Showing posts with label tank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tank. Show all posts

Freshwater aquariums

  ›     ›   Freshwater aquariums.
Aquarium is a very fragile micro environment. Following certain basic principles, setting up a new aquarium is easier than it looks at first glance.
In an aquarium we may have to use freshwater or saltwater, depending upon the origin of the ornamental aquarium pet. If your water source is slightly saline, you need not worry. Several freshwater species of the ornamental fish can withstand brackish (low saline) water. However you should know which of the species that can tolerate brackish water.

Another important factor having direct effect on the success of the aquarium is the water temperature. Ornamental aquatic pets originate from, tropical, subtropical or temperate zones. Providing the required temperature in the ornamental tank is vital for the survival of the aquatic pet. Many fishkeepers fail to understand the importance pH plays in the aquarium. Though most of the ornamental species tolerate the average range of pH, which can be buffered by adding crushed coral, some fish prefer low or high pH. A beginner may better avoid such types of pets.

Ornamental freshwater fishes

For a freshwater aquarium several groups of fishes are suitable. Some of them are: gar, sunfish, spiny eels, rainbowfish, pufferfish, knifefish, loaches, guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails, gouramis, paradisefish, bettas, killifish, gobies, darters, goldfish varieties, minnows, danios, rasboras, barbs, cichlids, angelfish, characins, tetras, catfish, corydoras and reedfish.
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Types of freshwater aquariums

Having decided whether to go in for freshwater or marine (saltwater) tank, now you need to decide between tropical or coldwater species. For a tropical tank, maintaining a warm water temperature is necessary. Small bodies of water lose heat much quickly in a cold room. For cold water animals, water temperature must be cool enough for it to thrive well.
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Tropical freshwater aquarium

Tropical fish must be kept in a warm heated ornamental tank. Water temperature, maintained between 75 to 80 °F (24 to 27 °C), enables them to thrive well. A planted tank is ideal for the aquatic pets. They will get hiding places and select a cozy nook of its own. The selected plants must withstand warm waters. Some suitable invertebrates also may be added. Some of the ideal tropical ornamental fish are, cichlids, bettas, tetras, angelfish, loaches, guppies, barbs, mollies, platys and swordtails.

Cold water aquarium

Cold water species such as, common goldfish, fancy goldfish, koi and White Cloud Mountain minnows, can withstand room temperature in temperate zones and are quite comfortable at around 60°F (15°C). Apart from the typical cold water species, there are several subtropical species which can withstand cool waters. Some of them are paradisefish, rosy barb, pygmy sunfish, rainbow shiner etc. An experienced local pet shop owner will be able guide in the selection of the freshwater species, considering the climate you live in.

Equipments and accessories

Apart from the fish tank and its stand, several components and accessories are required.
Aquarium tank
You may buy either a glass tank or acrylic tank. The size of the tank depends upon where you want to keep it and the available space. Tanks with anything less than 10 gallons (38 liter approx.) are not advisable. In smaller tanks it is harder to maintain temperature and good water quality. It is preferable to have a hood with lighting arrangement.

Stand
A sturdy tank is necessary. Please note that one liter of water weighs one kilogram. So the stand must be strong enough to support the weight of the freshwater tank with water. It will be advantageous, if the stand has some concealed space for keeping aerator and other accessories.

Filtration system
Depending upon the size of the tank you can go in for either an undergravel filter or power filter. Bigger aquarium requires power filter. The undergravel filter is not suitable when you have sand or other fine substrates.

Gravel, sand and decorations
You may require two to three inches of substrate like sand or gravel. The substrate must be rinsed thoroughly to remove dust and waste matter. Some freshwater fish and invertebrates have the habit of burrowing and require sand. You may go in for live plants or plastic ones for your aquarium. Choose the appropriate decorations, keeping in mind the type of freshwater fish you are going to have in your tank.

