DALLAS AQUARIUM EXPERTS

Aquarium Maintenance Service, Aquarium Design and Installions, and Freshwater Aquarium Leasing

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Unsafe Decorations can cause BIG problems

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Stuff from your yard often contains all sorts of parasites and other nasty things that can cause disease in your tank and foul the water.  And it may not be safe to use non-aquarium rocks, wood, plastic sunflowers for standard aquarium use because many contain harmful dyes, and paints or fall apart once they sit in water. 

Your best bet for safe decorations is to purchase pieces from a reputable aquarium dealer.  I can’t emphasize this important point enough.  Unsafe decorations can kill fish, ruin your aquarium conditions, and cost you a lot of money and heartache.

Statuettes and toys that you find around the house may contain internal parts made of metal, which cause destruction in a tank.  Dyes and other surface materials can produce ill effects on fish and other species.

 

Whether your need is servicing an existing aquarium, or you are interested in a new aquarium setup, we will schedule a free consultation where an experienced professional will meet with you at your home or place of business.  We will assess your current situation and devise a plan that will help you move closer to the aquarium you have always wanted.

  

Call us at (469) 450-3900

Dallas Aquarium Experts – Frequently Asked Aquarium Maintenance Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

 

How often should my aquarium be serviced?

Frequency of aquarium maintenance and service is determined by the size of your aquarium, how heavily stocked the aquarium is which species of fish or other animals you are keeping, and how you want your aquarium to look.

Dallas Aquarium Experts Service offers weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly service and maintenance customized to your needs.

What are the benefits of having my aquarium or pond professionally maintained?

Regular aquarium service helps to ensure the overall health of your fish, plants, and other aquatic animals. Regular water changes and health assessments help ward off disease and address small problems before they become major issues.

I’m thinking about buying an aquarium, can you help me make the best selection?

Dallas Aquarium Experts Service can help you select the best aquarium, stand, lighting, filtration, and any other equipment you may need. The best choices are based on the animals you would like to keep in your aquarium.

Is having an aquarium a lot of work?

It can be, but having a service and maintenance performed by a professional from Dallas Aquarium Experts Service makes owning a freshwater or saltwater aquarium easy and fun.

Are saltwater aquariums more difficult to care for than freshwater aquariums?

There is a common misconception that saltwater aquariums are more difficult to keep than freshwater aquariums. Although there is some more work associated with successfully keeping a saltwater aquarium, it is not that much more difficult than keeping a freshwater aquarium.

The key to a healthy and enjoyable saltwater aquarium is to set up the aquarium correctly in the first place with proper filtration, animals that are best suited to the environment you wish to create and that are healthy and quarantined before being introduced to the aquarium, and the feeding of a proper diet.

A saltwater tank can be fun, educational, and a beautiful centerpiece in your home or office.

I have one fish that keeps killing all of my other fish. What’s wrong?

This is a common aquarium problem with a simple answer… not all species of aquatic life are compatible in the same aquarium. Expert advice when selecting tank mates can help reduce or eliminate aggression.

How much does aquarium service and maintenance cost?

Schedule a free consultation with Dallas Aquarium Experts today and service professional will come to your home or business and access your current situation. Before you make your decision on an Aquarium Maintenance Company in Dallas, allow us the opportunity to provide you a free consultation regarding your current Aquarium or we can provide an estimate on a new aquarium set-up and aquarium maintenance. Your fish will reward you with their natural beauty and years of enjoyment.

 

• Call us at (469) 450-3900

 

Marine Aquarium Refugium – What and Why….

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A refugium is essentially part of a sump, where one purposely grows algae! Macro algae species, such as caulerpa or chaetomorpha are grown in the refugium because they will absorb dissolved nitrates and phosphates from the water and store it internally at a much higher concentration than the natural seawater around them. They effectively remove these harmful substances which in turn keeps the fish and invertebrates healthier. It also helps reduce the growth of algae in the display aquarium since nitrates and phosphates are eaten by the macro algae before the detrimental algae in the display tank has the opportunity to feed upon them.

A refugium is essentially part of a sump, where one purposely grows algae! Macro algae species, such as caulerpa or chaetomorpha are grown in the refugium because they will absorb dissolved nitrates and phosphates from the water and store it internally at a much higher concentration than the natural seawater around them. They effectively remove these harmful substances which in turn keeps the fish and invertebrates healthier. It also helps reduce the growth of algae in the display aquarium since nitrates and phosphates are eaten by the macro algae before the detrimental algae in the display tank has the opportunity to feed upon them.

