Aquarium Maintenance Service and Sales
Rodney Campbell
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Posts by Rodney Campbell
For an Eco-Friendly Home Aquarium, Keep It Small and Track Your Fish
Aug 17th
By Nina Shen Rastogi
What’s the greenest way to keep a home aquarium? I love tropical fish, but I feel bad about running the filters and lights for so many hours.
I’ve always had a soft spot for aquariums. As a kid, I sat through a lot of long, boring dinner parties at Chinese restaurants, where the massive fish tanks were reliable sources of entertainment. But not all aquariums are created equal when it comes to sustainability. There are the energy concerns you cite, but where your fish come from is also a major issue, as is what you do with your pets at the end of your relationship.
Energy use for aquariums can vary widely, depending on your setup. According to a 1997 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a small freshwater aquarium of, say, 10 gallons might use as little as 90 to 120 kilowatt-hours a year to run its lights, filters and aerators. That’s about as much as a typical coffeemaker uses in a year, hardly a major energy suck in the grand scheme of things.
As you go up in size, your electricity costs will naturally rise. A 55-gallon freshwater tank might use 280 to 400 kilowatt-hours annually. Adding a lot of plants increases your aquarium’s appetite, because you’ll need heavier-duty lighting to keep those plants alive. And generally speaking, saltwater tanks will use more energy than freshwater ones because of an increased need for pumps and powerheads to create water currents; marine aquariums can pull from 230 kilowatt-hours a year for a small tank to nearly 800 for a large tank.
Those big coral tanks I loved in my younger days at Hong Fu? They probably drew a whopping amount of energy: A 180-gallon reef tank requires upward of 6,000 kilowatt-hours a year. (Or at least it did 12 years ago.) With that kind of electricity use, you could power four or five refrigerators.
Since the Berkeley Lab report came out, there have been a few advances in aquarium equipment efficiency. You can shave off a few kilowatt-hours by using LED lights, for example, and there are newer, energy-saving pumps and ballasts on the market. One equipment salesperson I spoke with estimated that, overall, the amount of electricity aquariums use today might be about 25 percent lower than in 1997.
Aquarium keeping can also have hidden environmental costs upstream. In some parts of Southeast Asia, where the vast majority of the world’s saltwater “ornamental” organisms come from, fish are caught using squirt bottles filled with cyanide, which stuns the animals and makes them easier to extract from coral reefs. But the chemical can also damage the corals, as well as other organisms living in the reefs — not to mention weakening the fish so that fewer of them survive transport. (Keeping fish healthy isn’t just an animal-rights issue, after all; it’s also an ecological concern. The fewer animals that survive the process, the more intensive the harvesting has to be.) When buying wild-caught fish, look for those that have been captured with hand nets rather than chemicals.
Overfishing can be a concern with certain species, such as the Banggai cardinalfish. Found only in a few pockets off the coast of Indonesia, these silvery, black-striped fish have been labeled an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, largely because of overzealous harvesting for the aquarium trade.
Sustainable collection is less of an issue with freshwater aquarium species, because 90 percent of them are farm-raised. (Saltwater fish are much harder to breed in captivity: As of six years ago, when the United Nations’ environmental office came out with an extensive report on the aquarium trade, less than 10 percent of marine ornamental species were capable of being farm-cultured.) Captive breeding helps reduce pressure on wild animal populations, but, as many conservationists argue, maintaining a sustainable trade in wild-caught organisms — both freshwater and marine — can be an environmentally friendly strategy as well, if it provides economic incentives for fishermen to keep their local ecosystems healthy.
Before you head to the pet store, then, do some homework to find out where your fish came from. If you’re lucky enough to live near one of the four Marine Aquarium Council-certified retailers in the United States (in Florida, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey), you can buy saltwater fish that are verified to have been sustainably collected or cultured and then properly handled throughout the supply chain. (In the coming months, a new licensing program should increase the number of stores where you can buy MAC-approved fish.) You should also check out Reef Protection International’s Reef Fish Guide, which assesses popular marine species based on four criteria: survivability in home aquariums, abundance in the wild, availability and potential for captive breeding, and collection methods used. Local hobbyist groups can also be great sources of information and, occasionally, homebred pets.
