Aquariums

Revision as of 19:02, 29 April 2008

Introduction

This is the Aquarium Section: Based within Pets & Animals section of OCAU.Wiki. There has been lots of talk about Aquariums, linked with worklogs and many questions across the board. This wiki is to educate those in the know, as well as presenting all of the information you would need to start a tank from scratch. I hope you find this article both informative and interesting and if you have any comments at all feel free to edit the page :)

About Aquariums

An Aquarium is basically a tank (Generally Made of Glass or Acrylic) which is filled with water to keep fish as pets. Tanks can be Freshwater (Non-Heated), Freshwater (Heated) or Marine (Heated). These tanks can house a range of fish from Goldfish to Cichlids, Tetras, Loaches, Pleco's and a wide range of other inhabitants. There is a wide variety of themes, styles and designs which can be implemented to bring your own touch of class to the tank.

Acronyms

The Following is a list of Acronyms that may be referred in this article and / or other webpages:

General Aquarium Acronyms

LFS - Local Fish Shop
FW - Freshwater
SW - Saltwater
DIY - Do it Yourself
HOB - Hang on Back Filter
QT - Quarantine
UGF - Undergravel Filter
HITH - Hole in the Head
LPH - Litres per hour
GPH - Gallons per hour
MH - Metal Halide
RO - Reverse Osmosis
PCF - Power Compact Fluroscent
DI - De-Ionized (Water)
PPM - Parts Per Million

Freshwater or Saltwater?

Size & Volume

How big should I buy?

The general rule of thumb when asking what sized tank you should get is to get the biggest tank that you can afford that will fit in the place that you will be putting it.

The recommended space for each fish varies depending on the species, but one thing is certain: your fish are always happy with more room!

Calculating Gallons

1 US Gallon = 3.79 Litres

To work out how many gallons your 100 litre tank is, you would divide 100 by 3.79, which is 26.4 gallons.

Google has a handy calculator built in to it's search engine - go to http://www.google.com and type in "100 litres in gallons" (without the quotes) and it will work it out for you. US Gallons are the hobby standard. UK Gallons are slightly larger than US, but aren't commonly referred to by most products.

Calculating Volume (In Litres)

One cubic metre of space is equal in volume to 1000 litres.

To work out the volume of your tank, first get the width, height and depth of your tank in centimetres.

Next, multiple the three measurements together to get the tanks volume in cubic centimetres. Divide that value by 1000 to work out the volume of your tank.

A standard 2ft tank is 61cmx30cmx30cm. To work out the volume of this, multiple those three values together and divide by 1000: (61*30*30)/1000 = 54.9 litres.

Again, Google can work this out for you - simply type in "61cm*30cm*30cm" (without the quotes) in to Google and it will tell you your tanks volume.

Calculating Weight

When purchasing a fish tank, the weight of the actual tank is often overlooked. One litre of water weighs one kilogram. That means that a tank measuring 4ft by 1.5ft by 1.5ft weighs over 250kg when full from just the water!

Unless you are buying a small tank, it is unlikely that you will be able to move it once it is full. For those who are buying a tank larger than 4ft*1.5ft*1.5ft, you may need to ensure that your floor can hold the weight of the tank.

Cabinets and Tank Location

Bought

Repaired

Home Made Stands

Placement and the Effects of Sunlight

Substrate

Filtration

The Nitrogen Cycle

A Basic Explanation of the Nitrogen Cycle

Organic matter such as un-eaten fish food, dead plants/fish and fish waste rot in the water and create ammonia. This ammonia is highly toxic to fish and will quickly cause their death. By using a biological filter, ammonia can be converted into nitrates which - while still toxic to fish - will be far less dangerous to fish than ammonia. As nitrates build up within an aquarium, water changes must be performed to reduce nitrate levels.

The Nitrogen Cycle in Detail

The nitrogen cycle describes the various transformations that nitrogen undergoes in nature. In the context of aquaria, we only deal with the section of the nitrogen cycle that spans from ammonification to denitrification. This article will concentrate on these parts of the nitrogen cycle as used in aquaria. Test kits are availble to measure the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate discussed in this article.