Freshwater aquarium maintenance
Basic aquarium maintenance practices include tank cycling, acclimatizing, feeding, cleaning, temperature maintenance, water quality testing, aeration, water changes and checking the animals for signs of stress and disease.

freshwater aquarium
Freshwater aquarium
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Image source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amaterske_akvarium.jpg
Author: Aleš Tošovský | License: Public domain
Current topic in freshwater tank: Freshwater aquariums.
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Fish tank aquariums

  ›     ›   Fish tank aquariums.
Fish aquarium or fish tank is an container with at least one transparent side to hold and display water-dwelling, plants and animals, including fish.
There are thousands of fish pets for an aquarist to select from. There is also a huge choice in container sizes, shapes and types for the aquarist.

The sizes of aquatic pet containers start from small one liter bowls and tanks onwards. Custom made public aquaria can hold thousands of gallons of water. Though, earlier the containers being made of glass had restriction in shape, with the availability of acrylic there is multiple choice in the shape of the aquarium.

The limiting factors are availability of space at home or business premises and funds for purchase and maintenance of pets, fish aquarium, stands and accessories. The hobbyist must have spare time for the pets and at least some rudimentary knowledge in pet aquaculture.

Glass fish tank

Glass panes and metal frames were used in earlier aquaria. The containers were made watertight by coating the joints with pitch. Later tar was introduced as the sealant. In such containers, the metal frame took much of the stress and there were frequent leaks. With the advent of silicone the joints between the glass pane became firm and all glass containers could be made. In some aquariums the metal frame is retained for purely ornamental and aesthetic reasons.
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Acrylic fish tank

Acrylic or Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a lightweight or shatter-resistant alternative to silica glass. Acrylic also has greater impact strength than the glass. It can be cut and joined into various shapes by solvent cements. It is ideal for aquaria. Since acrylic is softer and more easily scratched than glass, scratch-resistant coatings are often added to acrylic sheets to protect them from scratches.

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Fish tank sizes and types

Fish tanks as small as one liter capacity are available in market. Further round, hexagonal and "L" shaped aquaria can be obtained. On the higher side the weight of water has to be taken into account for constructing huge tanks. One liter of water weighs one kilograms. The Georgia Aquarium, for example, features an individual container of 6,300,000 US gallons.

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Image source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amaterske_akvarium.jpg
Author: Aleš Tošovský | License: Public domain
Current topic: Fish tank aquarium
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Fish bowl aquarium - Fish tank bowl

  › › Aquarium fish bowl tank.
Fish bowl is a miniature aquarium tank. Though bowls with half gallon or lesser capacity are available, these small bowls are pretty cramped for the pet you love.
It is preferable to go in for a two gallon capacity bowl so that it is roomy for the aquarium pet. Though some fishkeepers do not aerate or filter the water in the bowl tank, an undergravel filter will help in the cycling of the container as well as keeping the water clear and aerated. In the small environment, the water quality may deteriorate easily, and one cardinal rule is not to overfeed the pets.

Similar to an aquarium tank, water temperature, pH, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen and ammonia must be monitored regularly. About 20% of the water may be exchanged at least two or three times in a week. The pets may contract diseases and timely identification and treatment will save the lives. Consider covering the bowl tank with a custom cover, a glass sheet having perforations or a fine mesh to stop the pet from jumping out. The suitable pet must be hardy enough to withstand stress, must tolerate temperature fluctuations and be small enough for the bowl. Betta, dwarf gourami, guppy, molly, white cloud minnow, mystery snail, ghost shrimp, platy and African dwarf frog are some of the pets that can be raised in the bowl.

For setting up fish bowl aquarium, you will require a round two gallon glass bowl tank, decorative materials and bottom stones. The bowl tank must be thoroughly cleaned with dry clean cloth to remove grease and dust. Then using hot water, the tank must be cleaned thoroughly with mild liquid soap.
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Then the bowl must be rinsed several times to remove all traces of liquid soap. Rinsing with hot water will also remove traces of oil or grease, if any. Do not use any product containing chlorine, disinfectant or any other harmful chemical as any remnant after rinsing will seriously harm the aquarium tank pet. The cleaning process is very similar to setting up an aquatic pet tank.

