Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

Quarantine tank with EcoBio-Stone S

When one of your fish falls ill it may only be a matter of time before the disease spreads to your other tank inhabitants. For this reason it is extremely important for you to keep an eye out for the early symptoms of disease. If you catch the disease early enough you will be able to quarantine the sick fish in a hospital tank to ensure a speedy recovery and to prevent your other fish from falling ill. A hospital tank, or quarantine tank, is a fairly basic set-up and it is generally easy to maintain.

Setting Up the Tank

Because you will usually keep just one fish in the hospital tank at a time it does not need to be large – 10 gallons is a sufficient size. The bottom of the tank should be kept bare of gravel or other substrate to facilitate easy cleaning and to prevent the build-up of disease-harboring bacteria. Do not over-decorate the tank – simply provide a few plants or an overturned terra cotta pot to give your fish places to hide. Hospital tanks have very few requirements other than clean water and adequate filtration but you need to choose wisely when selecting a filter for your tank. Power filters that have a low setting are generally recommended for hospital tanks because they provide both chemical and mechanical filtration without creating a current powerful enough to disturb your sick fish.

Using a Hospital Tank

When you notice the symptoms of disease beginning to manifest in your tank, set up your hospital tank as quickly as possible. Use as much water from the original tank as you can when filling the hospital tank in order to decrease the amount of stress your fish experience in switching tanks. Use an in-tank thermometer to monitor and control the water temperature in the tank and administer whatever medications your fish require on a regular basis.

Other Tips for Hospital Tanks

If you have a large tank with many fish, it may be wise to set up a permanent hospital tank. By doing this you can rest assured that if one of your fish happens to fall ill you will not be putting the rest of your fish at risk by delaying the removal of the sick fish from the tank. A hospital tank can also be used as a quarantine tank when you bring new fish home from the pet store. To prevent the spread of disease you should always quarantine new fish for at least seven days. This will ensure that the new fish do not pass an existing illness on to your other fish.

A quick and easy way to ensure that the water in your hospital tank stays clean and clear is to use an EcoBio-Stone. EcoBio-Stones are made from porous volcanic rock and cement block and they are infused with nutrients and beneficial bacteria designed to keep your tank healthy. Once introduced into your tank, these beneficial bacteria will multiply and work to speed up the nitrogen cycle, keeping your tank water clean and clear. Not only do EcoBi0-Block products help keep your tank healthy, they also reduce the amount of routine maintenance required.

No matter how careful you are in caring for your aquarium fish, the chances are good that you will eventually experience the outbreak of some kind of disease. By acting quickly in setting up and utilizing a hospital tank, however, you can effectively curtail the spread of this disease. Learning how to set up a hospital tank, and then putting that knowledge to use, is a simple way to ensure that your sick fish recover quickly and your other fish do not fall ill.

As winter starts to fade and spring starts to come into view, those who maintain ponds are eager to bring those ponds back to life.  However, before this can occur, there are some things you need to take care of first.

One thing that you need to do is to carefully inspect your pond.  There could be winter damage to any of the components that keep the pond in good working order or even damage to the pond itself.  You should note these occurrences of damage and repair them before bringing your pond back to life.

You also need to clean your pond.  No matter how meticulous you are in keeping your pond clean during the spring, summer, and fall, chances are that the winter season has caused your pond to be in less than pristine condition.  Even with leaf netting, chances are high that at least a few leaves have gotten into your pond and settled at the bottom of it.  You need to scoop these leaves out manually or with a pond vacuum.

Spring is certainly the time to start your pump back up after it’s been off during the winter season.  When the water temperature has reached 50 degrees, it’s advisable for you to restart your pump.  Most people will just turn on their pumps and then leave them unattended, such as leaving their homes to run errands, etc.  This is not wise, as you want to make sure that the pump is functioning as it was when you turned it off the previous fall.  You should spend some time at your house after you turn it on and ensure that the pump is functioning as it should.

