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What do you do with the test results? Kanzia’s Tips
Every day I email reports to the animal care For Your Home Fish Tank
specialists and curators who sent samples to the lab.
Part of a report gives the day’s samples and data in The dozen fish you brought home last week are
a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Each column in the dead. What happened? It might be new tank
spreadsheet is a different parameter that was tested, syndrome. Here's John Kanzia's advice on how to avoid
with normal-value ranges at the top of each column. that, plus his tips for raising healthy, happy fish.
The report might say, “Everything looks normal.”
Or if a value was out of range, it will contain Don’t add more than one fish at a time.
instructions on what they should do, like “Please Naturally occurring bacteria break down the
perform a water change when possible, and submit water’s bioload—uneaten food and waste products
another sample tomorrow.” excreted by fish—into ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
The more fish in a tank, the greater the bioload,
Now I also incorporate that information into which can become toxic to the animals. Adding one
the ZIMS (Zoological Information Management fish every other week gives the bacteria time to grow
System) record-keeping system. When an animal their population accordingly so they can handle the
care specialist, a veterinarian, or a curator goes into bioload. Test for pH, ammonia, and nitrites regularly.
ZIMS to find data on an animal, they can click on
the animal’s enclosure and find all the testing that Start simple. If you’re a new aquarium owner, start with
was done and see if anything is out of range. fresh-water fish. Learn about raising fish without having
to worry about mixing up salts for a salt-water tank.
Which exhibits use the most water?
Research your fish. If you plan to put multiple fish in
SEVEN SEAS and PINNIPED POINT hold about your tank, look for fish recommended for community
2 million gallons of water—1,250,000 gallons in living. For example, research would tell you not to
SEVEN SEAS and 600,000 gallons in PINNIPED put two male betta fish together—they will fight to
POINT. The GREAT BEAR WILDERNESS the death! A great information source is Fishbase.org.
pools hold 300,000 gallons of water. Otherwise, talk to someone at your local pet shop.
Buy a large enough tank. Rule of thumb: You need
at least 1 gallon of water per 1 inch of fish. So if you
have a 2-inch fish, you need at least a 2-gallon tank.
Treat the water before using it. Dissipate chlorine
in tap water before putting it in a tank. Chlorine can
oxidize the soft tissues of fish. Use a tap water
conditioner that contains sodium thiosulfate to
neutralize chlorine. Or fill a container with tap
water and let it sit out uncovered overnight.
Aerate the water. You can use an air stone to
circulate the water and increase its oxygen content.
You can do this before you add the water to the tank.
Keep it clean. Change 25 percent of the
water in your tank every two weeks.
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