How Often Should I Feed My Fish?

When I walk into an account and test the water, one of the things I can tell fairly quickly is how much, or too much, fish food is being dropped into their tank.

My phrase is "A hungry fish is a healthy fish". With that said, most of the fish in your aquarium should be fed every other day. There are exceptions. Anthias sometimes need daily feeding. Sea Horses need several times a day feeding. But generally, I recommend to my clients a schedule of every other day. Some would disagree. But, for 20 years, this has worked for me.

Dependant upon what type of aquarium environment is what type of food I would recommend. My agressive fish love the Silversides.  You should see my Porcupine puffer and Lion fish go for those!  

Others I do a combo of frozen foods. Never flake in my salt-water tanks though. I prefer frozen fresh food. And, I believe my fish do too.

When you are overfeeding, I can tell by the testing I do. And sometimes, there is so much detritus in the tank it shows that there is a lot of waste. Whether it is from the food not eaten, or the tremendous amount of fish waste from all the food that was eaten.

So, remember, don't overfeed your fish. They are kind of like us that way. They'll eat what's put in front of them, but they are healthier with a balanced and appropriate sized meal!

I Want My Tank Full Of Fish NOW !

Or so says one of my newest clients.....and, yet again, I have to remind him the importance and value of patience when starting up your aquarium.

You have found the aquarium. You have the set-up all configured. You put in your sand. You plugged in your lights. The rock has been placed. The water has been filled.

So, why just a couple of those, 'what are they called again', Damsel fish the only thing you're putting in there.....?

Favorite word for the novice aquarium enthusiast owner to learn: Cycle, or cycling. The tank needs to cycle before it can be beautiful. The tank needs to go through it's early stages of spiking and settling. The biological perfection needs to be aquired. And, patience, is an absolute. Well, unless you really want to throw money down the drain, that is.

Put a couple damsel fish in. These blue ones are one of the most common.

They are inexpensive and extremely hardy. A couple clown fish will work also. A couple of weeks, yes, weeks, later, test the water, and maybe add a strong coral. An open brain, a yellow polyp. Then another couple of weeks, test the water. How's the protein skimmer doing? Lights working well, fish eating. Sand get that bloom yet? Test the water. Look for the right levels.

Then, add another fish. Maybe another coral or two. Maybe by about week four or five you can start putting in several corals and two fish at a time.

Trust me, you'll know if you put fish in too fast......you won't have them any more.

Take your time to build your beautiful reef aquarium. I love helping the newbies. Give me a call, shoot me a text ~ happy to chew your ear off about aqariums stuff while you're working on your patience.

Tank Moves ~ Save The Water And More

One of the things I do is move tanks. Someone calls me that is buying a previously owned tank and they need help breaking it down and re-setting it back up in their home or office.

It can be super easy, or extremely exhausting. Generally I am moving about one tank a week. Sometimes 3, but that's a rarity.

Once I went into a tattoo parlor to break-down a tank. There were cockroaches in the stand...live ones.  This was one of the worst I've ever encountered. Had someone contact me to move it for him. He had found the tank himself, not always a good thing, and paid for it before he told me all about it. I would have told him not to buy it. It was a trashed unit, not cared for, completely overpriced. But, my client didn't know any better. I was up til about 3 am that time re-plumbing and cleaning, and chasing bugs. But, it turned out okay, not perfect. Work with what I got.

Did a tear down of a 240 a couple of years ago. Found the guy on Craigslist, turned out we knew each other from back in the day! Came with some great fish, live rock, corals. And, then he gave up another cube tank with Halides...just because.

When I do a tank move or tear-down, depending upon how fast it's going back up, I save all the water. When you start an aquarium from scratch, you have to cycle your water. When you are moving one, try to save the water as it's already cycled, or cultured. I have 5 gallon jugs galore so that I can save the water.

Also keep the sand. It's got the biologicals in it too.

The live rock should be kept wet, but it can stay out of water for many hours and not have to be re-cured.

The fish? Make sure to have a pump and large barrel with you so that the fish can be kept in the barrel with the pump going while you are finishing the tear-down and starting the set-up.

The corals...need to be gentle with those. Some may be extremely fragile. Others can just plop right into a holding bin.

Almost every time I do a move, it takes longer than anticipated. Because I want the people that hire me to have the best, I usually do some plumbing, or cleaning, or re-vamping or some sort that they wouldn't have known to do themselves to have an optimum tank. I painted the back of a wave tank for someone that hired me to do a move this week. Wasn't done, needed to be done, so it was done!

Once we are all packed up from the tear-down, I drive to the new location with everything in the back of my truck. And then, go in reverse.

