Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

by Ruby Bayan

Community Fish Tank

Here’s a candid question from my friend Bob: “I just got a 20-gallon tank and was thinking about putting in about a dozen Neon Tetras, six to eight Mollies, a Plecostomus and perhaps introducing two to three Angelfish afterwards. Is this an acceptable plan?”

My answer was, “Bob, you’re inviting disaster into your aquarium! You will be defying at least four major guidelines in the book of ‘good fishkeeping’!”

Defiance 1: “The one-inch-per-gallon rule is baloney!”

Although not a strict rule, the one-inch-of-fish-per-gallon-of-water guideline is often a takeoff point for fishkeeping hobbyists aspiring for a stable bioload. However, factors like efficient filtration, fast-growing fishes, and aggressive or territorial breeds totally overhaul this “rule” giving rise to setups with more than one inch of fish per gallon, or with just a pair of two-inch fish for a 25-gallon tank.

In Bob’s planned 20-gallon setup, 12 Neons, 8 Mollies, 1 Pleco, and 3 Angels, even if they’re all less than an inch each, will surely overload his tank habitat, no matter how efficient his filtration is. But let’s say that on top of a truly efficient filter, he can be diligent enough to make regular water changes, his next problem will be what water parameters to maintain.

Defiance 2: “What natural habitat? I’ll give them their natural habitat!”

One of the primary objectives of fishkeepers is to provide a habitat that is closest to what the fishes have in the wild. The community that Bob is looking at putting together cannot occur naturally because the fishes he has chosen do not thrive in the same water conditions.

Although all the chosen fishes can be made accustomed to a common water temperature (around 77 degrees F), Neons prefer water that is slightly soft, with pH between 5.0 and 7.0. Mollies, on the other hand, live in slightly hard water with pH of 7.5 to 8.5.

In other words, either the Neons or the Mollies will suffer stress and eventually fall ill if brought together in one community tank because the water composition is outside the range ideal for them.

So, if Bob removes the Mollies from the equation and maintains a water composition ideal for the rest of the fishes, will the Neons, Pleco, and Angelfish be fine together? The answer is, again, “no.”

Defiance 3: “They don’t look aggressive to me!”

Angelfishes belong to the notoriously cranky group of cichlids. Highly territorial and potentially aggressive, Angels (an oxymoron?) are known to be “stealth” attackers. Swimming casually and almost in a delicately gentle manner, they can snap at a prey in a flash and swallow whatever fits their mouths. Full-grown Angels are known to feast on Neons.

So, maybe Bob can chuck the idea of adding Angels later on. Will his tank be safe now with the dozen Neons and one Plecostomus? Unfortunately, the Pleco may pose a whole new problem.

Defiance 4: “They’re just sooo cute!”

The Plecostomus is one of the fastest growing catfishes in captivity. A “cute” three-inch Pleco can double in length in six months and grow to a “horrendous” adult size of close to two feet in a couple of years. Their phenomenal growth is accompanied by their equally phenomenal rate of excretion that can easily overwork standard filtration systems. A Pleco will, therefore, be okay in a 20-gallon tank only in its first few months as a juvenile.

In other words, Bob’s 20-gallon tank is down to just a dozen Neons. That’s no fun, right? Well, a 20-gallon tank can’t really support a lot of fishes, and frankly, losing some to not having an acceptable plan is my definition of “no fun.”
Bob can still have a fun tank by choosing a combination of community fishes that are attractive together and thrive in a habitat that will remain stable indefinitely.

Here’s one suggestion: to join his Neons, he can add a pair of Rams (Ramirezis may be cichlids but they’re one of the more sedate ones), and instead of the Pleco he can choose a pair of Corys (corydoras) or Otos (otocinclus) that remain small even as adults.

Add to that some diligent monitoring, regular water changes (or better yet, an EcoBio-Block that conditions water so that changes are hardly necessary), and efficient equipment, and Bob can be well on his way to implementing a truly acceptable plan.

With the many “gadgets” available to the average beginner in the way of well-designed aquariums, thermometers, heaters, thermostats, aerators and filters, there is little left to do but take care of the four important things for fishes to keep them in perfect condition. These are quite important and most helpful for your fish, and no matter how well set—up a tank may be, unless their needs are correctly met, disaster is a foregone conclusion.

Healthy aquarium fish

First comes the matter of feeding. It has been stated many times that fishes (or any other animal for that matter, including humans) can be quickly killed by the mistaken kindness of over-feeding.