Finally, if you have kids in the house, make sure they don’t harbor any “Finding Nemo” fantasies. Releasing nonnative species into the wild can cause all kinds of ecological problems, particularly if those species become established populations. If you find yourself needing to get rid of a pet fish, try to find it a new home or see whether a pet store will take it. If you must send your fish to sleep with its brothers, there are much more humane ways to euthanize your pet than dumping it in a pond or, God forbid, flushing it down a toilet.
Better yet, avoid getting yourself into that situation in the first place: Make sure you buy only fish that won’t get too big for your aquarium and won’t start turf wars with their tank mates. As with anything else you buy, the greenest fish is going to be the one you don’t have to replace.
Aquarium 1st Aid: Warning Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Jul 27th
Many situations can arise in an aquarium that demands immediate attention from the hobbyist in order to protect the fish and invertebrates that are housed within. Described here are warning signs of an emergency, the equipment you should have to determine what the problem is, and equipment necessary to correct it.
Warning signs
- Fish behavior
The behavior of the fish should be your first indication of problems within the aquarium. Some of the signs to watch for
include:
- Livestock losses
- Rapid breathing
- Irregular movements
- Color loss
- Unusual markings or growths
- Fish stop eating
2. Environmental changes
Changes in the general appearance of the aquarium can also be an indication of water problems. Some of the typical signs related to imbalances in water chemistry include:
- Poor expansion in corals and invertebrates
- Poor growth or death of plants
- Cloudy water
- Water with a strong smell
- Increased algae growth
Equipment to determine the problem
- Test kits
A quality test kit should always be on hand and should include tests for ammonia, nitrite, pH, nitrates, phosphates, and a
- hydrometer if it is a saltwater aquarium.
The following is a general guideline to the problems that the different water parameters can cause in the aquarium along with a solution. Compare the warning signs that your aquarium exhibits to the following, and test those parameters to determine if they are the culprit.
- Ammonia and nitrite:
Excess amounts of either of these nutrients can be responsible for all the signs listed above. If toxic levels of either are present, perform 25% water changes daily until the values return to zero, and incorporate a chemical
ammonia neutralizing media into the filtration.
- pH:
The pH of the aquarium water can be responsible for all the signs listed above. If abnormal, perform a 25% water change and add the necessary pH buffers.
- Nitrates:
Excess nitrates in the aquarium will lead to excessive algae growth as well as health problems with the fish at high levels. Perform 25% water changes with nitrate free water weekly, and incorporate a nitrate reducing chemical media into the filtration.
- Phosphates:
Phosphates encourage algae growth, cyanobacteria in saltwater, as well as inhibiting the calcification process within corals and coralline algae. Perform 25% water changes with phosphate free water weekly, and incorporate a phosphate adsorbing media into the filtration.
- Equipment to correct the problem
Water changing equipment
Keep on hand all of the equipment that you need to perform a water change. This equipment should include:
- Siphon hose
- Buckets or garbage cans large enough to hold at least 25% of the aquarium’s water capacity
- Power head or air pump, for aerating the make-up water
- Heater and thermometer, for make-up water
- Dechlorinator, if using tap water, and salt for a saltwater aquarium
- Chemical medias
The following chemical medias are useful in both emergency situations, as well as general maintenance:
- Ammonia neutralizing medias
- Activated carbon or organic removing resin
- Phosphate and nitrate adsorbing media
- Toxic metal or copper remover
- Appropriate pH buffer and spare media bags
Hospital aquarium
A hospital aquarium is a separate aquarium that is much smaller than the main aquarium, and used to medicate ill fish, and for quarantining new fish before acclimating them to the main display. One of the Eclipse systems ranging in size from 2 gallons up to 12 is an excellent option. This system will need to have a heater and thermometer, preferably a dark colored gravel, and some form of shelter for reducing stress on the fish.
- Medication
If any of the fish in the aquarium show signs of disease, it is important to transfer them to the hospital aquarium. In the event that illness should become evident in the aquarium, having a broad range of treatments on hand will help save valuable time in combating the illness.
The medications that we suggest for emergencies are:
- Furanase
- Erythromycin
- Copper
If copper is used, you will also need a copper test kit to monitor the levels within the hospital aquarium.
