Tropical Fish Care – Water Requirements

Tropical fish care is one of the most sought after topics because more and more people are taking this hobby more seriously. One of the things that you have to pay close attention to is your fish’s water requirements. You can’t just put tap water in your aquarium without knowing what your fish need. Find out specific information about water temperature, pH level, etc. One advice I got from a long-term hobbyist is to get a bigger tank. A large fish tank means that the water parameters will be more stable and so is the temperature. Water quality and proper oxygenation is the most crucial part of the fish tank so if you want to have healthy and happy tropical fish, you need to be knowledgeable about the loops of tropical fish care.

Use a test kit so you’ll know the exact temperature, pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels, dissolved oxygen content and salinity of water. Correct as needed. Measuring water parameters will give you a general idea of the water quality in your fish tank. Do not adjust water temperature brusquely because tropical fish are not too keen on sudden changes in their environment. This can cause unnecessary stress for them.

Tropical fish care also requires periodic water changes of 10% to 25%. You can do this at least every 2 to 4 weeks and this should depend on how messy your fish are or how crowded your tank is. If you have more fish in the tank, you can change the water once every week. Use a siphon with gravel cleaning attachment when doing this task. This will help you remove excess slime from the substrate. When it’s time for you to add tap water, make sure it’s the same temperature with your tank water. Also, you can use a de-chlorinator to remove any chlorine from the new water. Add additional chemicals if you have to adjust the pH of your tap water. Aside from that, you have to make sure that the filter you are using can circulate the entire volume of water in the aquarium at least 3 to 5 times every hour. Otherwise the filter will be clogged and so the water that is exposed to the filter will be reduced.