In addition a refugium also houses invertebrates such as copepods and amphipods which are food for many reef fishes. Because there are no predators in the refugium these beneficial crustaceans will reproduce and thrive. They will make their way back up to the display aquarium through the water column where they will serve as another food source for the fish and coral.

Dallas Aquarium Maintenance Consultations – Dallas Aquarium Experts

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Consultations

We have extensive knowledge and experience and can offer advice, recommendations, and assistance in a variety of circumstances and situations. We can be of assistance if you’re considering upgrading to a bigger tank, downgrading to a smaller one, switching from freshwater to saltwater, etc. Or, if you would simply like a sit-down with an expert for some pointers and help with your current tank, we can certainly help with that as well.

DALLAS AQUARIUM EXPERTS

Aquarium Maintenance & Service, Custom Design, and Aquarium Leasing in Dallas and the surrounding communities

Contact us today to schedule your free consultation

Whether your need is servicing an existing aquarium, or you are interested in a new aquarium setup, we will schedule a free consultation where an experienced professional will meet with you at your home or place of business. We will assess your current situation and devise a plan that will help you move closer to the aquarium you have always wanted.

 

Call us at (469) 450-3900

Stocking a Reef Tank – Dallas Aquarium Maintenance

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In order to set up a saltwater reef aquarium the first thing you need to do is make sure it is ecologically balanced. This will help to retain the natural beauty of the ocean because that’s what you are recreating in your home or office. If you overstock the aquarium by putting too many fish in it or add too much variety, it will undermine the eco system you are trying to create. Keep reading to find out all you need to know about stocking the aquarium correctly.

There is no exact science that dictates exactly how to stock the saltwater reef aquarium, but there are general principles that can be followed to make sure it all works out properly. The first factor to be considered is the size of the fish, large fish will occupy more space, eat more and make more waste matter.

With this in mind, the general rule of thumb is 2 inches of fish to every ten gallons of water if the fish are small to medium in size. For the larger fish, go with 1 inch of fish to every 10 gallons of water. For example, you can stock an 80 gallon tank with 16 inches of small fish or 8 inches of large fish.

Red Slime Algae… Dallas Aquarium Experts can help!

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Red Slime Algae

The reddish pink algae you are seeing may be either bad (cyanobacteria) or good (coraline algae) depending on its texture. Coraline algae often forms in areas of high light and is very hard to remove without the use of a razor blade. It can be pink, purple or red in color and grows in circular patches with the patches expanding as it forms, and is a good algae to have growing. Although sometimes it will grow in spots that is undesirable and needs to be scraped off every once in a while.

 If the algae is more slimy in texture and comes off in sheets or strands when you scrape it then you may just have some cyanobacteria or red slime algae forming. This is common to see towards the bottom of the tank and grows especially well in areas of low water movement. Having this grow around the edge of your gravel is normal and simply needs to be cleaned off when it starts to get noticeable. The only time that red slime algae is bad is when it grows out of control and starts smothering other inhabitants of the tank.

Red slime algae grows in water with a high nutrient load. Most of the waste products produced by the inhabitants of your tank are more dense then the water and form along the bottom increasing the chance for this algae to grow in these areas. There is also less of a water flow towards the bottom and sometimes simply placing a powerhead down near the bottom can keep this algae from growing in a system.

The brown you are seeing is also a form of algae. All forms of algae are a water quality issue. Most people do not want to hear that they are having a water quality issue but if you have any undesirable algae blooming in your tank and especially if it seems like a cause for concern then there is a water quality issue going on. All algae have certain nutrients that they need to thrive. Most of these nutrients are wastes products of the natural processes going on with the inhabitants of the tank. Simply testing your water does not give any indication of what may or may not be wrong. Algae utilize ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and various other components typically found in a tank. When you measure these variables in your water you may get a reading of zero and think there is nothing wrong with your water. But the fact remains that if algae are growing then there is a high enough concentration of these nutrients in the water to promote their growth and the water you are testing is not showing evidence of this due to the fact that the algae are taking up these nutrients to use for their own growth. Essentially you are testing your water after the algae have taken the compounds out of the water column and they are what is keeping your levels in a healthy zone.