Drs. Foster & Smith Educational Staff
Aquarium Setup Guide. pH-hardness-temperature-salt-aquascaping
Jun 23rd
Rainforest Fishes
(South American and West African cichlids; bettas and gouramis; tetras, barbs, danios, rasboras; etc.)
- 6.0 to 7.0 PH
- soft to moderate water
- 76° to 82°F
- no salt needed
- aquascape plants; driftwood; inert rocks (quartz, slate, granite, onyx, etc.), gravel, and sand
African Rift Lake Fishes
(cichlids and other fishes from the rift Lakes)
- 7.5 to 8.5
- hard to very hard PH
- 74° to 80°F
- Rift Lake salts (if needed to increase hardness and pH)
- aquascape soluble rocks, gravel, and sand (dolomite, limestone, coral rock, lace rock, tufa rock)
Central American Fishes
(Central American cichlids, livebearers, cave tetras, catfish, etc.)
- 7.0 to 8.0 moderate to hard
- 74° to 82°F
- many species are salt-tolerant
- aquascape plants; driftwood; all rocks, gravel, and sand (soluble and non-soluble)
Brackish Fishes (monos, scats, some puffers, mollies, gobies)
- 7.8 to 8.0 ph
- moderately hard water
- 74° to 82°F
- specific gravity 1.001 to 1.012
- Aquascape salt tolerant plants (anubias, Java Fern,Mangrove) Driftwood; all rocks, gravel, and sand
Marine Fishes (all coral reef fishes)
- 8.3ph
- moderately hard water
- 76° to 84°F
- specific gravity 1.025
- Aquascape live rock; macroalgae; soluble rocks, gravel, and sand
All parameters and values are suggested approximate preferences only; wide variability and adaptability exist among species and individuals within each category.
Overstocked Aquarium?
Jun 2nd
An overstocked aquarium is an aquarium that either has too many fish, or is too small for the few fish it has, even if that is just one to two large fish.
There are general rules of thumb for stocking both freshwater and salt water tanks, but these rules are impacted by many factors and must be adjusted as such. They are also based on very small fish and don’t apply to fish that grow large.
A safe rule of thumb for small-to-medium freshwater fish is 1″ (2.54cm) of fish per 2.5 gallons (9.5 liters) of water, and for marine, 1″ (2.54cm) of fish per 5 gallons (19 liters). In both cases one should use the adult or eventual length the fish will reach. Not the length when purchased. Otherwise your fish will outgrow your aquarium. A medium fish can be considered up to 4″ (10cm) full grown.
Fish that grow very large count exponentially more than fish that remain small. They require more swimming space and better filtration. They produce more waste and are often aggressive if cramped. A deep-bodied 18″ (45.7cm) fish, for example, requires a minimum 250 gallon (946l) tank to be able to turn comfortably and have a little swimming space. That’s about 14 gallons (53l) per 1″ (2.54cm) of fish! By this example you can see how the rule of thumb escalates dramatically for larger fish.
Since surface area affects the oxygen exchange in a tank, tanks that are taller and narrower support fewer fish than tanks that are longer, even if both tanks hold the same amount of water. Also, most fish swim horizontally, not vertically, so width is more desired than height.
Tanks that are overstocked will not only provide a stressful environment for the fish that will likely lead to disease, but overstocked tanks produce a lot more work for the aquarist. Maintenance must be done more often on a tank that is overstocked.
Signs that might point to an overstocked tank are:
* Fish are aggressive.
* Nipped fins or split fins.
* Disease seems a constant factor.
* Maintenance is required more than 1-2 times a month.
* Nitrates keep rising even with 25-30% monthly water changes.
If your tank is overstocked there is a way out. Most local fish stores will gladly take fish off your hands for credit if the fish is valuable, or as a courtesy, if not. Either way you win by reducing the population in your tank. Check with your local fish store before bringing in any fish. Or if you really want all the fish you have, you can consider upgrading to a larger tank.
Overstocking is the most common mistake made, and the costliest to fish and aquarist alike. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to care for fish and being unsuccessful for all your efforts. If this sounds like you, your tank may be overstocked. Reduce the population and see how much more rewarding the hobby can be. Your fish will appreciate it too!
