Aquarium Care and EcoBio-Block

Japan’s Takashi Amano displays his beautiful aquarium nature works in the ADA gallery in Niigata, Japan.

The beautiful and popular Betta fish are the second most abused fish.

Siamese fighting fish, or betta fish, rank amongst some of the most popular aquarium fish because of their low maintenance requirements and flashy good looks. Sadly, they rank only behind goldfish as the most abused aquarium fish in the world.

What are Betta Fish?

If you’re not familiar with bettas, these are small-medium fish that come in about every color of the rainbow. Males of most varieties have long, flowing fins but both males and females of good breeding will have vivid, colorful bodies. These fish are often sold in small cups or divided plastic barracks in pet stores because of the fierce territorial behavior of the male toward other males of its species. Contrary to popular belief, however, a single male goes very well in a community aquarium with tank mates that will not nip its fins.

The fish you’re undoubtedly familiar with seeing in pet stores are the well-known veiltail bettas with the male’s long spade-shaped tails, but there are also crowntails, half-moons, deltas, super deltas, plakats and more. The plakats are a variety that sports short, rounded tales in both genders.

What do Bettas Eat?

If you’re familiar with bettas you’re probably familiar with the popular betta vase which pairs a betta fish and a peace lily or hardy vine in an attractive display. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand this setup, thinking it’s completely self-contained and that the betta will eat the roots of the plant. The problem is, bettas are carnivorous.

Like all fish, bettas require a variety of foods to be healthy, but they are also notoriously picky eaters. If you purchase a fish from a reputable breeder they will often already be used to eating various foods, but if they’re from a fish farm (like most pet store fish) they have probably only been fed one type of food their entire life and may need some encouragement to try new things.

The packaged betta pellets in stores work fine as a grade staple food, namely Hikari Betta Bio-Gold or another good pellet with low ash content (filler). Live or freeze-dried blood worms are generally a favorite, and live foods such as micro-worms, vinegar eels or grindal worms are easy to keep and readily accepted by most bettas. Bettas have small stomachs, so they’ll likely only eat about five pellets or 3-5 small worms at a time and appreciate twice-daily feedings.

What Environment do Bettas Require?

Since bettas are kept in very small quarters in pet stores and so-called “betta tanks” of miniscule proportions are sold all over the world, many people believe that their fish will do just fine in these quarters. Sadly, this is how it earned its rank of second-most-abused fish in the world.

While a betta can survive for a time in small amounts of water due to the fact that they breath air from the surface of the water instead of the dissolved oxygen, reducing the need for proper aeration, it is exceedingly difficult to keep these tiny quarters clean and the betta will not thrive in this confined area.

In order to be healthy the betta requires at least one gallon of water - and that’s total water volume, not the total a container can hold before gravel and decorations are added - as well as very clean water and good filtration. Because their fins snag and tear easily, they should only have real or silk plants rather than plastic plants. They prefer to have plants situated so that they can rest on top of them and be able to reach the surface of the water.

Water changes of about 50% have to be done about every other day for a single betta in one gallon, though the number of water changes goes down the more water volume you get. Alternatively, there is a product in the EcoBio-Block family called EcoBio-Pebbles that will help reduce the number of water changes in your betta’s tank by introducing the beneficial bacteria that breaks down ammonia and nitrites from the fish’s waste and uneaten food into nitrates, as well as keeping the proper levels of essential minerals in the water at all times. There are indications that suggest EcoBio-Pebbles also promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria that convert nitrates into gases that can evaporate rather than needing to be removed manually (such as through water changes).

Bettas are not strong swimmers so they prefer a filter with minimal current. A small sponge filter paired with an aerator works great for smaller setups and ensures that there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water to keep the beneficial bacteria healthy. Additionally, make sure you have a secure cover on the tank because bettas are strong jumpers and can get out of surprisingly small holes.

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How to prepare your aquarium before you leave for a vacation.

If you’ve been doing some research on taking care of your new aquarium or are an experienced fish keeper, you’ll no doubt have noticed that while the requirements of an aquarium are not very difficult to fulfill, they do require ongoing attention. So what happens if you want to go on vacation and no one will be around to do water changes? What if there’s a family emergency that takes your time and attention for extended periods of time? Life is so unpredictable you can never be absolutely certain that you’ll always be there to look after your fish, but with a few alterations to your daily aquarium care schedule you can effectively switch to a temporary “low-maintenance” mode.

The primary concern with extended absences or emergency situations where there’s just no time to perform aquarium maintenance tasks is the water quality. Depending on stocking levels, aquariums need a partial water change anywhere from once a month to as often as once a week. If you’re like me, you barely trust anyone else to feed your fish, much less perform water changes, so the ideal solution is to find a way to maintain water quality for extended periods until you can resume your normal maintenance routine.

Water changes are done to remove excess nitrates in the system; nitrate is the end product after ammonia and nitrites from waste and uneaten food have been broken down by beneficial bacteria. If you wish to slow the rate of nitrate buildup, you simply have to reduce the amount of waste and uneaten food in the aquarium; when you’re not able to do water changes, this means feeding less. In the wild there is no guarantee of getting regular food; as a result a fish’s metabolism is such that the fish can take advantage of food when it is offered but can also live for days or weeks with very little or no food without it having an adverse effect on the fish’s health. So, option one is to cut back to only feeding the fish once every two or three days; this won’t completely stop the level of nitrates from growing, but it will help slow it.

