Category Archives: Aquaria

Crustaceans and larvae as fish food

by Rita

We are all concerned about our food. We extend that concern to our pets. Most of us want our cats and dogs to be healthy, so don’t forget your fish are also living creatures and need to have healthy diets as well. In a natural environment fish can swim around finding areas rich in natural foods. In an aquarium fish rely on the aquarist to provide the essential foods.

An easy and probably the most common way to provide food for your fish is a commercial preparation. The food is packaged in a neat container that can be sprinkled into the fish tank aquarium a couple of times a day. Too often an aquarists will feel that the prepared food is enough. Granted the prepared food is easy and does provide many of the needed nutriments, but live food, and the proper foods for the breed of fish, will result in a healthier fish population. Healthy fish are less prone to diseases and are essential if you expect to have breeding fishes.

Here is a short list of crustaceans and larvae commonly used by fish owners.

INFORSORIA – a group of protozoan animalcules that depend upon decaying organic matter for their sustenance. By breaking down some vegetable matter in water, a culture of infusorians can be started. When the water becomes cloudy the culture is ready to be fed to the fry. There are tablets of powdered infusorians and pressed vegetable matter that break down rapidly in water.

BRINE SHRIMP- newly hatched brine shrimp. About 1950 it was discovered that the eggs of Brine Shrimp could be gathered then dried or frozen. The dried eggs can be reconstituted and hatched later. The frozen shrimp do not hatch but are an excellent food for fry and bottom feeders.

DAPHNIA and BOSMINA– small crustaceans, sometimes called water fleas, found in partly stagnant waters where there is an abundance of decaying vegetable matter. When conditions are right, swarms of them can be found near the banks. Care needs to be taken when gathering them. Collecting too many at one time may cause their death.

MOSQUITO LARVAE – just what it sounds like, larvae of the mosquito. Larvae and egg rafts can be found in and on almost any still water source. There is the risk of having some of the larvae maturing into an adult mosquito.

There are many other crustacean and larval foods available to aquarists. In future posts I will cover more larvae, worms and other foods.

Aquarium background

In the “good old days” most aquaria were constructed differently than they are today.  To build a watertight glass sided container it was necessary to have strips of material, usually metal, at the edges and the corners.  The glass was held in place with glue or caulk.  Sometimes as the tank aged the caulk would turn dark, crack and ooze out onto the glass.  The sealant would eventually dry out and leak.  Fortunately for the fish, the leaks would be a slow process and an aquarist would have warnings before it was necessary to replace the tank.

Today fish tanks are built with strong epoxy glues eliminating the need for the corner strips.  The unencumbered look is well liked by most aquarium owners but it does present the aquarist with a problem.  In the past the unsightly tangle of tubes and cords that are associated with a working aquarium could be partially hidden by the side strips.  In order to add interest and help hide unsightly tubing an aquarium background is often used.

Hiding tubes and cords is not the only reason to use aquarium backgrounds.   Background scenes can add color or set a theme for the tank.  The right background can add depth to an aquarium.  A mood or theme can be established by using the appropriate background.

Usually a background comes as a sheet of printed-paper the size to fit your aquarium.  The sheet is then attached to the tank either by a peel and stick or by an edge adhesive. There are also contoured sheets of plastic that can be fitted to the inside of the tank.  The contoured sheets provide interest and can help eliminate the need for other aquarium ornaments.  Occasionally a skilled craftsman will make an insert that can be placed in the tank.   If you choose to build a background for your aquarium, keep in mind that the materials you use should be safe for aquarium use (see a post about the importance of basic water quality).

Buying a background sheet can be relatively inexpensive. They can be ordered from fish supply houses or picked up at a local pet store.  If so desired, moods and themes can be changed often. Be imaginative. Why not let a child draw a picture and glue it to the aquarium?  Another way to personalize the scene could be done by clipping pictures of family members and gluing them onto the background. Imagine the fun of having Uncle Fred waving to you from behind a bolder.  The possibilities are endless.