R. Kayne
Welfare of Aquarium Fish
Apr 28th
The welfare of aquarium fish is a topic that is rarely discussed in books, magazines, fish shops or veterinary clinics, yet it is a topic that urgently needs to be addressed. With the increased availability of quality aquarium products and fish, the hobby of keeping aquariums has grown astronomically in the last fifty years. It has become a very serious hobby and even a livelihood for many people. Many dedicated aquarists maintain clean, healthy, environmentally correct tanks and give the utmost care to their fish. These hobbyists take great pains to provide proper water conditions, nutrition, housing, and natural environments for their fish. They treat sick fish and do not accept a fish dying as a normal aquarium occurrence. These dedicated aquarists are to be commended, but unfortunately, for every one of them, there are many that do not provide adequate care for their fish.
A dedicated and caring aquarium owner does not have to have a thousand-dollar tank filled with exotic species. Even the simplest, properly maintained tanks can house healthy, well-cared-for fish. While there are cases of fish neglect and poor care with an experienced aquarist, the majority of the problems arise in the beginner’s tank.
Fish are pets, too
To put the fish welfare problem into perspective, let us compare it to a pet owner that purchases a puppy or kitten. If the new puppy owner took the puppy home and confined her to a small cage, sporadically fed her vegetables, failed to treat her when she became sick so eventually the puppy died, and the owner went back and got another puppy and did the same thing all over again, what would we think? Of course there would be a huge public outcry. It would be very obvious that the welfare of these animals had been violated every step along the way. Yet the same thing happens every day in the tropical fish industry, only instead of a puppy, the victim is a fish.
In another situation, let us ponder what the public would say if wild canines were being captured out of the wild. Let us take wolves, for example. These animals would be captured from the wild, caged, and transported to a retail market for sale as caged pets. During the transport, the stress and handling of the animals would result in a 50% death loss. Of the wolves that survived, another half of these would die soon after placement in their new homes from disease and improper nutrition. Few of these wolves would breed or live a normal life expectancy. We could argue that the ones that did survive would be free of the dangers of predation in the wild, and furthermore, the industry responsible for providing these animals provided much needed income for the indigenous people that gathered them. Of course we would not agree with this. We would not think that this was a humane or justifiable action, nor would we feel that the welfare or ecological community of the wolves was even remotely considered. Yet in the harvesting of some wild tropical and marine fish, this is exactly what happens.
Fish are not dogs, nor are they wolves, birds, or turtles, yet the welfare of animals, particularly domestic or captive animals kept as pets, should not discriminate across species lines. In fact, when we take an animal into our care, we are even more obligated to look out for the welfare of that animal, and fish are no exception. Some people that speak against animal welfare argue that it is anthropomorphic to compare our feelings with that of animals, but the argument for improved welfare of fish is not comparing them to humans, it is comparing them to the way we treat other pets.
Why is fish welfare neglected?
Despite the lack of concern over the welfare of fish, I do not feel that it is done out of cruelty, but merely out of ignorance. 
Fish and aquariums are very complicated. While it is easy to fill a tank full of water and put some fish in it, any experienced aquarist will tell you that the proper maintenance and care of an aquarium is extremely challenging and complicated. People that provide proper care for their fish have educated themselves and work very hard to understand the specific biological needs of their fish, and then meet those needs. An experienced aquarist does not tolerate sick or dying fish. If a fish dies, something is drastically wrong. The answer is not to just go out and purchase another fish, but to find the exact cause of the death or illness and correct it.
Many fish owners do not realize what is involved in setting up a tank. They do not know the pH level, water hardness, temperature, substrate preference, or nutritional needs their fish require. Without understanding these basics and how all of these affect the health of the fish, they cannot even begin to have a healthy tank. That is not the fault of the fish, but the owner.
I still hear the argument that fish do not feel pain like animals do. Despite the repeated scientific studies that have shown otherwise, this outdated argument still shows up as an excuse for ignoring the fish’s welfare. Interestingly enough, the same argument that animals do not feel pain was taught for years in veterinary schools and used as an argument against providing pain relief during procedures on cats and dogs. While we may find this hard to believe, it was not that long ago, and the same argument is still being used about fish today. Despite exhaustive evidence showing pain and stress responses in fish and no studies to refute this, some people continue to cling to this argument.
