Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

Goldfish are widely thought of as one of the lowest maintenance pets you can find. Goldfish keeping is practically a hassle free hobby. You do not have to worry about taking goldfish out on walks, nor do you have to worry about them chewing your furniture.

Keeping goldfish is popular for another reason as well. Watching goldfish swim around in their aquarium is beneficial due to the calming affect it seems to have on the mind. Goldfish keeping is one of the best ways to release stress and eliminate tension from your life. Watching your goldfish grow and live is surely a pleasurable experience.

Goldfish are an interesting species, which can live for as long as thirty years if proper care is taken of them. With so much to gain from goldfish keeping, the least you could do is look after them well.

In spite of the relative ease of goldfish keeping, mistakes are still made from time to time. However, if you take the time to learn the basics of goldfish keeping and the common problems involved, you and your goldfish are on your way to a long, beautiful friendship.

A. There are a few things you should know about goldfish keeping.

One of the first things you should know is that goldfish are dirty little creatures. They eat constantly and regurgitate much of their food as well as creating quite a bit of waste. They also have a habit of plowing up the bottom of their tanks for food, making the water dirty and muddy looking. Dirty water is harmful and often fatal to goldfish due to an increase in toxins and a decrease in oxygen.

Fortunately, products like EcoBio-Block are available to help reduce the amount of care and maintenance involved in providing a proper home for your goldfish. It contains beneficial bacteria living and multiplying in the block, which work to clarify cloudy aquarium water naturally.

It is important to understand that a goldfish aquarium is a delicate eco- system. Take your time as well as great care when you are setting up your goldfish’s home. You must ensure a proper balance of microorganisms to maintain a healthy aquarium for your beloved goldfish.

The water in your goldfish aquarium should be completely clean in addition to being well-oxygenated. You will need a good filter as well as an air pump. The oxygen in the aquarium will not only help your goldfish, but also the beneficial bacteria that the EcoBio-Block disperses into the water approximately every half-hour.

B. Illness Is Inevitable

Keeping goldfish healthy is generally obtainable through basic aquarium management. All you have to do is make sure the water is clean, appropriately oxygenated and maintaining a proper temperature. Giving your goldfish a good home and feeding it correctly is usually enough to avoid major problems.

However, even in the most diligently managed aquariums, goldfish do get sick from time to time. Fortunately, it is easy to recognize when something is wrong with your goldfish. Here is a list of some of the most common goldfish problems:

• Ichtyopthirius – bad water can lead to this parasite, which causes small salt-like grain on the fins, gills or skin
• Fin Rot – parts of your goldfish’s tails and fins will appear to be wasting away
• Fungus – a bacterial infection that strikes weak or injured goldfish in a poorly maintained aquarium
• Constipation – can occur from improper feeding

If left untreated, these problems may be fatal to your goldfish. However, if you notice something is wrong with your goldfish and it is promptly treated with the right care, goldfish will usually make a full recovery.

Waterlily

Did you know that plants are an essential element of the ecological system of your pond? Water plants are also an important part of the maintenance of your pond. If you haven’t planned to have plants in your pond, you might want to rethink that decision.

Many people do prefer the rather stark look in pond design, and are very happy with a no-live-plant pond. However, if you do not have plants in your pond, it will soon become full of algae, which is not a pretty sight. The reason for this is that algae vie with the plants for all of the different nutrients that are in the water.

Plants are beautiful, and they can do even more for your pond if you do decide to use them. A varied selection of plants in your pond will help to filter the water by turning the fish waste into food for the plants. Plants will also provide oxygen for your fish, and by covering the surface of the water, will protect your plants from predators. By having plants in your pond, your fish will have a perfect habitat for spawning.

Aquatic plants perform many essential jobs while at the same time adding beauty to your pond. In the daytime, the plants in your pond take in carbon dioxide, and then release oxygen into the air. At night, water plants do the exact opposite, and take in oxygen, then release carbon dioxide into the air.

Mother Nature has her own system for making pond water that has become cloudy clear again, and for purifying water in general. This is done in nature via the use of beneficial bacteria. The bacteria break down the organic waste that any pond naturally will have, and then returns it back from whence it came. You can give Mother Nature a boost by using EcoBio-Block nsM, a product that makes use of this system of nature. The beneficial bacteria live and multiply in the block, and keep your pond populated with beneficial bacteria that will make your pond‘s environment clear and healthy.

The EcoBio-Block nsM and EcoBio-Block Wave does not take the place of plants. Nor does it take the place of proper pond maintenance. What it will do is cut down on the amount of maintenance that your pond will need. The block decomposes organic matter, which clarifies the water in your pond so that it is beautiful and clear, while eliminating odors . The nitrifying bacteria in the Eco-Bio Block nsM establishes itself quickly in new pond setups as well as in ponds that have been in place for some time.

You’ll find that the Eco-Bio Block nsM is easy to use. All you must do is rinse the block well and soak it in a container overnight, then place it in your pond near anywhere the water is flowing. An Eco-Bio Block nsM will give you more than 2 years of improved water quality in your pond. Since the Eco-Bio Block nsM was originally used in Japan to clear up pollution in rivers, canals, and even the ocean, it will do an amazing job for you in your backyard pond.

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:”