The fact of the matter is that water needs to be changed and treated on a regular basis, the tank will need to be cleaned, as will the filters and fish will need to be cared for and fed. Here are a few tips to make this process asT easy as possible.

1. Get a good filter
If you want your tank to remain as clean and healthy as possible for the longest amount of time you will need a good filter. It’s a good idea to get one which is double the capacity of your tank, i.e. if you have a 200 litre tank, get a filter which says it is suitable for a 400 litre tank – you can never have too much filtration!

Also make sure you do not scrimp on this area, you really do get what you pay for. Fluval and Eheim provide the best filters in my opinion.

2. Plants
Plants are a tricky one – if you have thriving live plants they can help keep algae at bay and remove plenty of badness from your tank. However many plants require a lot of time and attention for them to flourish therefore many fish keepers decide to go for plastic plants in their tank.

If you did want live plants, go for some which are fairly low maintenance such as java moss which grows in many different conditions. Or, if you prefer you can buy plastic plants.

3. Lighting
If you leave your tank light on for more than 6 hours a day or have the tank near a source of natural light the chances are you will be fighting algae in the tank constantly. If you want to be able to reduce your glass cleaning by as much as possible make sure you keep your tank away from windows, get a good aquarium light and limit the time this is on to 4 hours or less a day. An auto timer for the light is the best way you can ensure you do this.

4. Lightly stocking the tank
Fish create waste, waste dirties the tank. If you lightly stock your tank, not only will the fish have the best chance of staying healthy, the tank will also stay at it’s most clean.

5. Auto feeders
Eheim produce the best. Simply fill up the feeder, set it and leave it to feed the fish each day. Obviously remember to refill the feeder when necessary and vary the diet for the fish – you can get auto feeders with different compartments for different foods.

The fact of the matter is fish do need a lot of attention and care to keep them healthy and happy. If you wanted a fully automated system to keep them, then perhaps you should reconsider having and aquarium. However, you can follow the above steps to ensure that you can maxmise the time you spend enjoying your fish and minimise the maintenance.

1. Gravel Siphons
Nearly everyone changes their water using a gravel cleaner, not only is it an easy way of taking water out of the tank but you can of course, clean your gravel with it too! One thing you don’t want to have to do, especially if you have a large tank, is constantly start and stop your siphon. There are two ways to make things quicker and easier.

a – Get an extension pipe – You can pick one of these up at your local hardware shop; simply replace the hose that came with your siphon with the new longer hose and transfer the water straight into the garden or down the drain.

b – Get a simple tap – If getting the pipe extension is not an option and you have to siphon out the water into buckets, then a simple stop tap on the end of the hose will mean you don’t have to restart the siphon each time the bucket is full. Simply turn of the tap, leaving the siphon the in water, empty the bucket, and turn the tap back on. The water should start flowing freely again. You can pick up one of these taps in your local hardware store.

2. Filling the tank back up
So you have removed 50% of the water, how are you going to find an easy easy way of filling it back up? You could use buckets but with a big tank this may take a long time and constantly lifting heavy loads can be difficult and messy. One easy way out would be to use a garden hose, but what if you don’t have one or the water need to be warmer? Simple, you can buy a fitting that will fix on to your kitchen or bathroom tap. This simple device will mean you can add warm water to the tank easily and quickly – just remember to add your water conditioner to the tank before the new water goes in!

Follow these two simple steps and you’ll find water changes much less of a chore.

The front of the fish is transparent and the eye looking things at the end of it’s head are actually its nostrils.  Its eyes are the green circles pointing directly up.

As you can imagine, not a huge amount is known about the barreleye, but one thing I know is that I wouldn’t want it swimming in any of my tanks!

So why should you buy the best you can afford? Here are some of the problems you can face if you take the less well made option.

1. Fish tanks
Needless to say, if a fish tank goes wrong you are likely to have a very wet carpet and dead fish. With a better made fish tank you will get seals which look nicer and last longer, plus you will get glass which is less easy to scratch or break.

