Fish Bowls

The number one problem I see with fish bowls today is when the weather starts changing, the fish in the bowl develop illness. The Betta fish usually develop a disease called Ich. The reason fish develop disease easier in a small bowl is the fact that it is susceptible to temperature changes. When you get extreme changes in temperature, such as the changing of seasons, you need to make sure that you place the fish bowl in a part of your house that the temperature remains constant. Wide variations in temperature is usually the number one cause of fish coming down with ich. If your fish has contracted that illness I would first move the bowl to a more stable temperature environment. Next I would start making frequent water changes before adding any medicines. If you do not see an improvement in fish health by stabilizing the temperature and constant water changes then I would recommend the medicines available to treat the symptoms. Keep in mind while using medications it is very important to keep up with the water changes in the fish bowl until the fish is back to health. Any questions feel free to contact me.

The Global Information Network

The Global Information Network

I would like to introduce you to a brand new,member only,ground floor organization designed to allow businesses,investors and the average person have access to information and wealth creation that the social elite employ.
Back in my parents generation(WW2 generation) it took one breadwinner in the family to pay bills and have enough money left over to provide for their families. In my generation it took two people working to make ends meet. Now what I see today with my own kid's and their families is the constant struggle to make ends meet with both parents working. The finer things in life for families are disappearing.
In today's recessionary times the experts predict that the recession will continue for another two to five years and the life style of the American family will continue to decrease. To combat these tough times you need to add additional resources,information and financial tools to help you prosper. There are the greatest money making opportunities of all time available during recessionary periods than at any other time.
The Global Information Network is a non profit organization designed to educate businesses,investors and the general public on ways to improve your quality of life, make and create business deals easier,and virtually teach you methods on how to have, be ,or do anything in your life that you desire. This organization is global and you can develop social circles worldwide.
I've been a member with the group for a short time and their primary focus is to add value back to society. I want to personally thank them for that.Once you become a member of GIN you are automatically enrolled in Natural Cures.com. This site has a wealth of information designed to cure disease without drugs and surgery.
Go to the Global Information Network website today and form your own opinion. They have a 30 minute introduction message on the first page of their site that will give you more information on what they are all about. I would also encourage you to visit www.ktradionetwork.com. This radio show is broadcast out of Chicago and is picked up worldwide. The topics and discussions on this radio show are very powerful and eye opening. If you don't do anything else just give this radio show a listen to. This guy is writing the book on adding value back to society and I applaud his efforts.
Once you join as a member you can access the GIN site and listen to the archived communiques. It will give you a better understanding of what this foundation is all about. Information on becoming a member is on the website. I am personally inviting you to join. Use my affiliate code 1500334 to log in.
Go to http://globalinformationnetwork.com to join and become a member. Visit www.ktradionetwork.com. The Global Information Network is your gateway to health, wealth, happiness and prosperity.

Sea Turtles

I recently visited an aquarium in Cincinnati in which they had sea turtles swimming in a huge tank. You could actually walk underneath this huge aquarium through a tunnel that was enclosed in glass and view the inhabitants from a 180 degree perspective. In this aquarium they had various saltwater species including sharks. The most notable inhabitants of this aquarium to me were the sea turtles. These beautiful creatures with all their colors and swimming capabilities stood out to me and everyone else who observed them. When you think of a turtle in your mind you think of a slow cumbersome animal that doesn't deserve much attention or thought from you. If you see these magnificent animals in an aquarium underwater, it instantly changes your perspective and view of these creatures. Colorful,powerful,full of life,and graceful are only a few things that come to mind when seeing sea turtles in their underwater environment.

Decor around the Aquarium

I found a website a while back called Seaside Treasures. It has interesting merchandise for sale that would enhance the area around your fish tank. It carry's things such as ship wheels,decorative anchors and anything you could think of that could be hung on a wall around your tank. I've been watching some you tube videos of different peoples aquariums and noticing how each individual sets up and decorates their tank. It showcases the talent people possess and how creative individuals can be when it comes to setting up a tank that instantly catches your attention. Take some time and go to you tube and type in the keywords tropical fish and look at some of the videos. I came away from watching several of these videos with new ideas in mind.

