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WATER CHANGING/CLEANING YOUR TANK
WHEN TO CHANGE AND/OR CLEAN
After the cycling process I change my water as needed-no set time limit. I have certain fish that tend to dirty the water more than the others. I change 50% of their water every 10 days or so. That way the you can see them better and the overall appearance of the tank is much more beautiful. Some of my other tanks don't have to be changed more than once a month or so. It's pretty much a judgment call on your part. It's real hard for me to tell you how often to change your water since I'm not there to see how quickly your fish will get it dirty.

The second consideration in water changes and cleaning is the ammonia content in your water. If there is a lot of excess waste matter or food particles on the bottom of the tank, they will produce ammonia. As stated above you need to monitor the ammonia level. If it gets high, do a water change/clean. If you notice a lot of waste or rotting food on the bottom of your tank, it is time to do a cleaning and water change.

There are also unseen chemicals in the water, such as nitrates, that can be very harmful or deadly to your fish. For this reason, I would recommend changing at least 25% of your water at least every month to 6 weeks. Most of the literature I have read states to do this every 2 weeks or so. I have found that there is no real need to do this. However, if you have one tank then I would do a 25% water change every 2 weeks. Personally for me, this would be a very involved process having as many tanks as I have.

Water evaporates in time. When it does, do NOT just top of your tank thinking that you are achieving the same results as a water change. This does NOT work. When the water evaporates it leaves behind the chemicals. These are not removed in the evaporation process. You will still need to do water changes/cleaning regardless of the amount of water you add when topping off your tank.

The man we purchased our 150 gallon tank from with the fish in it had not been doing water changes for quite some time. He had just been topping off the tank on a regular basis. The fish were in horrible shape. The water had gotten so bad that it has literally burned the fish. They had lost all of their fins and tails. Through a lot of hard work and tender loving care on our part, of the 7 fish that came with the tank, I was able to save 4 of them. It took a long time for their fins and tails to grow back and their color and health to return, but it was well worth the effort.


HOW TO CHANGE WATER/CLEAN YOUR TANK
Replace 25% of your water every 2 weeks or so. There is no need to do any gravel cleaning at that point. Once a month you should do a gravel cleaning to avoid the plugging up of your undergravel filter and to remove the waste matter that causes the ammonia buildup.

When you clean your tank, clean only 1/4 of it thoroughly at a time. Go clear down to the undergravel filter. Leave the tube where it is until you see clear water come out of it. The next time you clean your tank, do the next 1/4 the same way. This way after 4 cleanings you will have your tank cleaned out. By doing only 1/4 of your tank each time you clean you will not disrupt your biological filter much at all. I have found this to work extremely well. Only remove 25-30% of your water at a time. Be sure and add Stress Zyme or some other comparable product after the cleaning. This will aid in replacing the bacteria that you removed by the cleaning.

When adding water back into your tank it is a good idea to place a bowl on the bottom. The deeper the bowl the better. The bowl will catch the force of the water as your pour it in to your tank. Without the bowl the water will hit the gravel full force and disrupt the surface of the bottom of your tank. I know you are sick of hearing this, but make sure it is a new bowl and you only use it for this purpose.

When you add water to your tank it is very IMPORTANT that the water you add is as close to the temperature of the water in your tank as you can possibly get it. Check the temperature of the water coming out of your faucet before you put it in your tank. 1 degree plus or minus will be fine. Anymore than that and there is the potential of harm to your fish. I use a separate thermometer for just this purpose, one that hangs on the side of the tank. I turn on the water, put a glass under the faucet with the thermometer hanging inside the glass. I adjust my water until I get it to the exact temperature as the tank I am filling and then I fill the tank. This is the safest and best way that I have found.

If you have a large tank or are replacing a lot of water in a tank, it is a good idea to check the water after every 2 or three buckets if you let the water run as you fill. The water can change temperature very rapidly without you noticing. When filling our tanks with the Python we have to continually monitor the water temperature since we are usually replacing about 80 gallons of water in our 150 gallon tank.

Remove your tubes and decorations. Clean them in warm water. NO SOAP. If you need an abrasive then sprinkle NON-IODIZED salt on your sponge and wash the article that way. Use your brushes and toothbrush to clean the air filter tubes. You can clean your filters the same way. Occasionally if I am in a hurry I will throw mine in the dishwasher on the long wash cycle and clean them that way. I add no soap, but I do use Purex/Clorox. Believe it or not, Purex/Clorox is the same thing as Chlorine only not quite as strong. After washing in the dishwasher, I do, however, rinse them repeatedly under cold water to make sure there is no soap residues from the dishwasher on them.

