Fish

[Primarygun]

Any of you has fish at home?

Can you tell me more about it ? How to remove the chlorine in water?

How can I find some micro-organism for the fish to eat?

What does fish mainly eat? Why there is a lot of microogranism on the surface of algae?

[YT2095]

the tap water chlorine will come out on it`s own eventualy anyway, that`s why it`s good to leave the tank with the water and an air stone running for a good 24 hours before introducing any fish, Ammonia will be the long term problem from the fish poo.

as for Algae small amounts of Potassium permanganate will keep it at bay failing that get an algae eater plecotomus(sp?).

as for food and other treatments, any good pet shop will be able to advise you, there`s specialy made flakes for each type of fish, with all the needed proteins and minerals etc...

avoiding direct sunlight will cut down on the algae problems too

[Gilded]

Lol, remember to never put fish that don't come along well in the same tank. My friend had a psycho fish who killed all the other fishies. :<

[Mokele]

Well, I *technically* have about 40 fish. I say "technically", because they exist merely as a food source for a large, aquatic amphibian, an eel-like salamander called a siren. However, the way you keep aquatic amphibians is mostly the same as fish, except for food. I'd think you can just buy fish food for it at any pet store.

 

The major things in a fish tank are:

1) water

2) what's in the water.

 

For water, I just buy spring water. Don't use distilled water, as that'll suck the minerals right out of your fish and kill it.

 

As for everything else, you've got two things to worry about: Oxygen and ammonia. Oxygen is easily supplied via an air-stone with an attached pump.

 

The ammonia is the hard part. There are only two real solutions: lots and lots of annoying water changes, or biological filtration. I use the latter, mostly because 2 foot amphibians produce *lots* of waste. The basic gist is that you have a gravel bottom (sometimes with an under-gravel filter that draws water down, through the gravel, before spitting it out on the surface), and bacteria lives in the gravel. The bacteria turn the amonia into nitrite, which another group of bacterai turn into nitrate. The nitrate can be used by any aquarium plants to fuel their growth. I resorted to pothos (a common house plant), because aquarium plants are just too delicate for my animal, but most pet stores should have enough plants for your needs.

 

My tank needs only minimal maintenance, thanks to the biological filtration, but it took me weeks and over $100 to get it set up. Now, it won't take you anywhere *near* that, because unless you've got one hell of a big fish, your tank will be a lot smaller and the waste will be a lot less. But the effort really pays off in the long run.

 

Mokele

[Primarygun]

spring water

What's that?

[Primarygun]

The gravels are silicon dioxide which can be obtained in beach?

Is that good for me to put the gravel at the bottom in a ecosphere?

Thanks everyone, before your helps, I only thought of the problem of chlorine and the lack of oxygen in water which affect the health of fish.

[YT2095]

yes if washed and sterilised, you can use beach sand, but go through it with a strong magnet 1`st, iron particles will be plentiful and you don`t want that.

 

spring water (bottled water) is natural fresh water that comes from underground springs, it contains lots of good minerals (and usualy has an assay on the side of the bottle telling you what percentage of each are present).

[Gilded]

"yes if washed and sterilised, you can use beach sand, but go through it with a strong magnet 1`st, iron particles will be plentiful and you don`t want that."

 

That would have to be a reeeeally strong magnet. We're talking captures-all-paper-clips-within-mile-range sort of magnets, or are we?

[Sayonara]

http://www.firebox.com/index.html?dir=firebox&action=product&pid=909

[Gilded]

I go temporarily insane when people say "this magnet is t3h l33t!" and don't give any value of the actual power (that one looks like it's at least N45 though).

 

I think there were N52 (or about 1.45 teslas) magnet for sale somewhere... I find 1.45 teslas a reasonable power for a rather small magnet, as resonance imaging is about 4 teslas.

 

Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, you can get N52 from lots of places.

[YT2095]

the magnets I use are taken from Magnetrons from broken microwave ovens, they`re by no means as strong as NIB types, but they`re nice and large (easy to handle) and have more than enough feild to atract tiny particles such as Iron and its oxides, nickel cobalt and manganesse

 

certainly to a level sufficient for fish well being

[Primarygun]

What happens to the fish if the water is milky with some sand precipitates?

[YT2095]

that`s why it`s best to totaly wash the sand off in the 1`st place, to get rid of any tiny particulate matter that can stay in suspension.

it will eventualy settle, but better to have washed it 100% in the 1`st place.

[Primarygun]

After washing, are the bacteria removed?

[YT2095]

alot of it yes, that`s why it has to be sterilised, that removes the rest of them

or at least a good 99.999% of them.

[Mokele]

Of course, sand without bacteria is useless, but very particular bacertia is needed. But you can buy those at any fish store.

 

However, why screw with the sand when you can just buy aquarium gravel and dump it right in?

[DandyGurl]

Not to muck up your thread but how do I get on this site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can post but no new threadsss errrr...

[Aardvark]

Not to muck up your thread but how do I get on this site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can post but no new threadsss errrr...

 

 

Go to the bottom of the page, when you have a list of threads to choose from. There is a button 'new thread'. Click on it.

[Primarygun]

The function of sand is to provide bacteria to digest faeces, isn't it ?

[Mokele]

Yes, and the same for gravel. However, both need to be sterile, or mostly so, to prevent unwanted bacteria. You can buy the right bacteria at a fish store in a bottle.

 

Either sand or gravel works, but I prefer gravel, because I can use an under-gravel filter to draw water through it, improving the effectiveness of the bacteria.