Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

Using an aquarium vacuum for partial water change

One of the first things a novice aquarium owner hears from fish-keeping friends and/or pet store personnel is the need for partial water changes of about 20 percent every few weeks, preferably on the same day of the week so as to have a set interval each time. This news may cause the new owner of an aquarium some apprehension, as they look at the size of their tank and try to figure out just how they are going to change the water without making a big mess.

You have tank owners who do this the hard way. They catch their fish, which can often take a while, and place them in a bucket already filled with water from the tank. Next, they dip out all the water by hand, using a bucket or some other container to do so. They then remove all of the wet, often smelly gravel by hand as well.

By the time the inside walls of the aquarium are spotless, the filter has been cleaned, the gravel rinsed clean, and the water replaced either by walking back and forth from the nearest faucet with a heavy bucket of water, splashing it here and there, or by pulling a garden hose inside, the typical aquarium owner is exhausted.

Other tank owners take a shortcut, which eliminates a good portion of the tank maintenance work. They make use of an aquarium vacuum when they take care of their partial water changes every 21 days or so. The typical aquarium vacuum attaches to a faucet indoors or out, and removes the water with the help of the water pressure from the faucet.

A tube is attached to one end of the aquarium vacuum, and can be pushed into deep gravel to suck out all the mulm waste and uneaten food, leaving cleaner gravel behind. Typically, the entire gravel bed is cleaned in this manner, then the filter medium is changed, and water is re-added to the aquarium.

There are some people who are new to the hobby of keeping fish that assume if taking 20 percent of the water out of the tank, then doing a partial water change of 50 percent or more would be even better. Unfortunately, these folks learn the hard way that removing too much water from an aquarium is not a good thing to do.

Aquarium water has a different chemistry after fish have lived in it for a period of time. Uneaten fish food and the waste products excreted by the fish cause these changes. The fish get used to the water chemistry. When too much of this ìlived inî water is removed, the fish cannot cope with the change, and become quite stressed. The weaker fish will die, often just a short time after they are placed back into the freshly cleaned aquarium. Hardier fish will live longer, perhaps for a few weeks or a couple of months before they also die.

Those uninitiated in fish keeping will swear that their partial water change killed their fish, and harbor the belief that doing partial water changes is not a good thing. They firmly believe that partial water changes should not be done at all if you want your fish to stay alive!

A much easier solution for solving the problem is to make use of the EcoBio-Block family of products. The EcoBio-Block is made from a distinctive type of volcanic rock that has been populated with live, friendly bacteria. These bacteria will grow and reproduce for a two-year period of time as they feed on the uneaten food and fish waste. This helps to keep the water crystal clear and free from odor, and makes frequent water changes unnecessary. You will have much more free time to enjoy the antics of your fish in your beautifully clean aquarium when you use an EcoBio-Block.

It is always exciting to go to a pet shop and choose new fish for your aquarium, especially if you are new to the hobby of keeping fish. Unfortunately, if you do not know how to choose healthy fish, you may face the unwelcome dilemma of death for your chosen fish as well as the other fish in your aquarium. The best way to prevent this is to learn what healthy fish look and act like before you bring them home.

The condition of the pet store itself can give you a good idea as to whether or not the fish they sell are healthy. If it is cluttered, or has a funky odor, the odds are good that the fish will not be bursting with good health. Take a look at the fish tanks in the store. If they are dirty, with cloudy water or algae on the sides, you do not want to purchase any fish! If you see many dead fish, any fish you buy from this merchant will more than likely die as well, for there is obviously some sort of fish disease being passed from one fish to another.

Let’s say you leave this pet store and go to another one in search of your new fish. You walk in, and the surroundings seem to be much cleaner and more orderly than the previous pet store. That’s a good sign, but you also need to take some time to watch the fish as they swim around in their tanks. Watch how they interact with their tank mates. Do any of the fish seem to be sluggish, swimming slowly while other fish zip around them effortlessly? If so, these fish are probably sick, and may soon infect the other fish in the tank.

Spend some time observing the fins on fish that otherwise seem to be healthy. Do you see any tears on the fins? If there are more than one or two tears, they could be an indication of stress or even sickness. Other fish will often bully fish who are becoming weak, which causes the excessive tearing of the fins. The uninitiated may see this bullying in action, feel sorry for the fish, and buy it to rescue it from a bad situation. Don’t make this mistake!

You will also want to make sure to look at the body of the fish you are interested in buying. If you see many missing scales, any sores or odd growths, you are probably looking at a sick fish. If the fish in the tank seem to be sprinkled with tiny white spots, they are suffering from a sick disease known as Ichthyophthirius Multifiliis, or Ich for short. Many people also call this disease Ick. Ich is caused by a protozoan, and is a common fish disease that can be hard to get rid of. Needless to say, if you take home a fish with Ich, your other fish will become infected as well. Take note of the eyes of the fish. They should not be cloudy or bulge out.

Once you get home with your healthy fish, you will want to keep them that way. One of the simplest methods of keeping a fish healthy is making sure their environment is also clean. Partial water changes are usually what are necessary to keep the water in an aquarium clean and the water clear. Instead of having to set aside time out of your busy schedule to complete this necessary task, why not try EcoBio-Block Products?

The EcoBio-Stone sits unobtrusively on the bottom of your aquarium. It is infused with friendly bacteria. These bacteria will keep your water healthy and crystal clear for up to two years. Using one of EcoBio-Block Products is an easy method to make sure that the water in your aquarium is low maintenance.

Saltwater or Freshwater Aquqrium?

