Fish Tank Maintenance Tips

[Wildside]

My golden rule of tank maintenance: Only clean it when absolutely necessary.

As a Pet Shop owner I would always hear "My fish always die."
The first questions I asked is, "Well how much are you feeding them?"
Most of the time the answer was, "2 or 3 times a day."

So here's the deal, I know that is what the fish food says but that is a good way for the fish food company to sell more fish food. The truth is most people will shake the container across the top of the tank several times a day. This is a big No-No. The uneaten food rots in the bottom causing nitrites/nitrates to spike and producing more ammonia than the fish waste alone. Sometimes this causes the pH to take a dive into unruly acidic levels. Either of these factors or the combination of the two are deadly to fish.
My recommendation: Feed your fish a healthy pinch every other day.

Since we just talked about nitrates let me go ahead and explain filtration. Most of those who keep fish will use a filter that has some sort of sponge and a carbon insert. Carbon helps to removes harmful impurities and helps to keep a crystal clear, odor free fish tank. If your tank get cloudy or starts to smell it's probably time to change the carbon. *Cloudy tanks can also be a sign of overfeeding. The sponge is a place for beneficial bacteria to grow. This bacteria breaks down harmful nitrites/nitrates minimizing the chance of ammonia or pH inconsistencies. Using tepid water rinse the sludge off the sponge as needed but it's a good idea to replace it before it begins to fall apart. I replace them about every 6 mos. DO NOT replace the sponge and carbon at the same time. Replacing the filter media all at once can cause major problems for a well cycled tank.

Cycling the tank is a very important step that needs to be taken before purchasing fish. This means you need to set the tank up, put water in it and get the filters running. You can put a little fish food in to get the bacteria growing. Or you can seed the filter by placing substrate from a thriving tank in a media bag in the filter. There are also numerous products you can buy that will help to speed up the cycling process. The tank needs to be up and running at least 48 hrs. preferably more, before adding fish.

When you purchase fish, do not buy sick fish! Look for clamped fins, pale color, heavy breathing, cloudy eyes, fungus or blemishes. If there are dead fish in the tank don't buy from that tank. The best Pet Shops will have separate filtration in every tank. Make sure that you quarantine when adding new fish. Better safe than sorry!