Caring your Fresh Water Fish

Source from http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/fresh-water-fish-care.php

Fresh water fish vary from the hardy to the delicate depending on the type. The water they swim in needs special care to keep them happy and healthy.
It is important to keep a consistent and well maintained water environment for your fish. Chemical toxins as well as fluctuations in pH or temperature can do serious harm to your fresh water fish.

Water changes and other treatments will keep ammonia levels from becoming toxic. Because tap water may have chemicals, like chlorine and chloramines, that can kill your fresh water fish, it is important that you treat the water. A tap water conditioner for freshwater aquariums will neutralize both chemicals.

Other things you can do to better your fresh water fish care include monitoring the water temperature and the pH levels. Make sure to always keep the water temperature stable. Changing water temperature will cause unnecessary stress on your fish.

You can adjust the ph to match the the requirements for the type of fresh water fish you have. Once your fish are established, the most important thing is to maintain a stable pH level in your tank. Drastic changes in pH can be harmful to your fish. There is plenty of fresh water fish information available as well as many kits that test the pH levels so you can raise or lower the pH as needed.

An important note when taking care of fresh water fish is to be extremely careful whenever moving them. Moving the fish can cause them to weaken. Their stress increases and their protective slime coating may be diminished. A fish protection formula should be used together with chlorine/chloramine removers to help reduce stress and provide the protective slime coat back onto the fresh water fish.

Known throughout the world for its beauty and personality, koi is one of the most carefully bred fish species around. Raising koi is especially time-consuming and requires more than just sprinkling little flakes in the fish bowl. But thankfully, you don’t have to be an expert to maintain your own koi pond.

Koi For Dummies shows you how easy and fun it can be to own and care for these delicate fish. Whether building a pond or aquarium for the indoors or outdoors, this easy-to-understand guide explores all of your options. Clear, concise advice helps you:

* Appreciate your koi’s beauty
* Build, design, and maintain your koi pond or aquarium
* Find and select koi and the proper supplies
* Keep your koi happy and healthy
* Treat your koi for parasites, bacterial infections, and viruses
* Breed and care for baby koi
* Show off your koi to other koi enthusiasts

This fun, friendly guide also explains what to do during a power outage and how to check your koi for illness. Featuring 8 pages of full-color photos, Koi for Dummies is all you need to get started raising your very own koi. No matter where you live, you’ll be able to care for and breed this beautiful fish!

What Fish? A Buyer's Guide to Reef Fish

This buyer’s guide to reef fishes presents fact-filled, color-illustrated profiles of 180 specimens that marine aquarium hobbyists can select to stock a truly fascinating and beautiful tank. Author Phil Hunt, an expert on reef aquariums, tells how to set up and maintain a reef aquarium, and guides his readers with detailed advice on coping with common problems. The fishes profiled in this book range from those suitable for virtually every reef aquarium to others that should be kept with a restricted selection of corals. The fishes shown and described include:

Damselfishes and Clownfishes * Tangs and Surgeonfishes * Angelfishes * Hawkfishes * Wrasses * Basslets * Dartfishes * Tilefishes * Blennies * Butterflyfishes * Gobies * Triggerfishes, and many others

Each profile includes details on what the fish eats, its compatibility with other fish and invertebrates, its hardiness, its needs in relation to the tank environment, and a general guide to its retail price. Approximately 250 color photos.