Your Freshwater Fish Aquarium - By: Bob Evanston, Posted on: 2007-07-26

Compared to saltwater fish, freshwater fish are much easier to care for. Freshwater fish are usually hardier. To begin, you will need a correctly set up aquarium, which includes a tank, and rocks or substrate on the bottom of the tank. Also needed is lighting and a filter.

The fish in your tank must be compatible in terms of temperature, P.H. and food requirements. You should also keep in mind a basic fact of nature --fish eat other fish. If this happens, don't be discouraged, but learn from it. You can keep this to a minimum by keeping fish of roughly the same size.

Feed your freshwater fish twice daily; only give them a small quantity of food at a time, what they can consume in around five minutes. Overfeeding, a common mistake made by novice aquarium owners, will cause the excess food to dirty the tank. It's important to keep the water regulated; you should test it weekly, and correct and discrepancies in P.H. and temperature. This will minimize stress to the fish.

Stress is one of the most common causes of illness in fish. Signs of stress are fairly obvious if you consistently monitor the activity and overall well being of your fish. Are any of your fish slow-moving or lethargic? If so, they will require a stress coat, which you can buy at a pet shop.

Change about a third of the water in the aquarium at a time, because this type of change will cause the least amount of disturbance to the fish and other inhabitants. This will need to be done every two to three weeks. Use either a bucket or a siphon to remove the water from the tank. Try to remove any loose or floating debris at this time. When adding the new water to the aquarium, be sure that it is within approximately two degrees of the tank water.

The sides of the aquarium should be scrubbed regularly to remove an algae build up. Again be careful not to disturb the fish. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling the aquarium. Lastly, check the manufacturer's recommendation on filters and change them accordingly. Filters collect any fish waste or left over food. They can't function properly unless they are clean.

Start your aquarium with hardy fish such as danios, barbs, gouramis and live bearers. These kind of fish are able to withstand the higher nitrite levels that are present in a new tank. Before adding fish, check with your pet store or other expert, as acclimation times vary per species. As a rule, do not add more than three or four small fish per week.

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