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Started by Dustin Laurence
Thu, 13 Oct 1994 07:01
AQUARIA FAQ: Beginner Topics and Books (2/6)
Author: Dustin Laurence
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 07:01
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 07:01
1126 lines
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52990 bytes
Archive-name: aquaria/general-faq/beginner
Rec-aquaria-archive-name: general-faq/beginner
Alt-aquaria-archive-name: general-faq/beginner
Sci-aquaria-archive-name: general-faq/beginner
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Beginner topics and books
Rev. 1.23 9/3/94
Prologue:
---------
This monthly series is intended to address some of the frequently
asked questions (FAQ) on the rec., alt., and sci.aquaria newsgroups.
Because the answers may not be complete, please feel free to ask
questions. This is only intended to address first level concerns, and
not to dampen discussions. Please see the file README for pointers to
other topics.
Please review and send any corrections or inputs to the FAQ
maintainers with "(FAQ)" in the subject line. You are absolutely
welcomed to tackle (i.e. WRITE) sections that have not been written
yet.
We've received recommendations to put email address "pointers" in the
FAQ to vector questions to specific experts on particular subjects.
If you would like to offer yourself as such an expert, please send me
your email address and the specific topics you want to host. Please
include an email path that is generally accessible to the greatest
number of people.
GLOSSARY OF COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS:
--------------------------------------------------
AFM = Aquarium Fish Magazine
CO2 = Chemical symbol for carbon dioxide
DIY = Do-it-yourselfer type articles (somewhat equivalent
to the FAMA "For what it's worth" column)
(F) = Used in subject line to indicate Freshwater
discussion
FAMA = Freshwater And Marine Aquarium (magazine)
H2O = Water
(M) = Used in subject line to indicate Marine discussion
MFM = Marine Fish Monthly (magazine)
M/O = Mail Order
NH3 = Chemical symbol for ammonia (highly toxic)
NH4+ = Chemical symbol for ammonium ion (not so toxic)
NO2- = Chemical symbol for nitrite ion (toxic)
NO3- = Chemical symbol for nitrate ion (not so toxic)
O3 = Ozone. Highly reactive and unstable form of oxygen.
pH = Measure of acidity/alkalinity (See H2O quality)
ppm = Parts per million
RO = Reverse Osmosis (See filters)
RUGF = Reverse UGF
sp. = Species not identified; i.e. Cichlasoma sp.
TFH = Tropical Fish Hobbyist (magazine)
UGF = Under-Gravel Filter (See filters)
Anaerobic = Without Oxygen. In aquaria, this typically refers
bacterial activity in water of low oxygen content.
Bettas = Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Splendens). Often
named Alpha for annoyingly obvious reasons :-).
Often misspelled as Betas.
Redox = Reduction-oxidation potential. Measured in millivolts
(mV). Higher means better water quality.
REC.AQUARIA, ALT.AQUARIA, SCI.AQUARIA:
--------------------------------------
A common question is why are there three newsgroups dedicated
to talking a aquaria related topics. The actual story is quite
long and dirty, and will be written up at a later time. For those
who don't know the history, let me whet your appetite by describing
the history with the name (of my creation): "The Great Aquarian
Flame Wars." [or maybe "The Dumb and the Fishless" :-)] A more
complete story by Richard Sexton should be on the aquaria archive
somewhere.
The simple answer to the reason of why three groups is that
not all sites receive all three newsgroups. The best solution (given the
existing setup) is to cross-post hobbyist-type articles to both
rec. and alt.aquaria. Sci.aquaria should be reserved for egghead
discussions of fishy science in Latin :-) (e.g., physiology,
taxonomy, plant biology and ecology ... any topic ending in a "y").
Although cross-posting will result in some people receiving
duplicate articles (because some newsreaders will not "mark"
articles as being read across newsgroups), this is generally the
best solution).
STARTING A NEW AQUARIUM:
------------------------
Before one buys and sets up an aquarium for the first time,
one should buy or borrow a good beginner's book on the subject. A
list of suggestions is included in this message. The most important
ingredient in a new aquarium is patience.
In summary, the following is a flow for setting up an
aquarium.
- Decide on the type of fish and the number. DO NOT RUSH OUT AND
BUY THE FISH YET!!
- Decide on real/plastic plants.
- Read up on the requirements and the compatibility (of flora
and fauna).
- Review choice of flora and fauna.
- Determine size and type of aquarium.
>>Rules of thumb:<<
* 12 sq. in. of surface area per inch of ADULT fish (not
including tail). This is a very rough rule of thumb.
* Tall fish look good in tall tanks. A tall tank with a
given surface area will support the SAME number of fish
as a short tank with the same surface area. (See above).
* Most fish prefer long/wide tanks. We humanoids generally
prefer tall tanks; they look better.
* PLASTIC vs. GLASS:
Glass tanks weigh more and cost a lot less than plastic
(acrylic/Plexiglass(TM)) tanks. Plastic is easily
scratched; glass can crack and spring a leak, or worst
yet, shatter. Fish look better in acrylic tanks (if it's
quality plastic) because the index of refraction of
acrylic is closer to the index of refraction of water.
* Each gallon of water weighs 8.5 pounds. Make sure your
floor can support the weight. Also ensure a stable
platform.
* Larger aquaria are subject to less fluctuation of temperature
and water quality. Get the largest you can afford.
- Choose a filtration system most appropriate for your fish and
aquarium. In general, water should be turned over 3-5 times
an hour depending on fish load. (See filters).
- Determine size of heater.
>>Rules of thumb:<<
* 2.5 watts per gallon of water (for example, a 10 gallon
tank needs a 25 watt heater).
