Tips for raising ornamental fish

1. To raise good fish, you must first learn to buy good fish

Healthy fish swim in the middle and lower layers of the water body (except the upper layer fish) and compete for food. The swimming posture is natural and leisurely, the tail fin is clear and elegant, the eyes are clear, and the body is large. Fish that sink to the bottom, float, struggle to swim, have trauma, white hair, white spots, thick and cloudy tail fins, severe bloodshot eyes, gray body color, cloudy eyes, live alone, refuse to eat, or rub the tank with their bodies are all considered sick fish. , must not be purchased.

2. Pay attention to polyculture

If you plan to mix several different species of fish in a tank, you must take care of the compatibility between different species of fish. Fierce fish and gentle fish cannot be kept together; there are too many individual differences. Mixed breeding is not allowed (mild fish species can be considered); those with different water quality requirements cannot be mixed, etc.

3. Precautions when purchasing

When purchasing, aggressive fish and large and medium-sized fish must not only be inflated to preserve oxygen, but the outer layer of the dress must also be covered with a black bag to reduce the risk of The outside world interferes with the fish. High-end fish should be bagged individually to avoid damage caused by contact with each other. When buying fish in winter, you should also pay attention to keeping it warm. The plastic bag containing the fish must be thick and reliable, especially those fish with hard fins.

4. Precautions for entering the tank

Do not rush into the tank after buying tropical fish. You should first immerse the plastic bag containing the fish in the fish tank for ten to twenty minutes before opening it. The water in the tank flows back into the bag several times and gradually mixes with the original water in the bag, so that the fish can gradually adapt to the water temperature and water quality. If there is light, the light should be turned off. Fish are quieter in the dark and less likely to be frightened.

5. Suitable ambient temperature

Tropical fish are most suitable to live in the range of 24℃-28℃. They can live normally when it reaches 32℃ in summer. However, if the sudden temperature change is too large, tropical fish will Unable to adapt. Therefore, before buying fish, you should not only adjust the water temperature of your own aquarium, but also note that the water temperature of the aquarium store should not deviate greatly from the water temperature of your fish tank. Generally, a temperature within 4°C is allowed. If the difference in water temperature between the two is too large, you would rather not buy it for the time being, or make one more trip to adjust the water temperature to basically the same before buying it.

6. Precautions for changing water

Do not change the water in the fish tank too much at one time, as this will lead to water quality discomfort. Water quality includes pH value, hardness, chloride ion dissolved oxygen, nitrate, sulfide, protein and turbidity, etc. Tropical fish have adapted to living in the original water quality. If all the water is changed and the water quality is suddenly changed, they will not be able to adapt, and their physical fitness will decline and they will get sick. If you need to pour the bottom of the tank and wash it, you should also keep most of the old water. After washing the tank, return the remaining water to the tank and add new water.

7. Stocking density

Pay attention to the stocking density of fish. Tropical fish like large living spaces. First-time fish owners often buy fish they like when they see them, rarely considering how many fish can be kept in the tank. This requires special attention. Generally speaking, 1 liter of water should be used as the basis for raising 1 cm long fish. If your fish tank contains 100 liters of water, then it is safer to feed up to 10 10 cm long tropical fish. Adhere to the control target of about 1.5 liters. In larger spaces, fish are more active, stronger and more colorful. Overcrowding, excessive density, lack of oxygen in the water, and deterioration of water quality are the main causes of illness and death of tropical fish.

8. Feeding precautions

How to feed. The most important thing to pay attention to in the ornamental fish tank is to control the feeding. It is advisable to eat it once or twice a day and within 3 to 5 minutes. Feed less on rainy days and no feeding at night. Fish need to consume more oxygen in the process of digesting food. On rainy days and at night, the air pressure is low, and the dissolved oxygen in the water is also low. Feeding fish at this time may cause severe lack of oxygen in the water and kill the fish. Most fish deaths occur at night, and severe lack of oxygen in the water is one of the main reasons.

9. About bait

The bait must be clean, which is most easily overlooked by first-timers. Feeding unclean bait can easily lead to fish diseases. It is recommended to buy branded frozen fresh food produced by professional companies, such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc. Water is very easy to die and decay, so be careful when putting live food in.

10. Keep the water clean

Keep the water clean. After tropical fish eat, they consume a lot of oxygen and excrete a lot of waste, polluting the water and breeding bacteria. To keep the water clean, a high-efficiency filter must be installed. If you are raising fish in a naked tank, you must remove the waste from the bottom of the tank and replace one-tenth or slightly more of the old water every day. This must not be ignored, especially in summer. In an ecological tank where fish and aquatic plants are raised together, you only need to change 1/3 to 1/4 of the water once a week. The filter can be designed with aeration, so that filtration and aeration can be performed at the same time, so that the water can be purified and oxygen can be supplemented. However, the aquatic plant tank should not be inflated.

11. Avoid grease

Do not bring grease and detergent into the water. Oil pollution will float on the water surface and isolate the air, so that the oxygen in the water cannot be replenished, causing tropical fish to die of hypoxia. Eating meat or even applying hand cream on your hands will bring oil into the water and should be carefully avoided. Accordingly, the fish tank should be kept away from places where oil and gas are generated.

12. Fish should be raised from easy to difficult

It is best to start with low-priced and easy-to-raise fish. After accumulating experience, you can then raise more expensive species, so that you can become more comfortable and obtain more fish. Successfully avoid getting sick. For ordinary citizens, if you do not have certain fish farming experience, it is best not to buy expensive or saltwater fish species at the beginning. You can start with goldfish and koi among cold water fish, or the most common, cheaper and highly adaptable fish. Start raising medium and small freshwater tropical fish species.

