Sad Fish

This causes lots of confusion and you will hear differing opinions depending on where you shop.

When you buy fish from a shop, you must tell them how long it will take you to get home so that the fish can be packed accordingly. Always take them straight home.

Once home, turn the aquarium lights off. If the fish have been packed in the dark for several hours, expose them to the room light slowly so as not to shock them.

Float the unopened bag in the water for about 20 minutes to allow the water inside the bag to attain the same temperature as the water in your tank.

If the bag is sealed with a rubber band, remove it and roll down the sides until it floats freely on the surface of the water. If the bag is tied, cut the knot off with scissors and then roll the sides down.

A common cause of algae. Phosphate, ammonium and nitrate aside, if you experience a lot of algae, you may simply have the light on for too long in your aquarium.

Lighting is developed to be brighter than ever before, and is aimed at encouraging a particular response from your plants or corals, or to enhance your fish colours.

Plants and corals typically need the light on for around 10 hours per day, but only really need full spectrum (all your lights) for six hours per day. Anything more than this and it may cause algae.

If you are using bright lighting for plants, make sure that you have sufficient plants to out-compete any algae.

This can mean 70% coverage in your tank. One or two bunches of plants, plus 10 hours of light daily, mean algae, so either increase their number or use plastic plants instead.

Fish aren’t really bothered about lighting, and most would prefer it subdued. If you don’t have live plants or corals, cut the lighting right down so that you just have it on when you are at home.

Four or less hours per day will make it difficult for any algae to grow, and the fish will be fine in ambient room light at all other times. Never leave the light on 24/7.

Overfeeding is one of the biggest causes of fish deaths. The type of fish that you keep will determine how often they should be fed.

As a general rule, small fish like tetras and Guppies need feeding small amounts of food throughout the day. This can be as much as three times per day if your filtration and water changing regime is good.

Larger fish can be fed less often, and once or twice per day is fine. Very large fish (60 cm/24”and over,) should be fed every other day.

There are other considerations, and they include how active the fish is, and whether they are herbivores or carnivores.

Herbivores gain little nutrition from the plant or algae matter that they eat. As a result, they have to munch on it constantly. Mollies and mbuna cichlids from Lake Malawi are herbivores.

Carnivores are adapted to deal with large, protein-rich chunks of meat, but eat it far less often. Predatory fish that eat other fish should be fed once or twice a week on large, fishy foods. Oscars and Piranha are carnivores.

The most important consideration when keeping fish is the fish themselves. These live animals are totally dependant on you to keep them alive and healthy. They demand the right care and respect, and it is your duty to offer them the best conditions that you can.

Don’t stock too quickly

A common no-no. If you stock your tank too quickly, there will be insufficient bacteria to cope with the amount of waste being produced, and ammonia and nitrite will build up to toxic levels.

When you have a newly set-up tank, the choice in aquatic shops can be overwhelming. It is all too tempting to fill it with fish within days, but you must resist and cycle the tank first.

Cycling means maturing the tank by leaving it for days or weeks before adding fish.

In this time, beneficial bacteria will increase in number, covering all the surfaces inside the tank from the glass to the gravel to the filter media.

Bacteria can be added when you first set up the tank, giving it a kick-start into maturation.

Maturation products will either add live bacteria direct to the water or create a flock which offers a slimy home where the bacteria can live and multiply.

While bacteria are growing, water quality can change rapidly from being clear of ammonia to being high in ammonia and then nitrite.

You must not add fish within this time because they will probably die, poisoned by the ammonia and nitrite – yet the bacteria rely on ammonia produced by fish to increase in number.

Ammonia is food for bacteria, but toxic to fish. Fishless cycling is another way of feeding the bacteria with ammonia, but not exposing fish to it.

Raw ammonia (available from DIY stores and some chemists) can be added daily to feed the bacteria and make them grow in number before you add any fish.

The point at which they consume all the ammonia every day, leaving none behind, is when you add fish.

Another way of doing it is to add Waterlife Biomature or its equivalents, available from aquatic shops. A new tank takes at least six weeks to fully mature, and should be stocked slowly in that time.