Mike’s Fish Tank – Fish Tanks

It’s that time of year again when a lot of people will get fish tanks for Christmas. We get a lot of questions regarding new fish aquariums. Just remember, the bigger the tank, the easier it is to keep it clean and the easier it is to keep the fish alive. I never recommend anything under 10 gallons and 20 gallon is even better. Fewerer things that can go wrong when you have a lot of water.

In a small tank, the water quality can go downhill much faster and thus causing more problems.

The biggest thing to be careful of is ” do not put too many fish in a newly set up tank”. I have spoken of it in the past and it is still very important. You want that good bacteria to grow, this will eat the ammonia from the fish urine. It takes at least 4 to 6 weeks for this to happen.

In a 10 gallon tank only do 3 or 4 small fish the first 5 weeks, 20 gallon 5 or 6 fish, 30 gallon 7 or 8 fish and so on. Your tank may look sparse, but your fish will do much better if you are careful that first month and a half.  Also,do not put any algae eaters into the tank until you actually see algae. A lot of algae eating fish die because there is no algae for them to eat. They do make an algae wafer but not all algae eating fish like them.

Another common mistake is putting goldfish and tropical fish together. Tropicals like warm water, 78 to 80 degrees and goldfish like cold water, 60 to 65 degrees. I do know people who mix and have no problems but I know a lot of people who mix and half a lot of problems.

Be really careful when feeding your fish. Too much food causes ammonia when the excess food begins to spoil at the bottom of the tank. It’s better to feed your fish 4 or 5 tiny feedings a day then to do 1 or 2 huge feedings. Also remember too much light will cause your tank to grow an abundance of algae. Turn your light on around 4PM and shut it off at 11PM. Siphoning your tank is very important too. This should be done once a month. Always siphon from the bottom to get any leftover food or fish waste that may accumulate.

Any questions about your new tank, give us a call or stop in. We’d be glad to help.

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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