Aquariums and Fish Keeping! (56K Beware!)

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Right, before I get a slap on the wrists from Monsieur Chet - actually, stuff Chet! This is the Member's Project forum - I'm a member and this is one of my projects! My reason for putting up a section on fish-keeping is that domestic aquaria are quick becoming a feature in today's contemporary domestic household. It is like what happened with PC's - at first only a select few had one, now everybody has one!

Fish-keeping is quite an in-depth field depending on how far you want to further your interest in fish keeping. I am quite an enthusiast of fish-keeping, and in this little corner of RR I hope to bring anybody and everybody the best advice with regard to fish-keeping. It is also an opportunity to make my own practical contribution to those who have contributed so much to me. Hopefully, some people may even feel inspired to start keeping fish! Very Happy

My Credentials:

I am a Co-Manager of the aquarium in the Pets at Home store in Stockport - the flagship store of the chain and home of one of the largest and most advanced aquariums in the UK.

I am also a final year Biochemistry student and therefore have covered the relevant topics of Photosynthesis, Ecology and elements of Aquine Biology at degree-level.

I didn't spend Â£300 on these just for show!

If you're interested - read on, there's lots to learn. If not - take a look anyway, you may be inspired!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Introduction to Aquarium Keeping

A lot of people keep fish because they like fish, because they relieve stress, and for the older more mature woman, it makes a prominent talking point when next door is round for a cup of coffee and a custard cream.

Unfortunately, a lot of people struggle to get an aquarium established without suffering losses of fish. The main reason for this is because people simply do not understand how a fish tank works - 90% of the time it is enclosed, an ecosystem in it's own right. It has many separate biological cycles, all of which need to find a balance in order to successfully sustain a population of fish.

Ultimately, most novice fish keepers end up bodging their way along, finding a regime that works best for them. What annoys me at work is when they come in and say "One of my fish died. But I don't understand, we've had our aquarium running for years...blah blah blah...".

Well, like I said, fish-keeping requires at least a basic understanding of biology. The easiest way to educate people, I find, is by showing them!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Filter Maintenance

Most aquariums today run some sort of biological filter. The purpose of this is to sustain two populations of bacteria - Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. Nitrobacter is aerobic (oxygen requiring) and converts toxic ammonia (what the fish excrete) into toxic nitrite. Nitrosomonas then oxidises nitrite to nitrate which is much less toxic, making the water healthy for the fish to live in. The whole cycle is basically;

Ammonia (Toxic) --> Nitrate (Toxic) --> Nitrate (Slightly Toxic)

Nitrate is removed by doing a water change - some is removed, and the remainder diluted by the addition of new water.

If ammonia and/or nitrite are allowed to accumulate, then the water quality becomes poor, causing discomfort to the fish (since ammonia is alkaline and burns gills). The stress imposed on the fish either; (a) Kills the fish, or (b) Makes the fish susceptible to disease, which kills the fish.

You can now see where the term 'biological filter' arises from, since you rely to an extent on bacteria to filter the waste out of the tank.

This situation frequently arises when new tanks are set-up and none of these bacteria are present to recycle the fish waste, hence why the condition is called "New Tank Syndrome". The same situation can arise in a well established tank, most frequently due to improper maintenance, or simple mistakes.

My aquarium, has been rather decadently kitted out with 2 filters - The "1 Plus" manufactured by Fluval, and the "2 Plus", again manufactured by Fluval.

Here they are:

Fluval 1 over on the far left, Fluval 2 on the right. Not so long ago I was given some fish that belonged to the late mother of a customer. They were absolute belters and if the chap couldn't find a home for them then they were going to be flushed down the loo! Sad

So naturally I took them off his hands but it put excessive strain on my tank - the extra ammonia being produce could not be processed quickly enough by the Fluval 1 I had, so I bought the bigger (and better) Fluval 2 to do the job. The Fluval 1 is now just an added bonus.

The 2 filters are more or less the same - the 2 is simply a bigger version of the 1. The fundamental design is typical of many filters - not just Fluval ones. Here is how you maintain them....

Fluval 1

Right, first of all you need to obviously remove the filter from the tank. It's a good idea to switch off the power as well, since running a filter out of the water can wreck it.....it's also probably a good idea since water and electricity aren't the best of friends...

The filter separates into two pieces - the head and the body, as I like to call them.

The filtration media is in the body, the bottom cover simply unclips from the body enabling removal.

And here is the foam - say hello to hundreds of millions of bacteria all crowding on this foam sponge!

Now you can clean the foam - ideally you need to try and keep this going as long as possible since renewing the sponge will deplete the entire population of bacteria which recycle all the toxic ammonia that the fish excrete. You'll see that I'm washing it in aquarium water, as opposed to tap water. Normally when you do a partial water change you rinse the sponge in what you siphon off, however seeing as my tank doesn't need one it's being rinsed directly in the tank.