* When possible, use two heaters to achieve desired wattage
instead of one large heater (even distribution of heat,
backup in case of breakage).
* Submersible heaters, for the most part, are a better
choice. Check the manufacturers' instructions to see if
the heater is salt-water compatible if you intend to use
it in a brackish or salt-water tank.
- Check prices. (See Mail Order). Be cautious about "Starter
Kits" and "Package Deals"; more often than not, they contain
equipment that is obsolete, or is woefully inadequate for the
task, or is simply unnecessary.
- Re-evaluate everything based on budget.
- Buy and setup aquarium.
- Some may choose to "paint" the back of the aquarium (black or
blue) at this point. Others may want to add commercially
available aquarium backing (poster-like photos of plants).
It's infinitely easier when the aquarium is dry.
- If you choose UGFs (see filters), set this up first.
- If you're using gravel, rinse it.
- Set up the heater where there is water flow so the heat can be
evenly distributed. Do not bury it in the gravel.
- Do not plug in anything electrical while setting up.
- Let the aquarium cycle for one-three weeks. (See the section below
titled CYCLING A NEW AQUARIUM.)
- If you get a used tank, be very careful. Test for leaks
by filling the tank either in the bath tub or in the
drive-way/on the lawn, where the leak will do least harm.
Check all seals and re-seal the tank with *aquarium safe*
silicone cement (Dow Chemicals and others make that stuff; buy
it from hardware stores where the price is 25% of what you
will pay for the same item in a pet shop). Aquarium safe
means no fungicides or other poisons which will leach into
your aquarium and kill your fish. READ THE LABEL.
- Plant all plants at the same time, but before you add fish.
Your work becomes much easier if the tank is only half full of
water. See Plant Books for more info.
- Add rock work and decorations after washing these.
- Introduce fish into the aquarium over a length of time. (i.e.
don't buy all the fish on the same day and dump them into the
aquarium. Spread it out over time.) Start with the hardiest
fish.
- Don't introduce the pet store water with the fish. Pet store
water can contain all sorts of parasites and nasty beasties
which may cause problems later.
- One technique to slowly acclimate your new fish to your tank
is to put the fish and its accompanying pet store water in a
small, clean bucket (one that's never had soap or other
chemicals in it) and establish a siphon with a piece of
airline tubing with airstones at either end. This slow drip of
water should fill the bucket in about an hour, when you should
then carefully net the fish out and put them in the tank.
- Change 25% of the water every three weeks and maintain
filters. >>This cannot be stressed enough!<< Regular
cleaning of your mechanical filter (sponges, whatever) and
regular partial water changes will allow you to have a
successful tank with less than *15 minute of maintenance per
week*. De-chloraminate water before you put it in your tank.
- Test water regularly with test kits to ensure water quality is
acceptable.
CYCLING A NEW AQUARIUM: Contributor: Davin Milun
-----------------------
When setting up a new tank, the first thing that one has to do is to
let the tank "cycle", usually for 1-4 weeks. In short, this will allow time
- for any chlorine/chloramine in the tap water to dissipate,
- for you to see if there are water leaks,
- for the nitrogen cycle to start.
The most complex of the above is getting the nitrogen cycle started,
which means letting the natural beneficial bacterial growth begin to
establish itself. (See the Water FAQ for details on nitrogen cycle.)
If you wish to get rid of chloramine and/or chlorine quickly (instead
of letting the water sit for a while), consider using commercially
available de-chlor[am]inators, like Kordon's AmQuell, NovaQua etc..
For the nitrogen cycle to get started in a tank, some source of ammonia is
needed.
The most common way of getting this ammonia is to wait a day or two
after setting up the tank (so that chlor[am]ine can dissipate), make
sure that your water is clear, and then put in a few hardy and
inexpensive fish. The fish waste contains the ammonia, on which the
bacteria live. Some suggested species include: platies, various
danios, the more hardy tetras, white clouds (if your water is
coolish) and some people even suggest using goldfish.
A big question is how many fish should be added. Opinions on this
vary greatly, but the long and short of it is the following:
- The more fish you add, the quicker your tank will cycle, but the
more likely it is that the fish will die of ammonia poisoning
before the cycling is complete.
- The bacteria colonies will only grow as large as needed to process
the amount of ammonia that is present. So, this means that you
should ALWAYS add more fish slowly, even after the cycling is
complete. (You can cycle with one fish, but then you get a small
colony of bacteria. If you then dump in lots more fish, because you
think that your tank has cycled, many of them will probably die of
ammonia poisoning, because the bacteria won't be able to keep up.)
A very rough rule of thumb that seems fairly agreeable is: you should
start with not more than 2 to 4 inches of fish per 10 gallons of tank
size.
An alternative to adding fish is to add ammonia (or ammonium
chloride). Get some straight ammonia (with no detergents, scents
or additives). Use an eye dropper to put a couple of drops per 10
gallons in the tank daily, and let it cycle that way.
You can also help the cycling process get started by borrowing
bacteria from another tank. If you (or a friend) have an established
tank (running over 6 months and healthy), you can put an easily moved
filter (like a sponge filter: see Filters) into that tank for a week
or so. This will provide a healthy colony of nitrogen-removing
bacteria for your new tank. Put this aged filter in your tank prior
to adding fish. Be sure not to let it dry out or get too hot or cold
during the move.
If you will be using a UGF or a filter packed with gravel (see
Filters), you could take some gravel from the established tank,
especially if it also uses a UGF. This will help you start the
bio-filtration much more quickly.
During the cycling, the ammonia levels will swing wildly, and then go
to zero. The nitrite levels will spike, and then go to zero. You can
either buy a test kit, and follow the levels yourself, or else you
could ask your fish store to test your water after a week or so.
