National Fish Pharmaceuticals
Tips & Prevention.
Here you will find many ways to improve the quality of the
environment for your tropical fish. And have a better understanding
of fish keeping in general. We want to help make your hobby or
business fun, not frustrating!
Below are links to few topics that make for a good foundation.
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Pond and Aquarium Water Quality Tips
This is probably the most important aspect of fish keeping.
Many of the fish at your local pet stores come from different
parts of the world, and therefore must be kept in the ideal
environment to ensure success.
Make sure you have consulted with your local professional or pet
shop owner before purchasing any tropical fish. Many fish such as
Discus, require additives to their water to survive and remain
healthy. The same goes for Koi, African Cichlids, Guppies,
Livebearers, Gouramies, Tetras etc. Fish from different continents
require different additives to re-produce the water conditions from
the area where they came from. Most importantly, if you are using
tap water, you need to get rid of the Chlorine and Chloramines. You
also need to establish some nitrifying Bacteria, we suggest using
Aqua Gold.
First of all, we recommend doubling up the filtration on your
aquarium. So, if you have a 100 gallon tank, put enough filtration
on it for a 200 gallon tank. This will cut down on water changes and
ensure that you have enough biological filtration to handle the load
of fish in your aquarium or pond.
Water Changes
You have to remember that a fish is swimming around in his own
toilet, so good clean fresh water is important. On a double filtered
tank, a 25% water change per week is sufficient. Usually, on most
aquariums 25% per week is acceptable. The size of the water
change depends on how many fish are in the tank, and also how much
filtration you are using. Your water should be crystal clear, and
you should not have any black or red algae in your tank. If this is
the situation, you need to treat the tank or pond with Erythromycin.
Too many water changes can be bad because you will not give the
biological bacteria enough time to become established. If you are
keeping your aquarium or pond too clean, you are doing more harm
than good. Not to mention the fact that if you are in there
scrubbing, moving rocks around and constantly disturbing the tank,
you will stress out the fish and cause them to become ill and
eventually die.
Rule of thumb: Let nature take it's course!
Want to see your Koi or Goldfish breed in your pond? Try
letting it get pea soup green during the summer and leave it that
way. Come springtime you may have quite a surprise: hundreds
of new baby fish!
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