These past few months I've been keeping fishes as pets and I am so liking the hobby. One day, I just started to buy 2 fishes from a local pet shop. I have a small 3.5 galloon aquarium on hand that has not been used for many years. Instead of letting the aquarium sit in a dark corner of a room and let the dust took over for more years, I took it up, cleaned it, and revived it.
One mistake I did was, I just placed the fishes immediately after I filled it with water. Not knowing that this is bad for the fish. This is a beginner mistake. After a night my other fish "drowned" (or should I say died).
I was very determined to keep an aquarium as a hobby so I started researching online on setting up the tank. Here are just some of the tips I learned:
- First and foremost, you should properly set up your new aquarium before buying a fish from the local pet store. How to properly set up a new aquarium? Click here.
- Cycle the tank before introducing your fish friends to its habitat. This will prevent unnecessary loss or death. Know how to cycle your tank here. This is very necessary when setting up a new tank.
- Research if you are planning to keep a fish.
- So you bought a fish and most probably you took them home in a plastic bag. Oopps! Don't put the fish right away in the tank. Letting your newly bought fish jumped straight in your tank might just kill your little friend. You should acclimate your fish first. Learn how here.
- Do a weekly water change. Imagine living in an aquarium where you eat, pee, and poo for the rest of your life. You don't want that do you? Doing a weekly water change will prevent your fish from getting prone to diseases and death. 10% - 15% weekly water change is necessary. Do keep in mind that 100% water change is absolutely a big no-no.
- Never use a soap or detergent when cleaning your aquarium.
- If you are planning to keep more than just one variety of fish, you should know what fishes are compatible with each other. You don't want to know that your fish is being bullied yeah?
- And lastly, keeping a fish requires a lot of patience.
I would have done the same if I suddenly decided to buy a fish from the pet store. This is a very simple yet informative post about owning a fishes. Research is really needed before we start acquiring pets and that there are so much responsibility that we have to understand + agree on.
ReplyDeleteMy parents are crazy over fishes (as pets I mean). Because we believe in Feng Shui, we followed the advice that the master gave us. As for me, I just love keeping a pet fish because it relaxes my eyes especially when I watch them swim.
ReplyDeleteGreat Info @Anne, although im a big fan of pets i had zero clue it's wrong to put fish in the tank immediately after filling it with water. My sister wants an aquarium and i think this post will be very helpful to her.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had my first aquarium, my dad taught me to do not transfer the fish to the bowl immediately from the plastic container. Dip their temporary plastic home to the bowl's water so as they will adjust with the temperature and settings of their new home.
ReplyDeleteI am also not good at maintaining an aquarium. The time we had a gold fish, one died and we returned the rest to my Aunt's pond.
ReplyDeletegreat! I have two aquariums at home and a few containers in our garden.
ReplyDeleteI can't click on those extended links even if I wanted to know how to acclimate the fish. I'm planning to set an aquarium after my wedding. I already talked to my fiance about it. Even if it's just small at first. :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your eight amazing tips, Charlotte, Also, recommended on Digg :)
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