I grew up with a dream of owning an Aquarium and at the age of 20 years the first thing that I gifted myself was an Aquarium – and believe me for the last 30 years or so I have always enjoyed watching the fishes and taking care of them and experimenting with the combinations/varieties in my Aquarium. I used to bring in small fishes and rear them.
I was so eager to have an Aquarium that I bought an Aquarium, accessories and fishes all at once on the same day and conveniently disregarded the commonly followed norm to let the collected water in the Aquarium “ripen” for a week before introducing the fish in the tank, I set up the Aquarium – with water, fish accessories, going in all at one go on the first day itself. I think I was lucky not to lose any fish.
Later in my zeal to keep my Aquarium clean, I did lose a few fishes when I changed the water in the Aquarium, unfortunately, I put in drinking water to which chlorine had been added to make it potable (for human consumption). Fish are very sensitive to chlorinated water and cannot tolerate it. It is better to let the water stand overnight in buckets – (if you are introducing running water from the tap with chlorine), this results in the chlorine content evaporating and, then, you can introduce the water in the Aquarium. I remember that I was very upset and ever since, I have strictly followed every rule to keep my Aquarium Fish as comfortable as possible.
How I set up my aquarium
For the base, gravel/marbles/marble chips can be used. I prefer marble chips as they lend a good contrast to showing off the colours of the fishes. These marble chips should be soaked in the water for at least 24 hours before putting them in the Aquarium and repeatedly washed so as to remove all the dirt/impurities.
Plants artificial or natural can be put in. I prefer the natural ones – this lets the Aquarium have a very natural look – easy to multiply and grow. Only one very important precaution is required – they need light during the day for photosynthesis. As such, the first thing that I do every morning is to switch on the Aquarium light and at night, I switch it off.
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The advantage of lighting up the Aquarium is that in winters it helps to keep the water warm, the lighted up Aquarium looks attractive and natural plants are facilitate in their photosynthesis functions during the day for food etc. Some recommended water plants are: Valeseneria and hubumba .
The water tends to heat up in warmer climates/summers, so the lights have to be switched off at peak times.
An aerator is also placed and used according to the size of the Aquarium and the number of fishes in the Aquarium.
Avoid overcrowding.
The Aquarium is arbitrarily divided into 3 zones – Upper, middle and lower zones – and fishes are selected for all three zones.
For example, Guppies are nicely coloured fishes that tend to stay in the upper layers of the Aquarium, as do Tangerines, Platy and Mollies.
In the middle segment - Angels, sharks and Gold Fish can be kept.
(With Goldfish, maintaining natural plants in the Aquarium is a problem as they tend to eat/uproot them. To prevent this, spinach can be cut up in very fine pieces, boiled and put in the Aquarium – fishes love it and will leave natural plants alone but the water tends to get dirty faster).
Lastly, there are Aquarium cleaners/ cleaning fish like Sucker Mouths – which keep the glass clean from algae/fungus growth, loch etc. They act like constant “vacuum cleaners”.
Aquarium Fish should be fed only once a day and given a small amount only, otherwise they tend to overeat and die.
Fish generally last 5-6 years. It is better to add them to your Aquarium while they are small and watch them grow into adults.
Before buying fish, check whether there are any white spots on their fins – white spots indicate diseased fish that will transmit the disease to other fishes and eventually die.
A NIGHTMARISH EXPERIENCE:
Once I got a small Tiger Shark – it was so small that it may get eaten up by other fishes, so I put it separately in a jar. While cleaning the jar, the fish accidentally slipped onto the wash-basin and down the drain. I had to act quickly. I turned on the tap and opened the drain line and put a net at the bottom of the open drain-line, through which water was freely flowing. Sure enough, after a breath-stopping anxious wait of about two minutes (which seemed like an eternity to me) I got my fish back alive and uninjured. Then, gradually, I nurtured it back to health and, over a period of time, it grew up to a size of about 2 feet long. I got a new Tank made for it, where every morning while feeding it I would put my finger on its snout, and it would conveniently, let me put the fish feed directly in its mouth. It was one of my most favourite fishes.