Ammonification 

Any dead organic matter within an aquarium such as plant/fish matter, un-eaten food and fish waste will break down with the help of bacteria from organic nitrogen into either un-ionized ammonia (NH3) or ionized ammonium (NH4). There is some evidence to suggest that the PH level of the water effects the type, a PH below 7 results in NH4 while a PH over 7 results in NH3. Ionized ammonium (NH4) is actually not harmful to fish, however un-ionized ammonia (NH3) is highly toxic. For the purposes of an aquarium, NH4 is not considered relevant as it can change into NH3 under common conditions. Therefore this article will only deal with ammonia (NH3) from now on.

Nitrification 

A species of bacteria known as Nitrosomonas remove ammonia from the water by a process called oxidation. The by-product of this process is nitrites (NO2-). Like ammonia, nitrites are still highly toxic to fish. Another species of bacteria, Nitrobacter, then convert the nitrites into nitrates (NO3-). While not as dangerous as ammonia or nitrites, nitrates are still harmfull to fish in large quantities. Regular water changes are an effective means of preventing a build up of nitrates in an aquarium. Live aquarium plants will use a small amount of nitrates.

Both Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are aerobic, they thrive in oxygenated environments. Some filters (such as the "wet/dry" design) provide an environment where water trickles over otherwise dry media, providing a moist surface with access to oxygen. This is an excellent way to breed both types of bacteria.

Denitrification 

For most freshwater aquariums, the nitrogen cycle ends with nitrates being removed from the water through water changes. However, a further section of the nitrogen cycle exists that can be utilised by aquarists to further remove nitrates from water. Several species of bacteria, including Pseudomonas and Clostridium are able to convert nitrates (NO3-) into nitrogen gas (N2) which can then escape from the surface of the water.

These bacteria are anaerobic, they only live in oxygen depleted environments. In salt water tanks these environments can exist within live rock or sand beds. Low oxygen environments in fresh water setups are more rare, however products that can be used as biological filter media and also provide these environments (such as Seachem Matrix) have become availble in recent years. It should be noted that even with live plants and denitrifing bacteria, water changes are still required to keep nitrates at a safe level.

New Tank Syndrome

Many hobbyists new to aquaria can experience sudden losses of many or all fish in a tank. This is often caused by New Tank Syndrome, a spike in the levels of either ammonia or nitrites, these being by-products of their preceding bacteria's oxidization. For example, consider a tank with climbing levels of ammonia. This environment causes Nitrosomonas to breed, converting large amounts of ammonia into nitrites in the process. Ammonia levels drop as nitrite levels spike. The spike in nitrites encourages growth of Nitrobacter, lowering nitrite levels and causing nitrate levels to increase.

New Tank Syndrome is avoided by properly cycling a new aquarium.

Tank Cycling

New aquariums using new filters contain only very small amounts of the benifical bacteria required to deal with ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. To aviod New Tank Syndrome (see above), bacteria must be bred inside the tank's biological filter, a process known as "cycling the tank". To start this process, the tank is "fed" ammonia and the nitrogen cycle begins.

There are several methods used to cycle a tank, mainly differing in how ammonia is introduced to the tank.

Fish Cycling 

By placing hardy fish in the tank, ammonia can be produced by fish waste. The obvious drawback to this method is the danger to the fish in terms of high levels of either ammonia or nitrites. There are several types of fish that can survive in these tanks, however some people consider it cruel to knowingly keep a fish in toxic water. Some fish used for cycling may not be suitable for the tank in the long term, these are usually removed after a tank is cycled.

Fishless Cycling 

By dosing the water with ammonia or simply letting organic matter rot in the water, a tank can be cycled without introducing any living creatures until the tank is cycled. This method is more time consuming and labour intensive but does not risk the health of fish or force an aquarist to use a fish for cycling that they will later want to remove. Aquarists should take care in choosing which organic matter to let rot, as some matter (such as fish food) will not only provide ammonia, but also encourage the growth of algae.