Turning our attention to the filter head, you can see that the flow of water through the filter is impeller-driven. It is spun by an electromagnetic motor. The impeller often accumulates a lot of gunk and algae, so it's worthwhile giving it a rinse while you've got the filter apart.

Here you can see the impeller out of filter. Nothing fancy - a plastic impeller bonded to the electromagnet. If the motor is operated out of the water, the increased speed causes the motor to rapidly overheat and short out - knackering it in the process. Once clean, simply slide it back onto the spindle.

Now all is clean you can slide the body back onto the head. Here you can see the two vents on the sides of the filter body - this is where the water is drawn in. You can now replace the filter in the tank - these Fluvals stay in place using suction cups.

Fluval 2

Righty, this is more like it! What you're looking at is essentially a bigger version of the 1, plus a few added features...

Like the 1, the head and body unclip from each other.

The bottom cover unclips, and you can slide out the foam pads. In the Fluval 2 there are 2 pads mounted in plastic carriers.

These simply pull apart, and you can remove the foam from the carrier with your fingers. These are then washed in the same way as the Fluval 1's foam - in the aquarium water.

The body of the Fluval 2 also has a simple flow adjuster - facilitated by this plastic slider.

Again, the flow of water through the filter is impeller driven. You can pull this out and clean it while your here.

This is the head of the Fluval 2 - notice it has a few different features compared with the 1 - the most obvious feature being the inclusion of a Venturi valve. It is simply an opening in the outflow that allows air to be drawn in and blown into to the tank with the newly filtered water. The twisting valve allows you to adjust how much air is drawn in.

Here is the Venturi valve and it's adaptor - it simply pulls out of the outflow pipe. Give both a clean since slime likes to take up residence here and clog things up.

When all cleaned and re-assembled, it can be replaced in the aquarium.

You can see how much gunk you get rid of with the lights back on! Like I said though, you would normally rinse them into water that you have siphoned off when doing a water change, as opposed to cleaning them in the tank. However, doing this does not have any adverse effect on the fish - it's only what was in there already, and the filters will quickly filter it out again!

Coming Tomorrow: Substrates!

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Good stuff, I'm following this with interest...

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well I'm at work tomorrow, I will try and get some pics to share, it is one Daddy of a system!

Some last pics just before I head off to bed.....

As you can see I'm a little overstocked after my recent acquisition of fish from that customer hence the two filters....

And here's my baby.....he's a Common Plecostomus ("Plec" for short). He's 6 inches now, after just 4 months he will grow to 18 inches in the next 8 months, looks like I need to get saving for a new tank! Smile

Or I could evict these guys who are living the life of luxury in a 3-foot tank! Either way some shuffling around of animals will be the most cost effective option.....we shall see!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

Pepper died yesterday.

My fish in my tank are fine but ambers a dolly bint who fucks her own fish up.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Nice thing to say about your missus!

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

My uncles in to this sort of stuff, got a tank about 6-8ft in length...looks pretty impressive.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Tank Maintenance

Right, as Sunday is my designated day for weekly tank maintenance I thought I'd get some pics and show you what should be done routinely to an aquarium.

As I said earlier in this thread, every tank should have a biological and mechanical filter. The biological filter is millions of bacteria growing on foam sponges inside the physical filter. These bacteria recycle toxic ammonia (fish waste) into toxic nitrite which gets recycled into nitrate.

The mechanical filter removes nitrate. The mechanical filter is YOU! By carry out a partial water change you remove some nitrate, and dilute the rest with fresh water.

This series of pictures shows what I got up to earlier on....

I recently decided to change the gravel in my aquarium. Previously I had chunky blue gravel, but this was starting to become dirty and due to a revamp of the fish section it was discontinued. So I decided to go for a bag of this White Marble granulite.

In Blue Peter fashion, here's some gravel I rinsed earlier....

To make things easier with the gravel change, I did a partial water change first. You can buy these gravel cleaners from most aquatics shops and are basically a siphon, which you can use to hoover up all the fish crap from the tank. Make sure you've got a bucket at the other end of the tube though!

The aim is to try and get all the gravel hoovered before you remove too much water. Unless you know what you're doing then I wouldn't suggest removing more than 30% of the water maximum. As you can see here I've removed a little more than that and there are reasons for that. Ideally this is when you would do your filter maintenance as described above - you would rinse your sponges out in the water you've siphoned off into the bucket, as opposed to the actual aquarium like I did.

With the water level down you can see how crystal clear the water is since the filter was cleaned.

Now the remaining gravel can be added with minimal creation of spillages. You can see I used a large serving spoon to gently add it in.

Gravel in aquariums should be sloped - 1.5 inches at the front rising to 3 inches at the back. This simulates a more natural environment for the fish and also gives a deep bed in which to set plants.

Before you replace the water you've taken out, it pays to take 2 minutes to scrub the inside of the aquarium. You can buy special scrubbing pads from aquatics shops, or alternatively you can use a replacement filter foam like I am doing here! Notice my plec making it into this picture - he's never one to miss a photo opportunity! Wink

With the gravel how you want it, you can now replace the water in the aquarium with fresh. Given how cold water is straight out of the tap at this time of year, I decided to boil some water in a kettle and add it to increase the temperature. This should prevent the fish going into temperature shock created by adding overly-cold water.