There are many breeders of these fish, and their related breeding information is also more popular. For example, guppies, lantern fish, angel fish, rainbow fish, etc. are all easy to get started with. For these fish, the price is relatively low, so fish merchants do not have to resort to fraud just to make a small profit. Even if there is any loss, it will not make people feel bad.

About the problem of ornamental fish getting sick

Friends who have just started raising ornamental fish all have this experience. After buying the fish and putting it in the fish tank, everything will be fine for the first few days. Within a few days, the water became muddy and the fish wilted. After asking about it, I found out that the fish was sick, "What? Fish can get sick again?" He asked a doctor and gave him medicine with hesitation. It took a lot of time, and my hair may have turned a few gray.

Finally, not a single fish was left to see Lao Mao. I gritted my teeth and bought a few more. He gets better for a few more days, then gets sick again, gets cured again, dies again, buys again, and the cycle starts over again. Unknowingly, I fell into a strange circle. Finally, there is a feeling that fish keepers who cannot treat fish diseases are not good fish keepers.

This is a beginner's problem, everyone. Everyone does it, it’s not surprising. What's strange is that some people can't extricate themselves and fall into the trap of being a fish doctor and can't get out. They think that fish farming means constantly treating fish.

In fact, raising fish is the same as raising children. The important thing is not to treat them, but how to prevent them from getting sick. That is to prevent disease. No matter how it recovers, a fish that has been sick will have minor defects, which will reduce its ornamental value. Moreover, your beloved fish always greets you in a sickly manner, so I guess your mood is not getting better, right?

So how can we prevent fish from getting sick? The most important thing is to keep water. That is to say, we must maintain the hydrological environment in the aquarium. At least try to achieve some kind of balance between fish, good microbes, bad microbes, nutrients, and harmful compounds in your aquarium. If it is an aquatic plant box, the role of aquatic plants in the hydrological environment should also be added.

Harmful microorganisms in aquariums mainly refer to pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Harmful compounds are various inorganic salts produced in the water, such as phosphates, nitrites, etc., which are harmful to fish. In addition, friends who feed ornamental fish with live bait captured from nature (such as water lice, silkworms, blood worms, etc.) for a long time will inadvertently bring in some organisms and pathogens that are harmful to the fish (such as elephant fish) during feeding. Lice, cat head lice, viruses, etc.) These are basically the main causes of illness for ornamental fish raised in aquariums.

Compared with rivers and lakes in nature, aquariums are much smaller and more isolated. The high fluidity of natural water means that various harmful salts there will be quickly washed away with the water flow, and a large number of various elements in natural waters will also neutralize some of the harmful salts. The wide water body in nature means that fish have a wide range of activities, and they have to run around for food and avoid attacks from predators all day long in order to survive. The chance of infection and harmful organisms will be much smaller.

How to avoid ornamental fish getting sick

1. The aquarium should be large and have fewer fish

That is, the density of fish should be relatively small, 1cm per liter of water. Fish, the breeding density of this is the experience summed up by many predecessors, everyone must know it. You can lower the density a little bit, right?

2. Arrangement of filters

Some friends will only buy an air pump when they first start raising fish. If you think the water is lacking oxygen, pump it up; if the water is muddy, change the water. It doesn’t matter if you buy a filter or not. This kind of thinking is very dangerous. As we mentioned in the colorful feeding equipment chapter, the current meaning of the filter device refers to biochemical filtration.

It is no longer just about removing impurities from water. Rather, it is a method to improve the hydrological environment by establishing a good circulation system that uses microorganisms to eliminate harmful substances in the water. It is a system that must be prepared. Judging from experience, the gap of the filter channel should be larger and longer. The first step is to use coarse filter cotton to filter out impurities, and then filter through biochemical filter cotton, biochemical balls or ceramic rings and other nitrifying bacteria attachment bases, allowing the nitrifying bacteria attached to them to work. It is then filtered through activated carbon to remove harmful elements such as chlorine and cadmium, and finally filtered through a cotton filter and returned to the aquarium.

3. The speed of the water flow should be higher

This depends on the type of fish. If you raise fish from Wenshui or even non-moving water, you can’t flush them with large amounts of water. What this means is that the circulating water flow should be as large as possible to simulate the natural flow of water. water flow conditions.

4. Lazy people cannot raise fish

Fish farmers must develop a good habit of monitoring and checking water quality and fish living conditions every day. This work is very boring, but You have to do this. Carefully check the water's pH, nitrite content and other hydrological indicators, observe whether there are any abnormalities on the fish's body, and whether there are any abnormalities in the fish's shape and movements. To detect whether the fish is infected at the early stage and to prevent the infection, only those who sit in front of the fish tank for 1 or 2 hours every day after returning home and stare at the fish without blinking are considered to be in the condition. It is necessary to observe every day and preferably keep an observation diary.

5. Keep changing every three to seven days. Part of the water

Although old water is the key to raising good fish, new water is also essential to stimulate the metabolism of fish and aquatic plants.

6. Feed control and disinfection

This is extremely important for those who feed natural live bait. Some time ago, many friends asked me why I said silk earthworms should not be used to feed Disciples, but he did not find anything wrong with it after using it. Regarding this point, I would like to ask everyone to take a look at the origin of natural silk earthworms. In the sewage ditches in rural areas or next to factories, the mud under the water surface with a water depth of 3-5cm is the habitat of natural silk earthworms.

Everyone should know that pesticide or industrial pollution is extremely serious in such places. Silkworms in particular are immune to the metal cadmium and deposits it in their bodies after their absorption. Do you think something like this is good for fish? Of course, it is not impossible to feed a small amount after disinfection and rinsing.