Algae and lime deposits build up on the glass on top of your tank. It is a good idea to take them off and clean them every so often as well. Clean them in warm water. NO SOAP. If you need an abrasive then sprinkle NON-IODIZED salt on your sponge and wash the glass that way. If you do not keep up with the lime deposits you will have one heck of a time trying to get it off. It is very hard to remove. Sometimes taking a razor blade and scraping the glass will work if it has not been on there too long. After a while, if not cleaned, you will not be able to get it off. This will cause a clouding on your tank and the light will not shine through very well.

To clean the outside glass of your tank you can use standard glass cleaners. Do NOT SPRAY the glass cleaner right on the glass. Instead spray it on your rag or paper towel. If you spray it on the glass there is a potential of over spray getting into your tank. The chemical in the glass cleaner can harm or kill your fish. If you see water streaks on your glass it is a very good idea to clean it off right away. If not you can end up with lime deposits on the glass. (See above)





In the last section I will address feeding your fish, lighting and catching fish. Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any additional questions or would like to have anything explained further that I may have not made too clear.

FEEDING
HOW OFTEN TO FEED
Your fish should be fed at least once a day. If at all possible I recommend feeding your fish 2 times a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Fish can go up to 2 weeks without eating, but I would NEVER recommend that. That is a sure way to end up with a sick or diseased fish that will probably die.

I feed once a day since I am employed full time and find it very hard to feed that many tanks prior to going to work. However, on weekends, I feed small amounts several times a day. This is the more natural way of feeding. A fish in the wild eats all day long, little bits at a time. If you have the time to feed this way, this would really be the best way to feed.

HOW MUCH TO FEED
Overfeeding is a common mistake that new fish owners tend to make, myself included. Fish will eat and eat, especially Goldfish. They can literally eat themselves to death it seems. When you feed a lot of food at one time, part of it ALWAYS ends up on the bottom of the tank and does not get eaten. This is very bad because there it decomposes and turns into ammonia.

I would suggest starting out with just a small pinch of food for your tank. If the fish consume this within a minute or less, then give them another small pinch. Experiment until you figure out how much food your fish will consume rapidly, with little or none of it falling to the bottom of the tank. If you are able to feed several times a day, then only give them a pinch or so each time. Just enough so they eat it all up in 1-2 minutes.

I would suggest purchasing a bottom feeder type fish of some kind. They are great at cleaning up a lot of the excess food that falls to the bottom of your tank. They are not, by any means, a substitute for cleaning the tank, but they do help. There is no way that they can get all the wasted food so don't feel that you can feed all you want and they will clean it up, because that will not happen.

There are a lot of types of bottom feeders. A Plecostomus is a great one. He not only cleans the bottom of the tank, but in addition he will eat the algae off the sides of your tank as well. Clown Loaches are pretty, colorful and very entertaining to watch. They don't eat the algae, but do keep the bottom nice and clean. Catfish do pretty much the same thing. Some do eat the algae as well. There are tons of different types of Catfish, some are quite entertaining to watch as well. A Cory is another good bottom feeding fish. They stay very small and like to swim around and are very playful. (See Types of Fish for more details.)

WHAT TO FEED YOUR FISH
First and foremost you need to feed your fish the type of food the fish eats. The store you purchase your fish from is a good source to find out what the fish eats that you purchase. Another good place is in the fish book that I mentioned earlier. If the fish eats flake food then there will be many different brands and types on the market ranging in price. Other foods are the same way.

Don't be too concerned if your fish does not eat when you bring it home. The fish is under stress from being moved to a new environment and may not eat for a couple of days. If after 3-4 day of not eating, I would suggest checking with your store person. Find out the brand of food that they have been feeding that fish. Buy it and try feeding it. Once he starts eating heartily again, then mix your food with the stores brand and eventually he will eat your brand and type of food.

I suggest feeding a variety of foods of different types and brands. No one food on the market provides all of the total nutrition needed to keep the fish healthy. Feeding a variety of foods gives them plenty of vitamins and nutrition. You will find that you may feed one type of food for one fish and the other fish will gobble it right up as well. This is not a problem. The food is safe for all your fish.

