Monday, November 10, 2008

Choosing Fish For Aquariums - Choose Between Gold Fish And Piranhas!

When you have put together your aquarium, you would be all eager to get the fish to go into it. But the dilemma about choosing the fish is that there are so many varieties available that you could get confused about your choice. It is best if you take the advice of your fish shop locally. But surely their advice will not be any different than the advice that follows here. If you think this is going to blossom into a really keen hobby, then choosing small fish could be just a waste of money and time. On the other hand, if this is a passing fancy or you have your kid's interest in mind, then most certainly you should go for small fish.

Aquarium fish which is small is usually of bright colors and feed on fish flakes more than fish meat. They could range from angel fish to tetras and are chosen for decorative purposes due to their shine which reflects a bright silver under the particular aquarium lights. The fish species are simple and no fun to watch as they have no personality. These fishes are suitable for decoration and for simple aquarium set ups and usually people wanting a tank with low maintenance go for it.

It is a bit more difficult to maintain the larger fish like African fish and cichlids. But they generally are sturdier fish so their mortality rate is very low compared to other smaller weak fish. The main attraction or rather the problem of cichlids is however their cannibalism. They will gobble up the smaller fish in the tank in no time at all. If you feed them anything less than fish meat, they will not like it. Cichlids have different types and their looks also differ. Oscars which find personal favor with many people; can be red, tiger or albino. Then there are jaguar cichlids as well as black belts, and so the list goes on. These fish types need a lot of gravel cleaning and filter since they create lots of waste. Cichlids' breeding pair costs a lot of money! Cichlids are generally the more expensive fish as they are larger (one tank can accommodate 5-6 cichlids and one half foot Oscar). One thing to remember is that these fish prefer to arrange the tank just the way they like it. So initially though the tank caters to your taste, it won't stay the same for long. There is so much more to know about cichlids which have a distinct personality.

So the type of fish that you should get for your aquarium depends on the purpose of your getting the aquarium. Decorative small tanks need decorative small aquarium fish. But if you have a bigger tank, you should get bigger fish. Put in some larger fish and see the fun you will have watching them!
Abhishek is an avid Fish Lover and he has got some great Aquarium Care Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 105 Pages Ebook, "Aquarium Care Made Easy!" from his website http://www.Wonder-Homes.com/636/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abhishek_Agarwal

Saturday, November 8, 2008

How to Clean a Small Fish Tank

This guide will walk you through cleaning your small fish tank or fish bowl.

Step1Rata Penuh
First you will want to pour most (about 3/4)of the water from your original fish tank, into your holding fish tank or container.
Step2
Now net your fish buddies out of the remaining water and move them over to the other fishtank.
Step3
You can pour the remaining water out, and you are free to clean the inside of the tank, but do not use anything with harsh chemicals, a simple wipe down with a clean towel should do fine, anything you may use from under the sink can leave residue and harm your fish!
Step4
Once your tank is clean, you can fill it back up with water about 2/3 the way and add your Fish Scale Treatment (treat water per instructions on bottle) and also add your Water Treatment(treat water per instructions on bottle), especially if you have county or city water rather than a well.
Step5
Now grab your bag, and fill with the original old water, and net your fish and put him in the bag as well, tie the bag off and put it in the new water (This will allow the fish to gradually get used to the new water temperature so you dont shock him by changing his water temp suddenly) You shouldnt have to leave him like that but about 2 hour or so, but it depends on the size of tank you have.
Step6
Once the water temperatures have had time to even out, you can free your fish from his bag prison, into his freshly cleaned home!
Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2184489_clean-small-fish-tank.html