Types of Filtration

There are 3 basic types of filtration needed to clean aquarium water. These are mechanical, biological and chemical. Most filters perform 1 or more of these three functions by use of different "filter media". Examples include bio-balls for biological filtration or sponges for both mechanical and biological.

Mechanical filtration removes large particles of matter such as dead leaves, un-eaten food and solid fish waste. This is usually achieved by using 1 or more types of sponge of varying thickness. Mechanical filtration is often the first type performed on water, as it helps improve the performance of other types of filter media.

Chemical filtration removes many chemicals that are harmful to aquarium fish, as well as removing tannins leached by driftwood. The most common form of chemical media is activated carbon, but products such as Seachem Purigen are becoming increasingly popular.

Biological filtration involves the conversion of ammonia into nitrites and then into nitrates using several different species of bacteria present in water. Ammonia is created by the rotting of un-eaten fish food, fish waste and dead plant/fish matter. Biological filter media is defined mainly by it's SA:V, or surface area to volume ratio. Bio-balls or ceramic noodles have been popular for many years, with semi-porous materials such as Seachem Matrix gaining popularity in recent years. For more infomation, see The Nitrogen Cycle.

Under Gravel Filters

Hang-on Power Filters

Internal Power Filters

External Canister Filters

Canister filters are probably the most common type in use for aquariums from 2' up to 4'. A canister filter consists of a cylinder containing several compartments. The canister is sealed shut with a pump and entry/exit pipes built into the lid. Water is usually pumped to the bottom of the filter and forced back upwards, passing through each compartment on it's way back to the top. Each compartment can be filled with a variety of filter media, a common setup would consist of one or more sponges on the bottom level for mechanical filtration, followed by biological and chemical filter media in the compartment/s above.

The canister filter is a popular choice as it is very versatile, quiet and easy to maintain. Various brands offer better value for money than others due to their reliability, some offering up to 6 year warranties.

Sump Setups

Sump setups are primarily used on very high volume tanks or heavily stocked tanks due to their ability to increase the overall water volume of a tank and ease of maintenance. General setups involve having a large container or specially designed fish tank underneath the main tank, with a siphon system setup to suck water from the top of the display tank, through a high volume of possibly varied mechanical and biological filtration in the tank/container, and then pumped back up into the tank via a spraybar.

In essence, it's a much larger version of a standard Canister filter and is often cheaper to setup and more effective, but much more difficult for beginners.

Air Stones / Air Bars / Powerheads

Airstones, air stone bars, powerheads do not provide filtration. They provide water circulation for your tank which may help deliver oxygenated water into the deeper levels of your tank where oxygen can not freely dissolve into. Oxygen only freely dissolves into around the top 5cm of your tank water, so moving this oxygenated water into the deeper levels of your tank will ensure oxygen is made accessible to all creatures living in your tank.

Although they do not exclusively provide filtration, the use of air stones and powerheads can supplement filtration. The use of air stones and powerheads to move water through sponge filters and undergravel filters will provide water circulation to grow beneficial bacteria on your filter media.

Lighting

Freshwater Lighting

Marine Lighting

T8 Lighting

T5 Lighting

T5HO

T5HO (HO for High Output) are the newest generation lighting for aquariums. They are far superior then the older T8 globes, they give out more light with less space and heat. T5HO lights are perfect for planted aquariums. It is easy to find bulbs that are designed for plant growth and contain a good Kelvin rating (between 5000-10000 Kelvins).

T5HE

Compact Fluro

Metal Halide

Metal Halide lamps, commonly used for reef aquariums, are sometimes used in normal or planted tanks. Closely related to HID lamps used in cars and descended from industrial lighting, these bulbs produce a large amount of light for their size. Despite their wattage ratings, they are actually quite efficient, converting around 24% of energy into light, which is more than fluorescent (T8-T5) bulbs. Compared to fluorescent fittings, which are relatively simple, Metal halide lamps require an electrical ballast which regulates current flow to the bulb. Buyers should beware of equipment which comes with cheap ballasts which are sometimes costly to repair. Compared to fluorescent fittings, these types of lights are generally more expensive but are considered an essential for any serious aquarium setup.

