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Adding Fish To Your Aquarium

 
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Adding Fish To Your Aquarium

How many fish can my aquarium hold?

When you're determining how many fish your aquarium can hold, there are some wives' tales that have some practical common sense that you can use. One of the old wives' tales out there is “an inch of fish per gallon of water”. Unfortunately, that doesn't work because how much you feed a fish and how often you change part of your water totally factors into how many fish you can have, because it affects the water chemistry. If you don't have great water chemistry, you can't keep one fish, let alone more than one. You can use that as a guideline - the whole one inch per thing. However, it's better to just look at the type of fish that you want. Ask an expert what he recommends and then you can get a better idea of how many fish you typically can put into a tank. You can put anywhere from one fish in a 20 gallon to 20 fish, depending on the type of fish, the size and a few other things that go into it.

How many fish should I add to a new aquarium?

When you're adding fish to a brand new aquarium, you can't add too many. You might have a tank that ultimately can hold 50 fish, but when you are starting off that tank and getting it cycled and ready to go, you have to slowly build your way up to that total number. You may start with three fish, or six fish, or ten fish. It's really going to depend on the type of system you have, salt or fresh, and how many gallons it is and how big the tank is. That's going to determine how many fish you can start with, and ultimately how many fish you can build up to.

How do I introduce new fish to my aquarium?

Once you've purchased your fish from the store and we've bagged it up and you've taken it to your aquarium, you have to acclimate the fish specifically for temperature. It may be cold where you're from. It may be really hot. Sometimes, when people get fish they ask us about quarantining, or they ask if quarantining a fish, or segregating it before bringing it into the fish tank is a good idea. It is one of the best ideas you could ever apply to your aquarium. The reason is that you don't know when you bought the fish from the aquarium store or how long they've had that fish. Just like people with disease, sometimes there are no symptoms. You just don't know. You would hate to have your tank really well established, and you buy the last specimen, and that specimen goes in your tank, and nobody knew it was sick because it didn't have any symptoms. It then gets all of your other fish sick, and they die. Therefore it's better, if you can afford it, to set up a quarantine aquarium, and to quarantine everything that is going to go into your tank. There are ways of going about doing that. Whether you're going to put some kind of antibacterial in the water, or if you're just going to sit it in there for a prescribed period of time and watch it, and make sure it doesn't break down with any symptoms before you put it in your tank. You should do it to protect the health of your aquarium, and if you can afford to have a second quarantine tank, it's one of the best things you could ever do.

How do I control territorial aggression in my aquarium?

Fish are very territorial. They're wild animals for the most part and they are analogous to a lion. People realize when they're watching the Discovery Channel that lions are always very territorial and they'll kill anything that comes into their territory. Fish are exactly the same way and it's really hard to look at your little guppy and go wow! He's really going to defend his turf? “He absolutely is.” You can't control that instinct in a fish, but what you can do is when you're picking your fish; you can pick fish that are less dominating of their territory than others and you create a natural pecking order. And it's really important, and that's why I tell people to do is: “create a fish wish-list of every fish you could possibly want and then have a professional Aquarist help you rank those fish to most aggressive and most territorial all the way down to least. And you are going to want to put the most aggressive in last and the least aggressive and territorial in first and work your way up.”

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  1. How many fish can my aquarium hold?
  2. How many fish should I add to a new aquarium?
  3. How do I introduce new fish to my aquarium?
  4. How do I control territorial aggression in my aquarium?

