Marine Tropical Fish - What You Need to Know As a Marine Tropical Fish Pet Owner

Having marine tropical fish in your home or office may be an easier task than you think. A lot of people assume that marine tropical fish are hard to care for. Despite a few basic guidelines and compatibility rules, taking care of tropical fish is no different than freshwater fish. If you want to start your own marine tropical tank, here's what you'll need to know.

Marine tropical fish are popular because of their bold and bright colors. They live in saltwater environments. The fish are normally caught in the wild and require more live food than other types of fish. Their tanks have to be kept between 76 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit to replicate the tropical water environment.

To start, you'll need a tank, sand, a heater, salt mix, a hydrometer, a protein skimmer and a pH kit. You can ask the aquarium specialist at your local pet shop for tips on how to use these components together to take care of your marine tropical fish. There are also many books and websites on the topic, since taking care of tropical fish can have a learning curve.

If you want to make your marine tropical fish tank easy to take care of, you should start with Damselfish and Clownfish. Damselfish come in many different varieties, but the most popular color is blue. Clownfish were the model for the main character in the film "Finding Nemo."

Once you get more comfortable with taking care of marine tropical fish, you can move on to other varieties. Blennies, Gobies, Tangs, Hawkfish, shrimp and crabs are all good choices for the intermediate saltwater aquarium owner. For a challenge, you can care for tanks with Triggerfish, Lionfish, Seahorses, Anemones, Corals, Eels, Groupers and Starfish. Make sure you check with marine tropical fish compatibility charts before adding any new fish to your tank.

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Tropical Fish Disease - What You Can Do

Do you often sit and gaze in wonder at the little swimmers that traverse the aquarium in your office or living room? It is a well-established fact that enjoying tropical fish can lower your blood pressure, decrease your pulse, and help you relax and lower your feelings of stress or anxiety. For the most part, fish are pretty easy to care for as well; you don't need to walk them or take them to a kennel when you plan to be out of town for a weekend.

There is one menace that you should be aware of, however; that is tropical fish disease. Tropical fish diseases can affect or kill the fish in your tank so you need to be aware of how to avoid the plight of ich, velvet, fin rot, parasites, and a whole host of other ailments that can destroy your whole aquarium. Remember that your fish tank is a closed environment, unlike the sea or fresh water rivers where fish can swim to safety and avoid diseased cohabitants. Because your fish are in such close proximity, it can be difficult or impossible to contain the spread of sickness if you do not have a separate tank for any fish that might get a tropical fish disease.

The most important thing you can do to ensure the good health of your colorful friends is to avoid bringing any sick fish into the tank and to take good care of your aquarium so that sicknesses are prevented. Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

So, whether you already experience the joy of housing your very own tropical fish or whether you are considering adding these delightful creatures to your living space, it pays to learn all you can about how to properly care for both your tank and your fish so that you can reap he rewards of these blessings from nature for years to come.

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Dalmatian Molly in the Tropical Aquarium

Each Dalmatian Molly pattern is unique, some having more black spots than others and some being much more white. Their bodies are chunky with rounded fins, except for the male's anal fin, which is pointed. They can grow up to 4-inches in length.

Although Dalmatian Mollies have peaceful temperaments, they do get a bit nippy. Provide them with plenty of sturdy plant life for nibbling to keep the nipping of other fish at bay. Plant life is optimal too because of their need to eat plenty of algae.

Angel Fish, Guppies and Platys are well suited mates for the Mollies. Also consider housing them with other Molly breeds. There are many types to choose from and they will cross-breed. It's kind of a fun surprise, the different combinations of fry that result.

Dalmatian Mollies do enjoy chasing other species around, but they generally cause no harm.

It is important for the health of the Mollies to have aquarium salts added to the water. For every two gallons of water add one teaspoon of salt. Take into consideration before adding other species to the tank that they can tolerate salt water. The water temperature should be between 68-82 degrees Fahrenheit. Dalmation Mollies need plenty of swim area, so 1-inch of fish per 1-gallon of water is best.

For optimum health give your Dalmatian Mollies not only algae-based flake food, but small amounts of greens. Lettuce and cooked peas are good choices. They also enjoy occasional snacks of freeze-dried bloodworms or tubifex.

Chances are good that when you bring home your female Molly, she will already be pregnant, as she is able to hold sperm for up to six months. The gestation period is anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. Being a livebearer, she will give birth to more than 20 little free swimmers at one time. Some people place their pregnant Mollies in a breeding net before birthing. This is a bad idea because she will likely become stressed.

For the fry, have ready aforehand a 9 or 10 gallon tank. After the mother gives birth, remove the fry with a turkey baster and put them into their own tank. Of course you can't be watching the aquarium 24 hours a day, so have plenty of floating plant life for them to hide in until you are able to get them to safety. You will also need to have your filter covered with netting before they are born, as it is likely many of the fry will get sucked into it. If you choose not to have a separate tank for the fry, than be sure you add extra floating plant life for hiding.

The fry can eat crushed flake food and baby brine shrimp.

