Coldwater Fish 18°c-24°c
Standard Tropicals & Cichlids 25°c-28°c
Discus 28°c-30°c

pH is an abbreviation for pondus hydrogenii which also stands for “Power of Hydrogen” or “Weight of Hydrogen.” pH is a measure of the effective acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Pure water has a pH value of 7. The pH scale usually is considered as extending from 0 to 14. As the scale drops towards 0, the solution becomes more acidic. As the scale rises toward 14, the solution becomes more basic/alkaline. Small pH testing kits have colour codes to indicate the approximate pH and are very easy to use.

Different filters depending on the size of your aquarium, the most important things to remember are:

• The bigger the filter, the cleaner the aquarium
• You cannot have too much filtration, but you can have too much current, so don’t go too big!

The 4 main filter types used now are:

• Bio Sponges (used via air pumps for very small tanks)
• Internal Filters (smaller filters kept inside the aquarium)
• Canister Filters (Large Filters kept below the externally from the aquarium)
• Sump Filters (large glass/plastic aquariums, divided for media and kept below the aquarium. Require Special Aquariums to work)

You’ll need an adequate filter, air pump/air stones, and a light. You will also need a heater for tropical fish.

No, although they grow faster in a larger aquarium, their growth rate is only slowed down in smaller ones, but they WILL keep growing to their full size. Keeping a large fish in a small aquarium will stress them out.

Too much light and or waste will allow algae to grow in your aquarium but don’t worry, it is not harmful to your fish. Most bottom feeders will actually use it as a food source. The only time you should worry is if it starts to overgrow the tank, as it can start to starve the fish of oxygen. Algae is easily controlled using either Catfish, or algae control liquids or blocks.

Either by how they look, or how they act.
Disease is not always noticeable, but occasionally is. Look for “fluff”, white “salty” spots or discolouration. Other than that, are they acting normal? If they are not eating, something is wrong. If they are sitting still on the bottom when they are normally swimming constantly, something is wrong. If they are at the top of the aquarium “gasping” out of the surface, something is wrong. Any of these need to be acting on quickly to keep your fish alive.

It’s up to you. Both have their benefits. Fake plants last generally forever, real plants require more work to keep them alive but also reduce nitrates (fish waste) in the water by feeding off it.

There is no right answer, except to say never feed too much! The more the fish eat, the more waste they produce which build toxic waste levels in the tank. If any food is not eaten, it rots and also creates toxic waste. We recommend generally feeding one or two small feeds a day, with enough that all food is gone within 30 secs to a minute.

Although a popular way to keep them in the past, without adequate filtration they will live a very difficult and short lived life. We recommend only keeping them in filtered aquariums and ponds.

Although it depends on the size of your aquarium, filtration and number of fish, we generally recommend changing 25% once a week or fortnight (larger aquariums once a month). If you have any dramas arise, you can change up to 50% but never any more or you risk recycling your tank and killing your fish.

Either due to a high level of ammonia, or a lack of current/oxygen in the water. Make sure you have pumps running in the tank, and your ammonia levels are as close to 0 as possible.

It depends on the size of your tank, but generally 1-3 weeks for anything up to 250 litres, or up to 4-6 weeks for anything larger than 250 litres.