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Aquarium gravel and water

It wasn’t too many years ago that the home aquarist paid very little attention to the water in an aquarium. Perhaps some of that was due to the fact that most of the water used was collected from ponds or rainwater catch. Now most of us get our water from our water taps. The water has been processed to insure that it is safe for us to drink. Our safe drinking water is not necessarily the best water for fish. Chlorination is usually part of the water cleaning process. That and other chemicals added to our tap water can be stressful and even fatal to some fish.

Fish cannot survive in waters that are too acid or too alkaline. The acidity is measured on a scale that is known as the pH scale, shorthand for potentiometric hydrogen ion concentration. A pH scale starts with the strongest acids measuring pH 1, and ending with the strongest alkali as low as pH 14. In the wild, waters that harbor fish can a range from an acidic pH of 4 to a basic pH of 9. Most home aquaria should be kept near a neutral pH of 7 unless the specific species you have require something else.

There are ways to measure the pH of the water in an aquarium. The easiest is probably the litmus paper strip. To obtain a reading, dip the paper strip into the water and compare the color of the paper with a chart. This is a fast and easy method but can be inaccurate. The chemically treated paper can be affected by age and storage conditions.

A better and more accurate way to test the water is to obtain a kit that provides a vial and indicator chemicals. Water is collected in the vial and then the chemicals are added. The water changes color to indicate the pH.

Besides the source of the water there are other factors that can affect the pH and the degree of hardness of the water (DH). The aquarium ornaments we add to our tanks can slowly leach out calcium and magnesium salts. The ornaments include aquarium gravel, stones, or metals that are place in the water.

Prevention and cure of a pH or DH problem starts with using only aged water. That is water that has been collected and allowed to sit in a loosely covered pail for a day or two before adding it to the aquarium. Another preventative step is to buy aquarium gravel approved for aquarium use by being pH and DH tested. Rocks and stones should be of a non-metallic nature and free of limestone.

Before placing anything in an aquarium it should be washed and allowed to soak in clear water for a few days. The water should be tested before and after the soaking. If the pH or DH changes discard the object or try treating it with a mild solution of Hydrochloric acid then rinse thoroughly. Try the soaking and testing again. Your fish will thank you.

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Experiences in setting up a home aquarium

My aquarium experiences started off as something of an accident. My partner and I were given a 5-gallon fish tank with a simple over the side fiberglass filter. The tank also included a few guppies and mollies.

We set up the tank on a small aquarium stand near our eating area. It turned out that the tank became our mealtime TV. We could watch the fish swim and eat while we ate our evening meal. The slow movement through the water was accented by the mating chase and the territorial disputes. It was exciting the first time we saw a baby fish being born. It was just as moving to see that same baby fish become fish food.

Knowing very little about having an aquarium we also knew very little about how to best keep our newborn fish alive. One store suggested we use a breeding cage. The idea of the breeding cage is to place the mother inside a mesh cage or trap that would permit her to give birth. The babies would fall through the cage openings and the mother would not consume them. As you can easily imagine, this only protected the fry from the birthing mother and not from the other fish. In order for that method to be effective it would require that each mother have a tank of her own until she was finished giving birth. That did not sound like a workable idea for us.

Similar to the cage is a breeding plate. This is a mesh plate that is inserted into a tank slightly above the aquarium gravel. The idea is that the fry can fall below the plate and have a protected area to start their life. We did not like the appearance of the plate and it made cleaning the gravel impossible. For a breeder who wanted to collect young fish and didn’t care how the tank looked this might be a good method of separating newborns from adults.

Another suggestion was to have lots of plants for the fry to be dropped in or near. They could then hide and avoid being eaten by all the bigger fish. This idea at least was workable. In our ignorance we planted the whole bottom of the aquarium in plants. The plants were not properly anchored down and soon we had one of the biggest floating gardens I have ever seen. All we could see was the floating garden, no fish. With a little practice, observation and a bit of advice from knowledgeable shop owners we learned the proper balance of plants to fish and other aquarium ornaments.

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