Aquarium Keeping Tips

A good aquarium is a planned fish community where the shape, size and layout are all important. The glass bowl of earlier years was soon replaced by a rectengular glass tank, either made wholly of glass or with a metal frame and glass sides and a bottom of glass, slate or other rigid material. An ideal size of the aquarium is 50X30X30 cm and it is a favourite size. Smaller size aquaria do not accommodate adequate fishes or allow proper movement of fishes. Larger aquaria are very attractive & give scope for beautiful planting arrangement, but they are expensive and difficult to manage. In general, tropical fishes can be housed in smaller tanks, this is because they are usually smaller and are also able to withstand a relative deficiency of oxygen in the water. An aquaria of the above stated size can comfortably house six to eight 25-30 mm gold fishes or guppies. This would hold 1 cu.ft. of water with a surface area of one square foot. To find out how much water an aquarium would hold, following formula is used:-

while the largest possible surface area is highly desirable, it does not make an attractive tank if the depth is too shallow, so it is best to strike an average taking both biological & artistic consideration into account. We compute aquarium’s carrying capacity from surface area taking several other related factors such as water’s temperature, movement, dissolved oxygen content etc. in consideration. However, the warmer the water the lower the solubility of oxygen and thus, reduced carrying capacity of aquarium.

WATER QUALITY

Tap water is generally chlorinated and as such it is essential to keep it stagnant for a day or two. The process is called ‘conditioning’ and it helps to get rid of chlorine. Chlorinated water can also be rendered safe by addition of 0.5gm of sodium thiosulphate per gallon of water. Rain water, melted snow or distilled water are quite safe in aquariums. While keeping aquarium, the temperature of the water should always be kept in sonsideration and the ideal temperature for tropical fishes is 20-30°C.

In aquaria, thewater may become cloudy for number of reasons, greenishness is caused by crowding of unicellular algae. It is a fundamentally healthy water, but spoils the appearance of the aquarium. If not changed, the further assemblage of various segments & decay of algae in the aquarium affect the water chemistry. As such, the water must be changed at this stage. Clarity, moderate light, optimal number of fishes, underwater plants help to prevent green cloudiness of the aquarium. Aquaria with electric illumination never develop green water mainly because they do not receive excessive light. Acidity of the water make for cleanliness but not good for plant growth. It is often said that a partial or nearly complete change of water only serve to stimulate further alga growth, however this doesn’t always occur and green water may be cured immediately by siphoning it off alongwith faecal matter or detritus, and replacing it with fresh ‘conditioned’ water.

Grey cloudiness is another problem reported by many aquarium keeper. It often follows with the setting up of tank, sometimes because the sand was not washed thoroughly, but often due to burst of animal life which starts ahead of algae. This is attributed to infusoria, bacteria, fungi or just dirt. The cloudiness caused by dirt or infusoria usually disappear in a few days and is not dangerous. Bacterial or fungal cloudiness is a bad sign and usually caused by excessive organic loading. Although attention must be paid to the basic causes, such as over crowding, grey cloudiness may often be temporarily corrected by brisk aeration or by use of antibiotics. Another effective method for correcting grey or green cloudiness is to place one or two large fresh water mussel in the aquarium.

SETTING UP A TANK

The first important consideration in setting up an aquarium is its location. It should preferably receive some daylight & perfect illumination. It is suggested that an aquarium should receive 8-10 hours of illumination and should not receive more than two hours of direct sunlight.

SAND OF GRAVEL

The purpose of the sand is to hold down rooted plants and to provide decoration. If it is too fine it packs tightly and prevent the roots from penetrating as well as promote growth of anaerobic bacteria. And if it is too coarse, the plant get little grip & uncensored feed get down to the sand. Thus, coarse river sand, preferably with variable grain size is the best. It should be deep enough to promote adequate root space for the plants provided. The placing of deep sand at the back also look pleasant, provide site for largest plants & encourages mud to accumulate at the front of the aquarium from where it is easily removed. Before use sand must be thoroughly washed in 10-15 swirling in fresh buckets of water. Some aquarists prefer to use stones, roadwork & ornaments, but it is purely a matter of personal choice.

PLANTATION

An aquarium without plants is like a garden without flowers. Even the highly attractive exotic fish cannot be shown to advantage in an aquarium devoid of vegetation for it is the contrast of varied colours of fishes with natural background that we create the charm in fishes appearance and movement.

Plants not only provide decoration and natural setting, but also exygenate the water by photosynthesis. The fishes and plants have symbiotic relationship and contributes in the sustenance of each other. Before putting new plants in the aquarium one should ensure that they are clean & free from germs encrustation. To do this, rinse them under tap and remove yellow or decaying leaves. They can then be immersed in 2% salt or lime water. While introducing plants in the aquarium after it has been filled with water, a pair of planting sticks would be found useful. Push the plant into the sand with one of the sticks and heap sand around the roots. If plants are not firmly anchored into the sand their buoyancy causes them to rise to surface. Plants with small roots can be anchored with thin strip of lead wound around their base. Plants should never be bunched closely together. They should be planted to allow water and light to reach the stems. The commonly used plants in aquarium are :-

1. Eel grass (Valliseneria spirals): is a tall plant with grass like leaves, light green in colour & rise vertically from the crown to the top of the water where they float along the surface.

2. Sagitaria sp : Similar to eel grass, it is a moderate sized plant & well suited to aquarium of 30 cm depth. The leaves of this plant have characteristic arrow-like shape.