Once the nitrites have dropped back to zero, your tank is cycled.
If the ammonia levels get too high during cycling, you can do a
partial water change to reduce the levels. Remember that the water
that you add should be dechlor[am]inated.
MOVING AN AQUARIUM: Contributor: Timothy Shimeall
-------------------
The best word on moving fish (and in this discussion, fish
includes all aquarium animal life), beyond very short distances, is
DON'T. Travel is very stressful on fish, and even with the best
precautions you should expect to lose several. Given this is true,
you may want to seriously consider selling off your stock and
getting new fish at your destination.
If, given the above, you still want to try to move fish, then the
following may help to minimize the pain and loss of fish.
The task of moving fish basically splits into two tasks: moving the
tank, and then (later) moving the fish. Do not attempt to move the
fish in their tank.
Moving the tank
---------------
The main problem in moving the tank is the filtration system.
After a very few hours (less than a day) without a flow of
oxygen-laden water, aerobic bacteria start to die. This means that
if you are moving a short distance (an hours drive or so), it may
be possible to preserve your bacteria colony. But beyond that,
you'll need to restart the bacteria. (No, bacteria don't die after
an hour, but you need to account for tear down, packing, unpacking
and setup time, and have the total be only a few hours.) This
leads to the following process:
1) Put your fish in a holding container (more on that below)
2) Drain your tank. If the move is going to be short, preserve
some of the water to help preserve the bacteria colony.
3) Disassemble your tank. Aquarium plants will survive a fair
amount of time if their roots are kept wet, so it should be possible
to bag them with some water and set them aside for hand-moving.
If the move is going to be short, put your filter medium in a
sealed container (preferably a never-used pail or other
chemical-free hard-sided container) without cleaning it. For long
moves, either clean or discard your filter media. Pumps, heaters,
etc. can be packed as any fragile appliance.
4) Move your tank. Don't use a moving company or professional
packers, unless you have absolutely no choice AND you can supervise
them packing the tank and loading it in the truck. It's far better
to move it yourself.
5) Reassemble your tank at your destination. If you're doing a
short move you should have enough dechlorinated/treated water
available on arrival to fill your tank and get water moving through
your filter. If you're doing a long move, then set your tank up as
if it was a new tank-- including a week-long delay before putting
fish in the tank. Initially, put in a few hardy fish to get the
nitrate cycle established. After the tank is stable, put the fish
from your old home back in.
Moving the fish
---------------
There are three basic problems in moving the fish:
- where do you put them while you're moving the tank (a week+)
- how do you pack them
- how do you support them while they're being moved
Where do you put them? Two basic options:
+ A friend's tank
+ A pet store tank
Some pet stores will, for a fee, board fish during a move. A
signed contract, detailing what responsibilities the pet store is
assuming, is a very good idea. Some pet stores, for a further
fee, will pack and air-ship the fish to you on request. This isn't
cheap.
Bear in mind that you'll be leaving the fish there for at least a
couple of weeks.
How do you pack them?
For short periods of time (a couple of hours, tops) you can put the
fish in sealed bags, half-filled with air. This time can be
stretched somewhat by filling with oxygen, rather than air. Put
the bags in a padded, compartmentalized container, and ship by air.
(This is basically how pet stores receive their fish). For larger
fish, or longer trips, one can use a sealed bucket for each fish,
rather than a bag.
How do you support them on the move?
Fish basically won't eat during the move. They're too stressed,
and you don't want to degrade the water quality by the food,
anyway. Fish can survive a week or so without food if they've been
previously well fed.
Try to maintain an even temperature, perhaps by placing the fish in
a sealed cooler, or compartmentalized cooler.
For long trips, particularly by car, a battery-powered airpump and
airstone is a good idea (if not a must).
After the move, slowly condition the fish to the new tank location,
as you would in adding new fish to a tank.
GOOD BEGINNER BOOKS: Contributed by Oleg Kiselev
--------------------
Most aquarium books are reasonable in their advice. Do be
careful of older books which were written before some of the more
recent advances in the science of aquaria were made. Issues such
as the nitrogen cycle will probably not be covered well. Libraries
are an excellent source of books, and one should go the library
first before spending any money.
Titles:
Baensh's Aquarium Atlas ~$22-28
Marine Aquarium Handbook by Martin Moe ~$10
Vierke's Aquarium Book $10-15
Marine Aquarium Reference:
Systems and Invertebrates by Moe ~$22-25
The Concise Encyclopedia of Aq. Fish ~$10
(Dick Mills)
Many of the "Fishkeeper's Guide" Books by Tetra press are quite
good, and are available for around $6-$10. For plant books,
Barron's and Tetra's (~$5-6) are suggested.
FRESHWATER books:
A decent aquarium reference book need not be expensive or very
detailed. What it must have is:
- enough common species to make it usable
(200-300 species is sufficient for most purposes)
- recognizable pictures of fish to use as the identification
guide descriptions of the species including:
+ length the fish will attain
+ typical behavior (and community tank compatibility)
+ spawning requirements
+ dietary needs
+ minimal tank size
+ water quality and temperature
- some basic suggestions on how to set up an aquarium
- some minimal info on fish diseases
There are many books that satisfy these requirements. They are very
inexpensive and there is no excuse for someone to spend $20+ on the fish
that will die in 3-4 weeks instead of buying a book that would prevent
these losses for a lot less money.
