News and Article

A Complete Guide to Starting a New Freshwater Aquarium

Getting into the hobby for the first time can be confusing. Hopefully this guide will help you enter the hobby and become a successful aquarist! FISH TANK SIZE The first step of your journey is to decide on the size of the fish tank. You are essentially creating a miniature ecosystem, at least when compared to the real thing. The larger the volume of water, the more stable and forgiving your system will be. Therefore it is easier to maintain a larger aquarium. TYPE OF FISH Once you have decided on the tank volume, you can begin to plan what...

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Working Out Dosing

Working Out Dosing By Shane Danger Coleman, MAFAresource (Marine Aquarium Fanatics Resource)https://www.facebook.com/MAFAresource/ I've been asked a few times recently how to work out dose rates to set a dosing pump or even hand dosing daily. This is what I do, others may have different ways? This works for me. Please find attached a table of Parameters to use as a guide & a link to the online dosing calculator I use.  Step 1Test the parameters you want to focus on, let's just say Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium (CAM) for short. If your readings are low/high then proceed to step 2....

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Acclimation & Introduction of Livestock

Acclimation & Introduction of Livestock By Shane Danger Coleman, MAFAresource (Marine Aquarium Fanatics Resource)https://www.facebook.com/MAFAresource/   So you've cycled the aquarium and you'd like to add some livestock? The very first step is the stock you'd like to add and research on your choices to make sure they are compatible. Assuming you've done this and you've just brought home your first tank inhabitant here are some common methods of acclimation for marine organisms.  Floating the bag in the aquarium isn't the most ideal method for marine aquariums due to the temperature of the water not being all that is important. Here...

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Housing, Husbandry and Health of Ornamental Aquarium Fish

Housing, Husbandry and Health of Ornamental Aquarium Fish Michael A Grima, B.Sc.Hons I, GradCertVetStud, B.Vet.Bio/DVM* *Faculty of Veterinary Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW. Housing Aquascaping of an aquarium prior to the introduction of fish and/or other aquatic invertebrates is key to successful fish keeping. Replicating the natural habitat of specific species in a captive environment is called biotyping. Captive aquatic environments like their natural counterparts usually possess the following key features; Substrate – is a dominant feature of most aquariums and may be in the form of; gravel, aquasoil or sand. Substrate is;...

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White Spot Disease “Ich” in Freshwater and Marine Aquariums

Article

White Spot Disease “Ich” in Freshwater and Marine Aquariums By Michael A Grima (B.Sc. Hons I, GradCertVetStud) A protozoal disease associated with the formation of small white spots/cysts on the gills and skin of marine and freshwater fish species. White spot disease, in the context of salt and freshwater environments, is not caused by the same species of protozoan, however, clinical signs of infection (symptoms) and pathogenesis (disease development) in both contexts is similar. Causes: Freshwater pathogen - Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. Marine pathogen - Cryptocaryon irritans. Diagnosis: Scrapings of gill and/or skin tissue or body slime associated with cysts can be...

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