Home Fish Aquarium Guide

We’ve had our 5 gallon tank setup and running for over a year now. (14 months.) When we started this second foray into fishkeeping I had studied and learned and felt much better prepared than our shortlived first attempt. My biggest concern was the small tank and going against the recommendations of keeping Zebra Danios in such a small tank. I had picked them due to most reports indicating that they are fairly hardy and so should survive our early mistakes. I resolved to do more water testing than before and at this point it is at a point where it can run for several weeks between changes. (This is a planted tank and so our nitrate levels never seem to get that high.)

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With a Tropical Fish Aquarium there are few accessories as important as a heater. Of course, the filter system is the number one priority, but if you cannot maintain a good temperature you will put your fish through a fair amount of stress. Our Zebra Danio tends to like things in the 74-76 degree Fahrenheit range and each type of fish may have it’s own requirements. Be sure to research and if necessary ask for advice from your local fish store. If you have multiple species in the same tank you will want to be careful to select species that can tolerate the same range of temperatures (or at least have a good range of overlap.) The heater itself though can be tricky. If room temperature is 70 degrees vs. 65 degree room temperature you will need more power to maintain a 74-76 degree range.

Continue Reading “Choosing a Heater for your Tropical Fish Aquarium”

I have to report a follow up to the LAST confessional I had about our fish tank being very dirty. It seems every time I do a water change we will get an algae bloom within a couple days. Algae collects on the tank surfaces and then the water clears. I’ve pretty much left it when it does this until the next cleaning as our fish seems happy and content. The basic water parameters (ammonia/nitrite/nitrates) all seem at negligible levels. I’m still surprised that the nitrates are staying near zero and still assuming that the plant growth we have (and yes algae too likely) are keeping it that low. I can’t help but wonder if our well water is responsible for the algae blooms (phosphates?). So… how do you go about cleaning a VERY dirty tank?

Continue Reading “Cleaning a VERY Dirty Fish Tank”

The Friday before Christmas it snowed, and snowed and snowed. Most of Friday we expected power to go out. It finally did Friday evening. We have a danio (currently just one) in a 5 gallon tank (yes a bit small.) He has been in the tank for almost a full year now. (We got him around the New Year of 2009.) The tank usually stays near the comfortable 72-76 degree Fahrenheit range. However, I was very concerned about an extended power outage. We have a fireplace that I spent some time last fall cleaning out, but we still don’t know for certain that our chimney is safe and so with an extended outage in cold weather we’ve evacuated across the road to my parents who have a wood stove in their basement. (And one other thing we don’t have which is a good load of wood….) I wrapped the tank up with bathroom towels/blankets and hoped for the best.

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I have a confession to make with regards to our fishtank/aquarium. I’ve been a bad fish pet owner! It’s been easily 2 months (maybe 3) since I cleaned the fishtank / aquarium. I know frequent water changes and cleaning are important. It’s been busy and frankly where we have it placed it’s not the easiest to get at for cleaning. Plus, we have a toddler and getting the testing chemicals out is best done when he’s in the crib/playpen and well…. yes there are a lot of excuses, but it just hasn’t been done. Amazingly! EVERYTHING tested at 0. Ammonia is at zero, nitrites at zero, even nitrates are at their lowest level the chart reads which is 0 mg/l. I guess there could be a tinge of orange coloring so it’s below 12.5 mg/l. I really credit our plants for that. In fact, some of the plants are starting to lose their green leaves and I had to start by cleaning out some of those dead leaves.

Continue Reading “Fishtank Aquarium Cleaning Time”

Recently we took a short family vacation to Surfside Beach, SC. One of the things that I was concerned about was, of course, the fishtank and trying to make sure they weathered our absence without issue. Unfortunately in the days leading up to our departure we were sick and unable to do as much tank cleaning as I had hoped, but I did manage to get two good tank cleanings in (seperated by 2 days). The tank was looking quite spiffy and I gave two good feedings before we left (being careful not to put too much food in.)

Continue Reading “What to do with your Aquarium when you go on Vacation?”