Heating

Heating is a very important part of fish keeping. Although it is commonly thought that fish that live in water around room temperature can be left in tanks without heaters, temperature regularity is as important or even more important than the relative water temperature. Temperature fluctuations due to ambient air temperature around the tank will cause tank water fluctuations which will cause discomfort and stress to your fish and at extremes will cause illness. Heaters prevent temperature fluctuations by monitoring water temperature and heating as necessary. There are different types of heating available. In general you get what you pay for with heaters. Getting cheap heaters is okay for temporary situations but their reliability may be questionable in the long run. Non submersible heaters are not recommended as they are obviously sitting in water, if water gets into your heater it may cause a short circuit. Heaters are usually factory adjusted, though they may not necessarily be accurate for the adjusted temperature. Make sure you have a thermometer in the tank with your heater so make sure the set temperature is the temperature you want. If your tank is constant for the wrong temperature then make adjustments to the heater as appropriate to heat to the needed temperature.

Chillers

CO2 Injection

DIY

Professional Setups

Fertilizers

Fish

Angels

Barbs

Bettas

Cichlids

African

American

American Cichlids are split into two primary 'groups', Central (CA) and South (SA) American depending on where they originate. They are generally tough, easily cared for fish, with species varying largely in size, colours, and aggression. Most Cichlids grow to upwards of 5" and are generally mid to bottom level swimmers, with most species setting up flexible territories. With this in mind, it is important that the primary characteristics of Cichlid housing tanks is the length and width (footprint) of the aquarium, not the height, though higher tanks can still be effectively employed to boost tank volume for filtration and spread of nitrates.

Popular smaller species of Cichlid that can be found in Australia do exist, with Rams and Apisto's being popular choices for community tanks as they hold the personal characteristics of most larger Cichlids at a smaller size. With a few exceptions, most larger Cichlids cannot be kept with smaller schooling fish such as standard Tetras due to their predatory nature and large mouths, as well as their aggression. Possible dithers (or target fish, fish used to spread aggression) for medium sized American Cichlids such as Firemouth, Blue Acara and Green Terror include the larger high body profile Tetra's such as Columbian Blue Flame Tetra, Bueno Airies Tetra and Congo Tetra, as well as most Asian Barb Species. Larger native Rainbows are also compatible. Bristlenose and other Pleco generally go unnoticed in the tank unless they wander into the territory of a breeding pair guarding eggs, so they also make effective tank cleaning mates.

Cichlids vary heavily from shop to shop and heavy research of a preferred Cichlid(s) is recommended before heading out to purchase one for your tank. Many things need to be considered, mostly based around what's currently housed in your aquarium and the aggression of the current or new species.

FINISHING LATER :(

Corydora's

Danios

Discus

Feeder Fish

Goldfish

Gouramis

Guppies

Killifish

Loaches

Mollies

Natives

Oscars

Astronotus ocellatus

A very common New World Cichlid originating from the Rio Ucayali drainage and upper Amazon river of Peru and Brazil. Commonly found at almost every LFS in Australia, the Oscar is a large growing very personal fish (or 'Wet Pet' as a popular term) which is available in numerous colour types, ranging from Red, Tiger, Albino, and the rare Lemon. Various morphs of these colours are present throughout the species with alternatives such as 'Red Tiger' and mixed Red/Albino Oscars not being uncommon.

Through my personal experience, Oscars are able to recognize their owners (or feeders) and are a very caring fish, but their fish to fish temperament can range from docile 'gentle giants' to glassbanging lunatics. Not suitable for community due to both their size and ability (and want) to eat anything that will fit into their large mouths. Possible tank mates include Plecostamus and medium to large sized American Cichlids provided you have the tank room. Fast schooling fish may elude Oscars for a period of time but will end up food eventually. Although appearing sluggish and lazy, Oscars have powerful burst speed and are adept at ambushing possible prey, especially at night when the other fish settle down. Success has been had with higher profile schooling fish such as Tiger Barbs, or generally large schooling fish such as Red Line Torpedo Barbs, Giant Danios and the larger native Rainbow species. Medium sized Cichlids such as Convict and Firemouth can be successfully kept with Oscars without hassle, though it can always vary depending on fish to fish temperament.

