Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Basics of Keeping Goldfish

Keeping goldfish is the most hassle free hobby. It's very popular too for the same reason. Watching goldfishes swimming in the aquarium has beneficial and calming effect on the mind. Keeping goldfish releases stress and tension. It's pleasurable to watch them go about their lives. These interesting species live for 30 years if proper care is taken. When there is so much benefit from them, goldfish owners should look after them well.

The size of the aquarium is one of the many concerns in keeping goldfish. Blue goldfish does well in outdoor ponds. First buy a tank and then bring the goldfish home. Do not keep goldfish in the plastic bag that you probably got the fish in. Each grown up goldfish requires 20 liters of water.

Goldfish owners have to ensure this otherwise the goldfish will die in the water polluted by their own toilet. The water has to be changed frequently to have clean water in the aquarium. Also the aquarium has to be cleaned regularly. Snails can keep the walls of the aquarium clean.

Create a comfortable setting in the aquarium by planting plastic or natural plants, rocks, reefs, and sand. Goldfish should have place to hide and play around. Air pumps and filters should be installed in the aquarium to provide clean air and water. Diet plays an important role in keeping goldfish.

Goldfish do not digest meat and shouldn't be fed even white meat. They require little amount of food on a daily basis. Live feed can pass on disease causing parasites to the goldfish so they should be avoided. These things should be taken care of in keeping goldfish. Many or all goldfish in the aquarium will live for nearly full life if these things are looked after while keeping goldfish.
If you want to learn more about goldfish or more specifically keeping goldfish then check out  http://www.secretsofgoldfish.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dane_J_Stanton

How Many Fish Will My Aquarium Hold?

Have you got yourself a new aquarium? If so, you need to have a plan on how you are going to fill it with those beautiful fish.

Before you work out exactly which fish you want, you need to work out have many inches (or centimetres) of fish you can accommodate in your new aquarium.

The fish will obviously have more room to swim and set up their territories in a larger aquarium, but more important than the size of the aquarium is the shape and proportions of the tank. A long, shallow tank will hold more fish than a short deep tank, even if they have exactly the same amount of water in each.

The reason for this is that the oxygen content of the water depends on how easily it can be supplied. The only place this can happen is where the air meets the water, which is at the surface of the tank, so the larger the surface, the more oxygen available. Similarly, the carbon dioxide that the fish exhale has to be expelled from the water, and this also happens at the surface.

So, to work out the capacity of an aquarium, you need to multiply the length of the aquarium by the depth to get the water surface. For instance, if your aquarium is 24in (60cm) long by 12in (30cm) deep, the answer is 288in2 (1800cm2).

The next thing you need to know is how many inches (or centimetres) of fish you can accommodate, and this will depend on the type of fish.

Freshwater Tropical Fish – 12in2 per inch body length
(75cm2 per cm body length)

Freshwater Cold Water Fish – 30in2 per inch body length
(187.5cm2 per cm of body length)

Marine Tropical Fish – 48in2 per inch body length
(300cm2 per cm body length)

So, in our example tank above you could fit:

24 inches (60cm) of Freshwater Tropical Fish
10 inches (25cm) of Freshwater Cold Water Fish
6 inches (15cm) of Marine Tropical Fish

To calculate the number of inches (or centimetres) of your fish, measure from the mouth to the start of the tail, and don’t forget that the fish you see in the shops are normally juveniles and are not fully grown, you need to allow for the size they will become!

Get this right, and you’re well on the way to having a successful aquarium. 
Source:http://www.articlecircle.com/pets-and-animals/how-many-fish-will-my-aquarium-hold.html