Choosing A Freshwater Fish Tank

If you are interested in aquariums a freshwater fish tank of a moderate size will probably be your best bet as a beginner. The first decision you will need to make is what size of a tank you want. You can find anything from a desktop 2 gallon aquarium to monsters over 100 gallons. Generally, a 10 or 20 gallon tank is a good starter size since you can learn the basics of fish care but not invest too much if you decide the hobby just isn’t right for you. Filtration Systems Are Important You will also need a filtration system, which is arguably the most important part of the environment. This is the part of the freshwater fish tank that will filter out impurities and excess debris in the water and help keep the water clear and healthy. Of course the decision isn’t always easy as to what type of filter to buy. There are several varieties available, and it’s a good idea to ask for help at the store or do some research on your own until you can find the right filtration setup that is right for you and your tank. A heater is also usually a necessity in a freshwater fish tank. Most types of fish need a certain temperature or they just won’t be healthy and can die. Many fish you will find for a freshwater fish tank are tropical fish, which means they are genetically wired for warmer waters. Along with the heater, you will need a thermometer for the tank so that you can monitor the temperature. Choosing which fish you want can be like a kid going to the candy store. There are so many fish available for freshwater fish tanks that sometimes it can be hard to decide. Pay attention to the habits of the various fish. Generally at a pet store, they will have notes next to each variety stating their habits. After all, you don’t want a predator in a tank with a bunch of little fish that it can easily terrorize and eat. There is much more to a freshwater fish tank than the few things stated here. Take your time deciding on what type of setup you want and what types of fish you want. These two decisions can help you to decide what size of freshwater fish tank you want. You will also need to take into consideration what you can afford since setting up a complete aquarium is not necessarily cheap. Regardless, hopefully you will soon be on your way to enjoying your new setup.

Create A Unique Fish Tank To Match Your Personality And D...

Fish are extraordinary pets, they offer great entertainment and relaxation just by watching them eat, play or swim around. However, what will make the fish appear even better is a unique fish tank.. . .

Left RO/DI flush valve open over night... oops.
About every 4th time that I refill my RO/DI holding vat (20 gallons) I open the flush valve to purge the RO membrane. This helps to extend the life of the membrane.

Typically you would leave the valve open for about 5 minutes, close the valve and make the RO/DI water. I got side tracked. This morning I went to get water and the holding vat was still empty yet the booster pump was running... then I remembered. The valve was still open.

Going to get a big water bill next month. *sigh*

Water change
Just the normal, did 4 buckets of change and swapped the white wool filter at the top, and also one of the fine blue ones. We went to local fish shop the other day and got a batch of the filter media, they commented that we were buying a lot but I didn’t really see [...]

More snails
well the ones we’ve got seem to be helping, so the following are now on their merry little way… Dear James McCrea, This email confirms that you have paid sales@snailshop.co.uk 13.96 GBP using PayPal. ----------------------------------- PayPal Shopping Basket Contents ----------------------------------- Item Name: Red Ruby Nerite Quantity: 1 Total: ?3.49 GBP Item Name: Giant Canas Apple Snail Quantity: 1 Total: ?1.49 GBP Item Name: Purple Apple Snail Quantity: 1 Total: [...]

blooming snails
Well I think i’ll have to divert my ranting from algae to snails now. The algae is proving much less of an issue, but the snails have started eating the plants! To recap, we got some snails here: http://www.jammeh.com/fishblog/2005/09/26/woooo/ and some more here: http://www.jammeh.com/fishblog/2005/11/11/more-snails/ and they’re very good in the main, nice colours, shiney etc. I was actually [...]

Round of water tests shows everything is looking good.
Used all my test kits, and everything looks pretty good:

Temp: 78.5 F
pH: 7.92
Conductivity: 53.8 (35.5 ppt)
ORP: 300 (upward trend)
Calcium: 440 ppm
Alkalinity: 8.5 dKH
Magnesium: 1200 ppm

While the ORP looks low it started out in the low 200's, it is on an upward trend with peaks to around 320.

poor guppies
Another one of the guppies died today, they really do drop off with depressing regularity. Hopefully there isn’t anything that we’re doing wrong, water conditions seem normal, everybody else is fine it’s just the particular ones that has trouble.

no snails, water change
No snails arrived, so i guess they’ll prolly turn up on tuesday or wednesday. Sensibly enough they don’t dispatch before the weekend, and promise to mail when they do. Of course, this also means there won’t be a monday delivery as they wouldn’t have done anything over the weekend. Just about to do a small water [...]