Fishes in nature sometimes go a long time between meals. It may be a matter of hours, days, yes, in some cases even weeks. They are made to be hungry by nature, and anything that we may do to upset this routine will surely cause trouble. Therefore, it is the kindest thing you can do to keep them hungry! This does not mean practical starvation by any means. They should be just hungry enough to be always eager for a meal.

Hungry fishes are usually healthy fishes, and the best way to keep them that way is to feed sparingly. You should feed about as much as they can easily clean up, and we mean really clean up, in five minutes. The five minute rule should be the guide for all around good health and general routine feeding..

As to what to feed, that again is another story, but here the Beginner should try to plan a balanced diet of both living and prepared foods. Almost any of the well known brands of prepared foods sold by leading dealers are good wholesome foods. Most dealers too carry live foods in season such as White Worms cultures, Tubifex Worms and Daphnia. For those fishes large enough to eat them, nothing is better than an occasional meal of finely chopped earthworms that may be had for the digging. These can be found in the winter time under sheltered spots where the earth is a bit moist and protected from freezing by old logs or fairly deep layers of rotting leaves.

Next in importance to good feeding is the need for plenty of air-surface space per fish.

There is hardly an aquarist today, who, at one time or another has not been guilty of over-crowding. When fishes gather at the top of their tank “bubbling” for air, they are in reality on the verge of suffocating. That is if they do it constantly, whether anyone is near their tank or not. Sometimes fishes that are reasonably hungry will come to the top looking for food when someone comes near their tank. This is different from the frantic gulping that they do when they need air due to over- crowding, foul water, or any other situation which might cause them distress through lack of oxygen.

Such a condition needs immediate attention and relief.
There are three ways to handle this problem. First, reduce the number of fishes in the tank. Second, increase the air-surface of their water by giving them a larger tank. Third, apply mechanical aeration. “Rather too few fishes for a tank than even one too many”. is a safe rule to guide the Beginner. One way to estimate the required surface space for Goldfish is to have just one inch of fish, not counting the tail, to every 25 square inches of water-surface.

As for the Exotics—small fishes, Guppies for example, should have at least 3 square inches of surface per fish. Larger Exotics such as Swords, Platies, etc., need about 6 to 8 square inches. Medium sized Barbs and similar sized fishes need about 20 square inches, and the large fishes such as the big Barbs and Cichlids of 5-inches or more require not less than 54 square inches of water surface to get along happily. These figures are the least per fish that can be used to keep the fishes alive. For good healthy, growth and breeding these figures should be doubled and tripled if possible.

The third important thing for healthy fishes is to keep them in even temperatures. To submit them to sudden temperature changes simply means to invite disease, the most common being “shimmies”—“ichthy” and “fungus,” either singly or altogether.
Most temperature changes are inadvertently made by guessing at the temperature of the water that is being used to completely change or partially change the water in a tank. It is best to be sure. Use a good thermometer and not just guess with a “finger dip” A 2-degree difference is all that can normally be considered as safe.

Water changing should be handled with a good bit of care and discretion. Do as little of it as possible. Avoid situations which might make water changes necessary such as the direct action or reaction of over-feeding or over-crowding. Then again, either too much or too little light might make it necessary for a full or partial change of water. Watch the danger signs carefully and if the water has to be changed, make sure it is the same temperature as the water to which the fishes were accustomed.

Finally, adding an EcoBio-Block product to your fishtank will help to keep your fishtank clear and clean reducing the possibilities of stress from overfeeding or overcrowding and making your fishkeeping hobby both simpler and more enjoyable, while reducing the frequency of water changes.

Proper feeding, plenty of air-surface space, suitable even temperatures, and the addition of EcoBio-Block will assure you of a fair measure of success.

Initial conditioning of aquarium water, also known as “aquarium cycle,” can be one of the most stressful tasks in fish keeping. Oftentimes, when pet owners decide to add fishes to their extended family, they want to acquire the new pets right away, especially when they’ve visited the fish store and have fallen in love with some of the lovely creatures there. Conditioning a fish tank to make it suitable for the new fish — a process that normally takes weeks — could be a real test of patience.

Many new fish keepers make the mistake of taking shortcuts when cycling new aquariums. It’s a mistake quite easy to make because cycling involves the growth and proliferation of essential bacteria, which are invisible to the naked eye. Without a clear understanding of how cycling conditions the water into a healthy environment for fish, pet owners will tend to become impatient and cut corners along the aquarium cycle process, to the detriment of the fish.

