Freshwater Aquariums For Dummies

Description

Title Page......Page 5 Copyright Page......Page 6 Table of Contents......Page 9 About This Book......Page 23 Foolish Assumptions......Page 24 Icons Used in This Book......Page 25 Where to Go from Here......Page 26 Part 1 Getting Started with Freshwater Aquarium Basics......Page 27 Chapter 1 Taking the Plunge: Just the Essentials......Page 29 Knowing where to put your tank......Page 30 Considering aquarium equipment......Page 31 Assessing which types of fish are best for you......Page 32 Feeding your fish — what types of food to buy......Page 33 Using chemicals to improve your aquarium conditions......Page 34 Breeding your fish: Yes or no?......Page 35 Contemplating other types of aquarium structures......Page 36 Chapter 2 The Practice of Aquarium Keeping......Page 37 Recognizing the Amazing Benefits of Owning an Aquarium......Page 38 Identifying Aquarium Water Systems......Page 40 Freshwater systems......Page 41 Saltwater systems......Page 43 Brackish systems......Page 44 Organization Is the Key to Success......Page 45 Chapter 3 Finding a Good Location......Page 47 Taking Room Temperature and Its Effects into Consideration......Page 48 Wicked windows......Page 49 High Traffic Areas, Children, and Pets (Spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R)......Page 50 Furniture and space......Page 52 Electrical outlets and TVs......Page 53 Cleaning considerations......Page 54 Buying a Tank: What You Need to Know......Page 55 Water is heavy......Page 56 Checking out starter kits......Page 57 Size matters — gauging space requirements......Page 58 Taking people into consideration......Page 59 Deciding where to buy......Page 60 Examining the Different Types of Aquariums Available......Page 61 Glass aquariums......Page 62 Acrylic aquariums......Page 63 Rimless tanks......Page 64 In-wall tanks......Page 65 Tower aquariums......Page 66 Special tanks from the pros......Page 67 Tank size......Page 68 Picking the Right Stand......Page 69 Angle and wrought iron stands......Page 70 Bow-front stands......Page 71 Moving an Aquarium......Page 72 Chapter 5 Aquascaping Your Aquarium: What to Add and Not Add in Your Tank......Page 73 Taking Clues from Your Fish’s Natural Environment......Page 74 Getting the Lowdown on Substrates......Page 75 Thinking about pH with your substrates......Page 76 Knowing which substrates to avoid......Page 77 Adding new substrate to your system......Page 78 Considering Rocks, Wood, and Artificial Plants......Page 79 Wood for a freshwater tank......Page 80 Plastic plants......Page 82 Eyeing plastic divers and other oddities......Page 84 Aquascaping Tips and Tricks......Page 85 Chapter 6 Selecting the Equipment and Other Stuff Your Aquarium Needs......Page 89 Taking the Mystery out of Filters......Page 90 Biological filtration......Page 91 Sifting through Filtration Systems......Page 92 Sponge filters......Page 93 Power filters......Page 94 Canister filters......Page 95 Diatom filters......Page 96 Natural filtration with plants......Page 97 An underground filter’s best friend — powerheads......Page 98 Digital heaters......Page 99 Heating your aquarium: Thermometers......Page 100 Air pumps......Page 101 Airstones and other bubble makers......Page 102 Air-line tubing......Page 103 Gang valves and tees......Page 104 Creating the Best Lighting......Page 105 Looking at bulb types......Page 106 Making a hood choice......Page 107 Part 2 Taking a Closer Look at Fish and How to Care for Them......Page 109 Chapter 7 Fish Anatomy 101......Page 111 The dorsal fin......Page 112 The anal fin......Page 113 Swimming movement......Page 114 The gill method......Page 115 The labyrinth organ method......Page 116 Sight......Page 117 Tasting......Page 119 Comprehending Osmosis and the Salt-to-Water Ratio......Page 120 Recognizing Traits to Identify Fish......Page 121 Taxonomy......Page 122 Color and its purpose......Page 124 Chapter 8 Figuring Out What Kind of Fish to Buy......Page 127 Anabantids......Page 128 Cyprinodonts and livebearers......Page 130 Catfish (plecos, cories, and one special Cypriniforme)......Page 134 Characins......Page 136 Unusual