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Essays on Tank Maintenance and Water Quality
"I'm New To
these Fish"
This comprehensive page
covers the maintenance of these fish for those keeping these
fish for the first
time, how to successfully
raise rare fish, setup, filters, equipment, management of water
quality, approach
to tank maintenance,
Foods, Live Foods, then distributing your fish to other
hobbyists.
A Modern Approach to
Fish Care
Open and Download .pdf
This short article
provides an overview of the practices used at Select aquatics,
based on the latest
understanding of appropriate fish care and
husbandry.
A
Practical Understanding; Maintaining Water Quality
Open and
Download .pdf
This essay attempts to
identify the variables that contribute to water quality issues,
and how they must
become well known and
understood from the time a tank is first set up through its day
to day maintenance.
A
Cleaner Approach to Tank Maintenance
Open and Download .pdf
Written to solve many of
the most common issues that keep fish from growing to their full
size, or breeding to their
potential- especially
livebearers, this article covers the approach used at Select
Aquiatics to keep even the fussiest
species at their best.
Ironically, besides being best for the fish, these methods are
also easier, cheaper and simpler
to use than the standard
means that most of us use to keep our aquariums going, while
still fully natural and attractive
looking. Though all of
the species offered at this site will do well in a standard,
well-maintained tank setup, This
article is a must read
for those considering keeping and breeding most any type of
aquarium fish.
3 Periods of Fish
Adjustment to New Environments
Open and Download .pdf
besides the initial
adjustment to your tank when first brought home, there are in
fact two other acclimation periods
the fish will go through,
and that you should be aware of before they will reach their
potential in your tank.
Creating an Automatic Water Change System for Your Fishroom
Open and Download .pdf
This documents how to
construct an automatic water change system that requires no
drilling of tanks and no pumps.
It is totally gravity
driven, and allows for tanks to be swapped out, changed, and
moved if the need arises. It is
hooked up to a standard
sprinkler system control box and valves. Any amount of water can
be changed as often per day
as you prefer. This
system is also inexpensive, not difficult to construct and
maintain, and has been working well in
this fishroom of 120
tanks for about 10 years.
Setting
Up a Fishroom
Open and Download .pdf
For a fishroom of 5 tanks
to one of over 100 tanks, a number of basic principles apply.
Room choice,
Tank placement, metal vs.
wood racks, temperature, light, air and electrical issues are
addressed.
Dealing With the Most
Common Diseases
Open and Download .pdf
Not meant as an in depth
guide to disease identification and treatment, this essay
introduces the majority of the
diseases you will likely
encounter as a fishkeeper, and how best to treat them. Based on
the practical experience of
having dealt with most
diseases, this essay discusses immediate treatments until you
are able to locate the proper
medications, what to do
when something first appears, and the basic medications that you
should keep on hand.
How
to Raise BIG Fish
Open and Download .pdf
This article was written
in response to the most frequently asked question I hear from
young fishkeepers,
"How do you raise big
fish?" In this comprehensive article first published in 2003, I
address the 7 most important
factors, myths, and the
husbandry practices that get the most size and best
overall health from your fish. 13 pages.
Breeding
Breeding the
Livebearers
Open and download .pdf
An introduction to
Poeciliid and Goodeid reproduction, pictures are provided to
show best practices and assistance
sexing the Goodeids and
other livebearers.
Harvesting Livebearer Fry
Open and download .pdf
Written in response to
the difficulty we all have saving as many fry as possible from a
number of livebearer
species. The swords, the
goodeids and the Alfaro cultratus are briefly discussed. Covered
are which species
will eat their fry, which
won't, and how best to manipulate the birthing process so that
few are preyed upon.
Breeding the
Bristlenose Plecostomus (Longfin Green Dragon)
Open and Download .pdf
A complete, step by step
approach to breeding this fish, and any other Ancistrus,
particularly if you have been
frustrated by a lack of
success at getting them to breed or raise the fry. Included are
photos showing daily
growth of new fry.
Selective Breeding
The most comprehensive of
all of the essays offered. All aspects of selectively breeding a
line
of fish are covered,
including breeding myths and misconceptions. Updated 2023.
