Create A Tropical Fish Aquarium With Katy's Tropical Fish - A Complete Guide

Welcome To My Newsletter Series. In this newsletter letter series I will provide you with information about keeping tropical fish. The information contained in the newsletter comes from my passed experiences while working with fish, conversations I've had with friends and other tropical fish lovers, as well as knowledge I gain while researching material to write the book. So as you can see that the content comes from a number of sources, which I think make for a well rounded newsletter series.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends who maybe interested in tropical fish keeping as well.

NATURAL FILTRATION FOR MARINE FISH

For your marine fish aquarium, you want to choose a natural filtration system. This article will walk you through the process of choosing. Since fish live in an environment that is partially closed, they need oxygen to breathe. The water must be clean and well aerated of the fish will become overly stressed. When this occurs, the immune system becomes compromised, making them more vulnerable to disease and even death.

In nature, fish typically live in fast flowing water where there is a constant influx of fresh water coming down off the mountains. Because of this, they have clean rivers and streams in which to live, void from toxins. However, when kept in an aquarium, the filter keeps the water balanced and clean. In general, a natural filter will work by biological means, although some are mechanical. With a mechanical filter, some type of medium such as floss helps filter out macroscopic waste, trapping dirt, fish waste, uneaten food, and so on. Although these particles are not good for the fish, what really hurts are the chemicals within the water that cannot be seen.

A natural filter works exceptionally well. You see, waste products will decay into ammonia, which is highly toxic to fish, causing them to go into shock and even death. A filter that has been running for quite some time will have developed enough good bacteria to denitrify the ammonia by providing adequate surface area for bacteria to grow and providing a constant current so aerobic bacteria has enough high oxygen.

As discussed in the main book, cycling the aquarium is crucial. With this, the bacteria will convert toxic compounds. When cycling the tank, you can always use old filter floss coming from an established fish tank to get the new, natural filter going. Even taking a cup of gravel from an established fish tank can help with the good bacteria. The most important thing is not to shock your tank by adding too many fish in the beginning, which will overwhelm the filter’s capacity.

Just remember that a good filtration system is crucial to your fish tank. However, this should never replace your standard water change. By using the natural filter and water change combined, you will be able to keep both ammonia and nitrite levels down. Therefore, even with a powerful filter, every two weeks you need to perform a 20% to 30% water change. Now, when it comes to choosing the type of filter, this really depends on your own personal choice. However, the following are your best options:

• Under-Gravel – This low maintenance filter is all natural, providing indirect water flow through plates located under the gravel. With this, the surface is constantly oxygenated by constant flow. This particular type of natural filter is best with a slightly under-stocked fish aquarium.
• Sponge Filter – Also called a corner filter the sponge filter works by water displacement, not a water pump. In this case, the filter work best as a supplement filter for a fry or baby tank.
• Hang on the Back Filter – Common filters, these come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Most work with a magnetic impeller that turns like a fan, pumping water through floss-covered filter plates. These plates contain carbon along with other types of substrate, giving them both mechanical and biological capabilities. The primary advantage with this type of filter is that the cartridges can be changed out easily.
• Canister Filter – Finally, a canister filter is larger and a bit more expensive. However, this type of filter pumps a large volume of water per minute, making them a massive biological and mechanical filtration system. You can use a variety of media and this type of filter does not require as much maintenance as the Hang on the Back type of filter.

I hope you enjoyed this article and look forward to the next article which looks at diet in marine fish.

Until next time...

Katy
www.kingdomofpets.com/tropicalfish

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