Freshwater Aquarium

When you saw him at the pet store you know you had to save him, and now you need to know how to care for your betta fish! You couldn’t help but buy the betta fish, seeing its beauty stuffed inside that little cup with no room to move. I don’t blame you; they are an absolutely beautiful fish. They look so crammed and lonely inside that little cup. You took the first step by taking him home and doing a really good thing for the little guy; now let’s just hope you continue to take care of him.

Taking care of anything is not nearly as easy as the pet store would make it seem. They buy betta in mass quantities, stick them in the little cups, and display them with the intention of selling them before anything bad happens. If one dies they just throw it out and they’ve already raised the price enough on the others to cover their losses. So believe me when I say you did a good thing. Now, on to caring for your betta.

First Tip

Buy a good fish aquarium. Bettas don’t need a lot of room, but much more than a cup! The bigger you decide to go with the tank the better. It will be easier to take care of and you never know, you might want to house some other Betta-compatible fish with it later on. Give the aquarium a rock bottom, preferable rock intended for aquariums, and clean it thoroughly.

Second Tip

Buy an adequate filter for the aquarium, especially if you have more than one fish. This costs a little more but makes your job, and the Betta’s life a lot easier. The filter will help keep the water cleaner longer and you will only need to buy replacement cartridges every month or so. This will also keep the water quality consistent for the fish.

Third Tip

You only need to feed your fish once a day, twice at the absolute most. This is where many people go wrong, they keep dumping flake after flake into the tank. The fish will overeat and that’s not even the biggest problem. By overfeeding your Betta, the food will drop to the bottom and become waste and eventually poison the water.

Four Tip

The majority of Betta deaths are cause by poor water conditions. As long as you filter your water and do a 20% water change every month, you should not have any problems with water quality. If you suspect bad water conditions, especially in the beginning while the water is acclimating, you can and should test the water. It can take up to eight weeks to get the water acclimated and from there it should stay in a safe range. You should always do your homework before purchasing anything, but since you’re reading this you’ve probably already purchased your Betta.

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INTRODUCTION:

There is a lot of confusion about what constitutes a quality flake food (or pellet).
The aquarist needs to understand that there are similarities and differences between fish and other animals. For example; Fish get most of their energy needs from fat, but in humans carbohydrates are a better source. Another point is amino acids (the building blocks of proteins); almost all animals have different amino acid needs. For example; Cats need Taurine in there diet or they can suffer heart problems.

Then there is the speed of digestion, some fish such as goldfish tend to have slower digestive tracts (I like to compare it to a horse, but there are major differences such as the stomach). But the similarity is that if too high a protein or the wrong protein diet is fed, the horse may colic, and in goldfish they will build up intestinal gas and infections including swim bladder or dropsy will ensue. The wrong amino acids in any fish will lead to aquarium pollution (extra ammonia) and renal failure.

Another note about fish food is what carnivores need. Carnivorous fish often consume whole animals including intestinal contents, which often include plant material. A quality fish food for carnivores must include vegetable matter such as spirulina.

HERE ARE A FEW BUILDING BLOCK INGREDIENTS:

AMINO ACIDS:

An amino acid is any molecule that contains both amines (organic compounds that contain nitrogen as the key atom. Structurally amines resemble ammonia) and Carboxylic acids (organic acids characterized by the presence of a carboxyl group). Amino acids are used as the basic components of proteins.

The net protein utilization is profoundly affected by the limiting amino acid content or protein quality (the essential amino acid found in the smallest quantity in the foodstuff), and somewhat affected by salvage of essential amino acids in the body. It is therefore a good idea to mix foodstuffs that have different weaknesses in their essential amino acid distributions. This limits the loss of nitrogen through deamination and increases overall net protein utilization. Eggs (whether fish or even chicken) have the highest protein quality of any source. Which makes hard boiled egg crumbles an excellent food source for fry.

DL-methionine is an essential amino acid for producing the “Lionhead” feature in goldfish. High levels of methionine can be found in the vegetable proteins of spinach, green peas, and garlic. DL-methionine can also be found in fish meal.

Bottom line; Not all protein sources are equal. An analogy used at a pet food seminar I attended was this: You can achieve the protein analysis on many pet foods with a used pair of leather shoes, but leather shoes contain little usable proteins.

FATS:

Molecular compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Fats are important for insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. They also serve as energy stores for the body. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy. The fatty acids are the main source of energy in fish, especially for many tissues, such as heart and skeletal muscle. Another important function for fats are for vitamin absorption. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats.

CARBOHYDRATES:

Molecular substances which include the sugars, starches, gums and celluloses. The common attributes of carbohydrates are that they contain only the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and that their combustion will yield carbon dioxide plus one or more molecules of Water.
Most of the carbohydrates that enter the diet of fish are of plant origin. Carnivorous fish such as groupers, therefore, deal with little carbohydrate. Indeed, experiments have shown that these species are ill-equipped to handle significant quantities of raw carbohydrate, in their diets. The ability of fish to digest carbohydrates depends on their ability to elaborate amylase. All species of fish have been shown to secrete at least some amylase. It has also been demonstrated that activity of this enzyme was greatest in herbivores.

Carbohydrates are not a superior energy source for fish over protein or fat although digestible carbohydrates do spare protein for tissue building. Also, unlike in mammals, glycogen is not a significant storage depot of energy in fish. The more efficient metabolism of amino acids over carbohydrates (glucose) for energy could be due to the ability of fish to excrete nitrogenous waste as ammonia from their gills without the high cost of energy in converting the waste to urea.