A FEW TIPS FOR NEWBIE AQUARIUM OWNERS:
1) There are two types of Aquaria –
a) The cold-water type for fish from temperate countries.
b) The heated/hot water type for tropical varieties of fish.
2) A suitable heating mechanism/arrangement is usually maintained for tropical Aquaria resulting in an additional expense for setting up the heated Aquarium – although, later on, the running/maintenance costs are not very high as it is relatively easier to maintain tropical fishes than cold-water varieties.
3) It is always advisable to go in for a proper Aquarium and not a “Gold Fish” bowl unless the size of the “Gold Fish” bowl is really huge in relation to the size/number of fish to be kept. This is primarily because a large number of fish kept in constricted spaces suffer from “over-crowding” or from lack of sufficient water surface. The ideal size-space ratio , as a thumb-rule should be :
For cold water Fish: Every 1 inch of body of the fish requires 1 sq.ft. of water surface in order to obtain sufficient oxygen for respiration. Say, for example, if the body of an Aquarium fish is 4 inches (excluding the tail fins) it will require at least 4 sq. ft. of water surface, i.e. an area of 2 ft.x2 ft. The more number of fish you add to the Aquarium of this size, the water surface area would have to be increased proportionately. For example, Goldfishes can live upto 25 years and grow to about 12-14 inches. It is difficult to maintain Goldfish in smaller-sized Aquaria. Some recommended varieties are fantails, veiltails, orandas which grow more slowly and are better adapted to cold water Aquaria.
For Tropical Fish: These are much smaller in size and have an average body length of only about 1 ¼ inches. So one can maintain a much larger number of Fish in even a small Aquarium of 11/2 ft. by 1 ft., say between around 15 or 16 fishes.
4) Sand which is placed at the bottom should be thoroughly washed.
5) Ornamental rocks, suitable plants should be carefully selected so as not to harm the fishes in any way.
6) Water is normally added gently and suitable plants added. In cold water aquaria, the preliminary set-up is now allowed to stay as it is for say, a period of one week, which allows micro-organisms to grow which later act as food for the fishes. However, in case of heated Aquaria you must check out the working of the thermostat which on heating should remain within the permissible band, for the fishes to feel comfortable with.
7) Once everything is found to be conducive, fishes are introduced to the tank in recommended numbers.
8) Care needs to be taken that the fishes are not over-fed or overcrowding. The type of fish food including “live” ones as well as the frequency of feeding, should be carefully studied/assessed before feeding the fishes.
9) The Aquarium should be cleaned regularly, preferably once a month at least, so as to ensure that the sediment which accumulates in the tank is not proving detrimental to the fishes health in any way.
10) In addition to the scavengers mentioned above, certain species of snails too act as scavengers. Only the right type of snails should be introduced.
11) An aeration plant/aerator increases the oxygen levels in the tank for the fishes and can be used in the Aquarium. A back-up set is also recommended in case the aeration unit malfunctions.
12) The main factors which result in fish mortality are – overcrowding, overfeeding, underfeeding, unwanted sediment/dirt accumulation, strong light, unusually high temperatures, predominance of noxious gases formation/absorption into the tank from the atmosphere. Disinfectants are also detrimental to the fishes well being. Care should be taken to avoid these factors at all cost. In case the tank does have an ailing fish, it should be removed from the tank and nursed back to help in a separate water tank/ container.
These are just some of the precautions that one should take. As one gets more experienced in maintaining Aquarium fishes, these precautions become second nature to the Aquaria owners and you can understand the fishes requirement the moment you set eyes on the tank. The fishes too come to understand feeding times and get highly animated once you approach the tank for feeding them. Keeping an Aquarium is a very interesting, satisfying and a fun hobby.
Should you like to share some of your own experiences at maintaining an Aquarium, please let us know on the email address given on this blog for vetting and posting.
Article written and researched by Raka
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