A Schedule For Your Child’s Fish Tank Maintenance

February 10th, 2010 | Author: Leonard Boyler

Fish tend to be the first pets parents allow their children to have. The fish themselves require a lot less work than a dog, but the aquarium still needs a good deal of attention. It is important to teach your children aquarium maintenance from an early age so it becomes part of their routine. It is the only way to have happy, healthy fish.

If you are going to invest in an aquarium at all, get a bigger one. They are certainly more expensive than the tiny little bowls and not as easy for a child to care for. However, the bigger the tank, the healthier the fish. And as long as the child can help out as you clean the tank, it will still build good habits. The bigger the tank, the more water is needed. The more water you need, the less of the percentage of contaminant. A drop of poison in a swimming pool is very different than a drop of poison in a glass of water.

Larger tanks also mean you can have more fish. While you may want to start your child out slowly and make sure they can tend to a single fish, the death of a single fish may be overlooked by the child and the other fish if it is just one among several. Also, the difference between one fish and ten is small because the start-up costs are almost always for the tank, not for the fish.

The reason why a bigger tank and more fish are important to tank maintenance is because the aquarium has its own tiny ecological system. You want to keep it as normal and natural as possible. The fewer fish you have, the more likely that a sick or dead fish will upset the balance.

Tank maintenance depends on several factors. The leading factor is what kind of fish you have: salt or fresh water. Fresh water fish tend to be less exotic and may lower the costs of your equipment. Salt water can be a great and rewarding challenge, but may not be a good option for kids just starting out. It is just one more factor you have to check and maintain.

Apart from the system, which you should discuss and decide upon with the sales associate at the pet store, the system should be cleaned every two weeks. That is how often the water should be changed. You should be taking some out and replacing it with new. Usually between ten and thirty percent is sufficient. Once again, a tank is not the same as an open body of water. Contaminants will infiltrate because there is only so much water to deal with. You can reduce water changes and create a healthy ecosystem with the new EcoBio-Block products. They are volcanic blocks which contain beneficial bacteria which multiply in the block and then populate your fish tank, breaking down toxins, clarifying cloudy water, and eliminating odors.

The gravel at the bottom of the tank can be a pit for fish excrement and unnoticed food. It needs to be vacuumed occasionally. Check the filters every couple of weeks or so. You can also check the pH occasionally, but most fish can tolerate pretty wide extremes of pH levels as long as they are not suddenly changed.

The filter, apart from being checked every day, should have inserts replaced once a month. Count your fish every time you feed them and observe behavior. Fish have been known to bully one another and hoard food. This is behavior you want to discourage, and you may even have to put some fish in a different tank.

Discover the correct aquarium maintenance for your home setup. Check into EcoBio-Block to help with the job. Head online and learn more today.

categories: pets,fish,aquarium,fish tank,aquarium maintenance,aquarium fish,aquarium care

Subscribe To Site: