Category: GCKA – General
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General – What Is A Fishroom? – definitions, and basic information
By Donna M. Recktenwalt If an aquarium is a container that holds water suitable for maintaining aquatic life, then a fishroom is an area set aside for the primary purpose of keeping aquaria. It may be as simple as a couple of tanks on a shelf, or as complex as a specially designed room…
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General – Water Values and Water Tests – an overview.
By Donna M. Recktenwalt Good water is essential to the successful maintenance and breeding of tropical fish. But how do we know if we have good water? Water values can be measured several different ways, but in general, water can be measured for hardness (total and Carbonate), conductivity, and osmotic pressure. Also, water…
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General – Water Hardness – A Comparison – a look at the dH, gH, fH, and US scales of hardness.
By Donna M. Recktenwalt Maintaining fish in an artificial environment poses a number of questions to the aquarist, but one thing we all must deal with is water. We know that for our fishes to thrive, their water must be clean, free of chemical contaminants, and capable of retaining dissolved oxygen. It also…
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General – Water Conductivity – another view of water.
By Donna M. Recktenwalt Killiekeepers have many tools available to help monitor water quality, including test kits of various kinds. One such tool measures the total dissolved solids (TDS) in water. Readouts from such a unit are useful in measuring the relative TDS, and fish seem to be more sensitive to major differences in…
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General – Water Changes – Revisited – why they’re important.
What’s so important about … Water Changes By Donna M. Recktenwalt Certainly we all know that water changes are essential to the health and breeding potential of our fish. But how important are those water changes, anyway? The answer varies. “Because of my job schedules I have gone several weeks without water…
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General – Water Changes – Basic Fishkeeping.
By Donna M. Recktenwalt One fact that is mentioned in almost every published aquatic resource, regardless of species, water type or tank size, is the need for regular partial water changes. Unfortunately, despite the fact that water changes are a good and useful thing to do, many people don’t do them. Why not? Because it’s…
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General – Water Borne Infections – it can happen to you.
It doesn’t happen often, but aquarists have acquired infections from their aquaria, specifically granulomatous infections from Mycobacteria. Mycobacterium (the same genus of bacteria that causes Tuberculosis) species, such as Mycobacterium marinum, exist in many home aquaria. These can gain access through open cuts or scrapes, and cause granulomatous infections. Such infections are often improperly…
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General – A Variation on Fry Boxes – one breeder’s trick for keeping fry.
Most killikeepers are well aware of the usefulness of clear plastic shoe- and sweater boxes for keeping their fish and raising fry. But the problem remains of those inevitable “jumpers.” George White of Arlington, Virginia, offered the following suggestion. The information originally appeared in the April 1986 issue of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium. Using…
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General – Vacation Care – What to do When You Won’t Be There To Do It – you may not have to feed them.
By Donna M. Recktenwalt No matter the degree of involvement with our fish, there are occasions when we aquarists just can’t provide the level of care to our charges that we’d like, times when we simply must neglect our fish or be away from our fishrooms for a time. Whatever the reason for such…
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General – Vacation Care for Fry – Revisited – another method.
“I believe the worst way to care for fish during a vacation is to entrust them to someone else–no matter how experienced and dedicated they may be,” says Lee Harper. In most cases, bigger fish will survive without feeding for a week or two, but caring for fry, especially if you have a number…