Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

Having healthy aquarium fish starts with healthy fish food. If you do not give your fish all the nutrients they need to grow and thrive, they are far more likely to become stressed or to fall ill. Once this happens it is only a matter of time before these conditions spread to the other fish in your tank and you may find yourself with an empty aquarium. The key to keeping your fish healthy and happy is to give them a well-balanced, varied diet composed of different kinds of fish foods. Because there are so many different types of fish food available it is actually relatively easy to create a varied diet for aquarium fish.

Dietary Needs of Aquarium Fish

Like all living things, aquarium fish have certain nutritional needs that must be met if they are going to thrive and grow. The basic needs of all aquarium fish include protein, lipids (fats), carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Though all fish have these basic needs, certain kinds of fish require different amounts of certain nutrients. Carnivorous species of fish, for example, may require high-protein diets while herbivorous fish need more vegetables. It is important to keep in mind that you should feed your fish about 3% of their body weight once or twice a day. Because most species of fish are relatively small, this does not add up to a large amount of food. It becomes especially important, then, to feed your fish the right foods if they are to receive all the nutrients they require.

Types of Fish Food

While the most popular type of aquarium fish food – and also the most readily available – is flake food, this type is not necessarily the most nutritious. Generally, processed foods like flakes, pellets and granules lose a high percentage of their nutrients during processing and are thus not recommended as the staple foods in an aquarium fish diet. To keep your fish healthy, supplement a diet of processed foods with live, freeze-dried and frozen foods. Bloodworms, white worms, brine shrimp and daphnia are some of the most popular types of live foods and many of these foods are also available in frozen and freeze-dried forms. If you do choose to feed your fish flake foods, try to choose one that is specially formulated for the type of fish you have or at least select a vitamin- or mineral-enriched formula. Once you have accumulated a variety of fish foods, create a dietary routine – try to give your fish a different type of food each day of the week.

Tips for Healthy Fish

The amount you feed your fish is almost as important as the type of food you give them. If you overfeed your fish they may become obese and large quantities of uneaten fish food will build up along the bottom of your tank. This build-up of uneaten fish food will result in high levels of ammonia in your tank which could put your fish at risk for ammonia poisoning. Limit the amount of food you give your fish to a quantity they can consume in three to five minutes. This will keep your fish from overindulging and it will also reduce the amount of waste build-up in your substrate.

While controlling the amount of food you give your fish is a good way to reduce waste build-up, you cannot eliminate it completely. In order to keep up with your fish and to break down ammonia as it is produced, consider adding an EcoBio-Stone to your tank. These stones are made of porous volcanic sand and are infused with unique nitrifying bacteria. After these bacteria have been introduced into your tank they will multiply and grow, working to convert harmful ammonia into less harmful nitrates. In combination with routine water changes and controlled feedings, EcoBio-Stones are an easy way to keep your fish healthy while also keeping your tank clean and clear.

Variety of aquarium filters

Many people are choosing to have aquariums with many different types of fish in them. Certainly, they are beautiful and relaxing to look at, but it takes some knowledge and work to ensure that your fish remain healthy and that your aquarium looks as good as you envision it will. One of the ways to ensure that it does is by choosing the best aquarium filter for your fish.

Even before deciding upon the filter, you need to decide what type of aquarium you will have. If this will be your first aquarium, it’s advisable that you start with a small aquarium first, as they are a little easier to maintain. Plus, you can always upgrade to a larger aquarium if the need and desire arise later.

Second, you need to carefully consider what filter will work best with your chosen aquarium. The filter is vital equipment, as it removes impurities from the water of your aquarium either via fine physical obstacles or via chemical processes. Choosing the right type of filter now can save you from hours of backbreaking maintenance work later on.

You should consider all three types of filters: biological, chemical, and mechanical.

Wet-dry filters actually employ all three types of filtration systems mentioned above, leading to less maintenance requirements than other types of filters. Wet-dry filters are more expensive, however, so they may not be the best choice for people who have an aquarium for the first time and/or are on a limited budget.

The three types of filters use different types of processes in order to eliminate the impurities in the water and to make the water cleaner and safer for your fish. Biological filters use bacteria to crack ammonia and nitrites.  Chemical filters use activated charcoal in order to eliminate unwanted dissolved wastes from the water. Mechanical filters use filtering particles and filter floss in order to remove impurities from the water.