For under $10:
Simon&Schuster's "Pocket Guide to Aquarium Fishes" which lists for $7
and can be found for $4 in discount book shops. Not an "end-all"
reference volume but at least it does not lie too much. I probably
like it because it has an excellent photo of Aphyosemion filamentosum
that looks just about like the A. filamentosum I have. (ISBN 0-671-25451-0)
At Crown Books and other "remaindered" book sellers, you will find a
book edited by Dick Mills that is called "The Concise Encyclopedia of
Tropical Aquarium Fishes" if it's published by Crescent (and Tetra's
Junior Atlas of Tropical Aquarium Fishes" if it's published by Tetra).
It covers all the basic ideas about setting up an aquarium and has
descriptions and fair quality photos of over 300 species of fish (the
book is not in front of me so can't give you more detail). It's
published by Salamander Press in Europe and Tetra (Crescent) in US.
(Crescent edition ISBN 0-517-66776-2)
At Tower Books and other "mainstream" bookseller chains and larger book
stores, you will find Barron's series of translation of German aquarium
books, all between $5 and $8, concentrating on specific categories of
fish (Killifishes (ISBN 0-8120-4475-4), Cichlids (ISBN 0-8120-4597-1)),
or breeding (Ines Scheurman's "Aquarium Fish Breeding" (ISBN
0-8120-4474-6)), or general aquarium maintenance, or plants. All of
these books give a beginner a solid introduction to what and why of the
the filtration, water chemistry and so on. Any of these books make an
excellent starting point. They don't have very many color photos,
which probably contributed to the low price, but have a lot of
drawings.
Also near the $10 mark (and a lot less through mail-order), are the
Tetra/Salamander series of "Fishkeeper's Guide To..." books. They are
available at a number of "normal" book stores and I recommend "...
Healthy Aquarium" and "...Community Fishes" as the better beginner
books. The rest of the series is quite good as well and any one of
these books should be a great start.
"The Innes Book" -- it is a thick volume that has gone through a dozen
publishers and something like 50 editions. The newer ones will
probably be a bit more up to date, but the older ones are not bad,
either. They range from $2 to $15 and my preference is for the oldest
editions. I am personally looking for a leather bound printing from
early 30's. Don't expect the fish names to match the current nomenclature
or in some case even the real species -- for the last 40 years "The Innes
Book" has had a picture of A. filamentosum for their Aphyosemion gardneri.
These are the cheapest books. If you are willing to spend $15-20 (and
you better be willing to spend that much on the books if you are go
to spend that much on the fish!), the number of books is larger and the
amount of information increases.
Between $15 and $20 the books get larger, more colorful and complete:
van Ramshorst's Aquarium Encyclopedia published by HPBooks and sold by
Waldenbooks is a translation from Dutch and at $17.95 is among the
better "shopping list" aquarium books. It is full of very good quality
color photos, covers over 570 species of fish, 80 species of plants,
all aspects of aquarium design, building, set-up, decor, etc. Not much
on filtration, but that's all in FAQ, so not a big flaw for a USENET
reader.
Crown Books used to sell "The Living Aquarium", a translation from
Swedish published by Crescent Books. It's close to $20 and does not
have descriptions of too many species, but has a lot of detailed
diagrams, goes into the black arts of filtration and lighting and
attempts to cover cold water and tropical fresh water, cold water and
tropical marine and brackish aquaria, suggesting the species and decor
for them. It also has a section on building aquaria, as all European
books seem to.
MORE EXPENSIVE AND/OR SPECIALTY BOOKS:
There are many other books that are not cheap even when you buy them
mail-order (a sure way to save 50% on the price). Many of these books
cost so much because of the large number of color photos in them and
because of the production values that went in. You will have to decide
for yourself if it's worth your money to buy these and if you will find
something really worth while in them (I have spent several hundred $$$
on such books over the last few years and do not regret buying any of
them). If nothing else, these books make great coffee table books that
are bound to get all sorts of comments from house guests.
WHERE TO FIND THE CHEAPEST BOOKS:
Look through the used book stores. Books from 20-30 years ago may have
wrong Latin names for some of the fish, claim that certain species of
now-common fish are hard to breed, and may have less than adequate
coverage of filtration, but those books are still excellent general
references and (should) cost very little.
WHAT NOT TO BUY:
AVOID any books by TFH that are less than 100 pages or have a word
"Beginner" in the title. Leaf through the book: if you see lots of
photos of products placed so that brand names are obvious and easy to
read, or you find a bunch of photos of grinning gap-toothed kids
holding up various pieces of equipment or poking their hands into an
aquarium -- put this book away and never look at it again. These books
are (in my opinion) utter garbage.
There are a few exceptions to that rule in the TFH line: Dr. Jubb's
"Nothobranchius", 2 volumes of Jocher's "Spawning Problem Fishes" and
Windelow's "Aquatic Plants", but they fall into the "specialty"
category).
USEFUL DATA: Contributor: jj@alice.att.com
------------
Useful numbers for fresh water:
One foot of fresh water depth == .445 psi.
231 cu inches (in ^ 3) = 1 gallon
1 cu foot (ft ^ 3) = 7.48 gallons = 1728 in^3
1 gallon H2O at 4C weighs 8.57 lbs /* this is derived from the
atmospheres/ft number, somebody
with a CRC can go get the right number,
but this is within a few % */
Example:
44x16x16 tank = 11264 in^3 = 48.76 gallons.
Tank will weigh 418 lbs (roughly) (+ rocks which have an SG much
higher than 1, so you can *roughly* say " + rocks ")
The pressure at the bottom of the tank will be .59 psi, or 85 psf,
roughly 13% more than the standard loading for code
construction,so catch an extra joist or three with the stand!!
Along the bottom strip of the tank, you will have a total
(uniformly spread side to side) force of ( 15.5/12*.445*44 = 25lbs)
pushing outwards against your joints.