Ghost shrimp are ideal for keeping in bowl fish tank as they are small and grow slowly. A two gallon bowl will provide sufficient space for four or five ghost shrimp. The tank must have rockwood and live or decorative plants for the shrimp to cling on to. A layer of small stones may be spread on the bottom of the tank. The shrimp may be fed with small quantities of pellet or flake food. The female shrimp may be seen carrying pink/green eggs on the underside of the carapace. They may even hatch and release the babies(nauplii) in the tank. Rearing the babies is very difficult as they feed on rotifers and brine shrimp nauplii. The adult ghost shrimp may devour the babies.

Guppies are ideal for rearing in fish bowl aquarium. It is better to go in for fancy guppies as they are colorful with a variety of tails. In a two gallon tank two or three pairs can be accommodated. Provide plants and decorations as hiding places. Some males may be aggressive and nibble and damage the fantails of other guppies. The female guppies are dull colored with smaller tails. Normally the traders do not part with females. If you can convince and get a pair of females, you can have guppies breeding in the bowl tank. Guppies are livebearers and the babies may start accepting finely powdered feed. You have to separate the babies to another tank as the adults may devour them.

For cleaning fish bowl aquarium, you have to have a hand net for removing the aquatic pet to a container/tank. The mesh size should be such that the pet does not pass through it or get caught in it. A container will be required for holding the decorations, gravel stones and filter. The container tank for keeping the pet temporarily must be clean and have a broad mouth for scooping it out. After transferring the pet and the ornamental decorations, scrub the bowl tank for removing algal growth. You may have to scrub with a razor to remove water evaporation marks on the sides of the aquarium. Use paper towels to remove greasy marks and fingerprints.

Betta, also known as Siamese fighters, are ideal for bowl aquarium. They are very aggressive and do not tolerate the presence of other aquatic pets. Hence they cannot be kept in tanks along with other species. A two gallon bowl tank is sufficient to keep a full grown betta. As it is an air breather, aeration is not required. With very successful selective breeding a number of breeds are available for fishkeepers. It is always better to have the bowl tank covered with a mesh as betta have the tendency to jump out. Though in nature they feed on live food, in confined aquarium tanks they adapt feeding flakes and freeze dried bloodworms.

A small sized fantail can be raised in a two gallon bowl aquarium. As goldfish varieties grow big, other varieties like Bubble-eye, Celestial, Dragon-Eye,Moor, Veil-tail or Oranda are not suitable for raising in a bowl tank. The container should have small size air-driven gravel filter, as goldfish are messy and churn up the water. The gravel used should be of bigger size as the goldfish may swallow the stones. The decorations in the aquarium must be well rooted as the goldfish have the tendency to nibble and uproot everything. Goldfish have the frequent problem of bloated stomach. Feeding them with cooked pea after removing the shell will function as a laxative and decrease episodes of bloated stomach.

White cloud mountain minnow, also known as White Cloud, White Cloud Mountain fish or White Cloud minnow, are suitable for raising in a bowl aquarium. They are very hardy fish and were first discovered at White Cloud Mountain in 1930s. In 1980 they had become extinct in the native habitat. However a thriving population is found in Hainan Island. They belong to carp family. Though they are from temperate region, they can withstand temperature fluctuations. Meteor Minnow and white Golden Cloud are the two popular variants. They are shoaling fish and in a two gallon bowl tank, two to three pairs can be kept. They readily accept formulated feed and do not require heating. The bowl tank may be covered with mesh as they are known to jump out.

Mystery snails can be kept in a fish bowl aquarium. A number of species of snails are clubbed under the name of mystery snail or apple snail and sold by the aquarium trade. Some snail varieties grow big and are more suitable for a tank. The most popular true mystery snail, Pomacea bridgesii belonging to the family Ampullariidae, is native to the South American countries of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. It is a hardy snail having bright brown and yellow coloration. If the container is fitted with an aerator, a pair of guppies may also be kept along. The bowl aquarium must be covered with a mesh as the snail may crawl out.

