Caring for your tropical aquarium - Tetra

20 Pages·2008·4.75 MB·English

Caring for
your tropical
aquarium
Approved by
For more information: www.tetra.net For more information: www.tetra.net
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Caring for your
Content
tropical aquarium
Fish care 4-5
Water care 6-8
A healthy aquarium makes a great focal point for
Substrate and
any room and provides a constant source of interest glass care 9
for the whole family. It’s easy to keep it this way Equipment care 10-11
too, by following the advice in this brochure, and by Plant care 12
using Tetra’s innovative range of care products. Holidays 13
Water quality and
With Tetra´s range of high quality and simple-to-
testing 14-19
use products, it has never been easier to care for
tropical fish and keep the aquarium looking good.
For more than 55 years Tetra has been the global
leader for aquarium products, committed to making
aquarium ownership easy and enjoyable through
continual innovation and unrivalled customer
support. Every Tetra product has been subject to
rigorous testing by our independently accredited
Research and Development laboratories to ensure
they keep your fish in top condition.
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Fish care
Provided your aquarium is well cared
for, the fish will generally remain
healthy and happy. Fish normally only
get sick when there is a problem with
the water, which is easily avoidable by
following the advice in this and other
Tetra brochures. Therefore, the most
important part of caring for your fish is
ensuring they receive a good quality
diet.
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Different fish have different
nutritional needs, and so it’s Why feed Tetra?
important to ask about these when • Clearer, cleaner water,
you buy them. Read our 'Feeding due to less waste
your Tropical Fish' brochure to find production
out which foods are best for your
• Healthy colourful
fish.
fish, due to
superior nutrition
Here are some top tips for giving
and patented
your fish a healthy diet:
ActiveFormula
• Always choose a good quality • Unrivalled research
Tetra food, as this keeps the fish and testing at our
healthier, and makes looking independently accredited
after the aquarium easier ornamental fish nutrition
• Feed 2-3 times a day, only as laboratory
much as the fish can eat within a • Over 55 years of research
few minutes. The only exception and development, and the
is when feeding wafers or world’s best selling tropical
tablets to substrate-feeding fish. fish foods
• Offer the right mix of floating
and sinking foods to suit the
fish in your aquarium. Ask your
aquatics outlet, or read our
'Feeding your Tropical Fish'
brochure, for more advice.
• Vary your fishes’ diet with treat
foods such as Tetra FreshDelica.
The basis of your fishes’ diet should
be a quality floating food such as
TetraMin, with sinking foods (e.g.
TetraPrima) and tablet / wafer foods
(e.g. Tetra TabiMin) used as needed.
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Water care
Clear, healthy water makes the whole
OPTiOn 1
aquarium look stunning, and it is
Regular water changes
essential for keeping the fish in good
condition. The traditional approach to refreshing
aquarium water is with partial water
Refreshing aquarium water changes. These should be carried
Over time, the appearance and out every 2-3 weeks, and involve
composition of aquarium water removing approximately 25% of the
changes due to various natural water, and replacing it with tap
processes. If left unchecked, this can water that has been treated with
lead to poor water quality, dirty water, Tetra AquaSafe.
and sick fish. Refreshing aquarium
It is essential to use a water
water is therefore an important part
conditioner when adding fresh water
of keeping it healthy and maintaining
to the aquarium. Tap water contains
its appearance. There are two
chlorines and heavy metals, which are
approaches to refreshing aquarium
toxic to fish. Tetra AquaSafe removes
water:
these toxins, making water safe for
fish. It also adds essential vitamins
and maintains the fish’s ability to cope
with stress and physical damage.
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Carrying out a water change important – Do not allow the
heater to be exposed to air. If
1. Begin by preparing the
this is unavoidable, switch it
replacement water. Fill
off at least half an hour before
a plastic bucket with tap
draining the water down.
water, and treat it with Tetra
AquaSafe. Leave it for an hour 3. Once the aquarium has
to settle. been drained down, bring
the replacement water up to
2. Once the new water has
the same temperature as the
settled, turn the lights & all
aquarium with small amounts
other electrical equipment
of boiled water (not water
off in the aquarium & remove
from the hot tap).
/ open the lid. Drain 25% of
the water out into a plastic 4. Top the aquarium up with
bucket. The easiest way to do the new water. Do this with a
this is with a gravel vacuum, jug and pour it gently to avoid
such as the TetraTec GC. disturbing the aquarium.
This allows you to clean the 5. Once full, close the lid and
substrate at the same time. turn any electrical equipment
Alternatively, use a piece of back on. Leave the lights off
plastic pipe, or remove the for the rest of the day, to allow
water manually with a jug. the fish to settle.