The Dalmatian Molly grows to adult size in about 3 months. Well before that, they may join the other fish in the community tank. You'll be able to judge when they are big enough to not be eaten by the bigger fish.

The average life span of the Dalmatian Molly is 2 years.

You're going to enjoy watching these black and white beauties race back and forth, stopping for a nibble here and there.

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Too Much Algae in Your Tropical Fish Tank?

Too much algae ruins the tropical fish tank hobby for many people. The green slime coats the glass, plants, and gravel, and a beautiful fish tank is turned into an ugly embarrassment.

Don't give up! Here's a five-point plan for dealing with too much algae in your tropical fish tank.

1. Remove as much algae as you can

You know when you can hardly see your tropical fish, too much algae is making your fish tank a misery. The first thing to do is to remove as much algae as you can. This is the start of the fight back, and a cleaner tank will inspire you to prevent algae permanently. Collect and remove green algae by twirling a cocktail stick through it. Algae magnets will clean the glass of most algae - for stubborn spots use a toothbrush or an old credit card. Discard any plants covered in algae, and remove decorations and wash the green slime off.

2. Reduce the nutrients (short-term fix)

Your tropical fish tank already looks better, but the algae will return double quick if you don't take the next step. Perform a partial water change and remove up to 40% of the water from the aquarium. Get rid of the detritus and algae you scraped off in step one. Replace with clean water - add an aquarium dechlorinator to your tap water first, or better yet age the water for 48 hours in an old tank or safe bucket. If your tap water has a lot of nutrients in it, you will need to consider using a resin or a reverse-osmosis unit to clean it up first, otherwise you're just adding too much algae food back into the tank.

3. Reduce the nutrients (permanently)

To keep the nutrient level down - and so starve algae of the phosphates and nitrates they need - you need to look at three factors. Firstly, make sure your tank is not over-stocked with fish. Secondly, ensure you're not over-feeding them. All food added should be consumed completely within five minutes, and there should be none visible on the floor of the tank. Thirdly, start a regular water change regime to keep refreshing the old dirty water with clean water.

4. Increase the planting

Algae will smother plants in a badly maintained fish tank, so the first three steps are vital to get it under control. Adding plants to a tank where the algae is in retreat will finish the job, though. Cheap stem plants grow quickly and absorb a lot of waste, reducing the food for algae. Floating plants can spread very rapidly to block out the light, further suppressing the algae. Floating plants will also absorb a lot of nitrate and phosphate.

5. Consider adding CO2 fertilisation and better lighting

If plants don't grow well in your aquarium, you may need to consider upgrading your lighting and adding CO2 to the water. It may seem odd to add more light, but plants in a well-kept tank will stop too much algae growing, so it makes sense to get them established. CO2 is much more important to plants than algae, so again by feeding the tank with CO2 can encourage plant growth rather than too much algae. CO2 can be cheaply added via a DIY kit, so it needn't cost too much.

For more algae control tips to keep your tropical fish tank looking its best, please pay a visit to AquaDaily, the top aquarium tips, news and reviews blog.

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The Attractive Cherry Barb

The Cherry Barb is a favorite tropical fish of many aquarium enthusiasts. Their lively nature and attractive coloring help to make them popular.

The male is especially adorned because of his red coloring which turns even a deeper red during the spawning period. The female Cherry Barb is a duller version of the male, ranging somewhere between light orange and yellow. Both sexes have a dark horizontal stripe along their body. Females are more plump than males, but the male is longer, growing up to 2 inches in length.

A lone Cherry Barb will most certainly become stressed. They are most content in a group of six or more. Other non-aggressive fish, such as Danios, female Bettas, Corydoras and Rainbow fish can be housed with the Cherry Barbs.

It is important to keep the Barbs in a 20-gallon aquarium, minimum. The water should be slightly acidic with the pH value being 6.5 - 7.5. The temperature should be 73 - 80 degrees Farhenheit. Plenty of plant life is also a requirement for the Cherry Barb aquarium. They love to swim in and through plants.

Flakes are a suitable food for Cherry Barbs, but give them brine shrimp, vegetable or blood worms as occasional treats. You will see them often nibbling on the plants as well, which makes them good light algae eaters.

During the spawning period the male will become a deeper shade of red and you will see him erect his fins and begin to circle other males as if in a competition. Soon he will be "dancing" with a female. She then starts the process of scattering over 200 eggs onto plants and stones. The male will follow behind her, fertilizing the eggs.

Don't worry about suddenly having 200 fry in your tank, as certainly not all will survive, due partly to the fact that the adults will eat the eggs. You can increase the chance of some fry survival by keeping the aquarium well planted. Fry instinctively hide among plants. Java moss works well for hiding.

During the fry's first few days they live off their yolk-sac. When they are 5 days old, offer them microworms. About 3 weeks later you can begin to wean them from the "baby" food as they are now ready for flaked food.

With good care, these newly hatched fry should live for 4 or 5 years.

The Cherry Barb is relatively easy to care for, making this energetic fish a good choice for the beginner aquarium enthusiast.

Cybil Frost http://www.cybilf.webs.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cybil_Frost