Before you put the water into the aquarium, it needs to be treated with dechlorinator - also known as Tap Water Conditioner. These solutions sequester heavy metal ions in the water along with chlorine. Chlorine is toxic to bacteria - hence we don't want it in there. This particular dechlorinator is made by King British - one of the more reputable aquatics suppliers. It is reasonably priced and in my opinion is one of the best. As a general rule, go for ones which remove as many things as possible.

With the dechlorinator added, you can then refill the aquarium. The best way I find doing it is having a jug to transfer the new water from your bucket. When adding it, try and pour it against the side like this - it creates minimal turbulence in the water and doesn't disturb your newly laid gravel.

As a rule, you should dose the water weekly with a biological supplement after you've done your water change. These are cultures of the recycling bacteria Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas. By using these supplements you replace some of the bacteria which you inevitably lose by getting rid of the aquarium water. This is why you should only ever do a partial water change, and never a complete water change - you would remove a lot of the bacteria and compromise the fish in your tank.

Now you're fish are happier swimming in water which is a lot less polluted, you can now finish the job and polish the outside of the tank. I wouldn't recommend conventional polishes - you can buy specially designed aquarium cleaners like this one - "Safe & Easy". A good alternative is to use kitchen towel soaked in water to wipe down glass and then use a dry piece of kitchen towel to buff it off. This is what I do at work 'cause my boss is too tight and wont spend a few quid on the spray!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Water Testing

Another important aspect of fish keeping which in my opinion not enough people do is test their aquarium regularly for levels of the different nitrogenous compounds.

High levels of ammonia and nitrite drastically reduce water quality, and predispose fish towards catching diseases.

When establishing a new tank (a process known as 'cycling') water tests should be done every other day. Once an aquarium has finished cycling and is matured, testing should be done at least once a week.

This is the pH test. pH is a measure of acidity/alkalinity. For those interested, it is a negative logarithmic scale related to the concentration of hydrogen ions in the water. The pH of my tank is 7.6 - which is neutral more or less. pH isn't really something to worry about as it can fluctuate quite a lot, however it should ideally stay between 6.8 and 8.0.

Ammonia is a highly alkaline substance and needs to be monitored closely. Even in low concentrations it can burn gills and generally stress fish out. Ammonia is excreted by fish both in solid (faeces) and dissolved (urine) forms. Uneaten food and organic matter also decomposes and contributes to the ammonia level. As you can see my tank has no detectable level of ammonia which is excellent.

Nitrite, like ammonia is very toxic and is in intermediate in the conversion to nitrate, which is relatively harmless. In my tank there is virtually no nitrite, which again, is excellent. So far so good.

The presence of nitrate confirms the presence of both populations of bacteria. As I said, nitrate is relatively harmless until it reaches a concentration of around 40ppm. This is where the importance of the water change comes in. Nitrate levels in my tank are pretty good at 10ppm. All established tanks will have some background level of nitrates.

If there are no nitrates, then the tank is not yet matured. This is where beginners get confused - they test the water in their brand spanking new tank (without fish), and lo and behold they have no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Much to their disappointment it isn't a good sign - it's a bad sign. The lack of any of these compounds indicates that these bacteria have yet to establish themselves.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

This, is really intresting..

one quetsion for you

Do fish sleep?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

I reckon thery do as my 2 fish (proper goldfish) when its dark and you turn the light on they are both just sitting peacefully at the bottom of the tank not moving, when they wake up they zip about everywhere though.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

I can't say for sure, but they definitely settle down somewhat overnight. Ideally you're meant to simulate sunrise by switching the lights in the room on for 15 minutes and then the aquarium lights. Conversely, to simulate sunset you switch off the aquarium lights and then 15 minutes later the room lights.

Funnily enough in the middle of the night when I awoke once I used the backlight on my mobile phone to illuminate the tank and everything was absolutely zonked out! Most fish sink to the bottom of the aquarium and lie in the gravel. Some fish like to 'sleep' amongst plants and any decor that they can swim in/through.

Turning out the lights on a fish tank suddenly isn't a good idea either, it stresses them out big-style.

Forum Moderator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 1356

Fuck me. Thats a whole lotta stuff about fish that I would never in a million years read.... so I'd like to take my hat off to yi! lol

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Cheers fella! Very Happy

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well I finally got round to buying some plants for these guys. They've gone for quite a while without any and there are a host of advantages to having them in the tank:

- They remove nitrates from the water and use them as fertiliser
- By removing nitrates they eliminate algae growth
- Their photosynthesis oxygenates the water
- They are a food source for the fish
- They give the fish somewhere to hide, rest and play

Well I only got 4 plants, so I used them to hide the two Fluval filters:

Will get some more to go behind the root in the middle.