FISH FOOD SOURCES:

FISH MEAL:

Fish meal has been widely used as a protein source for many years for fish. Two basic types of fish meal are produced; (1) produced from fishery waste (salmon, tuna, etc.) that are associated with the processing of various edible human fishery products and (2) When specific fish (herring, menhaden, pollack, etc.) are harvested just for the purpose to produce fish meal. The fish can be dried directly drying or cooking prior to drying and oil extracted. In addition to being a by-product of human fish production it is also a by-product associated with fish oil production, which is where most commercial fish food obtain fish meal from.

Fish meal can be classified as two basic types; (1) fishery waste associated with the processing of fish for human consumption, again the primary source. (2) Fish that are only used for the production of fish meal. This is the best source, listed on ingredients as “Whole Fish Meal” or “White Fish Meal”.

SHRIMP MEAL:

Shrimp meal can be made from either cull shrimp that are being processed before freezing or from whole shrimp that is not of suitable quality for human consumption. The material to be made into shrimp meal is dried (sun or using a dryer) and then ground. Shrimp meal has been used in trout and salmon diets as a source of pigments to impart the desirable color in the tissues.
Shrimp meal has been found to be an acceptable supplemental protein source for fish, but inferior to whole fish meal.

SQUID MEAL:

Squid Meal is made from squid viscera portions from cannery plants including egg and testis.
Squid Meal is high digestibility of protein source, which provides a full range of amino acids for fish. It provides various kinds of vitamins and minerals and also 1.0-1.5% of cholesterol that is suitable for fish fry and young fish.

BRINE SHRIMP:

Just over a centimeter in size, the adult brine shrimp (Artemia) is a common food source for fish. They can be purchased at many Pet Store as adults, Freeze dried or even eggs. The eggs look like a powdery brown substance but in reality the substance is thousands of cystseggs surrounded by protective cases. When added to water, these cysts will hatch into shrimp nauplii within a few hours.

As a food source brine shrimp are relatively limited (mostly because of their high water content). They are a good source of carotene for color and act as a natural laxative in fish digestive systems. The proteins them do supply are of high quality. Depending on the source they also can supply vegetable matter due to their consumption of algae.

SOYBEAN MEAL:

Use of soybean products in the aquaculture industry have become the focus of protein substitution in fish food around the world. The high protein level makes it a key ingredient for aquaculture feeds. Soybean meal is considerably less expensive than traditionally used marine animal meals. The limiting amino acid content of soybean meal is high, but not on the level of Whole fish meal and especially egg.

SPIRULINA:

Spirulina is a blue-green plant plankton rich in raw protein and seven major vitamins: A1, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E. It naturally contains beta-carotene, color enhancing pigments, and whole range of minerals. In addition, it contains all essential fatty acids and eight amino acids required for complete nutrition. Spirulina is different from other algae and is similar to bacteria in many ways, occupying a niche between plants and bacteria. Spirulina is similar to cyanobacteria in structure (spiral shape, unlike true plant plankton), which can be toxic. Spirulina Blue- Green algae are recognized by the body (fish in particular) as a bacterium, causing an increase in antibodies, which in turn increases disease resistance. Spirulina is also high in usable or digestible amino acids.
Spirulina is probably one of the best fish food ingredients available, including for carnivores.

WHOLE WHEAT:

Carbohydrates as explained earlier are not the best source of energy in fish, but still can be useful, especially when whole wheat is used. One reason is for roughage, especially in goldfish and koi, but also for other fish for the wheat-germ found in whole wheat is a natural source of vitamin E, an important vitamin to promote healthy growth and fish color.

SUMMARY:

Compare TetraMin to some of the facts I have explained, then compare foods such as HBH Tropical and Marine Flake; Spirulina One Flake; Hikari and Sanyu Foods, such as Sanyu Betta Gold.
The difference is quite clear for long term growth and health.

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Cotton Mouth disease also know as Mouth Fungus is a disease your fish can get and it needs to be dealt with quickly. Cotton Mouth disease is not as common as the while spot disease, but, it is highly infectious and contagious.

The victim fish shows a whitish fungus round the cheeks and lips. The lips may become swollen and rot away. Sometimes a rotten strip of lip attached only at one end will move in and out of the mouth as the fish breathes.

Fish infected with Mouth Fungus lose their appetite and their movement become sluggish. If no adequate treatment is given, the whole frontal part of the head may be eaten away finally and the fish dies.

Unless the affected fish is of consideration value, it should be killed before this fatal disease attack sthe other occupants, of the tank. Think about it… is trying to save the life of one fish worth risking the death of the rest of the fish in your aquarium?

But if you insist on keeping the fish or in case the infection has already been passed on to other occupants, the following treatment is advised:

- Swabbing the mouth of the victim fish with a soft cloth dipped in strong salt solution. Then you must then keep the patreat isolated in a bucket or jar containing a strong salt water.

- Try swabbing the lips with a 5 per cent silver mercury preparation.

- Make a solution of Terramycin or Aureomycuin by dissolving 50mg per gallon of water, a rapid cure is expected within 48 hours.

You can try all of the above remedies, but the most common remedy is the popular Methylene blue solution. To perform this remedy the sick fish should be placed in a jar, bucket or a treatment tank into which has been added a methylene per blue to colour the water deep blue.

For more great aquarium related articles and resources check out http://aquariums.aquariumspot.com

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