The total force on the long side will be ( 8/12*.445*44*16 = 208
pounds).
/* Note: In general, this is NOT half of the water weight. This
is a coincidence due to the same bottom and side shape. */
Other useful points...
Weight = psi at bottom * bottom area
( (44x16=704 in^2) * .445*16/12 = 418 lbs)
Note: If this doesn't give you the same answer as the volume
calculation SOMETHING IS WRONG!
Standard (new) wood joist floor loading is 75 psf. This
corresponds to one 14" high tank of any other dimensions. Before
you build that 30" high tank, think about where it goes! For odd
houses and houses not to code, this may be worse (or better, who
knows?).
Common tank sizes (courtesy of All-Glass Aquariums)
---------------------------------------------------
These match the table on the back of Catalog AA693, but are sorted by
the tank's "footprint".
Tank Size Exact Outside Dimensions Weight Weight Tempered
(inches) (L x W x H) Empty Full Bottom
(Including frame) (lbs) (lbs)
10 Leader 20 1/4 x 10 1/2 x 12 9/16 11 111
15 High 20 1/4 x 10 1/2 x 18 3/4 22 170
20 X-High 20 1/4 x 10 1/2 x 23 3/4 32 232
10 Long 24 1/4 x 8 1/2 x 12 5/8 16 116
15 Show 24 1/4 x 8 1/2 x 16 5/8 22 170
15 Gallon 24 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 12 3/4 21 170
20 High 24 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 16 3/4 25 225
25 Gallon 24 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 20 3/4 32 282
30 X-High 24 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 24 3/4 41 340
20 Long 30 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 12 3/4 25 225
29 Gallon 30 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 18 3/4 40 330
37 Gallon 30 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 22 3/4 45 415 X
26 Flatback 36 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 16 5/8 42 300 X
23 Long 36 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 13 32 253
30 Gallon 36 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 16 3/4 43 343
38 Gallon 36 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 19 3/4 47 427
45 Gallon 36 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 23 3/4 66 515 X
30 Breeder 36 3/16 x 18 1/4 x 12 15/16 48 348
40 Breeder 36 3/16 x 18 1/4 x 16 15/16 58 458
50 Gallon 36 7/8 x 19 x 19 5/8 100 600
65 Gallon 36 7/8 x 19 x 24 5/8 126 775
33 Long 48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 12 7/8 52 382 X
40 Long 48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 16 7/8 55 455 X
45 Long 48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 19 60 510 X
55 Gallon 48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 21 78 625 X
60 Gallon 48 3/8 x 12 7/8 x 23 7/8 111 710 X
80 X-High 48 7/8 x 14 x 30 3/4 200 990
75 Gallon 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8 140 850
90 Gallon 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 25 3/8 160 1050
110 X-High 48 7/8 x 19 x 30 3/4 228 1320
120 Gallon 48 1/2 x 24 1/4 x 25 1/2 215 1400
100 Gallon 72 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 19 3/8 182 1150
125 Gallon 72 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 23 3/8 206 1400
150 Gallon 72 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 28 1/2 338 1800
180 Gallon 72 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 25 5/8 338 2100
2 1/2 Mini 12 3/16 x 6 1/8 x 8 1/8 2.6 27
5 1/2 Gallon 16 3/16 x 8 3/8 x 10 1/2 7 62
4 Designer 8 1/4 x 8 1/4 x 18 7/8 9 49
6 Designer 8 1/4 x 8 1/4 x 24 7/8 10.5 70
10 Designer 13 5/8 x 13 5/8 x 19 18.5 115
15 Designer 13 5/8 x 13 5/8 x 25 25.5 175
10 Hexagon 14 1/2 x 12 9/16 x 18 3/4 12 110
20 Hexagon 18 3/4 x 16 1/4 x 20 5/8 23 220 X
35 Hexagon 23 1/4 x 20 3/16 x 24 3/4 43 390 X
60 Hexagon 27 1/4 x 24 1/8 x 29 1/2 110 750 X
Metric conversions of tank length, to nearest cm:
Inches cm
8 1/4 21
12 3/16 31
13 5/8 35
16 3/16 41
20 1/4 51
24 1/4 62
30 1/4 77
36 7/8 94
48 1/4 123
48 7/8 124
72 1/2 184
LIVE FOOD Contributed by Oleg Kiselev and Steve Bartling
---------
The advantages of live foods over frozen and prepared foods are:
1) the uneaten food will not immediately decay and load up
the filtration system,
2) foods can be raised in controlled conditions and be free of
disease causing bacteria
3) most importantly, fish LOVE grabbing things that try to run away
Here are some live foods you can easily culture at home, to the extend that
I and some people on the NET have had experience with them:
BABY BRINE SHRIMP (Artemia spp., usually A. salina)
Uses: baby brine shrimp are a food of choice for the newly hatched
fry of egg-layers and other small fish.
Culturing: To hatch brine shrimp, you need very little. You can
build a hatchery out of almost anything. I used to
use 1 gal plastic water/milk jugs, and now use 12 oz
soda bottles; Richard Sexton used 2 liter soda bottles
in a rack; stores sell "shrimpolators" and plastic
hatching cones. Everything works, but a container with
a concave or conical bottom is the best because the
water flow has no dead spots. Add air tubing connected
to a small pump, put a light over it and keep
temperature around 85 degrees if you want the shrimp to
hatch faster.
Ed Warner's book suggests 3.5 table spoons of uniodized
salt per gallon of water. He suggests using the
cheapest salt available, like the water softener salt
at $3 for 50 lb. SF Bay Brand recommends hardening
the water to improve hatching and shrimp survival, so
adding some Epsom salt and a tiny pinch of baking soda
may be a good idea.
