Bloat Disease

Signs: Signs of bloat include swollen stomach, heavy breathing, slow movement, laying still and lack of appetite!

Threat Level: Bloat is a disease that can kill that individual fish so it can be very serious!

Causes: Bloat is basically fish constipation! Caused by a different reasons; stress being the most common. Other causes can be improper diet, and improper water quality!

Cures: Bloat disease have a number of treatments. I recommend going with the natural treatments, which is Epsom salt. I use Epsom salt to cure my fish infected with bloat and see results the very next day!  Its best to use 2 teaspoons per gallon when using Epsom salt! Another good natural treatment is tinned pea's that have been proved to help with bloated fish.
         The other option for curing bloat disease is medicated treatments. However I would only  recommend this after trying natural treatments because it is more of a risk with the affects on your fish, also its less expensive!

Prevention: To prevent bloat, its best to keep your fish in a stress free tank. Make sure that there is minimum bulling and your tank, keep your tank clean and comfortable for your fish as well. Also make sure your fish is on a stable. appropriate  diet!

Fish Diseases

          In Every hobby, there are ups and downs. In fish keeping, one of the major downs is diseases! When your fish catches a disease, it’s very miserable to watch them.  However there are many ways to prevent diseases including keeping up with your tank maintenance routine! Some common diseases are listed below:

 

Ick/Ich (White Spot Disease) : Ick disease, also known as Ich and White Spot Disease is a disease that appears on fish as tiny white spots on fish fins and body.  Ich is a parasite that attaches to your fish. Ich enters into your aquarium from new additions to that tank that have the disease, or from high levels of stress.  Symptoms of ick include tiny white spots on fish and fish rubbing and scratching.

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Bloat: Bloat is a disease where your fish appears to have a swollen stomach. Bloat comes from high levels of stress and improper feeding.  Symptoms of bloat include bloated stomach and excessive breathing.

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Popeye: Pop eye is a disease where your fish’s eyes appear swollen! Causes of pop eye are bad water quality and stress. Symptoms include swollen eye of fish!

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Fin Rot: Fin rot appears on your fish as the fins of your fish torn or ripped and rotting. Causes of fin rot are aggression, overcrowded conditions and stress. Symptoms include fins turning white, fins torn, or fins rotting!  

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Hole in Head: Disease that appears as a hole in fish’s head. Caused from bad water quality and improper diet. Symptoms include hole in fishes head or dark mark on fish.
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Feeding Your Fish

        One of the most exciting things in fish keeping is being able to feed your fish, who always seem eager and ready to eat! Some of the most shy and timid fish will almost completely transform when it’s time to eat! However, you need to make sure that you’re feeding them properly. Just like humans, there are a lot of very important things to consider when feeding your fish!

 

Diet:

 When keeping fish, it is highly important to KNOW the diet that your fish naturally eat in the wild. Different fish have many different diets, some fish are herbivores; meaning that they need a vegetable based diet. Some fish are carnivorous; meaning that they prefer meatier foods like other fish, insects, etc. Some fish are omnivorous; meaning that they can eat all types of food!

          You MUST know what your fish naturally eats in the wild; switching a fish’s diet from what they would naturally eat can affect them in many ways including appearance: they could lose colors or other features that are supported by their natural diet; it can affect your fish’s health, and it could possibly kill your fish. When buying fish food, make sure that it’s meant for your type of fish! When considering your fish’s diet, it is important to consider it as if it were your own diet, giving you fish all that’s necessary to survive!

How Much:

          Many people struggle with feeding there fish the right amount! It seems almost impossible to feed your fish the amounts recommended by major fish experts! It’s very important to know that all fish LOVE to eat! All fish: the big, the small, the tough, the weak, all fish love to eat! Many fish will even risk their lives to get another meal! It’s essential that you feed you fish without falling into the snare of their greed!

          When feeding fish, I’d say keep it simple. Keep a scheduled feeding two to three times a day. During each feeding, feed your fish as much as they can consume in 3-5 minutes, NO MORE. If you feed your fish more than they can eat, the leftovers can waste away an make your tank water nasty.

Acclimating fish

After getting new fish, everyone is excited and ready to put them into the aquarium to see how they look. One of the most important keys to successfully introducing fish to your tank is acclimating your fish. Acclimation is a simple process of allowing your new fish to adapt to your tank conditions.

          When you purchase your fish they will come in a small clear bag. The first thing you do to acclimate your fish is to just simply let the bag sit in your tank water for 15-20 minutes. Letting the bag float will bring the temperature of the water in the bag to the temperature of your tank water. This is very important because if your fish goes immediately into colder or warmer water than the water that it was previously in it can shock your fish, and possibly kill it!

          After letting the bag float, open the top of the bag and pour some of your tank water into the bag. This will get your new fish used to your water conditions as far as your pH level, water hardness, and other conditions that may be different in you tank than in the tank the fish previously came from! Once tank water is poured into bag, allow to sit for 5 more minutes.

          Finally, you can release the fish into the tank.  DON’T EVER allow the water from the bag to enter into your aquarium. That water is highly polluted from the stressful experience that the fish had so adding that water can do more harm than good. The way to get the fish into the tank without dumping that bag into the tank is to “fish it out” with a net, if you have one small enough. If not, simply hold a net over a bucket, dump the bag into the net, and then put the fish into the tank.

          After a fish is released into a new aquarium, it may hide and not eat. This is not strange, just give it time and it should come alive and serve its purpose in your tank! Acclimating a fish may seem unnecessary and just a waste of time, however it’s not. It reduces a lot of stress on the fish.  So take the time and make sure with every new fish you get, a proper acclimation is performed to assure the success of that fish!