You should give your filter system a complete cleaning before starting it again.  You should also increase the number of bacteria in your pond to increase the speed of the clean-up process and to maintain the health of your pond over the course of the upcoming pond season.  A good way to increase the number of bacteria in your pond is by using EcoBio-Block® nsM or EcoBio-Block Wave.

You should test the condition of the pond water, specifically the nitrite and ammonia levels.  If either of these readings is higher than zero, perform partial water changes to get both readings down to zero.

You should check on the condition of the fish in your pond.  Spring is the time of year when fish are most susceptible to health problems and diseases; gram-negative bacteria are one of the greatest problems, as they can cause severe infections in your fish.  There are products on the market to help minimize their risk to these infections, and it’s important that you try to keep them from becoming infected, as it’s very difficult to eliminate the infections once they have them.

Another major problem faced by fish in the spring are internal worms.  There are types of medicated fish food to help protect from these worms.  Pond salt can also help ward off diseases and pathogens.  Safe, natural treatment products can also help to ensure the strong health of your fish as spring begins.

Wait until the water temperature is consistently above 50 degrees before you begin feeding your fish again.  You should feed them a type of food that is formulated for the spring and fall seasons and continue to give them this food until the water temperature is consistently in the 60s.

You should not forget about the plants that you brought into your house from the pond at the end of last season.  As the water temperature reaches the 50s, you should begin fertilizing them.  If they are getting too crowded in the pots they were placed in, you should divide them to ensure that they reach their maximum growth and flowering potential.

Spring is the time of year when many things come back to life, including your pond.  By using the information above, you can ensure that your pond returns to its active form quickly and without any major problems so that your fish and plants can once again populate your pond without incident.

Clear and healthy pond

In order to maintain a pond of healthy fish, it is essential that you keep your pond water healthy and clear.  There are several factors you must pay attention to and maintain in order to achieve this.

Many people make the mistake of overfeeding their fish.  It is suggested that you only feed your fish twice a day for 3-5 minutes, whatever they can eat in that amount of time.  Any food that they do not eat should be removed immediately afterwards.  Leaving leftover food in the pond will lead to the accumulation of bacteria, which will lead to an explosion of algae, which results in the pond water turning green and a depletion of the oxygen in the water, which can endanger the lives of your fish.

You should add oxygenating plants or submerged plants to your pond.  These plants act as natural filters and remove nutrients from the pond. Algae need nutrients, specifically nitrates and phosphates, in order to reproduce.  Therefore, if there is a higher level of nutrients in the water, there will be more algae.  That is why it would be advantageous for you to have as many oxygenating and submerged plants in the water as possible to keep the nutrient level low, and as a result, the algae level of your pond.  It’s also important to have as many submerged plants as possible because many types of fish tend to eat the submerged plants, but provided there aren’t too many fish, the plants should be able to reproduce faster than the fish are able to eat them.

Adding floating plants to your pond, such as water lettuce, water hyacinths, and water lilies will provide shade for your pond.  This is important because algae need sunlight in order to reproduce.  The shade will inhibit the algae from producing in your pond and turning the water green and cloudy.  Additionally, floating plants will compete with the algae for nutrients in the water, further inhibiting the algae from taking over your pond and endangering your fish.

It is critical that you have the proper equipment to maintain the health of your pond.  You must have a pump and filter that is able to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week continuously.  It is important that you obtain the right size for your pond.  The pump you obtain should at least be able to move the full volume of the water of the pond each hour.

It is a good idea to fill the bottom of your pond with smooth river gravel or pebbles, as beneficial and helpful bacteria will grow on the gravel and pebbles.  You want these bacteria to be present, as they help to digest fish waste and plant matter that settles to the bottom of the pond and decays.  Fish waste can throw off the delicate pH balance of your pond due to the ammonia that it gives off, making the water more basic (i.e. pH level rises), which allows algae to flourish in your pond more easily and harder for your fish to survive.

In addition, EcoBio-Block nsM and/or EcoBio-Block Wave can help to clear your pond of cloudy pond water and fill your pond with helpful bacteria that will maintain the health of your pond and fish.  Its special formula maintains clear pond water, decomposes organic matter, reduces the need for water changing, quickly establishes nitrifying bacteria, removes odors, is easy to use, safe for your fish, and produces results in as little as 2-6 weeks.