The welfare of aquarium fish is often neglected for a multitude of unique reasons:
* We generally do not touch or feel the fish.
* Fish do not respond to people except during feeding or out of fear.
* We cannot hear or communicate with fish.
* Fish cannot cry out in pain, bark to draw attention to their needs, or purr to show affection.
* In a sense, fish are very easy to ignore if we choose.
* In addition, they are cold-blooded and are ‘different’ than mammals.
All of these things make it easy for us to rationalize that their needs do not require the same consideration that other more vocal, easy to touch, warm-blooded species do. When you combine this with the fact that we have been taught that it is okay to ignore the welfare of fish and that the solution to a dead fish is to ‘just buy a new one, it is easy to see why we have the problem that we do.
What can be done?
None of this, however, absolves us from our responsibility as a fish or pet owner. It is the responsibility of every fish owner to provide the best possible care for his or her fish. Collectively, as a group of aquarium owners, it is also our duty to educate beginning aquarists, so that they have the knowledge and tools to provide the best in fish care and promotion of fish welfare. If private aquarium and fish store owners took a hard stance against companies that sell and display unhealthy and poorly-cared-for fish, they would soon go out of business. At the same time, if the same people insisted on humane captive-rearing methods and lowered mortality in production, these trades would drastically improve, or cease to exist. The welfare of fish affects every single aquarium owner and is something that drastically needs improvement. It is an issue that we should all be concerned with and work hard to improve.
Blood Parrot Cichlid
Apr 14th
General information – Parrot fish are man-made cross-bred cichlid.
The Blood Parrots have been in the market for many years but became
very common in the recent years. This hybrid was first created in Taiwan
in late 80s and since it is one of the most popular cichlid in many
countries. How it was created is still shady but according to some
breeders the blood parrot is the offspring of the severum with the red
devil cichlid or the Midas cichlid and the Vieja synspila. There are more
types of parrot cichlids available in the market, bubblegum parrot
cichlids and jellybean parrot cichlids are not “pure” blood parrot but
hybrid between parrot cichlid and convict cichlid. The blood parrot
available in a variety of colors, bright yellow, orange and red.
Unfortunately these cichlids are painted and available in purple, blue,
green and other hurtful colors. It has a very small mouth and a “balloon”
shaped body, its eyes are large and they can not close their mouth
all the way.
Common Name – Blood Parrot, bloody parrot, blood parrotfish
Scientific Name – Parrot fish are man made hybrid therefore it doesn’t have a scientific name.
Family – Cichlidae
Origin – Only found in aquariums
Size – Up to 20 cm
First discovered – Man-made cross-bred cichlid
Nutrition – Blood Parrots will eat a variety of foods. Flakes, pellets frozen and live foods. Frozen foods such
as bloodworms are its favorite.
Behavior –Semi- aggressive
Maintenance and care – The blood parrot should be kept in large tanks, a 60-70 gallon fish tank will be
sufficient. The tank should be decorated with rocks and woods to provide hiding places. Blood Parrots
cichlid will do best with a softer substrate, as they like to dig. Hardy, bitter plants (Anubias, Microsorium
and Echinodorus) can be used if live plants are desired. The great part of keeping blood parrot is the fact
that they can be kept with other cichlids and with peaceful community fish such as Cory’s and large tetras.
Water Parameters – Temperature: 70F-82F (21C-28C), pH: 6.5-8.2
Breeding – Male blood parrots generally are infertile but some parrots have been known to breed. In most
cases the eggs were infertile unless they are paired with American cichlids.
Standard Aquarium Shapes, Common Designs
Mar 22nd
Bowfront
Halfcylinder
Rectangle
Flatbackhex
Square
Cylinder
Bullet
Triangle
Corner Pentagon
Racetrack
Hexagon
Octogon
Double Bow
Trap
Corner Bow
Cichlid Aquarium
Mar 15th
Aquarium from Brian Boudreau on Vimeo.
