Be sure to check weekly for critical water parameters including ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels. Your aquarium maintenance professional can teach you how to use dip test trips that provide nearly instantaneous results, teach you what the results mean, and how to correct any imbalances.
Human skin has a thin layer of moisture and oil called an acid mantle. This envelope helps protect the skin from bacterial infection. Fish have something similar, but their layer of protective film is made up of slime.
Did you realize that with a saltwater aquarium, bigger is often better. The larger the tank happens to be, the more slowly negative changes like temperature fluctuations are likely to occur.
While the basic concepts are similar, freshwater, saltwater, and reef aquariums require different maintenance schedules and procedures. Reef tank inhabitants, for example, tend to be far more susceptible to small variations in lighting, temperature, and water movement and quality.
It’s important to remember that the type of aquarium you would need for freshwater fish won’t necessarily be the same as it would be for saltwater fish. If you aren’t quite sure how to set up a different type of tank, we’re always happy to provide guidance.
Do you know how to remove trapped air from canister filters? The easiest way to do it is to raise the spray bar out of the water. Doing this will allow the trapped air to escape. This should be done anytime maintenance is performed on the filter.
According to some sources, observing an aquarium has significant health benefits. Nearly 30 years of scientific studies indicate blood pressure levels and stress-induced tension tend to decline for those who spend time looking at an active, well-maintained aquarium.
Did you know that the Roman Empire was one of the first cultures to bring fish indoors? In ancient Rome, the sea barbel was brought in and kept in small tanks that were made of marble.
Fish make great pets for seniors who want some companionship but may not be up to all of obligations of caring for a dog or cat. Living with an aquarium filled with fish offers care and upkeep that is much easier to handle.
It can be easy to think that you need a heater for every aquarium, but it depends on the fish you have. For example, goldfish survive much better in cold water, so skip the heater, keep them away from windows, and give them a tank with a good filter.
While we all want to provide a clean and healthy environment for the fish we keep, dealing with the aquarium can be time-consuming. Let us take this important task off your shoulders.
Are you wondering if you should set up a freshwater or a saltwater aquarium? Some expert hobbyists recommend starting with freshwater fish to gain some valuable experience about fish care and maintenance. A freshwater aquarium setup is about half as expensive as a saltwater aquarium.
One of the most important things in aquarium maintenance involves keeping a healthy waste free environment. Indeed, this is easily accomplished with one small step: simply feed your fish only what it can eat in a single 2-minute meal. This will keep the aquarium water from fouling prematurely.
Swordtail Fish Species Profile
The Swordtail is perhaps the quintessential community aquarium fish. The time-tested popularity of the Swordtail can be attributed to its ease of care, peaceful temperament, and wonderfully diverse fin and color varieties. The most common Swordtail varieties include: Red Wag, Red Velvet, Marigold, Black Nubian, Pineapple, and Neon Swordtail. The male Swordtail is especially prized for its namesake feature, the showy extension on the lower part of its tail resembling a sword.
The Swordtail requires an aquarium of at least 20 gallons that is well planted with plenty of room for swimming. Because of its peaceful nature, the Swordtail is well suited for the community aquarium. However, the male Swordtail can demonstrate territorial aggression towards other male Swordtails so care should be taken when housing more than one male. Also, the Swordtail is an accomplished jumper, so be sure to provide a secure cover for the aquarium.
The Swordtail is a live-bearing fish related to freshwater aquarium favorites including guppies, mollies, and platys. As such, a female Swordtail can give birth to as many as 80 fry at one time. A spawning box is recommended, or if one is not available, provide dense floating cover to protect the Swordtail fry from potential predation by the adults. Unless it is your intention to breed Swordtails, the male Swordtail fry should be separated once the sex of the fry is determined. The Swordtail can begin breeding as young as three months of age and can quickly overpopulate an aquarium.
The Swordtail is an omnivore that will eat commercially prepared flaked foods and algae as well as freeze dried bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp.
Approximate Purchase Size: 1-1/2" to 2-1/2"
Swordtail fish (Xiphophorous hellerii) are a very popular community aquarium fish. Their popularity stems from their ease of care and peaceful nature. They have quite unique types of fins with a great variety of colors, making them commonly referred to as Red swordtails or Green swordtails. Today, they are bred to achieve various colors and, as a result, great deals of different types exist.
In the wild, swordtails usually have olive green bodies with a red stripe that stretches along the body. Their natural habitat is in Central America and North America, where they were discovered in 1848. Swordtail fish are average size freshwater species; males are typically slightly smaller than females (6.3 inches) and they reach 5.5 inches maximum. They live in groups but are not a schooling fish. One of the things that make them so popular is their hardiness, as they can survive in very diverse environments.