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OPTiOn 2
Tetra EasyBalance
EasyBalance offers a simpler
alternative to regular water changes,
and is therefore ideal if you don’t
always have time to do them.
It replicates the refreshing action of
a water change, keeping aquarium
water balanced for up to 6 months.
To keep the aquarium healthy, add
EasyBalance once a week, & carry
out a partial water change once every
3-6 months.
If you want to carry out more
frequent water changes, that’s fine
– EasyBalance provides a stable,
permanently healthy environment
whatever your preferred care regime.
When using EasyBalance, there will
still be times when you may need to
add tap water to the aquarium (e.g. to
top up evaporation losses, or following
substrate cleaning). Always use Tetra
AquaSafe to make this water safe for
your fish.
What EasyBalance does
• Replenishes bicarbonates,
thereby stabilising pH (acidity).
• Replenishes all trace
elements needed by fish,
plants and filter bacteria.
• Actively reduces nitrate and
phosphate, for healthier water
and less algae.
• Adds small amounts of
carbon dioxide, which aids the
growth of live plants.
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Substrate and glass care
Over time, a certain amount of debris
will settle in the substrate. This Helping you enjoy your
should be removed from time to time, aquarium more
to prevent it polluting the water. The need to remove debris
The easiest way to do this is with and algae, whilst relatively
a TetraTec GC gravel vacuum. The easy, can be reduced through
vacuum sucks up debris, leaving the use of the right Tetra
the substrate in place. Because it products. For example:
works by siphoning water from the
• Using TetraMin Crisps
aquarium, it can be used to perform
or TetraPro Crisps as your
a water change as well. Substrate
fishes’ main food will reduce
should be cleaned as and when it
both solid and dissolved
becomes dirty – begin by cleaning it
waste. This cuts down on
once every 4 to 6 weeks, and adjust
debris accumulation and
accordingly.
helps to limit algae growth.
If the glass develops a covering • Tetra EasyBalance
of algae (green patches), this can actively reduces nitrate and
easily and quickly be removed with a phosphate, which encourage
TetraTec GS glass scraper. algae to grow.
• TetraTec filters are
designed to effectively
remove and retain debris,
reducing the amount that
settles on the substrate.
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Equipment care
The equipment in your aquarium is its debris, the biological part will not
life-support system. Keeping it running work, and the flow rate will decrease.
properly is essential to the quality and
Your filter should be cleaned roughly
clarity of the water, and the health of
every 2-3 weeks, although it depends
the fish.
on the design and also the amount
Filter of debris it is trapping. For example,
Your filter performs two main a larger external filter, such as the
functions – the physical TetraTec EX, will need cleaning less
removal of debris, and frequently than an internal filter.
the biological breakdown
You should certainly clean the
of dissolved waste by
filter if the flow rate begins to fall
filter bacteria. If the filter
significantly.
becomes too clogged with
Cleaning your filter To protect the bacteria, this
For the best results, always media must be washed in
follow the cleaning instructions aquarium water.
that came with your filter. Some Tap water will kill the bacteria,
key things to consider are: quickly leading to water
• Always switch the filter off pollution.
at the mains before any • Some filters have separate
maintenance. media for debris removal
• Do not keep the filter turned (mechanical media) and the
off for longer than is necessary breakdown of dissolved
– this will result in the loss of waste (biological media). In
important bacteria. such cases the mechanical
filter media can be washed
• Many filters use a single
under the tap, whilst the
type of filter media, e.g. a
biological media is cleaned
sponge, to trap debris and
in aquarium water.
biologically remove
dissolved waste. • Occasionally it is worth
checking the impeller and
other moving parts, and
removing any debris or
limescale. This will extend
the life of the filter, and keep
it flowing correctly.
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