African dwarf frogs are ideal aquatic pets for keeping in a fish bowl aquarium. They are small in size and the female frogs are larger than males. A pair of dwarf frogs may be kept in a two gallon bowl tank. While buying the pet, please note that the specimen has webbing on all four feet to distinguish from African clawed frog, which has webbing only on the hind feet. As African clawed frog grows big in size, it can only be kept in a larger aquarium tank. The dwarf frogs surface to breathe atmospheric air. The bowl tank must be covered with mesh as the dwarf frogs can jump out. They can fed with pellet or flake food. They cannot survive out water for long durations.

Blue dwarf gourami is a very popular aquarium pet which can be raised in a fish bowl aquarium. It is native to South Asia. A pair a dwarf gourami can be kept in a two gallon bowl aquarium. Keep a undergravel air-lift filter to maintain the water clear. Keep some plants to provide hiding places. The fish can be fed with pellet or flake feed. Feeding them with live or freeze-dried bloodworms and tubifex worms enhances the color and patterns. The mature male can be seen building bubble nest at the surface among the plants. These aquarium fish are quite hardy and thrive well in warmer climates. In colder climates heating the bowl aquarium may become necessary.

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Aquarium tank breeding of platies by beginners

Ornamental fishes - tropical platy fish → Care of platies in aquarium → Male - female - pregnant platy → Breeding platies by beginners in fish tanks → Advanced breeding and development of new strains of platies → Platies babies care
Breeding platies in aquarium fish tank is the easiest thing.
But breeding platies to develop new strains of these ornamental fish is altogether a different matter.
If you are having ornamental platies in your aquarium and females too and if you are keeping them for more than 2 months, it is most likely that the female fish would have given birth to young ones in the ornamental tank and the parent platies would have eaten them up.
Given the healthy conditions we cannot stop ornamental platies from breeding in the tank.
When you buy the colorful males and females of platies it is most likely that the females are already pregnant.
Within a month time they may give birth to young ones.
The real problem in breeding ornamental platies in a tank is saving those numerous babies from being eaten up by parents and other ornamental fish.

Breeding platies in ornamental aquarium fish tank by beginners

If you are a beginner in breeding ornamental fish the best species for breeding are livebearers like guppies, platies and mollies.
In breeding you have to care only for the pregnant female and then the babies which are fairly big; feeding them is easy.
As for the egg laying ornamental fish you have added responsibilities like care of the eggs till hatching and then care of the small fry.

Requirements for breeding ornamental platies in fish tank

The foremost thing for breeding platies is that you will require two fish tanks (with cover) of capacity of at least 10 gallon each; one tank for parent ornamental fish and the other aquarium for breeding as well as for fry (baby) rearing.
Procure air driven sponge filter for the fry tank and any type of airlift filter for the parent tank.
The sponge filter for the fry tank protects the fry from being sucked up in aeration and cleaning the filter is also easy.
Have two heaters for maintaining the temperature of the parent fish tank as well as breeding and fry rearing tank around 25°C (77°F).
You should also have a soft hand net for transferring fish from one fish tank to another.
You can also light up the tank for 12 -14 hours as longer duration of lighted condition is also found to be an inducing factor in breeding.

Procuring the ornamental parent platies for breeding in fish tank

Next you have to procure breeding parents. It is best to have a male female ratio of 1:2 or 1:3.
This is mainly to divide the attention of the ornamental male among more females so that a single female is not harassed.
Further in case of death of a female, your experiments may not stop if you have more than one female.
The best place to get the mature platies is from fellow hobbyists.
The breeding ornamental fish must appear healthy and have good coloration.
Go in for similar colors of male and females as in many occasions breeding parents of different colors produces drab looking progeny.
If you are buying from an ornamental pet shop it is likely that the females are already pregnant.
If you are selecting pregnant breeding female select one in the early stage of pregnancy by looking for a less prominent bulge of the abdomen.
Pregnant females in the advanced stage of pregnancy may give birth to babies prematurely while transporting or on release into the breeding tank.
There will be sharp drop in the survival rate of premature babies.