Next, you can use a water maintenance product such as EcoBio-Block in your aquarium. EcoBio-Block contains a strain of hardy beneficial bacteria that break down the ammonia and nitrites from waste. Additionally, the product leaches essential minerals into the water; these minerals are used up quickly by the fish and generally need to be replaced through water changes unless a water maintenance product is present. There is also evidence indicating that EcoBio-Block helps promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria in the substrate which breaks nitrates down into a gas that can evaporate, making water changes unnecessary. There haven’t been sufficient studies to confirm this yet, but aquarists have observed low nitrate levels and have been able to go for even a year at a time without doing a partial water change. Organic material such as waste and excess food will still need to be removed either through the filtration system or gravel vacuums, but that can be done at your leisure.

Other than ensuring water quality, about the only maintenance routine that must be seen to regardless of outside events are occasional checks to ensure there is no disease showing in the tank, no deaths for any reason, that filter pads are clean and all equipment are running properly.
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If you keep fish, you’ve almost certainly heard of Ichthyophthirius Multifillis…or, more simply, Ich. Though many amateur aquarists misdiagnose their afflicted fish with Ich because of the presence of any kind of white spot, once your fish actually have the real disease it’s unmistakable.

Ich is a parasite that first appears as a bunch of small white cysts on the fish’s skin, generally concentrated around the gills and fins. These spots are “clean” and compact, looking much like someone sprinkled salt over your fish. If this does not describe the spots on your fish, it’s not Ich…fin rot, columnaris and a multitude of other parasites and infections have some form of white or grey spotting. Ich can be deadly to the fish, though surprisingly most fish that have Ich do not die because of the parasites. Instead, most die from secondary infections from having less-than-pristine water or even from the harsh medications meant to treat Ich.

How do the fish get Ich? Sometimes it’s from infected new fish, sometimes there are even parasites already living in the aquarium that you never know about until conditions are right for them to infect the fish. So what do you do? Simple…you keep your fish as healthy as humanly possible. If a fish is active with a strong immune system and a healthy slime coat, their chances of being infected are minimal. In the event that such a healthy fish does get infected, they have a very good chance of fighting off the parasite and avoiding secondary infections.

The first step to keeping fish healthy is to feed them a high-quality, varied diet. The food sold at most pet stores do not qualify as high-quality, though if it’s all that’s available it will do for maintenance care as long as they have some dietary variation. It’s easy to cultivate live food such as brine shrimp, vinegar eels, mosquito larvae or grindal worms to add necessary protein and variety into the diet. There are plenty of online sources of healthy fish food as well as recipes for creating your own top-of-the-line food for your finned pets.

The next - and most important - step to keeping fish healthy and preventing secondary infections in afflicted fish is to have a clean aquarium. Just because the water is clear, doesn’t mean it’s clean or healthy. A healthy tank will require a partial water change at least every two weeks, depending on stocking levels (though water maintenance products such as EcoBio-Block can significantly reduce these), and nitrate levels need to be kept below 20ppm. Most books and sites will recommend no more than 40ppm nitrates, however some types of fish and invertebrates such as snails, shrimp, smaller tetras and angels do not like the higher levels, so it’s always best to err on the side of caution.

Water changes help keep the parameters within acceptable limits, help remove excess organic material such as waste and uneaten food, and also replenish required minerals in the water that the fish use up over time. If you prefer not to do as many water changes or are physically unable to, there are alternatives to doing so many. My favorite is the aforementioned EcoBio-Block, which is a water maintenance product that introduces beneficial bacteria into the aquarium (which keeps the biological filter healthy) and slowly leaches necessary minerals into the water to keep fish healthy. You’ll still need to do a gravel vacuum occasionally to remove excess organic material or stir your substrate to get rid of potentially harmful gas pockets and bring the organic material up where your mechanical filter can remove it from the aquarium.

Finally, if your fish do get Ich, avoid commercial medications if possible. Most Ich medications contain Malachite Green, a chemical that is very toxic in concentrated amounts and is often used as a dye. This is very effective at killing parasites, but is also very hard on the fish and you run a risk of killing them too. Invertebrates and plants are at special risk with these products. Instead, make sure your water parameters are ideal (this may require a partial water change) and then treat with aquarium salt and a topical antibiotic such as Melafix. Exactly how much of each of these will depend on the size of your tank and whether you have invertebrates or scale-less fish such as tetras. While any medication is being used you should remove activated carbon from the filter. If you have EcoBio-Block, vacation food, calcium blocks or any other leave-in or time-released products they will need to be removed before treating the aquarium. Keep EcoBio-Block in de-chlorinated water if you’d like to avoid any extra re-starting time.

If you wish to decrease treatment time, raising the temperature will speed up the life cycle of the parasites so they can be killed sooner, but be careful if you decide to do this. Many sources suggest heating the water to 80F which is great for tetras, guppies and the like, but the safe temperature varies widely for each fish. The temperature of the water determines how much dissolved oxygen the water can hold, so it’s safe to heat the water to the upper comfortable limit for each fish but not much warmer. This means that for many hardy community fish 80F works well, but for some goldfish or mosquito fish it shouldn’t be any warmer than 75F while some types of cichlids may be able to handle 83F without a problem. Do some research on all the species of fish in your aquarium to determine how much you can safely heat the water.

Bear in mind that the salt will kill the parasites, but it cannot harm them while they are inside the fish. It can take up to two weeks for the cysts to burst and another couple of weeks after that for all of them to die. The aquarium should remain treated for the entire time, about 4-5 weeks. The antibiotic helps prevent deadly secondary infections. After the treatment phase is over the salt and medication may be removed by water changes or with activated carbon; then you just need to examine your feeding and maintenance habits to keep the infestation from happening again.

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