Water Quality for Fish Archives - Page 2 of 4

Introducing a new fish into your tank is a little like sending a kitten into a room full of big dogs. Most of the dogs will play nice, but a few might have the kitten hiding in the corner quivering. In order to maintain the peace, you might have to be the guard dog for a little while, until they all get used to each other and learn to get along.

The same basic principles apply when you’re introducing a new fish into your tank, but we have a few additional tips that can help your wildlife get along with each other sooner rather than later, as well as make your new fish feel as comfortable as possible.

Best Methods of Introducing a New Fish into Your Tank

In addition to maintaining the peace, it’s important to use proper methods when adding a new fish into the aquarium family for the benefit of the fish itself. Placing the fish into your tank before it’s ready could endanger it or your existing wildlife.

Following are a few steps and tips that might help.

Determine compatibility

The first step is to talk with an expert, like our Seatech Aquariums technicians, in order to determine if the new fish will be compatible with the wildlife already in your tank. It’s tough to predict with 100% certainty that your fish will be friends, but experience has helped us identify which fish tend to be most and least compatible with each other.

Allow the new fish to get used to your tank’s water quality gradually

1. The first step in introducing a new fish into your tank is to float the bag that the fish is in in the tank. This helps the fish get acclimated to the water temperature. The bag needs to be floated for at least 15 minutes.

2. The second step is similar to tempering food items during cooking.

Add a cup of water from your tank into the bag where your fish is, and allow the fish to get used to that water. Add another cup about 10 minutes later. This process will allow the fish to at least become familiar with the water quality in its new home before it is forced to socialize with its new roommates.

A few minutes later, use a net to remove the fish from the bag and place the fish into the tank.

3. Your new fish is probably used to the water that it was in earlier that day before you brought it home, so try to match the same quality of water in your tank before releasing the newcomer into it. Your chlorine level should be zero for the optimal environment.

4. If you’re not already doing so, after your fish becomes acclimated to its new environment, we would recommend using RODI water for your freshwater and saltwater tanks. If you have a saltwater tank, ask us how to add salt to the water in order to create the perfect solution for your wildlife, or alternatively you can order RODI saltwater from us at Seatech H2O.

Make sure your other fish aren’t hungry for dessert

Feed the fish in your tank before placing the new fish into it. You don’t want your existing fish to confuse their new brother and sister for a nice treat.

Be patient and have fun

It’s OK if your fish hides behind the rocks or plants at first. It might be shy or afraid, but it should blend in with the crowd nicely in due time.

Call Seatech Aquariums for More Tips and Tricks

When you work with us at Seatech Aquariums, we can handle most of the above for you. All you will have to do is enjoy the results and feel the pride when you see that the new guy is completely happy in your fish tank.

Call us or see our blog page for more information about fish compatibility, aquarium maintenance tips, and fish facts.

Feeding fish is one of the few times of the day when you can interact with them, so it’s tempting to think of feeding them every time you walk by. It doesn’t help that as soon as you walk by, they’re there at the top of the tank, waiting excitedly, looking at you lovingly. But you are strong, and you resist the urge because you know overfeeding fish can be harmful.

But is that really true? Or are people overstating the dangers associated with overfeeding fish?

What we can tell you is this: It’s probably not what you think.

How Overfeeding Fish Can Be Harmful

Fiction: Fish will gorge themselves if you feed them too much.

Fact: The fish usually know when to stop themselves. In fact, if they don’t eat all that you’ve given them within about five minutes, you’re probably giving them too much. If they do end up eating too much, however, they will produce more waste than the natural filtering processes or the manmade filters can handle, resulting in an unhealthy environment in the fish tank.

Fiction: If the fish are swimming at the top of the tank, it means they’re starving and waiting for me to come to their rescue.

Fact: Not necessarily. They know they might get food and that excites them, but it doesn’t mean they’re actually hungry. Think of it more as they’re simply as happy to see you as you are to see them.

Fiction: The fish won’t eat each other. They’ve lived together this long, after all!

Fact: Sadly, they might. If fish aren’t compatible in a tank, it’s all about the survival of the fittest.

Fiction: Fish food is good forever.

Fact: The flake food loses some of its nutrients about six months after you open the container. Some fish owners say you should use the food within one month. Frozen fish food should be used within about six months.

Fiction: Each and every one of the fish has to eat the food I give them.

Fact: Some fish are in the tank for the purpose of “cleaning” the waste, especially off the bottom. It’s a part of the natural cycle in the fish tank environment and in the wild.

And that brings us to the truths you really need to know about why overfeeding fish can be harmful.

When you feed the fish too much, they won’t eat it all. The leftover food then stays in the tank too long, leading to an unsanitary environment. Additionally, the bottom feeders might eat those leftovers, which means they won’t clean up the waste from the other fish as they are supposed to.

Concerns about Bloat

Improperly feeding or overfeeding fish can be harmful also due to the possibility of bloat, a condition that will likely lead to the death of a fish.

Also known as dropsy, bloat is caused by bacterial, viral, protozoal, or parasitical infections. Some bacteria are natural in every fish environment, but too much can be harmful, as noted above. That’s why it’s important to use proper filtration systems and filtered water in the tank to ensure the safest environment for the fish, depending on if it’s a saltwater tank or a freshwater tank.

When a fish is suffering from bloat, it will be clear that it is sick. Its abdominal cavity will fill with fluid, and the fish might lose its appetite, become lethargic, and have visible marks on its body. Other signs include bulging eyes, pale gills, and long, pale feces.

Unfortunately, usually the best solution is to remove that fish from the fish tank and euthanize it.

You can also try to place it in a quarantine tank for treatment if you catch the illness early enough and believe the fish will recover. In that case, you can place one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water into the sick fish’s bowl, and you should treat it with antibiotics and feed it only high-quality foods.

For more information about why overfeeding fish can be harmful or if you believe your fish are sick and you want to know how to best take care of them, call us at 602-628-7270 or contact us through our Seatech Aquariums website.

Category Archives: Water Quality for Fish

Introducing a New Fish into Your Tank: How to Maintain the Peace