Maintaining a clear and healthy pond is essential for the long-term survival of your fish.  Algae is the primary nemesis to the long-term survival of your fish, as they take up most of the nutrients and the space in the ponds.  The best ways to combat the growth of algae is through reducing the nutrients in the water with floating plants and submerged plants, only feeding your fish a few times a day and removing any excess food, having the right pump and filter for your pond, and utilizing EcoBio-Block products to increase the number of nitrifying bacteria and maintaining the healthy pH levels of your pond.  By doing these things, you can have a beautiful looking pond with a healthy complement of fish in it for a long time to come.

Aquarium with Green Algae

Of all the irritating and unpleasant things that can happen to an aquarist, nothing is more likely to ruin his disposition and destroy his faith in the essentially benign purposes of nature than green water, particularly when it occurs, as it usually does, in a tank he is especially proud of or for some reason wants to watch closely.

The writer recalls vividly his own initial experience with this condition. He observed one morning that the water in his prize aquarium had lost its usual transparency. The next day it had a slightly green tinge. By the end of the week the contents of the tank had completely disappeared in a fog of pea soup, which the strongest light would not pierce. Hoping the condition was temporary and would clear itself up, he postponed doing anything about it, as the tank was a large one and cleaning it out would be no small job.

Finally deciding that further waiting was hopeless, he drew off all the water he could without removing about a hundred and fifty fish and replaced it with clear water. The improvement that resulted lasted only a few hours, and three days later the condition was worse than ever.

On the advice of more experienced friends the light was then cut down. The only result, after forty-eight hours, was to bring the fish to the surface gasping for air. Salt was added, likewise on the advice of friends. Effect-none. Other suggested remedies were tried without any improvement whatever, and finally the tank had to be cleaned out completely, washed, replanted and gotten off to a new start.

Following this experience an investigation was made which disclosed the following interesting facts:
Water everywhere in indoor aquariums as well as outdoor ponds, etc., is constantly receiving air borne spores of algae, yeasts, molds and other bacteria. When the water contains appreciable percentages of dissolved or suspended organic matter, the spores develop into bacteria, which break down this matter into its component salts. These salts are the food of plants, and when there is sufficient actively growing plant life in the aquarium the salts are absorbed by the plants practically as fast as they are formed. Under these conditions an aquarium is “balanced” and the water remains sweet and clear indefinitely.

When, however, the salts referred to are formed faster than the plants can absorb them, the algae spores (which in effect are microscopic plant seeds) find a foothold and tiny microscopic plants which swim about in the water develop in prodigious numbers. These algae take up the excess salts and keep the water sweet, but unfortunately they also create an unsightly appearance. Moreover they compete with the higher plants in the aquarium, robbing them of both food and light. In time the higher plants will succumb, leaving the algae in full possession.

It will be seen therefore that the development of green water arises in the first place from an unbalanced condition in the aquarium. The decay and dissolution of an undue quantity of uneaten food, dead snails, fish, plant leaves, excrement, etc., leads to a high bacterial content (indicated by cloudy or ill smelling water) which produces more food than can be consumed by the plant life present in the tank. The algae step in and the tank becomes green.

Cutting down the light kills the algae, removing the effect without touching the cause. This is true of any other remedy which merely kills the algae. The sudden death and rapid decomposition of a quantity of algae may foul the tank and kill the fish. The only logical, safe and permanent remedy for green water is to reduce the amount of decomposing organic matter in the tank or increase the number of plants. This means:

1. Find out whether the excess is caused by too many fish.
2. If not, watch your feeding and siphon off the bottom dirt more frequently.

Close attention and careful monitoring of your tank conditions should keep your aquarium clear and algae free. Products that increase beneficial bacteria in your tank, like the EcoBio-Block will help to keep your tank water “balanced” for 1.5 to 2 years and are added protection against “algae bloom”.