do unfortunately.

 

[This Old Spouse]

also like to keep an ice chest full of water with an airstone, for when the water level gets too low or for water changes. saves you money on dechlorinator.

This method does nothing for trace metals and other bad things in your tap water. I would never add water to my tank without using StressCoat+ or Prime.

when feeding, i feed my fish and not my tank. something i have seen a lot of people do unfortunately.

What does this mean?

 

[ZoddyZod]

Thursday bump

.....I wont be adding them all to the first post (otherwise it will get silly) but keep sharing your tips!