How To Look After Tropical Fish?

Tropical Fish Care: How to Look After Tropical Fish in Your Fish Tank?

Taking care of fish is not as easy as it sounds, but it can be a wonderful hobby. It is quite different while answering the question ”how to look after tropical fish’ than say, having a dog.

You see a dog can live in an environment quite similar to ours and does not require a lot of adjustment.

Now could you imagine a fish walking into your house and being comfortable? Of course not! If you want to take care of fish, you are going to have to do your best to simulate a comfortable home for them.

Creating an aquarium environment where they can thrive and be happy doesn’t have to be difficult, you just need to be prepared. Aquariums have advanced greatly over the past years and can be practically self-sufficient, once they are set up.

Of course, you also need to be well aware of the type of fish that you will have in your environment. Every species is different from each other and has different requirements.

I hope you will enjoy our site, we would like to help you get on your way with proper fish care. Please feel free to browse our articles, and be sure to check out Fish Care Secrets Revealed.

How do I Avoid Hardening the Water?

If you want to harden your aquarium water, be sure not to add limestone. Limestone is commonly included in aquarium kits. Make sure you avoid it if hardened water is a concern.

I Need Help With My pH Test Readings

You will need to be testing your water, to make sure the environment is suitable for your fish. If the pH number is below seven, then the water is acidic. If the figure is higher than seven then the water is alkalinity or alkaline.

The neutral pH figure is pH7. If the condition of your tank water is higher or below this figure then your aquarium’s water is extremely alkalinity and/or acidic. If you maintain the right balance of water and temperature, your plants and fish will live long, healthy, and strong.

Always keep in mind while testing your tank water that tap water has pH7 or pH8 reading generally. If the testing kit reads lower or else higher, this means that the tank water is too acidic or alkaline.

Always remember that discus from symphysodon aequifasciata specimen enjoys a lot of acidic waters. If you own cichlids from the Rift Valley, these fish mostly prefer alkaline.

How do I Test the Water?

You will need to purchase a test kit. Fortunately, you can purchase test kits online or preferably at your local pet store. Though purchasing online certainly is a lot easier, if you are not familiar with the types, it is best to purchase at a pet store.

These kits will tell you what you need to know about the various balances in your water, such as chlorine. should not be present in your tank waters; but, the tap water may have chemicals like chlorine.

Water conditioners are ideal for your tank. You should use water conditioners when you set up your aquarium and every time you refill your tank.

Tip: If you use a heater in your aquarium, keep the volume low.

Living Room

This is important to know, especially since this was the first place I wanted to set my aquarium up. A living room is NOT recommended. Since most of the living rooms are highly warm, the fish can feel agitated.

There is some good news though if you absolutely want them there if you have tropical fish as well as plants you will have fewer problems. Fish and plants from the tropical regions are intended to adapt well to higher room or water temperatures.

To preserve your fish, using a heater in the aquarium can help you, yet you should keep the aquarium heater on a very low volume. Maintaining a decent volume of heat is important to prolong the life of the heater.

If you are heating the fish tank, take a simple way out. Heater stats are included in some heaters. It will help you control the heat. The Heater stats thermostatically control the devices, which are attached to the corners of a fish tank. Suction cups can be used to mount the heater.

A small lamp is present in a heater, which can click on every time the heater is activated and started. If you do not have a regulated heater, make sure to check the temperature every time. Fish are most sensitive to sudden temperature changes.

Proper Fish Tank Care

There are several pet stores that sell aquariums that include the complete kit for easy setup for customers to simply fill up the tank with water and let the fish out.

As aquarium water clouds up in a few days, a major cleanup of the aquarium is necessary.

With fish tank care, many find the practice of using a vacuum and changing the water by 20-25% effective. But cleaning them this way is not really enough.

A major clean-up of the aquarium is needed to ensure its perfect condition. This even requires taking off the pieces of your aquarium and putting them all back again together.

To get started, you have to transfer the fish first to another tank or container that has the same water inside your aquarium so you do not disrupt the temperature setting that the fish is used to. This way, your fish will not be stressed from the transfer.

Next, using a pail, slowly drain some water from your aquarium to another holding area and gently start cleaning its parts. This is your sure way that filtration is handled very carefully.

You have to do this with extra care so you will not destroy the breed of aerobic bacteria in the water that is essential to the life cycle of plants and fishes these species developed in the aquarium. Surely, you do not want to upset its ecosystem.

As for your fish tank care accessories, take them out one by one and clean them with soap and water.

For the glass in the aquarium, use a sponge. Make sure they are all rinsed well and air-dried for 30 to 60 minutes before putting them back into your aquarium.

Now that you are almost done cleaning all the pieces, it is time to put everything back together. Start with the filter and then gradually put in the rocks, gravel, and plants.

For clean freshwater, pour bottled water inside. The remaining water that held the filtration system can be poured back in also so long they are clean and free from floating sediments.

Once done, the last thing to do is to put the fish back into the aquarium. But before you do so, check first the temperature of the water with a thermometer to see if the water is of the same degree the fishes are adapted to.

When the water temperature of the newly cleaned aquarium is the same as the container holding the fish, you can now let the fishes swim back in.

Giving your aquarium an overhaul cleaning every two to three months is important. A major clean-up of the aquarium usually takes a couple of hours to do if you have a 10-gallon tank. The bigger your aquarium, the more time it takes to clean them up.