Mike’s Fish Tank – Setting Up a Tank

A lot of people asking me questions about setting up a new fish tank. Here are some guidelines for you.

Be sure the tank is up and running at least 24 hours before adding fish. If you are doing a heated tank, you want to be sure your water stays at 78 to 79 degrees for at least 24 hours. If the temp keeps going up and down, the fish will get sick. When filling your tank, fill it with water that’s around 78 degrees. If its too cold, it will take forever for the tank to  warm up. If you are doing a goldfish tank, then you want the water colder. Goldfish can get sick in warm water.

For a new 10 gallon setup you should start with 3 or 4 small fish the first 4 to 5 weeks. A 20 gallon, 4 to 5 fish, a 30 gallon 6 to 7 and so on.

There is a good bacteria that will eat the urine the fish produce, but that will take 4 to 6 weeks to grow. That is why you want to go slow, do not add a lot of fish until that beneficial bacteria has formed. Too many fish too soon and they will die in their own urine which is ammonia.

Do not add algae eaters until you have algae. A lot of people add them too soon and they die because there is not  enough algae. They do make algae wafers for the fish to eat, but some do not like it. So wait til you see the algae.

Never take a tank apart and clean the gravel. That is where that good bacteria lives. Do partial water changes using a siphon. Take out around 20 to 25 % of the water once a month but always drain from the bottom, that is where the left over food and waste settles. Be sure the water you put back is the same temperature as what you took out.

As far as feeding, if you can do 3 or 4 small feedings a day, that’s when your fish will do the best. Fish in the wild eat off and on through out the day so you want to copy that. But do small amounts. Too much food will cause the tank to get dirty and cloudy.

How many fish can you have in a tank: the rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. So if you have a 10 gallon tank, you can do 5-two inch fish  or 10-one fish etc.

Pets A Plenty is located in the Blockbuster Video Plaza, Rte 281 Cortland, 753-9213. Open 7 days a week. We now have a website. www.petsaplety.biz. check it out. I post care sheets, coupons, new animal arrivals, contests and more. Any questions, email me at friskyy@hotmail.com

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