Oscars are incredibly tough Cichlids and their reputation for eating just about anything could be regarded as unfortunate, as from my personal experience, many of the people who buy Oscars don't have the tank to care for them properly. Due to their incredibly messy nature and eventual size, Oscars require at bare minimum a 55Gallon (210L) tank with a 48x18" (4 foot) footprint preferable. Pairs require upwards of a 75Gal. Remember, minimum tank size equals maximum maintenance.

If you have a large enough tank to accomodate a single or pair of Oscars and are chasing a 'Wet Pet', as already mentioned, these fish are very personal and I highly recommend them. They require regular water changes but if you're keeping a 4'+ aquarium you should already know that a certain level of maintenance is involved to keep it running.

Platys

Plecos

Rainbows

Rasboras

Sharks

Sword Tails

Tetras

Plants

Invertebrates

Algae

Causes

Varieties

Treatments

Stores

Local

THIS IS NOT FOR VENDOR VERDICTS

NSW

Aquariums@Asquith - 9987 0913 - Cichlids, marine, tropicals, plants, bettas.

QLD

Pet City
224 Wishart Road
Mt Gravatt QLD 4122
Phone: 1800 245 700 / or (07) 3349 2086
Fax: (07) 3849 4631
Email: info@petcity.net.au

Solid collection of semi-rare and common American Cichlids, Plecos, large range of African Cichlids. Extensive marine salt water selection with show tanks and live marine rock available. Everything for Freshwater, pond, marine and tropical available.

Guppy's Aquarium Supplies Online
AVK Imports Australia
11 Flagstone Drive
Andrews QLD 4220
Phone: (07) 5520 1911
Fax: (07) 5520 1922
Email: info@guppysaquariumproducts.com.au

A very cheap supplier of aquarium hardware, undercutting most stores by a large margin. Do not stock any fish or plants however, and if picking up good advisable to ring ahead and check availability.

VIC

Hi-fin Aquarium
257 Blackburn Road
Mt Waverley VIC 3149
Phone: (03) 9803 3109

Stocks a great range of freshwater, tropical and marine fish including tanks and general supplies.

Amazing Amazon
365 Springvale Rd
Glen Waverley VIC 3150
Phone: (03) 9545 0000

Stocks a good range of freshwater and tropical fish with some marine fish. Also stocks reptiles including turtles. Has plenty of tanks and miscellaneous aquarium supplies.

Coburg Aquarium
232-236 Bell St
Coburg VIC 3058
Phone: (03) 9354 5843

Stocks huge range of tanks and accessories, great range of healthy tropical and cold freshwater fish.

Boronia Aquarium
262 Dorset Rd
Boronia VIC 3155
Phone: (03) 9762 2044

Medium Range of tanks and accessories. Good range of tropical and cold freshwater fish. Also stocks good range of plants.

SA

Seaview Aquarium Centre
237 Anzac Highway
Plympton SA 5038
Phone: (08) 8371 0380

Big store with very helpful staff. Worth popping in to just check out their beautiful display tanks!

Aggies Aquariums
Unit 4-6 10 Research Rd
Pooraka South Australia, 5095
Ph: (08) 83597099

WA

NT

ACT

Petland
54 Colbee Crt
Phillip ACT 2606
Phone: (02) 62823403
Fax: (02) 62823817
Email: info@petland.com.au

Walk in and online shop with live fish, plants, hardware, medicinal, and feed for fish. My experience with them has been flexibility with ordering, consulting, and acceptance of ordering non-shop stocked items.

TAS

Online

THIS IS NOT FOR VENDOR VERDICTS

Petland
54 Colbee Crt
Phillip ACT 2606
Phone: (02) 62823403
Fax: (02) 62823817
Email: info@petland.com.au

Ebay

THIS IS NOT FOR VENDOR VERDICTS

Overseas

THIS IS NOT FOR VENDOR VERDICTS