Setting up the ornamental platies breeding tank

The basic procedure for setting up a fish tank is explained in another post and hence it is not discussed here.
Fill the tank for holding the parents with water and keep the aerator running for at least 3 days for the tank to settle down.
Similarly fill the breeding cum fry rearing tank with water and allow the water to condition.
If your water source is chlorinated take steps to remove chlorine by adding water conditioners.
These ornamental fish prefer hard and alkaline water and may get distressed in soft or acidic waters.
Release the breeding platies after carefully acclimatising them to the tank water.
Once the fish have settled in the new tank you can start feeding them, taking care not to over feed.
The feed must be consumed in 5 minutes. You can feed two to three times a day. Feed the fish with flake or pellet feed of high quality.
Feeding the fish with live feed like blood worms or frozen or freeze dried food like brine shrimp and blood worms makes the female fish strong and healthy.
Proper feeding increases the fecundity of the fish as well as the quality and health of the eggs.
Exchange water partially twice a week, removing and replacing 10% of water each time.
Use only previously conditioned and aged water for the water exchange.

Breeding of ornamental platies and care of young fry

You will be able to observe the male chasing the females, making courtship sigmoid display, vibrating and mating them quite often.
The mating is fast and is accomplished when the male touches the female genital pore with the tip of gonopodium.
You can keep some artificial plants in the ornamental tank for the females to hide if they are harassed too often by the male.
With the progress of about a week of mating you can notice the abdomen of the female fish bulging and growing big.
The pregnant female can be noticed to have the black gravid spot near its anal fin.
This may not be noticed if the female is deep colored. This spot is actually the eyes of the babies growing inside the female body.
The gestation period for ornamental platies may last up to 30 - 40 days.
Now you can select the best colored, healthy, bigger female with greater abdomen bulge and net it and release it immediately into the breeding and fry rearing tank containing conditioned water with the sponge filter running.
Keep a dense bunch of artificial plants floating in the ornamental fish aquarium tank.
Keep feeding the female properly and maintain water exchange schedule in the ornamental fish tank.
As time passes you can see the abdomen of the ornamental female breeding platies becoming larger and larger.
The female platies may appear lethargic and slow in movement.
Now the time is nearing parturition; the female may select a spot among the plants and keep waiting and may not accept feed.
The breeding ornamental platies release the babies one by one. The total process may sometimes take up to two hours in platies breeding.
The breeding platies should not be disturbed and it is best to avoid movement near the ornamental tank.
If the breeding platies are disturbed, they may stop giving birth half way and release the rest of the baby fish after a gap of time.
 In some cases these ornamental fish may not release the babies at all endangering their life.
Soon after release, the babies of platies tent to drop down to the bottom of the ornamental tank, wriggle and slowly start moving towards the surface of water.
In 5 -10 minutes fry of platies can swim actively and can hide among the plants in the ornamental fish aquarium.
Now the immediate danger to the baby platies is from their mother fish.
Though usually the female breeding platies may not feel hungry for some time due to hormonal change during the birth, in some rare cases mother ornamental breeding platies have been found to actively chase and eat their own babies.
Once you are sure that the process of giving birth (breeding) is over (usually when there is no release of baby platies for one hour) you can net and release the exhausted female platies back into ornamental fish tank of parent breeding fish.
If it is the first pregnancy for the ornamental breeding fish a brood of 10 - 20 fry may be released in ornamental aquarium.
If the female ornamental breeding platies are healthy, well fed and big, more than 100 fry may be born in a single pregnancy in the fish tank.
You can powder the high quality parent feed and spread it on the water surface of the ornamental fish breeding tank for the babies to eat.
You will require to feed 4 -5 times daily to achieve good growth of the fry in the breeding tank for fry.
However do not over feed the fry of ornamental platies fish at a time; allowing feed to decay can cause water quality problems in the breeding and fry rearing fish tank. Remove the scum formed by the feed after 3o minutes from the ornamental tank of fry platies.
Spread on fry platies tank only the quantity of feed which can be consumed in 5 minutes.
Fry of ornamental platies die more due to overfeeding and decaying feed than anything else in the tank.
If properly fed and with healthy conditions in the fish tank the fry of ornamental platies may grow up to one inch in a month time.
If the other female breeding platies survive in the parent fish tank and their pregnancy is advancing now you have a handful of problems.
You have to either give away your pregnant ornamental breeding fish to other fish tank owners or set up more fish tanks for rearing more batches of fry of platies.
Some pet shops repurchase the ornamental fish from the hobbyists.
Breeding platies 234
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Tropical platy fish care in aquarium tank