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Marc Grover
Meet the Expert
Underwater Depot
  • How many fish can my aquarium hold?
  • How many fish should I add to a new aquarium?
  • How do I introduce new fish to my aquarium?
  • How do I control territorial aggression in my aquarium?
more ...
Fishkeeping
 Should I Get A Fish 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. Do fish make good pets? 
  3. How much time and energy do fish need? 
  4. What are the costs to consider before I get a fish? 
  5. Should I get a fish if I travel or work a lot? 
  6. What is a good age to get my child a fish? 
 Choosing A Fish 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. What is the difference between 'freshwater' and 'saltwater' fish? 
  3. Are 'saltwater' or 'marine' fish hard to take care of? 
  4. Are goldfish easy to take care of? 
  5. What are the least expensive fish to take care of? 
  6. What are the best kinds of fish for my new aquarium? 
  7. How many fish should I get to start an aquarium? 
  8. How do I choose a healthy fish? 
  9. Should I get a variety of 'bottom' and 'surface' feeder fish? 
  10. How do I choose compatible fish? 
  11. Should I get a young or an adult fish? 
  12. What is a 'livebearer'? 
 Finding A Fish 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. Where can I get a fish? 
  3. Do pet shops sell healthy fish? 
  4. Where can I find saltwater fish? 
  5. Is it a good idea to buy a fish online? 
  6. Should I get a fish from a show or auction? 
  7. Where can I find a fish auction? 
  8. What is an 'aquatic society'? 
 Setting Up Your Aquarium 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. What size of aquarium should I buy? 
  3. Where should I put the aquarium? 
  4. What supplies do I need to start a tropical freshwater aquarium? 
  5. What supplies do I need for a saltwater aquarium? 
  6. What type of light does my aquarium need? 
  7. Should I use gravel or sand in my aquarium? 
  8. Are rocks or wood a good idea for my aquarium? 
 Aquarium Filter Basics 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. Generally, how do filters work in an aquarium? 
  3. What are the best filters for a small freshwater aquarium? 
  4. What are the best filters for a large aquarium? 
  5. What is an 'under gravel filter' for an aquarium? 
  6. What is a 'hang-on mechanical filter' for an aquarium? 
  7. What is a 'BIO-wheel' for an aquarium? 
  8. What is a 'canister filter' for an aquarium? 
  9. What is a 'wet or dry trickle filter' for an aquarium? 
 Water Chemistry Basics 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. Why are temperature and water chemistry important for my aquarium? 
  3. What is a 'nitrogen cycle' in an aquarium? 
  4. How do I manage the water chemistry in my aquarium? 
  5. Why do I need to check the water pH of my aquarium? 
  6. What pH levels are normal for my aquarium? 
  7. Why do I need to check the water 'alkalinity' or 'hardness' in my aquarium? 
  8. Why do I need to check the 'salinity level' or 'gravity' of water of my saltwater aquarium? 
  9. How do I create the right level of oxygen in my aquarium? 
  10. What is an 'air stone'? 
 Aquarium Plants And Invertebrates 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. What are the pros and cons of adding plants to my aquarium? 
  3. What plants are best for my freshwater aquarium? 
  4. How do I choose a healthy plant for my aquarium? 
  5. What kind of lighting will my aquarium plants need? 
  6. Do aquarium plants need fertilizer? 
  7. When should I add plants to my new aquarium? 
  8. How do I add a plant to my aquarium? 
  9. What are 'invertebrates'? 
  10. What supplies will I need for saltwater invertebrates? 
  11. What should I feed my saltwater invertebrates? 
  12. Where can I find saltwater invertebrates? 
Adding Fish To Your Aquarium (Now Playing)
  1. Marc Grover
 Aquarium Maintenance Essentials 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. Generally, how do I maintain a healthy aquarium? 
  3. How do I take care of the filter in my aquarium? 
  4. What supplies do I need to clean my aquarium? 
  5. How do I know when to clean my aquarium? 
  6. How do I test the water in my aquarium? 
  7. How do I clean my aquarium? 
  8. How do I prepare the water to refill my aquarium? 
 Feeding Your Fish 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. What should I feed my fish? 
  3. Should I feed my fish commercial dry food? 
  4. How do I choose between tablets, pellets and flakes for my fish? 
  5. How much should I feed my fish? 
  6. Should I feed my fish 'live food'? 
  7. How often should I feed my fish? 
  8. How do I handle a fish that dominates the food supply? 
  9. How do I feed my fish when I go on vacation? 
 Fish Health Care 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. How do I know if my fish is sick? 
  3. Who will help my sick fish? 
  4. What are the most common diseases that affect fish? 
  5. What is 'ick' and how do I treat it? 
  6. What is 'fin rot' and how do I treat it? 
  7. What is 'swim bladder disease' and how do I treat it? 
  8. What is 'cloudy eye' and how do I treat it? 
  9. What should I do if my fish is injured by another fish? 
  10. What is a 'hospital' or 'quarantine' tank for fish? 
  11. How do I set up a hospital tank for my sick fish? 
 Betta Fish 
  1. Marc Grover
  2. What are 'betta' or 'Siamese fighter' fish? 
  3. Are betta fish easy to take care of? 
  4. Why aren't male bettas kept in the same tank? 
  5. Can I put a betta in my aquarium with other fish? 
  6. Are bettas content in smaller bowls? 
  7. Should I put my betta in a 'betta bowl' with a plant? 
  8. Where is the best place to put my betta? 
  9. What kind of water does my betta need? 
  10. What should I feed my betta? 
  11. What are the most common diseases that affect bettas? 
  12. How long do bettas usually live? 

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