         

 

 

 

How Many Fish?

One of the most important things to consider when starting a fish tank is the amount of fish you can have in your tank. Many people face the problem of over stocking/overcrowding their tanks. Too many fish in a tank can cause a lack of oxygen in the water which will lead to death. Too many fish also causes higher waste levels which will make it harder to care for your aquarium. To add, too many fish can stunt the growth of your fish in your tank and will cause them to stay small. The proper way to know how many fish to add into your aquarium is using the inch per gallon rule.

 The inch per gallon rule is basically a way to find out how many fish can fit into your fish tank. All of the fish in your tank should have a gallon for every inch it grows. For example: if you a fish that is 6 inches long, that fish must have 6 gallons to itself, and those 6 gallons should be subtracted from the total number of gallons in your tank. It is important that you always use the maximum length of your fish and not the current length when using the inch per gallon rule. Down below is a little scenario explaining the inch per gallon rule:

I just bought a 35 gallon tank and plan on stocking it with tiger barbs. I did research, and I know that tiger barbs grow to a maximum length of 2.5 inches. So how many 2.5 inch tiger barbs can I fit into a 35 gallon tank? 35/2.5=14. So my 35 gallon tank can hold 14 tiger barbs!
The inch per gallon rule is a simple rule that assure that you fish can live happily without being over crowed and with enough room to grow full size. The amount of fish in your tank can be determined with common sense. Put yourself in the fish’s place in consider if you would want to live in that size aquarium an how many others you would want to live with you without being cramped!

Aggressive Fish

When it comes to having a aggressive fish tank, it is a tank set up on the rule: survival of the fittest. An aggressive tank consist of the meanest and baddest fish; anyone who is weak won’t last! Even though an aggressive tank may sound terrible, it can very beautiful. This fish that fall in the aggressive category can be very beautiful and entaertaining.

If you desire to start an aggressive aquarium, there are many things that should be taken into consideration. Firstly, most aggressive grow quite large so the minum tank size is 55 gallons. If you plan on getting a tank with a community of aggressive fish (more than one), you should provide lots of hiding spaces to prevent fish injuries or fatilities. You should also do research on the fish that you plan on getting because not all aggressive fish will get along with each other.

When keeping an aggressive tank, it is always best to design the aquarium to the fish’s natural enviornment. Some aggressive fish such as Arowna and Oscar get pretty large so that prefer attank with lots of swimming space and a tank that’s not cramped up; however, certain fish like african mbuna cichlids prefer a tank that is full of rocks, plants, and others decorations that can provide homes and safe retreats. It is very important to do research on the fish’s natural enviornment and living requirments when getting aggressive fish.

Another important thing to consider is the diet of your aggressive fish. Many aggressive fish are carnivorous, so they will eat any fish that can fit in their mouth. That’s why its important to mix fish of simular sizes or at least fish that aren’t to small to be eaten or to big to eat others. Many hobbyist of aggressive feed their fish live fish, which are sold at most pet stores. Feeding your aggressive fish live fish is not a bad thing to do, but it may result in your fish being more aggressive. If you don’t want to feed your aggressive fish live food, there are many different pellets and flakes availbale for your fish.

Having an aggressive tank can be just as rewarding as having any other tank. Many experienced fish owners even prefer aggressive fish over others because of their beauty and enjoyment. For begginers it always good to keep in mind that even though aggressive fish can live peacefully together, it can almost be garenteed that your tank will have disputes, fights, territoral behaviors, and even a chance of fatalities (I do not recommend aggressive fish to soft-hearted people). When housing a tank full of aggressive fish, aggression will show; but you still will be able to enjoy your tank as aggressive fish can be very entertaning and enjoyable!

Community Tanks

Most people starting a tank would prefer a community tank. A community tank is a tank where mostly all fish a friendly. In a community tank, you don’t have to worry about fish killing each other, being territorial, or any thing that would disturb the peace of the tank. If you’re the type of person that hate seeing fish fight, a community tank is best for you. When starting a community tank there is a huge selection of fish to choose from.

Community tanks consist of fish that are rated community fish. Most community fish won’t grow too large, but still can be very beautiful. There are many different community fish to choose from. Some of the most common community fish are fancy guppies. Even though they don’t grow that big they still have a reputation of stunning viewers with their different shapes and colors. The male guppies in particular show great colors of blue, red, purple, green, pink, orange, yellow and more along with their longer tails.

There are also many other community fish that can amaze hobbyist like Platy’s and Mollie’s. Both fish are live bearers, meaning that they don’t lay eggs like most fish; they give birth to live fish. They impress aquarist with their bright red, yellows, whites, blacks, and other bright colors. These fish easily mix with other community fish and provide lots of color to your tank.

Another set of fish that are great for community tanks are tetra’s. Tetra’s are a group of fish that are very common consisting of many different species.Its bright colouring makes the fish visible to conspecifics in the dark blackwater streams, and is also the main reason for its popularity among tropical fish hobbyists. There are many types of tetra, but one of the most common is the neon tetra. The neon tetra are fish that prefer grouping with their own kind (usually goups of five or more). They are small fish with bright neon blues and greens running across their boy with red marks. Adding these fish to your tank will bring tremendous color and activity; keep in mind the more the better. Besides neon tetra’s, there are many other types of tetra that are stunning and will bring beauty to your tank.

 

When creating a community aquarium, there are many different options of fisht to choose from. Just be sure to do lots of research on the fish that interest you. The worst thing that can happen to a community fish keeper is for them to add a non-community fish to their tank like an African Cichlid for looks, resulting in the death of all their other fish. There are many beautiful community fish to choose, just be sure to know what you are choosing so that your tank can thrive with no problems.