You are interested in the hobby of keeping fish, but you cannot make up your mind between a freshwater and a saltwater aquarium. You have heard that saltwater tank care can be difficult, but if your heart is set on owning a few of those bright blue and yellow fish you saw in a magazine, you will want to consider a saltwater tank. If you have had a freshwater tank for a few years, and want a new challenge, then a saltwater tank may be just what you are looking for.

The two main considerations should be the amount of money you wish to spend on your new hobby, and the amount of time you have to spend maintaining your tank. Saltwater tank care is very different from the care required of a freshwater tank, but it does not have to be difficult.

A freshwater tank costs less to set up and to maintain. On average, you can set up a 10-gallon tank and stock it with a few fish for a minimum of $75.00. The fish that will live happily in a freshwater tank are less expensive than saltwater fish. Once you have a freshwater tank up and running with your fish added to it, the maintenance is not all that time consuming. At a minimum, you can expect to keep the water level topped up, add water conditioner, and perform partial water changes on a weekly basis with a freshwater tank. Plan to vacuum the bottom of the freshwater tank and change the filter material once a month. The cost to maintain a freshwater tank for a month, counting fish food and the occasional replacement fish, is probably $20.00 or less.

A saltwater tank can range from being a little expensive all the way up to the “money is no object” range, depending on what you put inside it. The live rocks that go into saltwater tanks can cost you from around $25.00 all the way up to several thousand dollars. It all depends on their size, and on where the live rock originated. Compare these prices to a few bags of aquarium gravel for a freshwater tank, and you can begin to get a better idea of the cost differences.

However, setting up a saltwater tank takes more than just live rocks. You still may want some form of substrate for the tank bottom, a few live plants, a hydrometer to tell you how much salt is in the tank water, and a good filtration system that was made for salt water. A sturdy tank heater and a thermometer that can take the punishment that salt water can dish out are also required.

You will want a powerhead for water movement, a protein skimmer to remove any sort of organic trash from the tank water, and an air pump and external water pump for the protein skimmer. You will also need a couple of boxes of aquarium salt, depending on the size of your tank, and a few various test kits to keep a check on the water. Yes, some of these same accessories are needed for a freshwater tank, but a marine tank generally requires a more heavy-duty form of the chosen item.

Saltwater tank care can take you several hours per week. The water must be tested for salt content every day. The temperature of the tank must be monitored, as well as the water quality. Your live rocks must also be cared for, or they will die. They need a particular form of lighting, and it must be balanced for them to be healthy.

If you want to simplify maintenance, the use of products from the EcoBio-Block family Products can help you to keep the water in any tank, whether saltwater or freshwater, clean and clear. Users of the EcoBio-Block have noticed less trouble with excess nitrates and ammonia spikes as well.

Saltwater tank care seems like a lot of work compared to a freshwater tank. However, a well-maintained saltwater tank is visually stunning, and well worth the time and attention you give to it. Saltwater tank care can be made easier when the proper bacteria and nutrients are added to the water, and the EcoBio-Block can do all this for you.

In the end, the decision between freshwater and saltwater is up to you.

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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The body of every fish is completely covered by a mucus layer known as the slime coat. A fish’s first – and best – defense against disease and parasites lies in the slime coat; it acts much like a human’s top layer of skin by keeping out harmful substances and regulating the fluids within the body. The problem is, this slime coat gets damaged very easily and many beginning aquarists have no idea how crucial it is to keeping fish healthy. While this coating can be somewhat protected and replenished by products that contain aloe, simple treatments will never be enough if you do not take care of the underlying cause of the damage.

The first major cause of damage is simple mechanical damage. Whenever you net a fish, or a fish gets it in its head to attack another fish or it brushes past an artificial plant, that is when the slime coat gets damaged. Often it is only minor scrapes that can heal easily provided no other slime coat hazards are present.

The second major cause is stress. This can be stress from moving, from water changes, or the worst kind…the stress of living in inappropriate water conditions. Make sure your temperature does not vary widely throughout the days and nights; ideally there will be no more fluctuation than about two degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure that your tank is well-aerated; as long as the water surface is moving you have oxygen exchange, but if the fish are often seen at the top “gasping” for air you will need to find a way to further aerate the aquarium.

Of all the inappropriate water conditions, an improperly cycled tank is the most deadly. Coming in second place – an aquarium in which too many fish were added at once. The result: ammonia in the water. Ammonia is the extremely toxic by-product of fish waste and decaying uneaten food, and even at trace levels it will swiftly dissolve the slime coat and kill the fish. To avoid this, be sure to allow a full 36-day cycle to be completed before you add fish, use filter media or a handful of gravel from an established tank, or use a commercial product such as EcoBio-Block that will introduce the necessary beneficial bacteria to the aquarium.

Do regular partial water changes to keep nitrate levels down and remove waste and other organic material, as well as replenish essential minerals in the water that the fish need to survive. If you do not have the time or physical ability to do 2-4 water changes per month, a combination of a strong mechanical filter and an EcoBio-Block can significantly cut down the number of water changes needed. The EcoBio-Block leaches the necessary minerals into the water for up to two years in addition to adding in the beneficial bacteria, so be sure to keep it in the tank if you have one!

As long as you keep your water parameters within healthy limits, handle your fish with care (make sure to soak your nets before using them, dry fibers are much more damaging) and add an aloe-containing product to the aquarium after stressful events or whenever a fish is sick, your aquatic critters should keep a beautiful, healthy slime coat that will greatly reduce their risk of disease and parasites.

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