To have the shrimp hatch and not die the water in the
culture has to be vigorously turned over to keep the
shrimp in suspension. I do this by aerating the water
just like everyone else. I use a 12' length of rigid
air tubing attached to a 3' tail of flexible tubing
attached to an air pump. The rigid section keeps the
hose from slipping out of the container. I do not use
an airstone, mostly because airstones crud up and clog
too often in this environment.
To get nauplii (hatched brine shrimp) out, I turn off
the air, put a piece of rigid air (1/8") tubing with
2-3 ft of flex tubing attached into the culture, let
the stuff settle. The shrimp egg cases will collect on
top of the water, the shrimp ought to sink to the
bottom (if the water is not too saline). Then I just
siphon the millions of wriggling shrimp off into a brine
shrimp (fine) net, dump the lot into a cup of water and
use an eye dropper to dispense to the fish.
The nauplii will live in the tank for up to 24 hours.
Sources: eggs can be bought in most aquarium and pet shops or mail
order. Because I use almost 1 tsp/day to feed my fish, I
buy 1 lb cans, which comes out much less expensive than the
tiny ampoules sold in stores. I keep the cans in the freezer
and hold what I need for 2-3 weeks in a small, tight-lid
jar.
Ed Warner insists that the eggs of brine shrimp need at
least a year of incubation to become ready to hatch. He
goes on to say that a low yield from a newly opened can of
shrimp eggs may be due to insufficient incubation time and
that the best hatches come from the eggs that had been kept
for a few years, with the eggs kept for 5 years in a vacuum
packed airtight container giving perfect 100% hatch rates.
ADULT BRINE SHRIMP:
Uses: Just about all fish under 5" long will readily eat brine
shrimp.
Culturing: Don't bother. The yields from the cultures are very low
and it's easier to culture Daphnia and buy live brine shrimp
in the pet shops.
If you REALLY want to try them, get a large open top
container (an aquarium, a garden tub, a baby wading pool),
fill it with real or synthetic salt water and seed it with
some green water and nutrients (fertilizer tabs or what have
you) and wait for the water to turn yellow-green. Throw in
some baby brine shrimp or the adult shrimp you got in a pet
shop and wait. Adding small amounts of brewers yeast,
APR and other micro-foods will help promote the shrimp
growth. It helps to put the culture in a brightly indirectly
lit place to promote microalgae growth.
Sources: See above.
DAPHNIA ("water fleas", tiny crustaceans of Daphnia pulex and D. magna spp.)
Uses: these crustaceans are probably the most ideal food for
the smaller fresh water -- Daphnia do not die in the
tank and will eat microscopic garbage while they live.
They come in a variety of sizes -- from hardly visible
to over 1/8". This is a typical source of food for
many fish in the wild.
Culturing: I have used everything from betta bowls to 32 gal
trashcans. I feed the small indoor cultures various
algae scrapings and tank sludge, as well as deactivated
brewers yeast, powdered milk and APR (artificial
plankton stuff from OSI). Green water works best and
that's what I use in my outdoor cultures. To make
green water, I use a weak solution of Miracle Grow and
chelated iron in dechlorinated water, seeded with the
"pea soup" water I try to cultivate. If you leave a
water full of nutrients out in full sun, within weeks
you will have green water from the airborne algae
spores.
I have read that blender-pulverized lettuce works great
in small amounts, but never tried it.
For a while now I have been seeding fry tanks and bowls
with Daphnia -- the Daphnia eat the bacteria that may
be hazardous to the fry and generally purify water and
the fry will eat them as they get larger.
Another thing I tried was dumping freshly hatched fry into
Daphnia cultures (about 2 fry/liter) and not paying any
attention to them for weeks. It worked, but not as well as
I hoped. The fry kept in equivalent sized tanks and fed
more intensively grew faster.
Use a shrimp net or a fine fish net to catch Daphnia.
Sources: catch the Daphnia in a local lake (but beware of parasites
like Hydra and various carnivorous insects), get a clean
culture from a local aquarium club or mail order.
CYCLOPS
Uses: same as Daphnia, but predatory. Can damage eggs
and very young egg-layer fry. Nauplii can be used like
brine shrimp nauplii.
Culturing: as Daphnia (but less numerous per the same volume).
Sources: often comes with the culture of worms or as contaminants
in Daphnia cultures. Very hard to eradicate once they
start breeding in the tank. Also mail order and club
auctions, as Daphnia.
MOSQUITO LARVAE:
Uses: most adult fish of smaller species love them. As long as
fish are bigger than the larvae, they'll eat them.
Aquatic larvae of flying insects is the main ingredient in
the diet of many small fish in the wild.
Culturing: very simple. Put a wide-mouth bucket or a barrel
or a tub of water outside. Throw in small amounts of
evaporated milk or grass clippings in a nylon bag to
seed the water with bacteria and promote the growth of
infusoria, mosquito larvae's food sources; green water
works well, too. Some people even use manure! If
there are mosquitoes in your area, 2-3 weeks later you
will have larva in your water. I use a coarse fish net
to scoop up the larva and feed them to the mid-water
and top-feeding fish.
Sources: Wait for the little bloodsuckers to discover your bucket of
evil-smelling bacterial soup, or go find "floats" of mosquito
eggs in a nearby lake or puddle.
BLACK WORMS:
Uses: these disgusting, bacteria-infested stinkers are among the
best sources of protein for the fish and are an excellent
conditioning food for breeding preparation.
WARNING: frequent feedings will cause the fish to become fat
and impair breeding. Also, diseases are far more likely on a
steady diet of worms.