Building Numbers and Quality Through Managed Breeding
Open and download
.pdf
This essay was written to
describe how Select Aquatics breeds many species that are rarely
bred in any quantity,
but raised by the
hundreds here. The setups, tricks and processes used to breed
out the swordtails, A. cultratus,
Goodeids (Z. tequila, C.
lateralis, A. splendens and I. furcidens) and Barbs are
explained, particularly how we
make maximum use of space
and behavioral quirks to harvest and raise out maximum numbers
of fry- in an effort to
explain an approach that
others can use to increase the numbers of these rarer fish in
the hobby.
Breeding the
Alfaro cultratus
This species results in
more letters from customers as to how to breed them more than
any other species here.
Not difficult to breed,
but different than the other poecillids due to the smaller fry,
and that the females are not as
easy to identify as
gravid, and determining by appearance when they will drop their
fry. In fact, they are quite
prolific and can be bred
into a peaceful schooling group fairly easily!
Developing the High Fin Mayae
Open and download .pdf
Recently published in
Livebearers and written in 2011, this article describes the
steps taken to create the High
Fin Xiphophorus mayae, a
process begun in 2004. Not a cross or a hybrid, the high fin
mayae was generated from a
single female born from
normal X. mayae stock, carefully selectively bred to produce the
fish being worked with
here. No longer carried
by Select Aquatics, this documents the development f a new
strain through Select Breeding.
Keeping and
Breeding the Poecilia velifera, Giant Sailfin Molly
This article addresses
the specific care for this spectacular fish, a fish that
is not to be kept in the same manner
as other mollies. Once
very common in the hobby, they are less frequently seen today,
in part, because many are
not aware of their care
needs. In his article, all aspects of their tank setup,
filtration, feeding, breeding and the
raising of fry are
covered.
Keeping
and Maintaining the Xiphophorus montezumae
One of the most striking
swordtails, the care and breeding of the X. montezumae is not
the same as other
swordtails. This article
presents how they are kept and bred here, with the specific
considerations that assure
they do well. There is a
reason you do not see them offered routinely at local fish
meetings and on the internet.
Though not difficult to
keep, a few things must be done for them to thrive and breed
consistently.
Breeding the Puntius padamya "Odessa" Barb
maintained and bred here
by the thousands since 2010, breeding these Odessa Barbs is a
perfect introduction
to breeding the barbs and
tetras. Long in the tropical fish hobby, these barbs breed
easily and predictably,
but like most fish, the
trick is keeping as many fry going during the first week as
possible, and then providing
the observation and care
for the fry to survive into their first month, when they can
then be split up into their
own tanks and raised
normally.
Many tricks have been
discovered to increase yield and keep the new fry doing well,
all that are described here.
For those that want to
give this a try, it took me a few times to get it all dialed in,
and if you have questions
or would like for me to
follow your process with you, just drop me an email,
selectaquatics@gmail.com, and will
help as much as my time
allows.
Others
The Other Fishkeeping Skill;
Shipping Open
and download .pdf
After 4 years of
gradually refining the shipping process, one method is used here
that has a very low loss rate,
is inexpensive and can be
done by anyone with the proper bags and box.
Live Foods
Open and download .pdf
Document
Photo Page
Handed out at the 2011
American Livebearer Association Convention, this 10 page essay
presents an approach
to keeping live foods
that I have developed over many years, much of the information
being already posted
at this website. I do
cover blackworms and other types of live foods in greater depth.
Repairing / Sealing an Aquarium
Open and download .pdf
Any aquarist can quickly
tear down a leaky tank, strip it, reseal it and have it back up
and good as new,
saving money and giving
you some control over a task that everyone is hesitant to do at
first. But it's no
big deal when it is done
right.
How I Moved
an Entire Fishroom 1200 Miles
Open and download .pdf
In 2000 I drove a 20 tank
fishroom across country- all of the tanks with hundreds of fish
in them, plus the
racks the equipment- from
Sacramento to Denver, in mid August. All in one trip, I lost
almost no fish in the
process. This article
documents the process I followed, which would be the same if you
were to simply move a
single tank, or a few
tanks across town.
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