Tropical Fish Tank Advice

Keeping a tropical fish tank can be a wonderful hobby. Happy in their home, the fish add a tranquil mood to your room and helps you relax by watching them. Whether you are thinking of taking a tank that someone can't keep any more or want to start a new tank, you can save yourself a lot of hassle with patience and planning.

  1. Patience

    • Unless the fish come with an already established tank, do not add fish right away to a new tank. The water chemistry will not be right for fish, and they will soon die, victims of "new tank syndrome." Instead, set up the tank, with its decorations, filter, heater and any other equipment and have it run for one month before adding any fish. Even then, just add a couple of fish and do not add any more for another month. David E. Boruchowitz writes in "Freshwater Aquarium Problem Solver" that no shortcut can help to avoid new tank syndrome. This break-in period also will test the equipment to see if it is working properly.

    Fish Choice

    • Do plenty of research before adding any fish, invertebrates or snails to the aquarium. In pet stores, pet fish are often sold as babies and therefore will grow a lot larger. Some species, including cichlids such as angelfish, are friendly to other species of fish when they are small, but when they grow become aggressive. Species such as the plecostomus become aggressive only with others of their own species as they become adults. Stock with fish species that swim about the same speed, or the fish that swim more quickly will eat all of the food before the slower swimmers get a chance at it.

    Decorations

    • Only use new tank decorations or those already being used in a healthy tank. Do not just take any rocks, driftwood or plants and stick them in the tank. Plants that are not meant to be underwater plants will rot in a couple of days. Their decomposition may cause the ammonia content in the water to rise to dangerous levels, killing the fish. Pesticides or other chemicals may coat rock, driftwood or even gravel from a local creek or stream bed. Even if the stream or creek is healthy, do not use gravel or rocks from it. Mary Bailey notes in "Tropical Fishlopaedia" that local fish fry need the gravel and rocks to hide in. Taking the rocks and gravel out could wipe out the fry and decimate local wild fish populations.