characins......Page 139 Loaches......Page 141 African cichlids......Page 142 American cichlids......Page 143 Cyprinids......Page 147 Freshwater tropical invertebrates......Page 149 Goldfish (Carassius auratus)......Page 151 Coldwater invertebrates......Page 154 Thinking about Captive-Bred Species......Page 156 Buying Fish Online......Page 157 Chapter 9 Working with a Fish Dealer to Purchase Your Fish......Page 159 Searching for a fish store......Page 160 The store’s appearance......Page 162 Dealer Practices: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly......Page 164 Don’t Bee dealers......Page 165 Wanna Bee dealers......Page 166 Start simply and do your homework......Page 167 Know your fish’s behavior......Page 168 Understand how big the fish will grow......Page 169 Don’t be Doctor Doolittle......Page 170 Getting the Right Fish without Going Overboard......Page 171 Understanding Basic Nutrition......Page 173 Recognizing what your fish need......Page 174 Feeding just what your fish need......Page 175 Taking action when they stop eating......Page 177 Going leafy and feeding vegetarians......Page 178 Prepackaged foods......Page 179 Freeze-dried foods......Page 180 Live food — the stuff they really love and want......Page 181 Brine shrimp......Page 182 Tubifex, bloodworms, mosquito larvae, and earthworms (yuck!)......Page 183 Liquid, powdered, and growth foods......Page 184 An Ounce of Prevention . . .......Page 185 Your daily review......Page 186 Your weekly to-do list......Page 187 Identifying Common Ailments and Cures......Page 190 Fin rot......Page 191 Freshwater ich......Page 192 Hole in the head......Page 193 Pop-eye......Page 194 Slimy skin disease......Page 195 Keeping an Eye Open for Frequent Causes of Disease......Page 196 Chemical poisoning......Page 197 Frightened fish......Page 198 Playing Detective: The Sherlock Holmes Method......Page 199 Grasping the purpose and advantages of quarantining......Page 200 Focusing on the tank......Page 201 Understanding Medications......Page 202 Part 3 The Background Players: Water, Chemicals, and Plants......Page 205 Chapter 12 All Water Isn’t Created Equal......Page 207 Tap water......Page 208 Rainwater......Page 210 Well water (don’t count on it)......Page 211 Using a garden hose......Page 212 Moving water the old-fashioned way......Page 213 Chapter 13 Considering Those Crazy Chemicals......Page 215 Following instructions to the letter......Page 216 Dechlorinator......Page 217 Cycling chemicals......Page 218 Maintaining Your Aquarium: Chemicals to Use......Page 219 Create your own rainforest......Page 220 Algae control......Page 221 Naming Chemicals Your Fish Need for Medication......Page 222 Eliminating Fish Waste......Page 223 Conditioning Your Tank......Page 224 Encouraging nitrosamonas (good bacteria number one)......Page 225 Monitoring through the conditioning period......Page 227 Speeding things up a bit......Page 228 Changing the water regularly......Page 229 Maintaining proper pH levels......Page 230 Testing Hardness (dH)......Page 232 Chapter 15 Putting It All Together......Page 233 Setting Up Your Tropical Freshwater System......Page 234 Setting Up a Small Plant Tank......Page 236 Setting Up Your Coldwater System......Page 237 Setting Up Your Simple Indoor Goldfish Pond......Page 238 Chapter 16 What You Need to Know: Live Plants for Aquariums......Page 239 Understanding What Live Plants Do for Your Aquarium......Page 240 Identifying Different Plant Types......Page 242 Rooted plants......Page 243 Temperature requirements......Page 244 Feeding......Page 245 Taking from the wild......Page 246 Buying online......Page 247 Achieving acclimation......Page 248 Recognizing signs of poor plant health and what to do about them......Page 249 Medications......Page 250 Planting Techniques and Aquascaping......Page 251 Chapter 17 Choosing Plant Species for Your Tank......Page 253 Baby tears (Micranthemum umbrosum)......Page 254 Cryptocoryne (Cryptocoryne wendetti)......Page 255 Dwarf four-leaf clover (Marsilia hirsute)......Page 256 Madagascar lace (Aponogeton fenestralis)......Page 257 Pearl grass (Hemianthus micranthemoides)......Page 258 Dwarf sagittaria (Sagittaria subulata)......Page 259 Amazon sword (Echinodorus amazonicus)......Page 260 Corkscrew val (Vallisneria spiralis)......Page 261 Elodea (Egeria densa)......Page 262 Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)......Page 263 Oriental sword (Echinodorus oriental)......Page 264 Red ludwigia (Ludwigia mullertii)......Page 265 Going with Floating Plants......Page 266 Envisioning Pond Plants......Page 267 Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)......Page 268 Starting with Some Easy Plants......Page 269 Part 4 Breeding and Other Fun Stuff......Page 271 Chapter 18 Being Prepared When Trouble Strikes......Page 273 Solving the aggression problem......Page 274 Addressing a food hog......Page 275 Analyzing heater problems......Page 276 Flickering lighting......Page 277 Repairing a small crack......Page 278 Confronting Water Problems......Page 279 Cooling a tank that’s too hot......Page 280 Warming a tank that’s too cold......Page 281 Chapter 19 Setting Up the Breeding Tank......Page 283 Breaking new barriers......Page 284 Choosing Your Equipment for Breeding......Page 285 Decorations......Page 286 Spawning grates......Page 287 Filtration......Page 288 Plants for safety, spawning, and inspiration......Page 289 Cleanliness......Page 291 Chapter 20 Ready, Set, Spawn......Page 293 Introducing the Bride and Groom......Page 294 Darn, my fish hate each other!......Page 296 The egglayers......Page 299 Saving Mom and Dad from Mom and Dad......Page 301 Saving the kids from Mom and Dad......Page 302 Raising the Fry......Page 303 Understanding Genetics......Page 304 Creating strains through inbreeding......Page 305 Breeding livebearers......Page 306 Other fun fish to breed......Page 307 Keeping a Logbook......Page 311 Making Your Fish the Stars They Were Meant to Be......Page 312 Knowing Where to Take Pictures......Page 313 Photographing Your Fish with Digital Photography......Page 314 Printing your work......Page 315 Film cameras......Page 316 The film......Page 317 Lenses......Page 318 Relying on lighting......Page 319 Making your fish shine......Page 321 Understanding Composition Techniques......Page 322 Panning the scene......Page 323 Shooting the Tank......Page 324 Building your own photography tank......Page 325 Using different backgrounds......Page 326 Entering a Fish Show......Page 327 Understanding competition classes......Page 329 The holding tank......Page 330 Tank considerations......Page 331 Knowing what the judges are looking for......Page 332 Transporting Fish to and from a Show......Page 334 Remembering to Have Fun......Page 335 Volunteering at an Aquarium or Zoo......Page 336 Writing an Article......Page 337 Setting Up a Tank for a Worthy Cause......Page 338 Sharing Your Love of Aquariums and Science with Others......Page 339 Trying a Brackish Aquarium Setup......Page 341 Considering a Marine Aquarium System......Page 342 Identifying the types of marine systems......Page 343 Setting up a simple marine aquarium......Page 344 Setting up a coldwater fish-only marine system......Page 345 Adaptability......Page 346 Beauty and friendliness......Page 347 Equipment......Page 348 Part 5 The Part of Tens......Page 349 Aquarium Claws (Those Handy Picker-Upper Doodads) to Move Decor......Page 351 Algae Cleaners to Keep Dry......Page 352 A Tool Box for Storing Stuff......Page 353 Aquascaping Tools to Make You a Star......Page 354 Automatic Gravel Cleaners Do the Job......Page 355 Aquarium Smart Controllers (Spy on Your Fish)......Page 356 Go Away on Vacation and Forget Them......Page 357 Give Your Cat a Sushi Bar......Page 358 Mix Apples and Oranges......Page 359 Let the Neighbor’s Unruly Kid Play with Your Fish......Page 360 Buy Used or Cheap Equipment......Page 361 The Fish Law of Thermodynamics......Page 363 The Fish Law of Motion......Page 364 The Fish Law of Nutrition......Page 365 The Fish Law of Psychic Felines......Page 366 The Fish Law of Time......Page 367 Feed the Fish the Good Stuff......Page 369 Monitor Filter Mediums......Page 370 Redecorate the Tank......Page 371 Share with Others......Page 372 Index......Page 373 Supplemental Images......Page 403 EULA......Page 411