The simplest way to rid a tank of any undesirable algae is to reduce the dissolved nutrients in the water. This can be done by doing more frequent partial water changes, utilizing or refreshing activated carbon in your filter, not overstocking or overfeeding, cutting back on feeding, raising the pH and the alkalinity, cutting back on light(if possible)and limiting the amount of any trace minerals you are adding to the water. Saltwater tanks grow algae and in small amounts are perfectly normal and no cause for alarm. Having no algae at all is not impossible but very difficult for the average person with the average equipment to achieve.

Aquarium Maintenance, Fish Tank Cleaning, or simply call it Cleaning your Aquarium…Nothing is more important in aquarium keeping than water quality management. There are many excellent products available out there to assist in water quality management, but in our opinion, there is still no replacement for water changes, good filtration, and good feeding habits…. The best way to make sure your aquarium is consistently maintained is by using Dallas Aquarium Experts the best in Dallas Aquarium Maintenance.

 

CONTACT US TODAY FOR A BETTER AQUARIUM TOMORROW

Schedule a free consultation with Dallas Aquarium Experts today and service professional will come to your home or business and access your current situation. Before you make your decision on an Aquarium Maintenance Company in Dallas, allow us the opportunity to provide you a free consultation regarding your current Aquarium or we can provide an estimate on a new aquarium set-up and aquarium maintenance. Your fish will reward you with their natural beauty and years of enjoyment.

 

Contact us at (469) 450-3900

Old Tank Syndrome

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How to prevent Old Tank Syndrome

 

Many aquarists find out they have Old Tank Syndrome only when they try to introduce new fish to their aquarium. Existing fish may have been able to adjust slowly to the declining water quality but, to new fish, these poor conditions are a shock to the system, often causing them to succumb to weakness and disease.

If you think your freshwater aquarium demonstrates signs of Old Tank Syndrome, test your water right away. You can easily prevent nitrate buildup through regular water changes. If nitrate levels are high (above 60 ppm), perform a series of small water changes (no more than 25% per day) until it is lowered to acceptable levels (< 50 ppm). These water changes will also replenish lost carbonate ions (buffers) to help stabilize pH and create a healthy living environment.

Rather than combating the effects of Old Tank Syndrome, practice proper aquarium husbandry and perform routine maintenance. Insist upon regular aquarium maintenance, especially regular water changes and water testing.

 

 

DALLAS AQUARIUM EXPERTS

Aquarium Maintenance & Service, Custom Aquarium Design, Aquarium Installation & Set Up, and Aquarium Sales in Dallas and the surrounding communities

 

 

CONTACT US

Schedule a free consultation where a reliable and professional service technician will come to your home or business and access your current situation. Before you make your decision on an Aquarium Maintenance Company in DFW, allow us the opportunity to provide you a free consultation regarding your current Aquarium or we can provide an estimate on a new aquarium set-up and aquarium maintenance. Your fish will reward you with their natural beauty and years of enjoyment.

 

• Call us at (469) 450-3900

  

• Email us at sales@DallasAquariumExperts.com

 

 

Starting a Siphon – Siphoning Your Aquarium Water and Cleaning Your Aquarium Gravel

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Starting a Siphon

Siphoning Your Aquarium Water and Cleaning Your Aquarium Gravel

  

To operate a gravel vacuum, you will need to get a siphon started in the siphon tube.

First, place a bucket on a low stool or on the floor in front of the fish tank. You will use this bucket to catch the water you are draining out of the fish tank through the siphon.

If the siphon you are starting is attached to a gravel vacuum, place the wide end of the gravel vacuum in the aquarium, and rest its open end on or slightly into the aquarium gravel. If this siphon is not attached to a gravel vacuum, you will want to keep the end of the siphon in the aquarium several inches away from the gravel. Point the other end of the tube toward the bucket.

To get your siphon started, you will need to get water into the siphon tube.

Starting a Siphon by Immersion

Another option to get a siphon started is to lower the entire siphon into the aquarium slowly, making sure that you get all of the air out of the tube. Then you can plug the one end of the tube with your finger or thumb and lift that end out of the tank (being careful that the other end does not come out of the water) and lower it toward the bucket before releasing your finger. When you release your finger, the water should start to flow into the bucket.

