The Oranda Goldfish - An Interesting Fish For Your Aquarium

Author: Lee Dobbins
source Articlesbase.com

If you want a fancy looking goldfish that has an unusual characteristic and you might consider the Oranda goldfish for your aquarium. This fish has a beautiful metallic scaled appearance and comes in a variety of colors from yellow to bright red as well as an interesting chocolate color and a pure white with a red cap.

The interesting characteristic of this goldfish is that they have a bumpy growth on the top of their head which develops when they are a couple of years old. This growth is called a wen and is an unusual, but somewhat appealing characteristic. While this differentiates the Orlando from other goldfish he is similar in many other ways including his paired anal fans and dorsal fin.

The Oranda goldfish can grow to be about 7 inches in length and will survive best in the tank that is between 65 and 72 degrees F. Like other goldfish, he is a good community fish and will even help to clean excess food from the bottom of the tank. However, you must be sure to keep him in a tank that is of sufficient size keeping in mind the population of fish you wish to house in the aquarium. Appropriate aquarium maintenance is a must to keep the water quality in good shape. While goldfish are hardy, they will do best with a well cared for tank.

Goldfish are omnivores, and the Oranda is no exception so you want to be sure to feed him a good-quality flake food every day. In addition, you want to include some fresh or frozen foods such as tubifex worms, brine shrimp or blood worms. Keep in mind that live foods can introduce parasites and bacteria into the tank so you might want to stick to frozen foods only.

With the Oranda, you do want to be careful about bacterial infections because debris, fingi and bacteria can get caught in the folds of their wen. Well, for the most part, these fish will be fine you do want to keep an eye out for any red or wall looking patches and take the appropriate steps to clear up an infection should one arise. On some fish, you may be alarmed to notice that the wen has grown to cover over the eyes. This seems to disturb the owners more than the fish, however, and the Oranda somehow does fine even if it seems like he can't see where he is going.

Originally from China, Oranda goldfish can be found in most pet stores today. They are not inexpensive fish, however, they can be a bit delicate and may not be the best choice for a novice aquarist.

Taking Care of Fish and Aquariums

Author: John Ugoshowa
Source: Amazines.com

If you own fish and aquariums, you should have already researched to know how to take care of your fish and aquarium. If you have not, then it is important that you research, asked questions, read materials, etc, which will help you provide proper care to your fish and tank.

If you plan to purchase non-marine and marine fish combined, you will need to consider a variety of details. The one thing you want to avoid is inserting aggressive and non-aggressive fish into the same tank. Unless you want to lose money, this is the best recommendation anyone can offer you. Damsels are aggressive fish, which the fish are typically starter fish. Fish owners tend to start with damsels, since the fish are inexpensive and require less maintenance and attention. It is recommended that you only put two of the same or similar fish in a single aquarium.

In addition to fish, you will need to purchase with your aquarium test kits, buffers, filters, gravel, floss, and so on. It is important to keep fish water fresh. If you have, saltwater fish you will need to add salt every two weeks. In addition, you can purchase fish that will adapt well to saltwater, especially if you have primarily saltwater fish in your tank.

How to maintain freshwater fish Common freshwater fish will adapt to nearly any type of tank. Saltwater fish tend to do well in reef tanks. Since freshwater fish will adapt to a variety of tanks, it is easier to take care of the fish. In fact, freshwater fish is recommended for beginners. In the category of freshwater fish are the tropical fish and the Coldwater fish. To help you get started we can consider aquariums.

Considering aquariums The first thing you want to consider is the area you will place the aquarium. You want to make sure you have sufficient space at your home to spot the tank. You should never put fish aquariums near open Windows, or windows in general. The sunlight will cause photosynthetic organisms (Algae) to grow quicker. You will need to avoid spotting the tank near heaters, or doorways. It is important that you maintain room temperature when caring for fish. You can purchase dehumidifiers and humidifiers, which can help you, maintain room temperature. In addition, when you purchase your aquarium, make sure that you consider filters, floss, gravel, medicines, food, water, etc. You want to make sure that your plug sockets can handle the level of electricity required of fish aquariums.