The best tank manufacturer:
Dalbarb

2. Filters
A filter will keep your tank looking great and fish healthy – it is therefore an integral part of the aquarium. You will therefore want a filter which is reliable, efficient, quiet and easy to maintain. Not only will this save you time, but it will also mean your fish have the best chance to stay healthy and the tank stay clean

The best filter manufacturer:
Hang on back – Aquaclear
Internal – Eheim
Canister – Ehiem/Fluval

3. Heaters
Heaters can, and do go wrong, and if they do you could end up with a fish tank full of expensive cooked fish. Whilst many heater manufacturers do offer a guarantee on their heater, this will only cover the heater itself and not the carnage it has caused. Therefore, buying a good heater is a must.

The best heater manufacturer:
Eheim/Fluval/Sera

Whilst going with the best may cost you more, you are also buying peace of mind. Think of what it will cost you if one of those accessories fails or performs poorly, both in terms of time and cost – you will probably find long term, you get more value from the superior products.

I’ve recently had to deal with a few tanks which have had black hair algae problems and have found the following methods of treatment to work best.

1. Reduce the lighting in the tank – Around 6 hours of light per day should help reduce the growth.

2. Get some algae eating fish/snails – Siamese Flying Fox’s, Black Mollies and Apple snails are all partial to a bit of black hair algae.

3. Boiling the wood/stones – Wash them and soak in boiling water will help to kill the algae. Naturally this is not recommended for plants!

4. Seachem Flourish Excel – Works well, especially if you are spot treating with a syringe. However don’t overdose and make you should check the health of the fish whilst treating.

Livebearers are by far the easiest fish to breed – you would have to try really hard to stop them from breeding if you have both males and females in the tank. In fact, you don’t even need a male for the first few months of breeding as the female can hold sperm and use this for several batches of fry.

There is a lot of information out there on the web about breeding Platy’s and other livebearers but I have found that these simple steps help to ensure you have a healthy batch of little swimmers.

1. Get some adult live bearers
Make sure you get double the females to males. The males will harass the females constantly in the aquarium so having more females will ensure that they get a rest from the constant attention. Keep the water quality high with frequent water changes and you should find within a couple of weeks, if not sooner, the females fall pregant.

2. Set up a smaller tank
Around 30 litres is fine, cycle the tank and ensure there is good filtration (I like the Aquaclear range of hang on back filters). Add in gravel and plant some Java moss and allow some to float freely in the tank; Java moss is great as it is a dense plant and will help the fry hide when they are born.

3. Move the pregnant female into the smaller tank
Some aquarists use breeding traps set up within the main tank, but I find these stress out the female and can mean they do not give birth at all. The fry also naturally swim upwards when born which makes them easy pickings for the mum (yes, the mother will eat her own fry). Moving the female into her own tank will ensure the stress on her is minimised and the newborn fry will also be in the best place for them.

4. Wait for the fry to be born then remove the mother
Whilst you have given your fry every chance of survival in the new tank, the mother will still manage to pick off a lot of these if you don’t move her back to the main tank as soon as she has given birth.

5. Care for the fry
I find the following easy steps works best in rearing healthy, fast growing live bearers.
a. Feed 5 times a day, small meals. Baby brine shrimp and finely crushed flakes are fine.
b. Change 50% of the water each day,
c. Keep the tank, especially the bottom, very very clean. Use a gravel cleaner when changing the water (just be careful not to suck up the fish).

When the fish are large enough not to be eaten by adults you can either move them into your main tank or give them away to friends; I wouldn’t bother trying to get fish shops to buy them off you as they will most likely have plenty of them themselves. Make sure you separate the males from the females to ensure that there is no in-breeding should you wish to re-breed.

Once you have mastered the live bearer you can move onto egg layers which are much more difficult to successfully breed but well worth a go!

Prime is one of the best water conditioners out there – It can be fairly expensive, but you need such as small amount of it (5ml for every 200 litres) so it lasts for a really long time. I’ve been using this for a number of years and have found that it is really much better than all of the lesser priced alternatives out there.

Here is the blurb from Seachem about Prime:

Seachem Prime™ is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water

Prime™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime™ converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity

Use 5ml for each 200L