Suck-Starting an Aquarium Siphon

Probably the easiest way to do this is to gently suck on the lower (bucket) end of the siphon tube while holding it above the bucket, but lower than the water level in the aquarium. As soon as the water gets past the edge of the fish tank and begins to flow down the tube, remove your mouth from the siphon and allow the water to flow into the bucket. However, some people think that this method is a disgusting way to get a siphon started (though the water in your aquarium should be no more harmful to you than it is to your fish). In these cases, there are other ways to get your siphon started.

  

  Starting a Siphon with a Priming Ball

Some other gravel vacuums have a valve in them that will allow water to flow one way, but not the other. The manufacturers of these recommend that you shake the gravel vacuum rapidly up and down in the aquarium to push water past that valve and into the tube. In this manner you can get the siphon started by just getting water pushed over the lip of the fish tank when it can start to flow downward into the bucket. I find that using this method always makes the aquarium unnecessary messy and often creates a mess. I also find that this is the most difficult method to use to get a siphon started.

  

 

Nothing is more important in aquarium keeping than water quality management. There are many excellent products available out there to assist in water quality management, but in my opinion, there is still no replacement for water changes, good filtration, and good feeding habits.

  

  

DALLAS AQUARIUM EXPERTS

 

Aquarium Maintenance & Service, Custom Aquarium Design, Aquarium Installation & Set Up, and Aquarium Sales in Dallas and the surrounding communities

 

 

Contact Dallas Aquarium Experts Today!

Schedule a free consultation where a reliable and professional service technician will come to your home or business and access your current situation. Before you make your decision on an Aquarium Maintenance Company in DFW, allow us the opportunity to provide you a free consultation regarding your current Aquarium or we can provide an estimate on a new aquarium set-up and aquarium maintenance. Your fish will reward you with their natural beauty and years of enjoyment.

.

• Call us at (469) 450-3900

 

• Email us at sales@DallasAquariumExperts.com

 

Electric Yellow Lab

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The Yellow Lab is one of our personal favorites!  Yellow Labs are almost everything a hobbyist could ask for: a great yellow color, playful inquisitive personality, hardy and good eaters.  We keep them in our display aquarium and recommend them to our clients with African Cichlid Aquariums.  A very popular African Cichlid that can be found in most pet stores is the Electric Yellow Labidochromis (Labidochomis Caeruleus). Also called Electric Yellow Cichlid or Electric Yellow Lab, they are fairly hardy and easy to care for. They are not as aggressive as some of the other Lake Malawi rock Cichlids. Their bright yellow colored bodies with black stripes along the edges of the dorsal, anal and pelvis fins gives these Cichlids striking color pattern.

All Cichlids from Lake Malawi show aggression and are territorial. This is true with Electric Yellow Cichlids. However they are one of the milder mannered of the African Cichlids. They grow to be about 3 inches in length and can be kept in tanks that are as small as 25 gallons in size. They are best maintained in small groups of about 6 fish and the group should have more females than males.

A good tank setup for Electric Yellow Labs would include some type of rock formation with passageways and caves. The tank should also have a fine gravel or sandy bottom and be well-lit. Use a background to provide additional security to the fish as well as a natural underwater scene. Water should be medium-hard, alkaline, well filtered and have a temperature between 72 and 77 degrees.

Electric Yellow Cichlids are typical mouth brooding Cichlids. A pair will spawn anywhere in the aquarium. After spawning, the male and female can remain together while the female cares for the eggs and fry. Usually the female will choose to incubate the eggs in a cave. Feed baby brine shrimp to the fry for the first couple months after they hatch.

Electric Yellows will eat a wide range of commercial fish flakes and Cichlid pellets. Providing carotene rich foods will help maintain their bright yellow coloration. Because Electric Yellows are fairly mild-mannered and easy to keep they are a very popular African Cichlid.

 

DALLAS AQUARIUM EXPERTS

Aquarium Maintenance & Service, Custom Design, and Aquarium Sales in Dallas and the surrounding communities

Contact us today to schedule your free consultation

Whether your need is servicing an existing aquarium, or you are interested in a new aquarium setup, we will schedule a free consultation where an experienced professional will meet with you at your home or place of business. We will assess your current situation and divise a plan that will help you move closer to the aquarium you have always wanted.

 

Call us at (469) 450-3900

Email us at: sales@dallasaquariumexperts.com

  

 

 

Tips for Giving Your Pet Goldfish a Long and Healthy Life

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Tips for Giving Your Pet Goldfish a Long and Healthy Life

 

Overview of Goldfish:

Common and fancy goldfish are Asian Carp, Carassius auratus. They have been bred in the Orient for over a thousand years, and in Europe for over a hundred years to provide all of the colors and shapes available to hobbyists today.