Neons

Neon tetra fish in the aquarium are one of the most colorful and noticeable fresh water fish that that you can have in your fish tank. Neon's are a schooling fish and it is recommended that you have at least six of these fish in your tank. The neon's are a relativity small fish and when put in the aquarium in numbers offers an interesting effect in your tank. When they school in the tank mixed in with larger fish it gives your aquarium a more interesting view of sea life habitates and makes your aquarium more enjoyable. The neon is a brightly colored fish that basically have a bright blue body with a red horizontal stripe. If you have ever seen these fish you immediately know where they get there name from. They look like a neon light in the tank. I always make it a point to maintain several of these fish in my tank. I like to have diversity in the aquarium . There are different species of fish you can purchase that will swim near the top of the tank, fish that will swim in the middle of the tank and the bottom dweller fish. When you have all of these fish swimming at different levels in your tank and then you add the schooling fish such as the neon's or tiger barbs or any of several schooling fish, your aquarium becomes a living breathing entity that will give you great pleasure and enjoyment.

Water Changes

I'm getting ready to do a partial water change in my 75 gallon aquarium today. I usually start by taking the entire top hood and light off the tank. While I have them off I'll siphon out about 25 percent of the old tank water. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had two sources of fresh spring water. When I get the water I put it in 1 gallon jugs about 2 days before putting it in the tank. A couple of reasons I do this is because for one the water is around 55 degrees and it would be to cold for the fish. Another reason is to give the water time to settle and oxygenate itself. At this time it is also a good practice to check and clean your filtering systems and siphon out any debris in the bottom of your tank. After you inspect everything start to slowly add the new water back in your tank and hook everything back up. You will instantly see a change in your fish behavior. They have more energy and are more playful.

Tiger Barbs

Tiger Barbs in the freshwater aquarium adds color and diversity to the tank. They are a schooling fish and is best to keep them in pairs of at least six. I haven't done this yet but in the future I want to try to breed these fish. They are an egg laying fish. You can easily see the difference in the sexes mainly due to the size of the fish. Females are much larger than the males. Some of the points I have ran across during my research is that they have a tendency to eat their eggs or young fry. Another problem is just getting them to breed. To try to solve some of these problems people have suggested to me to separate the males from the females for a few days and the theory of this is that it will entice them to spawn. It was suggested to me if they do spawn and lay their eggs have in the bottom of the spawning tank big marbles or something round where as the eggs can fall in between the marbles and the adult fish can't get to them. I'll try some of these tips and tricks and report back to you when I have successfully bred these species of fish.

Fishing

I seen an ad on the blog about fishing and it made me get the boat out today. I have a 14 foot Grumman flat bottom boat. I took my two granddaughters and wife out with me. We went to a small lake and just used an electric trolling motor to get us around. We packed a small lunch and carried it on the boat with us. It was a beautiful day and we just enjoyed it by taking a cruise around the lake. If you have never been on a boat fishing I suggest that you go somewhere with friends and rent a boat for the day. It makes for good relaxing conversation and you always go home with memories that last forever. I haven't fished as much as I used to. But for the serious angler, early in the mornings and later towards the evening are better times to fish. That is when they feed more. If you are fishing during the day the fish tend to move toward deeper waters. The aid of sonar and depth finders will help to locate them. Without going into details different species of fish have different habits. If your interested in a certain type of fish get in touch with me on the blog and I'll help you answer your questions.

Water Quality

Just a short post on this subject. When it comes to filling your tank with water,do not use water that has been treated with chlorine or other chemicals. These chemicals are poison to fish and to humans also. Chlorine in the water is harmful to living things. I have two sources of fresh water I use when filling my tanks. So consider using and finding a fresh water source before filling your tanks. Also if your water supply to your house is chlorinated ,did you know that by taking a shower or bath in that water your skin will absorb it into your body and store all the toxins from it. In today's world all the major diseases are on the rise and this is one example why. Another one is our food supply. On a future post I'll talk about tropical fish diets and what you should be feeding them.

Tank Building

About 8 months ago I purchased thru E-bay an e-book titled do it yourself aquarium building. I was in a bidding war with another customer and eventually lost the bid. I think the final sales price was around thirty dollars. Within the next day I received info wondering if I would like to purchase this e-book at the last price . I agreed and received the e-book for a little under thirty dollars. When I received it and started viewing it I was disgusted with its contents. There were roughly 4 or 5 pages of nothing but garbage. They tried to show some drawings and went thru some procedures of tank building ,but it was written like the author just graduated 1st grade. At this point I'm in the process of building my own tanks to use in my store. I'll probably be doing somewhere around twenty to thirty tanks of all sizes. I have a friend in Michigan who is helping me achieve this task. When I'm done with the process I'll write an e-book of my own and put it on this site for anyone who has an interest in building there own tanks. The best teacher is to do it yourself and gain the experience.

