Aquarium Guide: Top 5 Tips & Tricks

Though there are no real shortcuts when it comes to keeping your aquarium clean and ensuring that your fish are happy and healthy, we can bestow some handy aquarium tips and tricks to help you along the way.

Here are our 5 pieces of aquarium advice:

• Research Your Fish Before Buying
  
  Take the time to learn a little more information on the fish you plan to purchase. If you have existing aquarium inhabitants, it’s important that any new additions are able to coexist with your current fish.
  
  You’ll also need to consider what environment the fish needs for it to thrive, how big will it grow and what kind of temperament does the fish have.

• Cycle Before Adding Your Fish
  
  Cycling your tank is the process in which you ensure that your aquarium’s water conditions are the optimum level for your fish. This should always be completed in advance before adding your fish, so make sure you buy your aquarium beforehand.
  
  The cycling process makes sure that water conditions are healthy, encouraging the growth of micro-organisms that are integral to breaking down waste materials. This process can be aided by the use of aquarium treatments such as filter starters.
  
  
  
• Regularly Check Your Water Parameters
  
  Even after you’ve achieved the ideal healthy conditions following your initial tank cycle, you’ll still need to keep a check on your aquarium’s water parameters. Things can quickly start to change, and these factors can soon affect the health of your fish.
  
  We recommend keeping a check on the levels of ammonia and nitrite as well as the pH in your tank with the help of an aquarium test kit.
  
  

• Don’t Overfeed Your Fish
  
  When it comes to feeding your fish, there can be a temptation to overcompensate and overfill the tank with fish food, especially if you lead a busy life. It will actually take fish a long time to feel the effects of hunger, and one feed a day will suffice.
  
  These days, a good standard of flake fish food provides all of a fish’s nutritional needs. When feeding, we suggest measuring out no more food than your fish will eat within a few minutes. Waste food can not only make your aquarium unclean, but it can lead to poor water quality which can result in an outbreak of disease among your fish too.
  
  
  
• Ensure the Light is Right
  
  Another important factor of any healthy aquarium is the amount of light that it’s exposed to. Of course, you’ll want to include aquarium lighting in order to view your fish, but this will also encourage algae to grow.
  
  We recommend investing in an algae scraper, while there is also an extensive range of algae treatments available to choose from here at Pond Planet too.

If you have any handy aquarium tips and tricks of your own or you’d like to know a little more on any of the advice given or products featured, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team here at Pond Planet.