Pet Care & Tips Fish Help and Care Guides Keeping and Locating an Indoor Aquarium | Keeping and Locating an Indoor Aquarium |
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| Written by Kitty Teddy | ||||
| Monday, 13 November 2006 | ||||
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Kitty likes to call them ‘food tanks’ - we bring you our introductory guide to aquarium fish keeping. -
We know that pets such as us are not suitable for everyone – especially if you haven’t got the space, so we thought we’d bring you a basic guide to selecting and keeping an aquarium. - For many, an aquarium is an ideal pet keeping hobby – they don’t make any noise, they do not need to be walked or require lots of space to exercise, they do not make any mess and can also be used as a decorative feature to your home. And we all know about the soothing and de-stressing effect that watching fish has on us (although Kitty does tend to feel they are intended to tease cats rather than help them). However, aquarium keeping can be an expensive hobby and careful maintenance will be required to ensure your inhabitants are healthy and stay at their best. - You can use your aquarium to keep marine or fresh water fish, amphibians, plants, coral and other invertebrates – and contrary to popular belief they are not that difficult to keep. You will just need a bit of basic information about different types of fish, the right equipment and food – all information your local aquatics centre can help you with. In this guide we’ll give you some basic tips – but if you wish to keep a special aquarium or want to learn more we suggest you speak to your local aquatics centre or consult specialist web sites (you can search for these on the My Pet Friends Pet Business listing pages). -
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- There are hundreds of styles of tanks available. There are many innovatively shaped tanks – but aquarists advise that the common rectangular tank is best for beginners as they allows for a more accurate ratio between the surface of the water and the volume of the tank to be made. To this effect, the tank should never be taller than it is wider as this will not allow for the necessary exchange of gas for the well being of the fish. - For a functioning aquarium you will need a lighting unit, autonomous heating unit and a filter system. Light is needed to enable plants and micro organisms to thrive, heating is needed to ensure the correct temperature is maintained and a filter system ensures that the water is clear and free of unwanted debris. - Purchase a water testing kit so that you can get the pH balance correct before adding the fish and check the balance at regular times or when you do a water change. - Buy a good book or guide to give you more information. -
- You will need a tank for your fish that needs to be placed by a power socket so that electricity can be easily accessed for the pump. - The tank will need to be placed on a steady and level surface that can take the weight of the filled tank. A litre of water weighs around 1.2 – 1.5 kgs. - Never place the tank directly onto a hard surface – place a soft cushioned material between the stand and the tank so that any minor imperfections in the stands surface can be accommodated. Although not noticeable to the eye, a slight bump or dip could cause undue pressure to be applied to certain areas of the tank. - The aquarium is not only a place for the fish, it’s also a piece of furniture. Place it where you will see it most – a living room, dining room or hall way. - - You must have a fixed space for the aquarium from the outset – moving a filled aquarium will be very difficult and is not advisable as the glass could crack. -
- Before setting off to your aquarium centre make a plan for what you need – it’s easy to be seduced by all the fancy gadgets, fish and ornaments in an aquatic centre. -
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- When selecting fish ask the shop owner for their advice – you don’t want to make the mistake of selecting freshwater and marine fish that cannot live in your tank together. - Shops sell young fish and they will grow, so select the right fish for your tank size. - Don’t buy your fish at the same time as buying your tank. You will need to set up your tank and add a bio-conditioner to the water before adding the fish. For a freshwater aquarium you will need to wait 3-5 days, for a marine aquarium you will have to wait around 2 weeks. - Feeding your fish
- The shape of the food should be suited to the fish – large food won’t suit fish with small mouths - The type of food should reflect the fish’s needs – some fish feed on organic matter whereas some feed on animal substances. - Fish should be fed twice a day and at a set time - Only give as much food as the fish can manage to eat in 5-10 minutes. Do not overfeed as the excess food will settle in the tank and cloud the water. - Alternate the food – try two different types of food and alternate on a weekly basis. - Fish vitamins should be given every now and then to help maintain health. - Maintaining your Aquarium - As you become more familiar with keeping an aquarium you will identify many accessories to make keeping them easier for yourself. Aquarists have told us that the following should also be included in a beginners ‘to buy’ list when they start - This is only a very brief introductory guide and we appreciate that aquarium keeping can become a very complex and engaging hobby. But as an introduction we hope this has wet your appetite for it. - (A note from Teddy: that last line - a pun on cat / fish relationships - was Kitty’s idea, I had no part to play in it at all). -
(Kitty & Teddy only speak cat / dog language and are unable to type these articles themselves because their paws are too big. For these reasons, this article has been translated and written by the My Pet Friends team writer listed at the beginning of this article.) Only registered users can write comments.               |
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