Guppies

If anyone out there is familiar with guppies you know then the reason they have the nickname of the millions fish. I did an experiment over last winter in my garage. I had 4 ten gallon aquariums setup in the garage. I went out and purchased one male and four female fancy tail guppies. I wanted to observe the re production of these beautiful fish. First I put all five fish in one of the 10 gallon tanks. In about a weeks time I noticed about 6 little guppies swimming around the tank. Guppies are a live bearing fish. I watched for the next couple of days and soon the 6 fish disappeared. I figured that the adult fish may of ate them so I added some live plants for cover for the young fish . When I added the plants I also did a partial water change in the tank. The very next day I spotted about twenty guppy fry swimming in the tank. They stayed protected in the dense cover and over a period of a week there were over a fifty. When they got to the point of about a week and a half to two weeks old they stared to venture out in the open. When this happened their numbers stared to drop.So to solve this problem I transferred the adults to another tank and began the process again while at the same time leaving the guppy fry in the original tank. They again populated the new tank and I transferred them yet again into the third tank. I kept repeating this process until the fourth tank was filled with fry. By the time it was ready to take them out of the fourth tank the guppy fry that was in the first tank were becoming young adults. I went ahead an set up a 50 gallon tank and started to put the young adults into it. When it was all said and done the five original guppies I started with grew into roughly 250 adult guppies in about four months. Now that is what I call propagating the species.

Plants

Plants in the aquarium not only are beneficial to your fish but they add certain aesthetics to the tank.Just think of fish in the wild and all the vegetation in their environment. Live plants in the tank help with a natural filtration of the tank water and adding important oxygen and removing such harmful products such as nitrates and ammonia. It will give your aquarium a more natural and pleasing effect when you add live plants to your tank. It also serves as a hiding place for the more timid and smaller fish. Consider using more live plants in your tank instead of the fake plastic ones out there that look neat for awhile but soon lose their luster. You and your fish will be happier for it.

Dieases in Fish

I talked in an earlier post a little about fish disease and medicines. I would like to add just a little more on this subject. As I said earlier,fish develop disease primarily due to an inadequate environment. Let me compare human life to fish life. If you lived in an area surrounded by heavy pollution,poor air quality or poor sanitation and drinking water chances are you would develop some type of disease. You would go to your doctor and he would probably diagnose the disease and make recommendations for your health. Chances are if your environment caused the disease you would take steps to solve the problem. With today's medications and there side effects you would think first if an environment change would take care of your health problem. Fish in an aquarium environment are the same. If I look into my tanks and see problems with fish I try to look at their environment and diagnose the problem. Cause of disease in the tank could be from many things. Just keep in mind that the best medicine for fish is to keep your aquarium as close to the natural habitat that the species of fish you have live in. Also keep in mind the food you give your fish determines the overall health of the tank. A poor diet for fish equals poor health.

Aquariums

Let me talk to you a little bit today about why you should start a tropical fish tank in your house. For me one of the greatest benefits of having an aquarium in your home is the beauty it provides for your living quarters. It is by far the first thing that my friends and company notice when they walk into my home. Today's advancements made in the tropical fish aquarium setups make it easy for the novice to establish a tank in their homes with little or no experience. Not only will it provide a centerpiece for conversation with your friends but you also receive personal enjoyment from the relaxing effect it has . Tropical fish do become pets,get a tank setup today and over time start adding fish and you will see how the fish will and very fast show you their personality and how fast you become attached to them.

I applaud anyone out there who has the courage and devotion in starting a business. It takes a special kind of someone who doesn't lose sight of their dream and who remains focused on their objective.
When I started on the path of opening my own business I expected obstacles and have met each one of them up to this point. However I was surprised to see to this point the amount of obstacles our bureaucrats cause. I cannot help but feel our elected officials only job in life is to sit around and think up of more ways they can create stupid ass documents and hurtles for business to jump and climb through . Anyhow enough with the rants and on to something more pleasant.
The building for my store is basically roughed in. I'll start working on the electric supply this week and estimate it's completion soon. After that is done and inspected for the bureaucrats everything else should fall in line and I can start my floor design and adding and setting up the aquariums. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hello again. I would like to talk a little today about aquarium lighting and aquarium heaters.
Choosing the right size heater for your tank is crucial in maintaining your tropical fish health. As I discussed in a previous post dealing with some of the fish diseases, water temperature fluctuations can considerably promote fish disease. Compare it to humans who experience drastic changes in temperature and contract the common cold. Fish react the same in their enviornment. Keeping a constant water temperature in your tank will promote happy and healthy fish.
Aquarium heaters come in different sizes and shapes. What you want to look for in a heater is it's wattage. This will determine what size heater to use in your tank. The general formula for choosing the right size heater is roughly 5 watts to every one gallon of water. In other words if you have a 40 gallon tank you would need a 200 watt heater. There are other factors that play into this such as what is your constant room temperature and if you reside in a warm or cold climate but you can use this formula to get you in the ballpark of what size heater you need in your tank.
Aquarium lighting basically uses the same formula. I generally use anywhere between 3-5 watts of lighting per gallon of water in a reef system. If you come under this amount of lighting in your tank it will affect the animals that live in this enviorment. Any comments or questions feel free to post and I'll get back with you.

