Treasure Chest
Tips and Hints - An Ever Growing Column
Written by Wednesday, 16 May 2001 01:00
Always try to use quartz gravel in Belondidae breeding tanks. The reason is that quartz pebbles are able to collect fungi that would otherwise attack the eggs. This is why Labyrinth fishes spit gravel on their bubble nests. They simply remove fungi from the clutch by doing that.
Installing live rock in a reef tank may introduce some undesired animals in your system as mantis shrimps that are voracious predators. Get rid of them by introducing an octopus at the same time. The octopus will hunt and eat them, so you can remove it from the aquarium after a while and you will have an undesired specimens - free system in which you may now introduce the animals and invertebrates you want.
Make an accurate tank project, the same way you would make an investment:
- Pay a lot of attention when you buy.
- Keep your quarantine and display tanks in prime condition, with as less stress-causing factors as possible.
- Keep the routine the same time after time.
- Make a little stock of some very useful compounds in a cool dry place, know when, know how and know which you must use in specific emergency cases and avoid them as possible.
Plant fertilizer packages usually refer to a dose which is considered as the optimum one. Use this exact dose when you are sure that no excess of other nutrients is present in your aquarium water. These nutrients have a close relationship with the bio load and the amounts of food you feed i.e. the more you feed the more nutrients are already in your water, therefore the less fertilizer you will need.
For heating efficiently, precision and less cost for your tanks use two (2) Watts for every one (1) liter, or eight (8) Watts for every one (1) gallon of water.
Do not house Paracheirodon innesi in tanks with temperatures higher than 25ºC. The stress caused by high temperature makes them vulnerable to the bacterial infection by Pleistophora (known as neon tetra disease), especially shortly after transportation. If they are infected remove the dead fish, perform a couple of massive water changes (so that water remains clean) and treat with Oxolinic or Nalidixic acid (2 - 4 ppm). Optimum temperature for most of tetras is 21ºC to 23ºC. They use to spawn at 24ºC to 26ºC.
Fish jump out from tanks due to stress caused by a new or poor environment and fear. Usually fish jump out at dawn or twilight. Among the number one jumpers are: Carassius auratus (yes the common goldfish), Balandiocheilus melanopterus, Epalzeorynchos sp. (E. kalopterus, E. siamensis, E. bicolor etc), Botias sp. (B. lohachata, B. macracanthus etc). Many cichlids are great jumpers too. Use covers in your tanks when you introduce new fish for about the first week.
Cryptocoryne sp. natural habitats are the south East Asian water streams. They prefer low to moderate level of light. They are sensitive to light, temperature and water conditions changes though. They are prone to cryptocoryne - leaf disease. They love fast moving water, so it is better to be planted near the current of a filter or water pump outlet.
Do not use commercial algaecides or antibiotics to control algae and Cyanobacteria. You will eliminate them, but they'll come back if you won't reduce the amount of wastes (organic) in your tank.
Except for the anemonfishes (Amphiprion and Premnas spp.) which is known to take care for their eggs and fry, there are some other marine species which take care of their fry, in a similar manner to the fresh water fishes: Apogon imberbis (Mediterranean cardinal fish) and Pterapogon kanderni are paternal mouthbrooders. Acanthochromis polyacanthus is one member of the big family of Pomacentridae and it is considered a distant relative of cichlids. Members of the marine family LABRIDAE are also considered as cichlid relatives, because of this behavior.
Do not use power head driven filters to obtain reverse flow with your under gravel filters because this process eliminates the biological function of the gravel and forces wastes inside the power filter. With this method you do not avoid suspended solids in your system.
Bookmark this page. You will find new hints and tips every month.
Webmaster's note: This column was started by Andreas as an on-going project. He was planning to continue updating it thus sharing his invaluable experience with the friends of MCH. We have left it "as was" in memoriam.
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