Platy fish - Taxonomy & distribution → Male & pregnant → Breeding - beginners → Advanced → Babies care → Ornamental tropical platy fish care in aquarium tank
Setting up a aquarium tank for Xiphophorus Maculatus (platy)
Platy (Xiphophorus Maculatus) is one of the most popular livebearers in the ornamental fish hobby. Tropical platy is very hardy and it is very easy to maintain and care for these tropical ornamental pets in an aquarium tank.
Preferred aquarium tank size is 10 gallons or more for these tropical ornamental pets. As they prefer slow moving waters in nature, take care to set up only an air lift filter in the aquarium tank for maintaining dissolved oxygen levels.
As these tropical ornamental pets prefer planted regions in nature, take care to provide some aquatic plants or artificial plants in the aquarium with sufficient open areas for free swimming.
Being tropical in origin, ornamental platy tolerates and prefers higher range of temperatures (around 80°F).
If you want to keep them in colder regions it is better to keep a heater in the aquarium.

Care in the selection of tropical ornamental platy for aquarium tank

When you are buying tropical platy fish or that matter any ornamental aquarium fish look for energetic active fish without any damage to fins.
This way you can avoid diseased and stressed fish. Buy 3 to 4 females for each male ornamental platy.
The females are larger than males. Males will have anal fin modified into a pointed structure called gonopodium and it is easy to differentiate adult males from females.
These tropical ornamental fish come in various colors and fin shapes and some of the popular varieties are mickey mouse, marigold wagtail, red wagtail, gold comet, sunset, blue coral and gold wagtail.
If you are thinking of maintaining pure varieties them go in for similar colors.
If you are not much interested in breeding and do not have much time for care of babies, them go in for an assortment of colors to make your aquarium tank colorful.
Have them packed in polythene bag with clean water and oxygen.

Care of platy in a tank

As these tropical ornamental fish like to be in a group take care to keep at least 6 - 8 of these tropical livebearers in a tank of ten gallons.
Like guppies, adults males of these tropical ornamental fish also keep chasing the females for mating.
To reduce stress to the females take care to maintain a ratio of about 3 - 4 females for one male in the aquarium tank.
These ornamental fish prefer alkaline waters and take care to maintain pH around 7 to 8.
Care in partial exchange of water to keep ammonia levels low helps in having healthy ornamental fish.
After bring home allow the oxygenated bag to float on the aquarium tank (which must have been already setup) water for at least 30 minutes.
The temperature of the water in the bag will become equal to that of aquarium tank.
As the pH and other factors like alkalinity will be differing, slowly acclimatize the fish to aquarium tank water with much care.
This is explained well in the post on setting up ornamental fish bowl.
As ornamental platy are peaceful fish they can be kept in a community aquarium tank; however take care to keep only with with other tropical fish of same size and other livebearers.
Xiphophorus Maculatus
Female Xiphophorus Maculatus (enlarge)

Feeding and care of platy

Tropical platy are omnivores and get conditioned to a variety of feed.
Tropical platys readily accept formulated feed in aquarium tank and take care to feed them now and then with live feed like blood worms and brine shrimp babies to maintain their vibrant colors.
As their natural diet consists of some amount of plant matter take care to give ornamental platy boiled soft vegetables and algal food.
Feeding tropical platy with spirulina based food is found to enhance their colors in confined tank.

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