If you’re interested in having a freshwater home aquarium, or tropical fish tanks, but don’t have the time or the money to spend on a whole elaborate set up, then this is the perfect solution. It’s called a “biOrb” (made by Reef One), and it’s essentially a clear acrylic bowl with a filter system specifically developed to work as part of an intelligently designed, low maintenance system. This scientifically designed set up makes the perfect freshwater home aquarium, not only because it promotes crystal clear healthy water …

In this article, you will learn how to safely introduce new Koi Carp to your pond. It is important to take steps to ensure that new fish are totally healthy prior to their introduction and also that every effort is made not to shock them when you do finally introduce the new Koi to your pond.

If you are looking for a gorgeous fish for a new aquarium set up, you’ll find that the discus is a natural and lovely choice. The discus is a large cichlid from South America, and in many ways, they resemble small, brightly colored disk. They are very lovely fish and will be quite striking no matter what aquarium setting you use.

Keeping fish is a popular hobby for a myriad of reasons, because fish are fun pets to keep and also exciting to learn about. There are numerous considerations that need to be made when it comes to setting up your own fish keeping hobby, including selecting the aquarium, selecting the environment, choosing your fish and setting up the right accessories.

Any fish that live in outdoor ponds are vulnerable to attack from would-be predators and the Koi Carp are, unfortunately, no exception. To Koi enthusiasts, these fish are adored as beautiful living jewels but to feathered or furry admirers, they are FOOD.

Before you purchase your first Koi Carp, make sure you do your homework to find out how to choose healthy Koi fish. This article explains what you should do and what signs to look for that identifies normal healthy Koi from the rest.

Possibly one of the most critical yet misunderstood component in managing an aquarium is the nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is responsible for your harmonious ecosystem. When the nitrogen cycle isn’t established or is interrupted the end result is usually the death of your aquatic creatures. Unfortunately because most people aren’t aware of this natural cycle they fall victim to what is known in the aquarium community as “New tank syndrome”, which essentially translates to the poisoning of your fish until they can no longer sustain life.

Water Hardness

Most snails do best in harder/alkaline water. If the hardness/ph drops below a certain point, their shells will start to dissolve and/or grow improperly (the behavior seems to be based on species). Malaysian trumpet snails seem the hardiest, showing little adverse effect from soft water. The Ramshorn snails shell will start to dissolve, and gaps will form in the new shell growth. Mystery snails will form gaps. Most of these problems can be corrected by hardening the water, and the snails will recover, although exterior shell damage (from dissolving) will remain.

Types of Snails

Malaysian trumpet snail

The Malaysian snail, Melanoides tubercularia, is an interesting creature in that it lives in the substrate during the day and only comes out at night. Its shell is a perfect cone shape and gets to about 2 cm long. It is a livebearing snail and reproduces quite readily. It is considered beneficial to a plant tank and doesn’t seen to harm plants, even in large populations. They are hard to find for sale, but usually come for free on plant shipments. If desired, Clown loaches will keep them and other snails well under control.

Ramshorn Snail

Ramshorn snails are very common and come in various sizes. Their shape is as their name suggests. The smaller varieties (under 1 cm) are not too damaging to a plant tank, although they seem to relish the tender leaves of the Hygrophila family.The other type is the dark and light brown striped Columbian Ramshorn that can grow big as large as 2 inches in diameter. The stripes run the length of the shell with a pattern of random width light-dark- light stripes that stays constant throughout the snails life. These snails are extremely prolific and have a terrific appetite for plants.

Pond Snails

Pond snails are football shaped snails under 2 cm in length. They are to be avoided, as they will happily eat all your plants.

Mystery (Apple) Snails

One of the most beautiful kinds of snails are the Mystery snails. These snails have a shape similar to the Pond snail, but their spiral is rounder, and they grow much larger. They can reach tennis-ball size if well taken care of. The come in many varieties. The snail’s body can be dark, or almost albino (very light with a bright orange speckle pattern). The shell can be dark, bright orange, albino, or multi-colored striped (length-wise like the Ramshorn). The Apple snail variety typically has the multi-colored stripes, with a dark body. In general these snails don’t eat living plants. They prefer algae and dead plant/animal material (canned spinach will get you a very large Mystery snail).

Snail Prophylactics

To guard against unwanted snails, use a weak potassium permanganate solution. The Manual of Fish Health recommends a concentration of 10 mg/l as a 10-minute bath as a general disenfectant for aquarium plants. Then rinse them in running water. This kills snail eggs and parasites and might guard against algae spores.Alum is also useful. Get “Alum U.S.P.” at the drug store. Soak the plants in a gallon of water that has up to 10 teaspoons of Alum. The Alum kills microscopic bugs. Longer soaks (2-3 days) will kill snail eggs and/or snails.

Breeding tropical fish is a great hobby, have time for more? Consider building some plastic model kits, model cars, or model ships too! Here is a hobby store in the US for great discount on Hasegawa Model Kit.