Choosing a tropical fish tank is really important. The right choice will make the maintenance of the tank easier and much more fun for you and the fish, so you want a tank that not only looks good, but is also functional and appropriate for your needs. At the end of the day the decision is yours to make, but here are a few ideas that may help you choose a tank that’s right for you!

The Shape of The Tank

The most common shapes for tropical fish tanks are hexagon and rectangular, but you can also buy rounded bubble tanks, coffee table fish tanks and slimline fish tanks that fit in the wall!

When deciding on the size of the tank, you have to consider where it will be placed to be sure it will fit, and will not cause an obstruction.

Rectangular tanks are best for your water quality and fish health.

Because rectangular tanks are long, the surface are is greater in ratio than other shaped tanks. A hexagon tank looks great, but the surface area is smaller, which means more maintenance and water changing.

The rectangular tank is less work, and with the bigger surface area, allows you to keep more fish.

Location For Your Tropical Fish Tank

If you are just going to be keeping one fish as a conversation piece on a small shelf or bathroom vanity, then a cool decorative tropical tank would be ideal. before deciding on a location for the fish tank be sure to take the weight of the tank into consideration.

A filled tank can weigh 12 pounds per gallon so a filled 20 gallon Aquarium can weigh over 200 pounds. Choose a spot that can support the weight including the right stand. When buying your tropical fish tank, it is necessary to think about its placement in your house.

If you are looking to add appeal to an empty corner, a hexagon shaped aquarium tank might be wonderful, but a long rectangular tank could make an interesting statement along a wall.

The Size of Your Fish Tank

If you are just a beginner you should consider a 20 to 30 gallon aquarium setup. A small 5 gallon tank is OK if you don’t have a lot of space, but you will have to be careful not to overload the tank with fish, or the quality of your water will deteriorate, and your fish will not be healthy.

Don’t be tempted by those little fish tanks or bowls that have 1 or 2 fish with no filtration, Believe me, the fish will not live very long time in that tank and you will spend a lot of time monitoring the water quality and performing water changes. As a guideline, the bigger the tank is, the less maintenance it will need.

Typically you can house 1 inch of fish for every gallon of water in the tank – along with adequate aeration and filtration, that is. If you buy a 20 gallon tank, you can have 20 inches of tropical fish, or about 15 fish. With the smaller 5 gallon tank you will only be able to keep 2 or 3 fish.

Picking the right tank is really a matter of personal preference. You just need to weigh up your options and pick what best fits your needs. Doing your homework before you go to the store will help to save you both time and money in the long run.

Tropical Goldfish : It’s a misconception that a goldfish will mature only to the size relevant to the aquarium it lives in. If a goldfish is maintained in a small aquarium, give only a small amount of food every day, and change the water regularly, it will grow gradually and may live for some years, reaching the optimum size of at least 3 to 4 inches.

It is a proven fact that the growth of a goldfish may be somehow diminutive in a small aquarium – a high composition of nitrates is known to hinder growth- but growth is slower, and not supposed to cease abruptly.

On the other hand, if you would give the goldfish too much food, or if maintained in an aquarium that is not properly filtered biologically, the goldfish will simply mature to the point where the aquarium will not support the eliminated wastes and will surrender either to intoxication as a result of waste accumulation or to a disease caused by bad water maintenance.

If you want to keep goldfish healthy, do not keep them with other species of tropical fish for some reasons.

First, goldfish tend to flourish at the sub-tropics that means about 73 degrees Fahrenheit. This is not to mean that over this temperature level, it would kill the goldfish. It is just that they would thrive in lower temperatures. a cooler environment will have more oxygen supply that adult goldfish need for sustainable health.

Also, goldfish have the tendency to be more productive than other tropical fishes. As they mature, they can easily consume more food than the other residents of the aquarium. The other species may suffer from abnormal growth caused by malnutrition. At the same level, goldfish also eliminate more wastes than the other tropical fish. Some of the tropical fishes need a clean environment and goldfish will make this rather very hard to keep.