3. Hornworth (Ceratophyllum sp.): The plant gives a real beauty to the aquaria, but for two draw-backs. The leaves are highly brittle & the plant has no real roots.

4. Hydrilla verticillata: It is a most common hydrophyte, easily available and as such, used by majority of aquarium keepers. The green whorlly leaves not only give beautiful appearances but also substratum to sticky eggs.

5. Indian fern (Ceratopteris thalictroides): Though not a true fern, the leaf formation is similar to ferns, the submerged fronds being attached to stems that are ratherbrittle & rise from a crown. If planted in deep waters the stems may reach a length few feet.

6. A number of other rooted or floating plants are also used by aquarist viz. Cabomba, Myriophylum, Cryptocoryne, Amazon etc. depending upon choice of aquarium keeper or their availability in the area.

AERATION

There are lot of misconceptions among the aquarists about the aeration & aerators. It is generally understood that aerators force air or oxygen into the water which, in fact, is not the reality. Under usual conditions, the bubble released by aerators serve to stir the water. The usual method of aeration is to release bubbles through porous stones, kept at the bottom of the tank. Corborundum stones give the finest bubbles, but also need the most powerful air-pressure. All stones tend to clog, especially when not used with pressure and should be removed dried and reset. Fine rubber or plastic tubing should be used to lead air from pump to the stones. It is suggested that small bubbles of an average diameter of about 1/12 cm, an aerating stone delivering 32 cm³ of air/mt is adequate in 70 lit. tank. Air pumps, spray & drips are also used as effective methods of aeration.

HEATING

In colder places, the aquariums are heated electrically with a control known as thermostat, which is set to keep the tank at uniform temperature all the time. Of course, the thermostat works only downward and if the outside temperature rises above that set by the thermostat it cannot prevent the aquarium from getting the warmer too. The thermostats are non-submersible and clipped on to the sides of the aquarium. It has a glass body with the condenser inside it and control which consist of a small adjustable screw with a non-conducting portion so that the operator can alter the setting of the bimetallic strip and hence, the temperature. Some combination models of thermostat and heaters are also available in the market. A good thermostat has a small differential, which means that it does not allow the water to vary by more than a degree or two temperature.

Electric heaters may be of glass or metal exterior and they may be totally submersible or so constructed that their tops must not be placed under water. Essentially, a heater consist of a heating coil, wound on a ceramic or glass. This may be surrounded by a layer of fine sand or left bare inside the tube, which is sealed with a rubber cap. Submersible heaters are water tight. The resistance wire usually of thin microbe or similar alloy, heats up as does an electric radiator element and it is, therefore, necessary to make sure that business part of the heater is covered by water otherwise it will fuse. Total submersible heaters are quite popular as they heat more efficiently. The heater should never be buried in the sand.

FEEDING

The most important thing to remember about feeding is that over feeding is single major cause of fish mortality and pollution in aquariums. The fishes are cold-blooded animals as such, one should never draw parallel of feed requirement of fish with human beings. The wisest motto in feeding is that hungry fish are healthy fish. Not too much and not too little are ideal. The appetite of fish is linked with environment, the warmer the ambient water the faster they breathe, metabolise and hence need more food. The gold fish need almost no feeding in peak winter & during normal cold weather should be fed only 2-3 times a week. The quantity of feed should be such that it is consumed within five minutes and one should siphon off left-over particles. Aquarists are well supplied now-a-days with variety of dry feed and these can be used with confidence. A good all purpose dried feed should be well granulated, have uniform particles. It should also have high sinking ratio. It should afloat for a longer period and compounded with 20-30 of animal material. The ingredients commonly used in the formulation of fish feed are cereals, dried shrimp, egg etc. it is quite common to make a stiff paste of egg and water of floor and water, drying it and then grounding to convenient sizes.

Live feeds are extremely valuable addition to diet and these are used by many aquarists. The common one’s are Daphnia, Cyclops, Tubifex, Infusoria and Rotifers. It must be remembered that while feeding fine meshed dry feeds, they should never be sprinkled on water surface as much of it will remain uneaten & decay. The best method is to make a stiff paste by the addition of little water, then put the paste with a small muslin bag. To feed screw the bag so that it squeezes the paste into a ball & then dip it into aquaria.

BREEDING

Breeding of aquarium fishes fall under two categories i.e. those who lay the young ones (live-bearer) and those who lay eggs. The live-bearing fishes are easiest to breed, but the only problem encountered with them is that of saving the young from the cannibalism of their parents. They breed all the year round under congenial conditions. In natural conditions, however, reproduction is seasonal. There are often a lafge difference in the size of sexed – males being smaller. This is particularly obvious in guppies in which male is also coloured and may have long decorative fins. Markedly smaller males also occur in Poecilia sp. Quintana sp. Psedoxyphorus spa. Cambusia sp. Most liverbearers produce young at about 22 day interval.

The egg laying fishes are quite different from the live-bearer and include most common fishes viz. gold-fish & zebra fish. The gold-fish lay adhesive eggs which stick to water plants while zebra fish lay non-adhesive eggs which falls to the bottom. The hatching rate of these eggs depend on number of factors viz. water temperature, hygienic condition and extent of predation. The majority of fish eggs hatch in one day or within few hours in temperature ranging from 25-30°C. In lower temperature the hatching period is increased. When the eggs hatch, the young fry still have a yolk sac. The colouration of hatchings usually take few days to a month or so.