Goldfish are a temperate fish found in cool streams, lakes, and ponds throughout Asia and part of eastern Europe, though all the specimens found in the hobby today are captive bred. Goldfish can be easy to care for, however, they do require some care. Given proper care and a good, healthy environment, goldfish can sometimes live nearly 50 years!

Goldfish Equipment & Maintenance:

To keep a goldfish healthy, remember to provide them with plenty of clean, cool water.

Your goldfish’s temperature should never rise above 74° Fahrenheit (about 23.5° Celsius), and ideally should remain between 65° and 68° F (18° and 20° C) so you will need a thermometer. Keeping a goldfish above 72° F (about 22.5° C) for long periods of time will result in Oxygen deprivation, which can cause nerve damage, heart damage, and can seriously hamper the immune system, making them more susceptible to many diseases, from easily treatable Ick to nearly untreatable swim bladder infections.

Keep your goldfish in a fish tank no smaller than a 10 gallon (about 38 liter), and make sure that a minimum of 6 gallons (23 liters) of the space in that fish tank is dedicated to each goldfish (each goldfish should have 6-8 gallons or more (roughly 23-30 liters or more) space in the goldfish aquarium). A 10 gallon fish tank is really only suitable for one goldfish.

This will provide sufficient space for your goldfish, so he can remain healthy, and this will allow the aquarium to help you keep healthy goldfish.

Goldfish should never be kept in a fish bowl.

Perform your weekly 10-15% water changes, so that your goldfish always has clean water and so that any waste that is not processed by the aquarium filter is removed.

Your goldfish will need a filter to keep the water from becoming toxic, and you will need to keep the filter in good condition. When selecting a filter, if you have fancy goldfish, make sure that the filter will not produce excessive current in your fish tank, and this will make it difficult for the fancy goldfish to swim.

Goldfish Food & Care:

Remember that your goldfish is an omnivorous (eats anything) scavenger, so provide him with a varied and high carbohydrate diet. Many goldfish foods are available on the market today, and most frozen fish foods are also appropriate, provided you do not feed meaty foods too often.

Goldfish have large appetites, but they also graze for food constantly. Don’t let their ‘mock hunger’ and grousing around for food fool you into over feeding them. Your fish should be able to consume all the food you offer within two minutes of feeding. If there is food in the aquarium after this time has elapsed, this will contribute to poor water quality and make your goldfish more susceptible to disease.

You will only need to feed your goldfish once a day. If you feed more than once a day you will increase the waste your fish is producing and will also increase the risk of over feeding, so it becomes more important that you are performing your weekly 10-15% water changes and all necessary filter maintenance. Providing a proper diet will increase your goldfish’s life expectancy and bolster their immune system.

Goldfish, like almost any fish, are aware that they are prey animals. In order to feel comfortable, they need to have lots of hiding places. Goldfish do not seem to be too particular about their cover, however, you do want to make sure that you do not use any sharp or rough decorations that your goldfish may get hurt on, especially if you are keeping any fancy goldfish that have impaired vision.

Like most other fish, they are more comfortable and will come out more and be more active if you can provide them with 50-75% cover – this means you should make half to three fourths of your tank space hiding places. Providing sufficient cover will reduce stress and therefore improve your goldfish’s immune system, reducing chance of disease.

 

 

 

  

Goldfish Companionship:Goldfish can, like most fish, be kept with fish with similar care requirements and temperament. However, this very quickly limits you to other goldfish – fortunately, there are many different and interesting fancy goldfish to choose from.

When looking for a companion for your goldfish, remember to select goldfish with similar handicaps. If their disabilities are too different, it is very likely that some will out compete the others for food, and you can have a goldfish starve to death while another gets fat right before your eyes in your fish tank.

  

Finally:

Remember, goldfish are beautiful living creatures. It is the responsibility of the pet owner to care for their pet and provide a healthy environment. So give your goldfish space, clean, cool water, plenty of hiding places, and high-quality, high-carbohydrate foods and he should be a good companion for a long time.

This one is for you Gracie! I hope you enjoy your new aquarium.  Take good care of Catcher and Mary, I’m sure they will love their new home! 

Much Love,

Dallas Aquarium Experts