100 Gallon African Cichlid Aquarium
150 lbs of base coral
50 lbs of crush coral substrate
2x Rena Filstar XP3 Canister filters
Rena 400 Air Pump
2x Marineland Flexible bubble wand – 48″
These pumps are very strong and cycle over 700 gallons of water per hour. This allows me to keep more than 50 fish stocked in the tank.
Shot with HV20 & Raynox HD6600 Pro. Edited in Sony Vegas 8 Pro and Music made in Cinescore
Fish Compatibility Charts Marine and Freshwater
Mar 11th
These charts serve as a general guideline. Tropical Fish are individualistic, aggressive, & opportunistic to a certain degree. Make sure to stock your fish at appropriate sizes, don’t over-crowd, keep them well-fed, and above all, under close constant observation.
Freshwater Fish
Marine Fish
Q & A
Q: What does “reef safe” mean?
A: Reef Safe is a broad term given to
marine fish that will not damage coral
and do not readily consume small fish
or invertebrates.
Old Tank Syndrome – lack of proper maintenance
Mar 11th
So, your tank is doing well. No fish losses, no diseases, and crystal clear water. Everything seems fine. Then all of a sudden…
In a closed system keeping an aquarium in balance depends on many factors. Everything that has been added to the tank will remain there in one form or another.
Even evaporating water leaves all the minerals and impurities behind as only pure H2O evaporates.aquarium fish
Considering this, there will always be some accumulation or declination of various elements. The lack of proper maintenance will not be immediately noticeable. Fish adjust to environmental problems, which go un-noticed to the human eye, adding to the potentially dangerous situation, which in the long term will be detrimental to your fish.
Often the problem becomes noticeable when new fish are added. we look toward our fish store when a new fish becomes ill and does not do so well. In many cases however, new fish introduced into an established tank are shocked by the harsh environment to which your tank inhabitants were able to slowly adjust.
Fish are able to adapt slowly to even the harshest environments, but get shocked by sudden environmental changes.
The shocked fish will be susceptible to diseases and a tank wide out-break can threaten the entire fish population, since all the fish are weakened and stressed by the negative conditions even if they had enough time to adjust to the environment.
The first sign of “old tank syndrome” is rising nitrate levels. The nitrification process, which oxidizes ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate, is continuous. The same process also produces hydrogen ions. Hydrogen ions directly influence the pH level. PH, in simple words, is the bonding of carbonate ions (buffer) with hydrogen ions. The more bonding, the higher the pH. Accumulating hydrogen ions will use up all available buffers. If none are left hydrogen ions will acidify the water, resulting in a steady but continuous decline of pH.
If left unchecked, the pH will eventually drop below 6. At this point, the beneficial bacteria will be in serious danger and cease to convert ammonia into less toxic compounds (nitrite, nitrate). The consequence is a build up in ammonia.
aquarium fishEven at this point, there are no visible signs of something going badly wrong, except if the basic water parameters are checked on regularly.
The increase in ammonia at this stage will not have a big impact but harbors a potential and deadly threat. Ammonia consists of either ammonium (NH4 – not very toxic) or ammonia (NH3 – very toxic). At a pH below 6 ammonia is in the less toxic form of NH4 which in effect protects the remaining fish.
Adding new buffers by replacing evaporated water, the old tank syndrome shifts slightly over to more acceptable pH readings and acceptable ammonia, but will be high in nitrates and water hardness. (Carbonate hardness = buffers).
To remedy the old tank syndrome, water changes are essential. A few Gallons per day will eventually raise the pH to the point where the beneficial bacteria are “re-activated” again, solving the ammonia problem. This has to be done slowly to prevent any disaster by drastic changes in the environment. Ammonia has to be monitored and the water changes should be paused if pH is rising but ammonia not declining. The bacteria need to catch up first. Remember ammonia gets toxic with rising pH.
Prevention of course is the best remedy. Regular maintenance of the tank will prevent the old tank syndrome. Maintenance is essential.
Aquarium Maintenance Simplified
The aquatic ecosystem in its complexity is an interlinked set of variable factors. A good maintenance schedule will keep them in balance and can prevent most if not all problems related to a neglected aquarium.
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