Whether you plan to keep them as a single aquarium species or in a community aquarium, you should know their general needs.
Housing
Swordtail fish are average-size fish; they don’t need very much space due to their size, but given they are very active, they greatly benefit from having enough space to swim around. The minimum tank size for one adult swordtail fish should be at least 15-gallons. However, if you plan to add other fish for good company, plan to house them in at least a 20-gallon aquarium. The best male to female ratio is one male and three or four females. In this way, males won’t overly harass the females, as harassment will be evenly distributed. Swordtails are great jumpers so consider covering your aquarium in order to prevent possible suicide attempts.
Water parameters
Swordtail fish are sturdy tropical fish that can tolerate a wide range of water temperatures. They should do fine in any water temperature between 70 - 82⁰Fahrenheit. Even though they are adaptable and quite durable, avoid sudden and violent temperature drops in temperature, as this can harm your fish and make their immune system vulnerable.
Swordtail prefer very hard water from 12–30 dGH and an ideal water pH anywhere between 7.0 and 8.4. In general, they prefer moderately alkaline, hard water.
Always take care that your water is properly filtrated. If you set your filtration system right, the water parameters will stay strong. Always keep track of water parameters so you can react and prevent possible complications. Your fish will then happily thrive and live to full potential.
Feeding
Swordtail fish will accept a wide variety of foods. You can give them quality flake food or live foods like bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, or fruit flies, as they will eat virtually anything.
Swordtail fish eat a lot of algae and other vegetation in their natural habitat. Don’t neglect their need for proper herbivorous food. Make sure to give them an ideal mix of protein and vegetation in order to perfectly satisfy their exact diet needs.
Tank mates
Swordtail fish are a peaceful and active species. They are very social and enjoy good company, especially when housed with other swordtails or similar passive species. The swordtail fish can make a great companion in similar cousins, such as platies, mollies, or angelfish. Peaceful types of corydoras are also great as their companions. Some larger types of tetras can be great, too, but keep them in schools of five or more to prevent possible harassment.
Male swordtail fish are almost always aggressive towards other males of the same species. If your tank isn’t huge, you should definitely opt to keep only one male along with two or three females in one tank.
Breeding
As livebearers, the swordtail fish are great at breeding efficiently and very quickly, without any intervention from the aquarist. Once a swordtail female has been impregnated, you should clearly see a huge belly with a dark gravid spot near the anal fin.
Once the fry are born, you should take some protective measures in order to keep them alive otherwise they will be consumed by their parents or other tank mates. You can do this either by adding more plants that will serve as hiding spots for young fry or by physically removing adults (or fry for that matter) from the tank.
The latter is much more efficient, as only some of the young will survive if they are not separated from the adults. When the fry become large enough not to be viewed as food by adults, gently introduce them to your tank.
Tropical fish aquariums contain freshwater fish found in warmer climates, often from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. These fish require temps from 74 to 80 degrees F, and often a heater is needed to maintain this.
Do you know that jellyfish have been around for more than 500 million years? They pre-date dinosaurs! Before you consider adding a jellyfish to your saltwater aquarium, remember that they require many special considerations.
When designing a freshwater or saltwater tank, choosing the right residents can mean the difference between disaster and creating a long-lived community of fish that will interact peacefully and create interest and learning opportunities for you and others.
Fish view the light spectrum differently from most animals -- including humans. Actually, there are some fish, like saltwater reef fish, that can distinguish vivid colors. Others can only see light and dark or black and white.
Every two weeks, be sure to clean off debris, and clean your aquarium’s exterior glass and the lighting fixture to remove mineral build-up. Dust the cords, ensure plugs and tubing connections are in place, and confirm that the aquarium’s system is receiving appropriate ventilation.
When you have a brand new aquarium, add your fish one at a time, doing a partial water change with each new addition. Building up your fish population will take patience and time, as your aquarium must be adjusted with each new fish. Also do not get too many fish, as overcrowding can cause your fish to fight.
Over feeding is one easy way to produce toxins in a fish tank. Care to guess how much food you should provide fish at each feeding? That would be about as much as they can consume in two minutes or so.
Most of the saltwater fish kept in home aquaria are harvested in the wild in foreign locales like the Philippines. Care to guess what percentage of saltwater fish are tank raised? That would be about 10 percent.
We can offer advice on the amount of fish to put into your aquarium. The concern is having too much waste that will affect the quality of the water and quickly lead to unhealthy fish.