The aqua-scaping...I really enjoy this. The tank is set back up. The plumbing is tuned. The sand is in. Water is going in, and, I get to stack the live-rock. Making the right ledges for corals and the right tunnels and caves for fish is imperative to a healthy reef tank. Place the corals based upon light needs and flow needs.

If you want to do it yourself, it's not that horrible. I just have done so many that I have it down to practically a science, bugs and all.



Then, all done, your tank is up and running in your home or office!

How Will Your New Fish Get Along?

One of the challenges of putting a new fish in your aquarium is wondering if it will get along with the fish that are already happily swimming in there now.

You can go into internet overload trying to do the research. You really shouldn't put another clown fish in when you already have a mated pair. Putting a little tang in a smallish tank where there is an obvious large 'alpha' tang, may not work so well for the new little guy either. Adding a few more Bangai Cardinals into an existing school may be counter-productive as well.

Each fish has it's typical characteristics, it's expected behavior. Some trigger fish that are normally very docile and yet you end up having to give them a little net time-out if they try to attack the new lion fish you just put in your fish only tank!

Yes, fish are territorial and have their own personalities. And, some very strange. A Lunar Wrasse is a bit of a lunatic, sometimes ~ most of the time ~ but then I've seen a few that are very mellow. Strange.

Remember, try to be aware of what the normal fish behavior is. Try to acclimate a new fish with others that will accept it.

There will be the little scaredy cat fish too though, the ones that hide for a couple of days.  Or the ones that won't eat for a period of time.

And, remember, some fish will just have to be removed if they obviously aren't going to make it in your aquarium. It's a learning experience. I hope you continue to enjoy yours!

Keeping Your Hands Clean

When you're working with your aquarium, it is important to make sure that all the biological factors are in check. It helps to keep your fish and corals (reef tank) healthy.

Remember to not allow kids to bang on the tank. Remember to keep cleaning products away from the air that can flow into a tank.

And, remember to keep your hands clean when working inside your tank....and learn today, that even if you wash your hands before you go in the tank....don't touch your face ~ if you have hair products, skin products, make-up ~

Trust me, I've had expensive lessons.

We all like to look our best, but hair and make-up can be re-done quickly and inexpensively. Touching your face, wiping a little dampness from your hairline ~ that is filled with hair gel, spray, goop? That can kill a few hundred dollars worth of your aquarium life and confuse the heck out of you....well, if you hadn't read this little blog, that is.

These hands are from obviously dirty to, maybe dirty. And, who knows if they have anything that you can't see on them.

Hair gel seems to be the worst, and I've done it twice that quickly comes to mind. And, both times, it was disasterous for my show tanks....a few days later.

So, while you (and me too) definitely look best when every hair is in it's place? Do your tank service before you put in product...trust me, a little hair out of place will save many a fish!



What Fish Work With What Aquariums

It's the one thing I try to help clients with very early on. Getting the right fish for the right tank. Freshwater is easier, this is mostly about the Salt-Water environment.

New clients are always told to check with me before they put any fish in their tank...well, any fish I haven't purchased for them.

Not all fish are reef sale. Many will eat your corals, your shrimp, and cause some type of havoc in your beautiful tank.  Just because the fish store says it's okay to put in your tank...you should always ask the person that you trust and that has many years of trial and error experience. 

This link is to an article that talks a bit about fish and reef aquariums.

Reef Safe Saltwater Fish

Keep in mind that not even when historically the fish has been reef safe that fish have personalities, like we do, and some just don't work with what you've got.

You have to build your aquarium society with care...and knowledge.

Saltwater Aquariums, and More....

We've got Facebook, we've got Craigslist. Now we've got to blog....about fish.

These posts will be written by my wife, with my guidance. She's the author, I'm the fish guy!

I've been involved with aquariums since I was a young boy with the help of my dad. They always interested me.

I became a mechanic when I finished serving in the US Army, but always kept my hands in aquariums.

I've worked in, and helped set up, many retail stores over the years. Finally, with the urging of the wife, went full-time with my own fish business. Santa Clarita Valley Aquarium, Set-Up and Service....a little over a year ago.

The business has been good to me, but it wouldn't work unless I had the knowledge and experience that I do have.

So, I help people in many different ways with their aquariums. Yes, I do an occasional pond or two as well. The majority of my clients have salt-walter aquariums, a few have fresh water. And, most of my 'salt' clients do the infamous 'Reef Aquarium'.

You can see why. This is a clients tank out in Diamond Bar. I've got many to share.....

For now, enjoy the photo. You can find a lot more on Facebook. Of course, there are more that my wife keeps telling me I need to shoot pics of, but, I get so involved when I'm with my clients....I forget...my bad.