If you choose to use a biological filter, it’s important to add the filter to the aquarium BEFORE you add the fish. You should also NOT add too many fish to the aquarium too soon, as the bacteria from the biological filter needs time to reduce the ammonia and nitrate levels. Too many fish in the water will cause the biological filter to work overtime, and the bacteria won’t be able to keep up with the increased demand, leading to high ammonia levels and the deaths of your fish.

You can help to make sure that there are enough bacteria in the water by using EcoBio-Block® products, which regularly adds nitrifying bacteria to new aquariums so that the water in your aquarium is safer and more beneficial for your fish. This will keep your water clear and healthy and reduce maintenance work.

One of the best choices of aquarium filters, especially for new and inexperienced aquarium owners, is an undergravel filter. This type of filter is inexpensive and totally keeps out debris from the aquarium. It also pulls water that is rich in oxygen through the gravel to help make the aquarium environment more livable for your fish.

One other type of filtration for you to consider is a sponge filter.  This filter is one that provides both mechanical and biological filtration. It has a large foam rubber (like a sponge) block that is connected to a lift tube or small power head. Water is drawn through the sponge to remove small particles from the water and to help grow bacteria that will keep your pond in great condition for your fish and plants.

Having your own aquarium tank can be a wonderful experience, as the beautiful fish can mesmerize you and your guests for hours. Maintaining the health of your aquarium does take some work, but by choosing the proper filter for your aquarium, you are well on your way to creating a hospitable and beneficial environment for your fish so that they can mesmerize you for hours on end.

Avoid overcrowding and keep your fish healthy

Being an aquarium owner is one of the most rewarding hobbies ever! There are so many different types of fish to choose from, and watching your fish with their striking colors swim about the tank is a pleasure you can enjoy every day.

Some aquarium owners are unaware of the need to prevent overcrowding in their fish tanks, and are unable to tell if their fish are ready for a larger tank.
A novice owner can commit this no-no easily. The fish that they purchased when first starting out in the aquarium hobby may have become too large for their original tank. Enthused about this new hobby, the newbie may have also added more fish than the size of the usual beginner 10-gallon tank can handle. No matter what the circumstances, it does not take long for an overcrowded tank to begin to show signs of trouble as the level of toxins in the water rise.

A high toxin load in your aquarium is definitely going to stress out your fish, and can even kill them if it is allowed to continue for too long. You can try to keep up with partial water changes, which can help the condition of the tank water, but that can be a lot of work.

The overcrowded aquarium requires much more oxygen than the aquarium that is properly stocked and well maintained. This means that the fish in a tank that is too small to house them properly are deprived of the oxygen they need.
If you are dealing with an overcrowded aquarium, then ammonia and nitrite levels should be monitored frequently.

Another aspect of overcrowding is the fact that any diseases or parasites your fish may have will affect every fish in the aquarium in a very short time. All fish have parasites and bacteria on the surface of their bodies. When fish are stressed, they are much more apt to fall victim to either or both.

It can be simple to take care of one or two fish that have developed some sort of fungus, or who are spotted with Ich. However, having a small aquarium full of sick fish is not a pleasant scenario. By the time you are able to get all of the fish out of the aquarium and into a safe place, well over half of them could be dead or dying.

You may think that a larger tank is out of your budget. Ask friends if they have or know of anyone with a spare aquarium in their garage. Watch the classified section of your daily newspaper for used tanks, or even better, look around the online classifieds for your area. You may be lucky enough to find the exact type and size of tank you need

Once you have located what you think would be a suitable tank for your fish, make sure that you have found the size that you need. Freshwater fish will generally need about a gallon of water for every inch. Saltwater fish need one square foot for every three inches, so do keep the proper figures in mind as you shop for a larger tank.

Your larger tank will be a lot of fun to accessorize, but why not make one of those accessories a highly functional one? Placing an EcoBio-Stone L in that new to you, larger aquarium will help to keep the water beautifully clear. This product also gets rid of any funky odors the tank water may have, and can really cut down on the frequency of water changes.