Aquarium FAQ:
Frequently
Asked Questions
by
Josh Day
What
is the nitrogen cycle?
The nitrogen cycle,
or cycling process, is the nitrification of your aquarium where beneficial
bacteria form to consume the harmful types of nitrogen. When you begin
a new tank, you will go through the nitrogen cycle. Fish waste and
uneaten food break down into the first phase of nitrogen, ammonia.
This is the most toxic to fish and gets dangerous at even low levels.
For the good bacteria to begin to grow, there must be some level of
ammonia.
Unfortunately,
one usually becomes aware of the nitrogen cycle after a tank has been
set up and stocked. Fish begin to show signs of disease or die mysteriously,
and your tank has only been up for three days! 90% of the time this
is due to high levels of ammonia poisoning your fish to death.
There is hope,
however. Change out 10 to 20 percent of your water daily. This
removes some of the ammonia and the new water helps the fish get through
the nitrogen spike. Contrary to what you may read elsewhere on the
Internet, water changes are a must during the cycling period (unless
you're fishless cycling) and do not prolong the process. The
ammonia is being colonized in the gravel, on the glass, in your filter
bed, and even on your plants. Changing water does not impact the growing
good bacteria.
Once a sufficient
group of bacteria has formed, the ammonia is transformed into nitrite.
This is a byproduct of the ammonia-eating nitrobacters, the good bacteria.
Nitrite is also bad for fish but not as deadly as ammonia. Nitrite
affects your fish's ability to regulate oxygen, so you may see your
fish gasping for air, hanging out near the filter return, or appear
red around the gills or just plain listless. Adding a small dose of
aquarium salt is a temporary solution for nitrite and can help your
fish get through the spike. Once again, water change, water change,
water change.
To review, fish
waste + uneaten food = ammonia, which then = nitrite. Elevated ammonia
always follows elevated nitrite. Though not as lethal, nitrite is
bad news.
The finish line
in the nitrification process is to reach 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite
(ppm stands for parts per million and is measured with water test
kits). When both drop to zero, the tank is cycled, and the final form
of nitrogen is present.
This is called
nitrate.
Nitrates are only
removed with water changes. They are not deadly unless in extreme
quantities, and a healthy freshwater aquarium always has some level
of nitrates.
Do I need
test kits?
If you want to
keep a successful fish tank, then the short answer is yes. However,
if you're trying to cut costs, then you're probably only interested
in the bare minimum in getting by. Ammonia and nitrite test kits are
absolute musts. pH is also good to have. A nitrate test kit can be
a bit harder to find, and is also more expensive.
What
water should I use?
Generally, plain
old tap water is fine. You must add a water conditioner to remove
the chlorine/chloramine. If you live on well water, obtain a pH test
kit and see where you're at. Mid 6 to 8 should be fine for most fish
as they can adapt. Never use the pH buffer chemicals. They only cause
problems and make water changes super complicated.
Unless you're
keeping a marine tank or trying to breed discus, I do not recommend
reverse
osmosis water. All the minerals and trace elements have been removed.
Also, the pH is 6.0, and if you ever do a water change with regular
tap water, you'll have a huge fluctuation.
How
many fish can I keep in my tank?
Often 1"
per gallon is quoted, but this is only a rule of thumb. Many variables
come into play here, including the size and dimensions of your tank,
whether it has live plants, and what kind of fish you're stocking.
1 inch of kuhli loach is going to be much less on the bioload than
1 inch of goldfish. Larger fish make more waste than small fish, and
generally, you can overstock when you're keeping small schooling fish
like tetras. To give you some idea, I keep over 20 small schooling
tetras and kuhli loaches in my densely planted ten gallon tank. I
also keep countless guppies in my java moss-planted three gallon.
Live plants consume nitrate, and thus you can stock more small fish.
Is
my guppy pregnant?
I'll go out on
a limb and say yes. If a female guppy was in the same tank as a male,
chances are good she's knocked up. Look for the black or brown spot
in her abdomen. This is called the gravid spot and is always present.
It is larger when the guppy is pregnant, and her whole abdomen expands
as she gets closer to giving birth.
Can
I keep bettas in a community tank?
This depends.
Female bettas generally make good community fish. They are slow swimmers,
and if they are aggressive, most fish can outswim them. Some females
tolerate other females, some do not. It all depends on the fish.
Under no circumstances
should you keep more than one male betta in any given tank.
I've had luck
keeping male bettas with schooling tetras. Fish that should not be
kept with male bettas are guppies, angelfish, gouramis, or any slow-moving
fish with a long tail. Also avoid barbs and other nippy fish.
I
saw freshwater crabs at the LFS. Can I put one in my tank?
Fiddler
crabs need access to air and are escape artists. They also do
best in a brackish water aquarium, that is a tank with a specific
gravity (salinity measurement) of 1.008. They can be kept in freshwater,
but in many cases they will only live 2-6 months. You must provide
them a way to get above the water, and the aquarium must be completely
covered. Otherwise, they will escape every time.
There are also
red claw crabs. These are sold as freshwater crabs, but this is open
to debate as well. Some people say they are brackish, some say they
are totally fresh. My advise would be to research each school of thought
and make an educated decision on what is best for your crab.
Do
cory cats need to be in a school?
Well, they don't
need to school per se, but they clearly do better in numbers. Two
or three is a good number of cories. This is the same with clown loaches,
but I've seen both cories and clowns kept singly.
Copyright ©
2007 Josh Day
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