Aquarium and Fish Care for Beginners

Fish are one of the most problem-free and therefore very common pets. But each animal has its own troubles and problem areas, so the content of fish also has its own nuances. Let's figure out what the care of an aquarium and fish for beginners will turn out to be.

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Aquarium selection

You begin to take care of the fish before they appear - when choosing an aquarium. Yes, this moment can be called the most important and difficult among all. Size, shape, volume - all this should be decided in advance, because the aquarium is the home of your future pets. It is worth carefully considering its layout, as this will depend not only on the convenience of fish living, but also how easy it will be for you to care for the aquarium.

When buying a tank, you should pay attention to the following points:

• The larger your aquarium is, the easier it will be to take care of it. But do not forget that cleaning at least once a month is a must, no matter what size you choose the model.
• The size of the house for fish cannot be chosen in any order, it will be necessary to coordinate it with the future residents themselves, more precisely with their sizes.

Important! For 5 cm fish, 4-5 liters of liquid is enough. Based on these data, be aware of the overall size of the aquarium.

• Pay due attention to the design and decoration of the house - this is also very important, including for yourself. From the design features and decor will depend entirely on how convenient and quick the care of the aquarium will be. In addition, here you also need to know what kind of fish you want, but not by size, but by physiological characteristics. For example, some fish love a lot of thickets and various types of vegetation, and the rest like water.

Important! If you are wondering what should be the care of the aquarium and fish for beginners, then you definitely should not immediately give preference to those types of decorative fish that are particularly demanding of environmental conditions. Do not complicate your life.

• Responsibly choose the shape of the aquarium. Do not buy over-shaped and incomprehensible spacious tanks. First of all, think about how you will wash it. Get a regular rectangular aquarium - and save money and nerves.

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Aquarium decoration

There are many decorations for aquariums, but how do you choose which one is right for you? First, browse the Internet and find out about the living conditions of the fish that you want to run there.

Different stones, soil, films with drawings that are glued to the back wall, algae (live and artificial) - all this is easily accessible and can be purchased at a regular pet store.

Important! It’s worth really trying to make conditions as close as possible to the wild - only then your underwater inhabitants will really take root in it. They should not feel any inconvenience or discomfort. Yes, you will undoubtedly have to spend a considerable amount of effort and money. But these are temporary chores that will end, and they will be replaced by cute fish that will delight the eye and soothe everything after a hard day's work.

Caring for the aquarium will begin from this moment.Before you put anything in it, it is worth disinfecting, because on decorative rocks and stones there are a considerable number of microbes that even boiling water does not kill. That is why aquarists with experience advise to process all new items with potassium permanganate and only then place them in the aquarium.

Important! In no case should you overdo it - if you throw in the aquarium everything that you saw in a pet store, then this will also be of little use. In any case, you need to leave a lot of room for the free swimming of the inhabitants.

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Buying fish

And now the most important and crucial moment is the purchase of the most fish. Here try to pay maximum attention and make maximum efforts. When buying fish, there are also a considerable number of rules that you must adhere to if you want to keep them for a long time:

1. Carefully get the fish one to one if you plan to mix several of their species. There are heat-loving and cold-resistant, predators and civilians, the diet of many fish is also significantly different. Therefore, choosing the inhabitants for the aquarium, it is worth comparing them well with each other.
2. You should not buy fish that require a phenomenal investment of time and energy, because soon you will get tired of such an aquarium care and you will abandon this business. Buy non-hardened, quiet and low-cost water residents.
3. When you choose them in the store, be sure to look at each of the fish, monitor its behavior, ask for food and observe your appetite. Often there are times when a sick fish was sold in the store, which naturally did not get along in another aquarium and soon died, in which the owner blamed himself.

Now, if you have already acquired an aquarium and its inhabitants, let's look at all the problems that you may have during the week, that is, the very same aquarium care for beginners.

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How to feed the fish?

Proper feeding of your pets is already half the battle. Follow these rules here:

1. Feeding them is best at the same time.
2. Before the feeding process, go to the aquarium and gently tap with your nails on it, so the fish will develop a reflex. In the future, each time you choose to do so, they will pop up and wait for food.
3. The most important rule in feeding aquarium fish is not to overdo it. They absolutely have enough to eat 1 time per day. Otherwise - when overfeeding fish, they can float belly up.

Important! Many people ask: what kind of food will be the best to choose - dry, refined, frozen, lively? All this is better to alternate, because the variety in nutrition is a plus not only for people, but also for pets. But be very careful with live food, they can bring some kind of infection into the aquarium.

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Filter aquarium care

Caring for the filter in the aquarium requires an elementary regular cleaning. For this:

1. The sponge inside the filter must be flushed to avoid reducing the flow of water that it can clean.
2. Note that a dirty sponge is much more effective than just bought in a store. The reason for this lies in the fact that bacteria live on the surface of a dirty sponge, which purify water and turn chemicals into natural ones.

Important! Trying to provide the most proper care for the aquarium, do not go to extremes. Running a sponge hard is also not worth it, since a dirty tool reduces the amount of oxygen that is necessary for the life of these bacteria.

3. The frequency of the sponge change depends on the capacity of the internal filter pump. The filter sponge with an average power should be changed every 2 weeks, and with a high one - once a month.
4. No detergent can be used to wash the filter. Normal tap water, which contains chlorine, will help. It perfectly kills all bacteria.

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Replacing aquarium water

Aquarium care is the most important attribute of fish care. First you need the so-called “change” of water. This is not a complete replacement, but only 15-20%.

Important! If you decide not to replace the water at all, but to partially replace it, then you need to do this about once a week, at least. The main objective of the substitution is to maintain the mineral balance.

A complete replacement is the same 100% replacement of water in the aquarium, which must be done once a month.

In order to replace or replace water, it is worth initially preparing it. It is impossible to simply draw water from the tap, since it contains a lot of chlorine.

The rules for caring for the aquarium here are:

1. Water must be passed through a conventional filter.
2. Water should be at room temperature.
3. A couple of days it should settle, only then it can be poured into the aquarium.

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Ground cleaning in the aquarium

The filter, of course, protects the aquarium from pollution, but waste from fish and food particles still remain and lie on the bottom - in the ground. Therefore, it must also be cleaned regularly.

There are special devices for this - siphons. They come in different shapes, sizes, differ in power and price. The principle of operation of this device is that the pressure of the water is directed to the ground and thus cleans even the smallest particles of dirt.

Important! The only negative of this device is the high cost of water.

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Stock footage

Fish are wonderful pets that will always give you a good mood, and all the minor chores related to caring for the aquarium should be done with pleasure, because it's worth it.