If you've ever had a goldfish as a kid, and woke up a few days later to find him belly up, your goldfish most likely fell victim to the ammonia cycle. Fish waste, and decaying uneaten food produces ammonia, which is toxic to the fish. When starting an aquarium, the first thing you need to do is cycle the tank.
Start off by filling your tank with distilled water, or treated tap water (there are many products that will remove the harmful chlorine from tap water.) Run your filter for 24-48 hours with no fish. After you've done this, you can put in a few fish to start the ammonia cycle. Goldfish or Danios are good to start with, as they're very tolerant of poor conditions, and they're cheap.
After 8-10 days, ammonia levels will peak, and at this point the bacteria in the tank will start converting the ammonia to nitrites, which are also toxic to the fish. Keeping live plants can be very beneficial to the tank, as they absorb nitrites, and also introduce oxygen to the tank.
After another 10 days, the nitrites will start to convert to nitrates. Although nitrates are mostly harmless to fish (except in very high levels), nitrates can contribute to unwanted algae growth in the tank.
Once you have ammonia and nitrite levels in check, you can start adding more fish. Here are a few more ways you can help prevent toxic ammonia and nitrate buildup in the tank:
- Don't overfeed your fish. Overfeeding will cause them to produce more waste, and any uneaten food that collects on the bottom of the tank will rot, and contribute waste to the tank.
- Ensure you have good coverage of gravel on the bottom of the tank. Bacteria growth on the gravel will help remove waste products. Be sure to use a gravel vacuum to clean up fish waste and uneaten food from the bottom of the tank weekly.
- Don't overstock your tank. Having too many fish will mean more waste is being produced than your plants and good bacteria can remove, eventually leading to toxic ammonia and nitrite buildup. A good rule is one inch of fish for every gallon of water.
- Do partial water changes weekly. Refreshing 10-20% of your water every week will help reduce waste buildup in the tank.
- Clean your filters often, and replace them as needed.
Great tips here. I used to keep some fish, maybe your blog will inspire me to get some again!
ReplyDeleteI want fish!
ReplyDeletehahahahha nice played!
ReplyDeleteHey, that's great, I want some fish someday! Didn't really know how it worked! Great tips!
ReplyDeleteGood tips on tanks, I used to have a few fish also
ReplyDeletethank you. im thinking about getting some gold fish for my daughter.
ReplyDeletethanks for the tank tips!
ReplyDeleteMy fish keeps dying...
ReplyDeleteIs it weird if I feel dogs are easier to keep than fish?
ReplyDeleteAw thank you for sharing! Actually i overfed my fish :( big mistake, thank u for sharing! take care :D
ReplyDeleteNever had so many useful tips on fish tanks. Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteGood tips, haven't had fish in a few years. I really wanna buy some again.
ReplyDeletea basic tipe but 1 many owners forget
ReplyDeletethanks for the post, I've never kept fish before, so I didn't know any of this!
ReplyDeleteBrought home fish from the state fair one year-- when they died I never forgave myself ;_;
ReplyDeleteThat's probably why my fish kept dying. Either that or because I never fed them.
ReplyDeletei stopped having fish as pets when i had to flush the first one down the toilet D:
ReplyDeleteI like to eat fish, not pet them.
ReplyDeleteMan, I haven't been fishing in so long
ReplyDeleteYour linking yoh blog rrong newfriend
ReplyDeletemoderate this or else
nice, i have an aquarium at home that my sis maintains.
ReplyDeleteMaybe now my fish won't die :(
ReplyDeletegreat tips! now my fish wont' die
ReplyDeleteI've never had fish, but I was thinking about it....now maybe not, if it's this much work! LOL
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is my fish always died when I was young. We had them in a plastic tub from walmart and I paid a bunch for medicine.. Ugh if only this blog was around 10 years ago!
ReplyDeleteGood to know now though :) Even though I have a cat.. if I ever get a fish at least it may survive over a week!
I wish I knew about this 3 years ago...it would have saved the lives of many...
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff :)
ReplyDeleteGoing on vacation and not changing the water killed my fish =[ , my idiot neighbor only remembered to feed him once a day and never changed the water
ReplyDeletenice to know that
ReplyDeleteGreat tips, I love fish =D
ReplyDeleteHey man :D i might get a fish this week, thanks again for the tips, take care!
ReplyDeletethanks man. I have a couple of fish and snails i take care of
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Keep the posts coming, i enjoy reading them!
ReplyDeleteOh, I had few goldfish when I was kid! These were great tips, thanks for the blog.
ReplyDeleteA fishtank or an aquarium is a bio-chemical wonder, I've always been fascinated by them. When I get my fish, I'll check back =) In the meantime, more learning 4 me.
ReplyDeleteis it okay if i overfeed my fish?
ReplyDeleteGood advice for helping our fish friend.
ReplyDeleteNice post!
ReplyDeleteJust had one of my fish die - he was at the bottom of the tank on his side - Neon Tetra. Good post man, very informative!
ReplyDeletesuper informative-some great tips. thanks a lot. definitely following
ReplyDeleteKeep updating! Go Go go we miss you.!
ReplyDelete