How to choose filters? Filters are categorized as chemical, biological, and mechanical. You can purchase external, internal, and under-gravel filtration systems to support your fish aquarium. If you are just starting out in fish care and aquarium care, avoid the under-gravel filters since it will require excessive maintenance, as well as the filters do not produce quality power. However, you can use under-gravel filters in conjunction with mechanical, biological, or chemical filters. It is recommended to learn the actions performed by each filtering system before joining under-gravel filters with another filtration system. One of the most popular filters utilized is the internal filters. The internal filters include foam cartridge(s) and a diminutive box. The filters work to draw liquid from grills. The liquids are then filtered by the foam cartridge, which exits through the nozzles found at the top of the filters. Beginners could benefit from using the internal filters, since indicators will alert you when to clean or replace the filters. Valves work to produce oxygen, which adds to the advantages of using internal filters. The internal filters also have filtering pads, which remove chemicals while using polyester and/or carbon pads. The strong synthetic fabrics produce low moisture, which absorbs the chemicals. The filters are hardwearing, which means you will not have to replace the filters as often. John Ugoshowa. For more information about Aquariums and fish care see the art aquarium and fish care section of The Free Ad Forum at: http://www.thefreeadforum.com/infowizards/CAT/Aquariums-Fish-Care_83_1.html

How To Avoid Disease In Your Aquarium

Author: Lee Dobbins
Source: articles-hub.com

There are many diseases that can affect your aquarium fish and once your tank is infected, there's a good change that all your fish can get sick. Luckily, keeping a disease free tank is not that hard. Most disease is a result of poor water quality so not overcrowding your tank and keeping a regular maintenance schedule is a must.

There are many diseases that can affect your aquarium fish and once your tank is infected, there's a good change that all your fish can get sick. Luckily, keeping a disease free tank is not that hard. Most disease is a result of poor water quality so not overcrowding your tank and keeping a regular maintenance schedule is a must.

Most aquarium disease can be avoided by making sure your aquarium water is healthy. If disease does break out, doing a water change and treating the water for the particular disease is the best way to nip it in the bud. If you don't do these two things your tank is a disaster waiting to happen.

Neglecting the appropriate tank maintenance and partial water changes will allow toxins to build up in the water, basically polluting your fish's environment. As the water becomes more toxic your fish become more "stressed", the more stressed your fish becomes the easier it is for the micro organisms present in your aquarium water to infect your fish with various diseases.

I addition to insuring your aquarium has good water quality, you should also keep an eye on your fish each day so that you can be alerted to any signs of stress right away and take the appropriate action.

So how do you tell if your tropical fish are stressed?

Tropical fish don't react the same way to stress as people do, but there are some tell tale signs you can be on the look out for. Some things to look for include; fish rubbing themselves against the gravel or aquarium décor, fish hiding in the corner or under plants or rocks all the time, fish bobbing around with their fins close to they body and any growths or white fuzzy spots are some of the things that indicate aquarium disease.

Of course, the first step in treating aquarium disease is preventing it. Here's some steps to make sure your aquarium remains free of disease.

1. Don't overcrowd your fish tank. Your tank can only support so many fish - the more fish you have the more waste they create and if the filtration cannot handle the waste you end up with toxins in the water that can accumulate to dangerous levels over time. The larger the tank, the more fish you can have.

2. Acclimate new fish to the tank properly. When you bring a new fish home form the pet store, it's already been through quite a bit. Shipped from the breeders to the new store and put in a new tank, then transported into your tank all can be stressful to the fish. To acclimate your fish properly, make sure you float him in the bag in your aquarium for 10 minutes then open the back and introduce some of your aquarium water into the bag, let that sit for about 10 minutes and then let the fish out into your tank.

3. Make sure to have great water quality. Since poor water quality is the greatest case of fish disease and death you'll want to be diligent about your tank maintenance and partial water changes. Also, make sure to test the PH and nitrite / nitrate levels and adjust the tank accordingly. This is quite easy and there are test kits made for testing as well as adjusting the water.

Keeping your aquarium disease free is not difficult and will help you enjoy beautiful healthy fish for years to come!