Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

HOB filter

HOB aquarium filter

If you’re new to fish, you may have wondered what kind of filter you should use in your aquarium care.  Many brands of filter have a printed number on them that is supposed to indicate what size of aquarium it’s good for, but this number is only correct some of the time as each type of fish and various stocking levels have different filtration needs. The general rule of thumb is that the filtration should allow for the entire water volume of the aquarium to cycle through the filter four times every hour (the turnover rate); however, a number of factors can affect this number.

First, take into account the number of fish you have and the size of the aquarium. For fish under 6″ you will want approximately one gallon per inch of the adult size of the fish, over 6″ the fish need a tank that is at least four times as long and twice as wide as the fish. It is possible to keep more than the recommended stocking level in the aquarium, though it will require a lot more work to keep the water in excellent condition and to ensure that no issues arise due to the restricted space. If you have a higher-than-recommended stocking level, additional filtration will be needed to compensate, often upping it to a turnover rate of 6-8 times every hour. In some cases, water maintenance products such as EcoBio-Block can aid in keeping the water within acceptable parameters if the fish are overstocked, though this should be avoided as the fish also need individual swim space and sufficient oxygen for all inhabitants.

Special space and filtration requirements apply to goldfish, cichlids and many large carnivorous fish. These fish still need the same kind of space recommended for their size, but in general need a turnover rate of ten times every hour to provide sufficient oxygen exchange and mechanical removal of waste and uneaten food. These fish have larger stomachs than the average tropical community fish and so produce much more waste. Bear in mind that goldfish and fish such as oscars and piranhas reach an adult size of a foot or more so be sure to plan accordingly; it’s a particularly nasty myth that these fish grow to the size of their containment and no larger. While growth hormones will stop them from growing when there is no more room to do so, the fish will generally have shorter life spans and can have many other health issues; oscars and gouramis, amongst others, will only experience a cessation in the growth of their head while the body still grows — eventually, their mouths will morph too much for them to be able to eat.

In many cases, the type of filtration must also be considered. My favorite filters are HOB filters that hang on the back of the tank and remove waste while facilitating oxygen exchange by keeping the surface of the water moving; however, HOB filters do not work for all fish. Because of the current produced by the workings of the filter it is not the ideal choice for weak swimmers such as bettas and smaller angelfish, while its open intake makes it dangerous for tiny creatures such as fry and shrimp. For these fish, sponge filters or undergravel filters coupled with good aeration may be the best option.

There are some measures that can be taken to lighten the filtration burden in your aquarium. The best thing for any aquarium is to have healthy inhabitants and for that you need the best possible water quality, meaning timely partial water changes as well as a strong biological filter. Biological fitration is achieved by having healthy amounts of bacteria in the aquarium and can be helped along by commercial water maintenance products such as EcoBio-Block. EcoBio-Block not only helps by adding good bacteria to the water, it also provides the essential minerals that are used up by fish and would otherwise have to be replenished through partial water changes alone.

It seems that I begin many of these letters by quoting from some correspondence. After all, what better or more practical source of inspiration can there be? In this instance, the point is one that is brought up rather frequently by beginners in aquarium care, who have not been very successful after having seemingly followed the primary instructions gleaned from books or our dealer friends. They give recommended foods in conservative amounts, have good light and temperature control. But here is where trouble starts, through the acceptance of a fallacious signal as to what constitutes “overcrowding.” The signal watched for is when the fishes gasp at the surface of the water, “blowing bubbles.”
That is a carry-over from the days when goldfish was King. Goldfish and other cool-water fishes are very sensitive to any shortage of oxygen in the water, or the presence of too much carbon dioxide. They quickly express their distress by breathing at the surface. Incidentally, I have often wondered how fishes, never before in such a situation, know enough to get a fresh supply of oxygen at the surface of the water.
Warm-water fishes are better equipped to get along in oxygen-deficient conditions. In a tank containing both goldfish and exotics (a combination not recommended) the goldfish will invariably be the first to register discomfort from overcrowding. The point that I am stressing is that “Tropicals” are apt to “suffer in silence.” When they come to the surface and stay there, conditions are not merely bad, but very bad. Undetected crowding has been present for some time past, indicated by the poor condition of the fishes. Of course such symptoms can come from other causes, but crowding is one of the first to look for. That suspicion can be confirmed if frequent partial changes of water relieves the condition.
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 that can reduce your labor. My favorite is the EcoBio-Block, which is an aquarium care product that introduces beneficial bacteria into the aquarium (which keep the biological filter healthy) and slowly leach necessary minerals into the water to keep fish healthy and help beginners become successful aquarists.
Advising a new aquarist at the height of his frenzy to go slowly in building up his tank of fishes is like talking against the tempest. Recently I fitted out a grandson with an aquarium and a suitable collection of fishes. All was lovely for a few weeks until he was bitten with the desire for more and more.
The dealer could not be blamed for selling to him, but the result was not hard to foresee – a general attack of “Ich.” Overcrowding does not necessarily cause that disease, but reduces the vitality of the fishes so that they are more subject to it.
The elder Rothschild is credited with the wise crack “Nobody ever got poor taking a profit.” I would paraphrase that in reverse: “No aquarist ever got into trouble by having too few fishes:”

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.
copyright©ONEdersave Products