Just a follow up to the last post.When ever you do detect disease in your fish prior to cleaning your aquarium I have always set up another tank where I transfer the fish so I can treat them with certain medicines depending on their type of illness. I'm not an advocate of using medicines in a fish tank. This is absolutely the last resort to cure what ails the fish. The best medicine for aquarium fish is to keep the water at the right temperature,PH levels within the species range,ammonia and nitrate levels to a minimum and frequent water changes. The most common disease aquarium fish get is what is called ich. The fish will develop small white spots all over and if not treated right away the fish will die. This disease is is always present in your aquarium to some extent but it can be kept at low levels if you do the things I mentioned earlier. Getting back to cleaning the tank ,when you suspect disease in it I make it a point to either throw away the old gravel or boil the gravel that was in the tank to ensure the gravel is sterile. More or less sterilize everything in the tank. When you set the tank backup keep in mind when you sterilize everything you are going to need a longer tank cycling time to get the beneficial bacteria for the fish built up. One other thing I will do after having a major overhaul to a tank is to start putting maybe one or two inexpensive fish in it like guppies to see how they react to the water. There is a ton of information I have on this one subject so if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Hello again just me. I cleaned out one of my 75 gallon aquariums today. Just thought I would post some of the things to watch for when you either clean out or set up a new aquarium. Ideally when you do either of the two ,you have to let the aquarium cycle for 3 to six weeks depending on the size of the tank. What's meant by cycling is more or less let the aquarium run with filters or power heads on to establish beneficial bacteria in the tank system and to remove any impurities in the water such as ammonia and nitrates. Pet stores sell products that will help reduce the time it takes when cycling a tank. Sometimes what I will do is use a certain amount of water that was originally in the tank before cleaning and put a certain amount of it back in the tank after cleaning provided that there were no signs of disease in the fish before cleaning. This will help the fish adjust more easily to the tank water when putting them into the clean tank. Keep this important fact in mind when starting a new aquarium. You cannot simply set up a tank and add fish to it right away. Let the aquarium cycle and properly acclimate the fish to the new water and in the end you will have healthier fish.

Good evening everyone. I should have a pic up sometime this week in my profile and I will add a video later on this week of my aquarium. Still learning how everything works on my blog site. I see that my daughter has joined the blog and I would like to have anyone with an interest of tropical fish to join also. I've come across several pics of fresh and saltwater fish that I will be adding also on this site. Last but not least I would like to send a personal message out to George to post any comments on this blog he may have. I'm sure he will have something amusing and interesting to say. Good night everyone.

This is a picture of me at Lake Erie last fall. I was at a stream called Trout Run that flows into Lake Erie. The Steel head trout were starting there spawning run up the stream. You can see in the picture the masses of fish trying to make it up this small stream to spawn. The average size of the fish was around 20 inches in length. Just to the left of this picture is a small falls about 8 feet in height.It was something to watch these fish take a sprint up the stream in a burst of energy and watch them jump out of the water to make the climb up the falls.

Hello again everyone. I had a very successful day at the place I am planning on opening my tropical fish store. I have one existing building on that property, but the size of it is too small for what I plan to sell in the store. The contractors arrived today to start a new addition on the existing building that will double the square footage. Once that is completed I can concentrate my efforts on laying out a floor plan for the aquariums. I would appreciate any input from anyone out there who has been though this or who visits other stores and has ideas on what they think an ideal tropical fish store should look like. Later on this week I would like to share with you some of the enjoyments of my own personnel aquarium and the different personalities of the fish I have. The Angelfish (one of my favorite fish) have there own special personalities. Hope to have some video soon. Starcire

Introduction

Let me just give everyone out there in the world today a hardy hello and glad to meet you. My web name is Starcire and I'm beginning this journey today by creating this blog in conjunction with in the near future of opening a tropical fish store.
I invite anyone with comments or questions or your vast array of knowledge in this area to post on this blog.
I will strive to the best of my knowledge and yours to make this blog informative and interesting to the people out there in the world that truly enjoy the relaxing and beautiful effects that tropical fish and aquariums have .
I will also post the journey I will take on my endeavours of getting my own store open. It is something I have wanted to do in life's journey. There would be no greater pleasure for me than to do life's work with something that I enjoy. Well that's all for today. Hope to have an article ready for post in the next couple of days...Starcire