The time frame that water conditioning follows depends on how fast beneficial bacteria are grown and colonized in the aquarium. Growth and colonization, in turn, depends on how much bacteria is introduced into the tank in the first place, and how much “food” is available with which the bacteria can continue to multiply. For the nitrosomonas bacteria, its food is ammonia, and for the nitrobacter, its food is the nitrites produced by the nitrosomonas.

In traditional cycling, a few hardy fishes are added to a newly setup tank to provide the ammonia to feed the nitrosomonas. This process normally takes several weeks to condition the water, not to mention the potential fish fatalities associated with the spikes in ammonia and nitrites during the process. Traditional cycling is stressful not only to the fish but to the owners as well.

In fishless cycling, on the other hand, household ammonia is used to treat a new tank to grow the bacteria. This method may spare the fish sacrifice, but diligence is required in regularly adding ammonia and closely monitoring water quality. The conditioning still takes several weeks, which can prove taxing especially when there’s nothing interesting to watch in the tank.

For fish keepers who don’t appreciate having to wait many weeks to cycle their aquarium, the solution is a highly rapid growth and proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the tank. The quickest ways to grow bacteria includes bringing in already prolific colonies from a healthy established aquarium, adding commercially available bacteria cultures to the tank, and/or putting a bacteria-multiplying product called EcoBio-Block in the habitat.

The EcoBio-Block Family Products are mineral-rich porous volcanic stones that are embedded with beneficial bacteria called “bacillus subtilis natto” from Japan, including the nutrients they need to proliferate. Once an EcoBio-Stone is placed in water, the bacteria immediately come to life and multiply every half hour, performing the nitrification process associated with cycling and overall water conditioning. This special strain of bacteria effectively degrades organic matter and makes the tank clear, healthy, and odor-free for years.

With the fast-multiplying EcoBio-Block strain of bacillus subtilis natto, there’s no need to wait anxiously for many weeks before bringing fishes to their new home. Also, because of the continuous growth and proliferation of EcoBio-Block bacteria, maintaining ideal water conditions should henceforth be stress-free.

One of the most common challenges of keeping an aquarium is cloudy water. Whether the cloudiness is green, white, or gray, a fish habitat that is short of crystal clear is not just an eyesore but also a serious health risk for its inhabitants. Why does the water turn cloudy and what can you do about it?

Grayish or dirty white water is often encountered when setting up a new tank. In most cases, a sand or gravel substrate that has not been diligently rinsed before setup will generate sufficient debris to fog the water. The only solution would be to re-rinse the substrate until all the debris is removed. An efficient mechanical filter will also help take care of minute floating particles.

Green water, which is oftentimes also thick and hazy, is caused by an “algae bloom” or the rapid growth of microscopic green algae. High and prolonged levels of bright light are the main causes of green algae growth and proliferation. If a tank gets direct sunlight or if the overhead lighting is left on for more than 10-12 hours a day, algae overgrowth becomes imminent. The simple solution is to locate the tank away from direct sunlight and attach a timer to the overhead lights so that the ideal light exposure cycles can be maintained.

Milky white water that sometimes gives off a rotten smell is caused by decay. Uneaten leftover food deteriorates and fouls up the water. An overstocked aquarium will render filtration systems and nitrifying bacteria inadequate to handle the bio-load. The result is pollution from rotting food and excess waste, making the water murky. In severe pollution situations, drastic water changes may be necessary.

Cloudy aquarium water caused by decaying food can be prevented by feeding only as much as the fish community can consume in three to five minutes. Leftover food should be scooped out.

Murky water caused by excess waste products can be prevented by maintaining a balanced tank with a population of fishes suitable for the size of the tank and the capacity of the filtration systems. This ensures that the filters and the colonies of beneficial bacteria can keep up with the bio-load of the community.

In effect, cloudy water can be minimized if adequate colonies of beneficial bacteria are present to break down the harmful ammonia and nitrites (from decaying food and excess waste matter) into less harmful nitrates. Experts have suggested adding gravel from established aquariums to supplement the insufficient bacterial colonies in a cloudy tank. One simple solution is to add an EcoBio-Stone product to the tank.

The EcoBio-Block Family Products are mineral-rich porous volcanic stones from Japan embedded with prolific bacteria (“bacillus subtilis natto”) that can actively multiply every half hour. The bacteria establish colonies quickly, degrading organic matter and nitrifying waste products, and keeping the aquarium clear, odor-free and healthy for years.

Cloudy aquarium water, which causes stress to the fish community, should never have to happen. Feed just the right amount of food, keep a population of fish suitable to the tank size and filtration system, and add a bacteria enhancing product like EcoBio-Block, and you are assured of crystal clear water and healthy fishes all the time.

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