ANOTHER WARNING: if you have gravel in your tank, worms will
burrow into it and hide, fouling up the tank.
Culturing: May not be worth it. Worms will live on the bottom of a tank,
eating scum and breeding. I fed them banana peels. Filter
water intensively. Collect them by sieving gravel with worms
through a net. Messy, laborious and there are easier
sources of protein.
Sources: most aquarium shops have these uglies.
(Tubifex are even uglier and stinkier and if you know what's good for you
you will not attempt to raise them. It *is* possible, but consider --
they live in sewage, eating human shit, carrying hepatitis.... Ugh!)
GRINDAL WORMS (very small worms):
Uses: these worms are small (up to 1/2") and can feed a variety
of small fishes. Because of the way they are raised,
they are totally disease free. They do not burrow as
readily as other worms and live in the water for a few
days. Great for bottom feeders and any fish fast
enough to grab food sinking to the bottom or smart
enough to look for it (i.e. just about all fish).
Culturing: get a plastic shoe box (I get mine at Target on sale for $1),
fill it with sterile potting soil and peat moss mix (50-50),
or just potting soil, get it moist, perhaps nuke it in the
microwave oven for 5 minutes to thoroughly sterilize it, let
it cool, dump a small starter culture of worms into it
and sprinkle some high protein cereal powder (Gerber, for
instance) every time you see all of it gone -- and watch them
breed! Put a piece of glass on the soil and the worms will
crawl on it. I wash the worms off the glass into a cup with
clean water and use a large medicine dropper (1 tsp) to
dispense. If you use troughs to place food, the glass will be
free of potentially water-clouding soil. One healthy culture
produces enough for me to feed about 100 small fish.
Remember to keep the culture moist but not soaked and
soupy. Spray it with dechlorinated water now and then.
Cultures like this often get over-run with mites and/or
gnats. Both pests can be fed to the fish and are readily
eaten, but soon become a nuisance. Should this happen,
take some worms and keep them in a cup of water for 3-4
hours. This will drown the infestation and you can use the
worms as a new starter culture. I have had some spotty luck
salvaging the old infested cultures, but it's occasionally
worth the effort.
If the worms are not growing well, try adjusting the soil's
pH by mixing a bit of baking soda into it to neutralize the
peat's acidity.
An interesting technique of culturing worms is used by some
German killi breeders. They use open-celled foam that sits
in a tray filled with water and is covered by a piece of
glass. This method is cleaner than the soil/peat one.
Sources: friends, local aquarium clubs and mail order.
WHITE WORMS (small worms):
Uses: these worms are up to 1" long and are good for feeding
fish under 3"-4" long.
Culturing: Similar to Grindal worms, but these worms fair very badly
at high temperatures. Keep them under 70F. They will eat
the same foods as Grindals, but a number of sources suggest
that white bread soaked in milk is a very good food for
these worms.
Keep these worms in complete darkness. They will come out
of the soil and coat the bread, devouring it shortly and
clustering in a writhing mass. Pluck this mass of worms
off the soil and use it to feed the fish. The worms will
hide in the soil as soon as the light strikes them, so be
swift about grabbing them!
Sources: same as Grindals.
EARTHWORMS:
Uses: feeding of medium and large fish (over 4" long).
Culturing: Here is an excerpt from an article posted by Steve Bartling
(bartling@neptune.amd.com) over 2 years ago.
>To raise earthworms cheaply and easily :
>
>
>1) build a box out of wood ( any size is fine, a bigger box
> = more worms ) ( apt dwellers can make do with a 1' x 1' x 8" box)
>
> a) attach the top with two cheap hinges
> b) drill/cut two 2-inch holes in the front of the box
> in such a way as to line up the bottom of the hole
> with the bottom of the inside of the box
> c) paint the box with any outdoor rated, oil based paint.
> d) place a small piece of fine plastic screen against
> holes that were drilled/cut. Make sure that you place
> the screen on the inside of the box. Firmly nail the
> screen into place. The screen will allow the box to drain,
> but will not allow the worms to escape.
>
>The box is now complete.
>
>2) prepare the box for worms
>
> a) buy enough peat moss from a garden supply store or nursery
> to fill up the box ( remember the peat moss will compact
> after it gets soaking wet )
> b) place the peat moss in the box and completely soak the
> peat moss ( stir it up until you are sure it is uniformly
> wet ).
> c) get 6 bricks
> d) place one brick at each front corner and two bricks at each
> rear corner so that the box slopes forward and can drain
> from the holes.
> e) place a pan under the holes to catch the future runoff
> ( unless you place the box outside ). Note, after worms
> are growing, the runoff is great for plants.
>
>3) Now, for the worms
>
> a) go buy three or four boxes of the smallest worms that
> you can find at a fish and tackle shop.
> b) put the worms in the box
> c) buy some corn meal ( a small bag will last forever !! )
> This is all the worms need for adequate nutrition.
> d) every three or four days, sprinkle a LIGHT layer of corn
> meal on top of the peat moss. Note : before you apply
> each new layer, use a small, tined garden hand tool to
> stir up the peat moss and to mix the corn meal left over
> from the previous feeding into the peat moss.
> e) Wait about a month, and you will discover that you have
> literally millions of worms ranging in size from
> tiny little young worms to fully adult worms. The baby
> worms can be used for small fish and very young fish, while
> the larger worms will easily satisfy the live food
> requirements of even the most ravenous large fish.
> f) this is an infinitely renewable resource !!! You can
> not possibly feed your fish enough worms to reduce
> or even dent the supply. I have been keeping worms
> for fishing and for fish food for 17 years, TRUST ME !!
