Saturday, February 28, 2015

Tips On Aquarium Maintenance Cincinnati OH

By Earlene McGee


Maintaining your aquarium is a simple and straight forward task that entails creating and sustaining a stable environment, providing the right type and amount of feed and observing the pets for any abnormalities. However, the best approach is to accord at least thirty minutes of your every day in the exercise by conducting routine practices that will prevent any problem from getting out of hand. Below are some recommendations on how to go about aquarium maintenance in Cincinnati OH.

To begin with, there is the question of how much to feed the pets. It is important not to over-feed the fish, since the uneaten food pollutes their environment and inhibits their filtration. This is particularly an area where numerous fish keepers go wrong. It is worth noting here that most fish should eat only once per day. Therefore, ensure to provide them with just as much food as they can eat within five minutes. Determining the right quantity is a matter of trial and error that can be enhanced by watching the fish for when they are spitting the food out- a sign of being full.

The other maintenance concern is what to feed them. Note here that different fish have different dietary needs. While some like seafood, others are omnivorous and other vegetarians. Ensure to conduct a survey on what your fish species require and whether you should add them supplement fresh frozen or live food. For small fish, choose a high quality flaked food while maintaining a constant supply of pellets for bottom-dwellers and large fish. Also, provide a nutritional balance by rotating between a few different brands day by day.

Before undertaking the change, it is vital to check the water parameters of both the replacement water and the tank. This is so because most tap water contains either chloramine or chlorine. Though chlorine will air out very quickly, chloramine will not. It is therefore necessary to use a water conditioner to neutralize chlorine in both cases, although ammonia will still be present in chloramine.The ammonia has to be decomposed by the nitrifying bacteria found in the aquarium. However, this may take longer than the fish can tolerate.

In case you have an under gravel filter, it is recommended to clean the gravel during your weekly water changes to prevent detritus among other decaying organic matter from blocking the passage between the pebbles and preventing water flow. In general, you can clean 25-33 percent of the general gravel while extracting out 10-15 per cent of the water.

In addition, make sure to clear out the debris and to empty your protein skimmer on a daily basis. Substrate vacuums and algae magnets come handy to an aquarist; ensure to be well equipped with them. The ultimate goal of the maintenance is to sustain the stability of the tank.

If you have to clean out the equipment filters, ensure not to change all the media (sponges, cartridges and carbon packets) at once. This will only remove the majority of your biological filter and cause your tank to go through a cycling period again to get bacteria re-established. Ensure also to rinse any new media in cool running water prior to introducing it to the system, unless otherwise stated in the filter media instructions manual.

Simply put, the lives of the aquariums depend on maintaining a stable environment. Once you have set the cycle and established a certain environment, ensure to maintain it.




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