Goldfish are temperate creatures and they have the tendency to carry certain diseases and parasites and tend to resist them as well. So, mixing the goldfish with other species can expose your pets to health problems they are not used to coping with.

The truth is, most species of fishes often seem to get along when they are still fries. As they grow old, however, trouble and aggression may begin. You might not observe problems at the start since aggressive behavior may occur at night time. For instance, certain species of tropical fish can become aggressive as they mature and would eventually pose a threat for your goldfish. A floating dead fish can be a clue to aggression.

Similar to basic aquarium keeping, do not give your goldfish more feeds than they can consume in a few minutes. Unconsumed foods disintegrate inside the aquarium and would eventually pollute the water. If food remains unconsumed, discard it.

A 30-gallon tank with pebbles and aquatic plants is recommended for goldfish. Never keep goldfish in a fishbowl or smaller container. It’s like living in a one-room house.

Goldfish are omnivores and they do not need a special nutritional diet like other tropical fish. However, you should purchase food made especially for goldfish, since their diet needs are not similar to other species.

If you want to keep your goldfish a higher protein nutritional diet it will also lead to a faster growth rate. Where goldfish are maintained in small or unfiltered fish tanks, it is not advised to administer high-protein food.
 

Breeding Buttikoferi Tropical Fish : A big aquarium of at least 60-70 gallons is needed to maintain a couple of Buttikoferi Tropical fish. These types of tropical fish should be kept in a special aquarium. That is, never try keeping them with other tropical fish, if you do not want bloodshed in the fish tank.

Most Buttikoferi should be given food of both protein and vegetarian flakes. You can also give them live and stored brine shrimp along with pellet peas.

Both sexes are very aggressive towards other residents of the aquarium especially during the mating season. To lessen the stress on the female Buttikoferi, it is advised to get at least 4 females for each male.

Buttikoferis are mouth brooders. That is, the female will hold the eggs in her mouth for a time, about several weeks, based on the temperature of the water, and then would release the fries into the fish tank. During this brooding period, the female will normally refuse to eat.

To nourish the Buttikoferi fry, feed them with hatched brine shrimp and finely chopped flakes. Change the aquarium water constantly to increase the well-beings of the fry.

Unless you have a large aquarium, you can only keep a handful number of fry to mature. The fry can be developed in less tolerable situations as they mature, and the aggression among the fry will cause great reduction in the number of the fish by the time the fry have reached at least six months old.

Another variety, related to the Buttikoferi is the Venustus; It has remarkable patterns on the body, similar to giraffe spots, which make them prominent and attractive. However, this colouring can change as they grow older for breeding.

They can expand up to 10 inches, so you need to have quite a large aquarium. Although this variety will not normally spawn aggression with most tropical fish, they can be aggressive with their own specie.

When they are first added to the aquarium, mature Venustus can be very protective of their “territory,” chasing other residents, so you should provide enough pebble and hidden spaces. This specie is very intelligent and they often will come upfront of the fish tank as if they are very sociable beings.

The Venustus is very sensitive to extreme levels of nitrates in the water, so even though they are easily maintained it is essential to regulate the water intensity at least to medium ph. Maintain the water’s pH level to neutral or slightly alkaline, a substrate of aragonite components can help to maintain the water in this level.

If you would like to breed Buttikoferi and Venustus, it is very easy.

The males will normally fertilize the eggs when the female has accumulated them in her mouth opening. Prior to this mating, the female spawns non-fertilized eggs, normally on an even surface that she carefully maintains previously.

Basically, a male around 7-8 inches is already sexually capable. Females are mouth brooders and they will carry their eggs in the mouth for a few weeks, before they can release the fry.

You can give the newly hatched fry with brine shrimp or finely grounded food flakes.

The Venustus and the Buttikoferi requires high-protein diet that you can satisfy through brine shrimps, worms, small fish, as well as processed flakes and pellets containing meat particles.