> g) the peat moss must be kept damp by periodic watering.
> Don't over water !! Do not allow it to dry out !! The
> worms will die QUICKLY if the peat moss dries out.
> Fortunately, peat moss retains water very well, and
> watering is rarely needed.
> h) The worms must not be allowed to freeze. The worms and the
> worm box will not smell and can be kept in garages or closets
> during the winter. The worms do not like being baked in
> the full evening sun in the summer ( you will kill them ).
> Place them in a shady location if they are left outside.
> i) keep the lid closed, worms like it dark.
>
>4) Other uses for Earthworms !
>
> a) potted plants love earthworms !!
> b) gardens love earthworms !!
> c) lawns love earthworms !!
> d) fish love earthworms !!
> e) Gorbeshev loves earthworms !!
> Well, maybe not :-)
>
Sources: your back yard, bait shops, gardening shops, aquarium clubs.
INFUSORIA (microscopic aquatic protozoans)
Uses: feeding of newly hatched fry.
Culturing: I use green water (i.e. natural algae growth) and banana
peal. Others use yeast, drops of milk, boiled lettuce,
other plant material, alfalfa pellets, etc.
I feed by using an eye dropper to just add the critters to
the fry jars.
Sources: old tank water, friends, mail order.
MICROWORMS (Nematodes)
Uses: these microscopic worms are good for feeding newly hatched fry
and the smallest fish.
Culturing: Get some Oatmeal pablum or Gerber high-protein cereal
mixed with enough water to form a paste, put it in a
dish. Add some live yeast (Fleishman's) or a generous
portion of deactivated brewers yeast (the latter method
does not create nearly as smelly a culture as the
active yeast!). Seed with a small quantity of
Nematodes. In about a week, start "harvesting" the
Nematodes off the sides of the dish (I use a Q-tip or a
brush) or place a flat piece of plastic or wood onto
the culture and scrape the worms off with a razor when
they become numerous (you can use a piece of a popsicle
stick as this "collection platform"). Wash them out in
a glass of clean water, dump them into the tank.
Remember to keep the culture wet and when it starts
turning dark and intolerably stinky, clone it to a
clean container being careful not to transfer any of
the fouled substrate -- just the Nematodes that had
climbed up the walls of the container.
Sources: friends, clubs, mail order.
FRUIT FLIES, WINGLESS and FLIGHTLESS (Drosophila species):
Uses: The fruit flies are the closest analog to the natural diet
for most killifish and many other small fish.
Culturing: I use 1/2 gal fruit juice bottles. The media is a mail
order instant mush that seems to be some sort of
instant mashed potatoes substance that smells like pure
starch mixed with fungicides. I use enough to get a
1/4-1/2" layer of media at the bottom of the bottle and
add enough water to get it to a sourcream-like
consistency. It should be dense enough to not run when you
tilt the bottle. Next I place a 2 layer roll of plastic
"bug screen" mesh into the bottle, so the flies and
maggots have somewhere to climb out of the wet goo --
it seems to help their survival. I dump in a few fruit
flies, perhaps a dozen. Finally, the bottle is
stoppered with a wad of filter floss, so my flies can't
get out and the wild fruit flies and other critters
can't get in.
2 weeks later I have newly hatched fruit flies ready to
be fed to the fish. The culture keeps producing for 2
months or so and should be "cloned" after some 6 weeks
of operation. When you see the previously cream-colored
media become dark and "used up" looking, it's time for
the new culture. It's probably easier and safer to
clone the culture every 4-6 weeks and be ready for the
eventual crash of the old culture.
To feed the fish, I sharply shake the bottle to knock the
flies away from the stopper, open a fish tank cover, open
the bottle, turn it up side down and give it a few taps,
shaking out a dozen or more flies every shake. The media
gets thick enough by then to not drip out.
CAUTION! These flies are wingless/flightless, but not
legless. They will walk up the sides of the tank, crawl out
through the cracks and head straight for your kitchen and
the bunch of grapes you left out. They may be fish food,
but they are still fruit flies. Feed them to fish in small
doses.
There are several different strains of usable fruit flies.
Some are smaller than 1/8", others are over 3/16". Some are
completely wingless or have vestigial stubby wings (wingless),
others have the wings that are so large that they are useless
(flightless). The flies I have now are the huge, flightless
kind.
CAUTION! The "wingless" fruit flies will sprout functional
wings if they are kept at high temperatures, so keep the
culture cool. One advice I have encountered: open the jar
outdoors, let the winged flies fly away, then make sure the
rest pupate at a cooler temperature.
HINT: You can chill a jar of Drosophila in a refrigerator
for a few minutes to make them sluggish and/or immobile.
This makes them lots easier to handle when you're breeding
up a new batch, and also makes them less likely to wander
off and eat your food. Your fish might not like to eat
them cold and still, though.
Sources: Same as everything else, friends, clubs, mail order.
Disclaimer:
-----------
Some answers listed above may reflect personal biases of the author
and the FAQ's contributors. In cases where the answers name
specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not
to be taken as endorsements, nor commercials for the manufacturer.
Where cost information is stated (magazine subscription rates),
this is based on "street" information, and are in no way binding on
the publisher. The answers contained in this series pertain to
discussions on the rec. and alt.aquaria newsgroups, and are by no means
exhaustive. This series is not intended to take the place of good
aquarium books on the subject matter.
Copyright:
----------
The FAQ owes its existence to the contributors of the net, and as
such it belongs to the readers of rec.aquaria and alt.aquaria.
Copies can be made freely, as long as it is distributed at no
charge, and the disclaimers and the copyright notice are included.
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