Some of my fish are very picky eaters. I feed three types of pellets. I have sat and watched my fish eat. One fish will go up to one type of pellet, put it in his mouth and spit it out. He will try another and perhaps eat it or spit it out. The next fish will swim up and gobble up the pellet that he spits out. Fish, just like people, have their favorite foods. This is another good reason to feed a variety of different food.

GOING AWAY ON VACATION
Most people find someone to take care of their fish while they are away. However, if this is not possible for you, then there is a great product out there that you can use. It is called the "Weekend Feeder". It is basically a block that has food in it. As the water circulates around it, it slowly dissolves releasing food over a period of time. The "Weekend Feeder" lasts just that length of time, a weekend. There are other blocks that you can buy that last longer. I have used them several times in the past. One feeder should be enough for a 10-20 gallon tank. You would want to purchase more for a larger tank with lots of fish in it. I think they are great and well worth the money. Even though fish could go the whole weekend without eating, I much prefer that my fish get something to eat. After all, how would you like to go 48 or more hours without eating.





LIGHTING
There is not a whole lot I can say on lighting. Your fish do need light and they do need dark, just like they find in the wild. Some fish prefer a low lighted aquarium. It is good to provide decorations that the fish can get into so that they can get away from the light unless you have only fish that require less light. Other fish like brightly lit surroundings. Check with your fish store owner or the book I mentioned previous.

I do not have my lights on, on any set schedule. I turn them on when I get up and turn them off when I go to bed. Sometimes they are on for around 10 hours and other times for as much as 18 hours or so. This does not seem to effect the fish negatively in any way. I would say to leave your lights on in whatever length of time is the most convenient for you.

Newly purchased fish occasionally freak out when you turn the lights on in the mornings. They are in strange surroundings and have not gotten their bearings as of yet. This will stop after they get comfortable in their new home, so don't worry about it. I did have one fish though that never got used to the lights going on and off. He would slam into the sides of the aquarium and eventually he killed himself. This is, however, an unusual situation. Your fish should do just fine.





CATCHING YOUR FISH
It is very important that you induce the least amount of stress on your fish as you can when catching them. Here are a few tips on successful fish netting.

Use a net that is big enough to catch your fish.

Place the net slowly into the water near the fish your are wanting to catch.

Slowly move the net toward the fish. Chances are he just might swim right into it.

Never chase the fish rapidly with the net. Continually, slowly follow the fish around the tank.

If you are having a hard time catching the fish, get a second net and slowly work the fish toward the net you are going to use to catch him in. You will be able to corner him in that manner.

If the fish gets very scared and starts swimming rapidly all over the tank, if you have the time, stop for a while and let him settle down.

Move your net with the fish in it, over to the front glass of the tank when raising it up to take it out of the water. This traps them and they are not able to escape out of the net.

Make sure that you hold your hand over the top of the net once the net is out of the water. This will prevent the fish from flopping out of the net, falling to the floor and thus perhaps injuring or killing himself.
After netting the fish it is a good idea to put Stress Coat directly on him before placing him in a new or back in the old tank. This will help in replacing the slime coating that was lost by netting him.

Catfish are real buggers to get out of the net if you get them too scared. They tend to stick their barbed whiskers into the webbing of the net and it is very hard to get them back out. If you try to shake them out of the net and they don't come out, then they have really embedded their whiskers in the net. The best thing to do in this situation is to invert them and the net into the tank and just leave them there. In most cases they eventually will relax and will be able to swim free.

We had a particularly bad case one time. We could just not get the Catfish unhooked from the net. The only thing we could think of was to get pliers and pull the whisker out of the net. It worked, but I would not recommend this. We could have damaged him. Luckily we didn't. This was the first time we ever encountered this situation. Since then, we have opted to cut the net around the whisker and freeing the fish. So if you do get a fish that is truly embedded in the net and you just can't free him, I would suggest cutting the net. They are cheap and easily replaced if they get too many holes in them.





I have tried to be very thorough in the 4 pages of beginner information. If there is anything that I may have left out or forgotten, please let me know. I will continually update these pages as needed. It's been a long time since I started and it is a little hard to remember everything that I learned in the beginning. Everything is so automatic now that I don't even think about it.

I hope that you found this information to be helpful and informative. By providing this information to you, the beginner, you should be well on your way to happy fish keeping with little or no problems. Good luck and enjoy your new hobby.