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Well, you have an aquarium and you purchased a couple of cichlids for your fish tank. Now, you are wondering what the next step is. If this is your first fish tank, you will need to learn how to care for the type of fish you have chosen as each type has different things they need. The things you need to watch include water temperature, location of aquarium, pH levels, type of filtration system, what type of lighting you need, and of course what type of food your fish will eat. Your cichlids are pretty easy to care for but you still have responsibilities if you want your fish to stay happy and healthy.

Water Temperature

The cichlid does wonderful when water temperatures are between 74 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit, but can tolerate temperatures as low as 68 degrees. Now, if you have babies known as fry you will need to keep the temperature at an 80 to 82 degree Fahrenheit range. The warmer temperature helps to raise the baby’s metabolism, which makes them eat more and grow faster. If you happen to have an aggressive cichlid on your hand, which is often the case, you can lower the water temperature and this will help with their aggressive nature but do not go below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Location of Aquarium

Never place any aquarium with any kind of fish close to a window or sunny area or even beside a computer, refrigerator, or other appliance that generates heat. This will cause the water temperature to fluctuate. The same goes with placing the tank in a drafty area, which will have the same result.

pH Levels

As with all fish tanks, the pH levels in the water need to be checked and kept at an optimal level. For cichlids, the pH levels should stay between 6 and 8. When changing water or cleaning the tank, be sure that the aquarium water does not change levels quickly. It would be best to have clean water ready that is at the proper pH level before cleaning the tank.

Filtration System

The best filtration system will be one that was designed for the size of your aquarium. In most cases, the smaller aquariums are great for the cichlids and sponge filters are perfect. Of course, you will want to read all the direction and ensure you purchase the proper system.

Lighting

The best lighting for an aquarium is fluorescent lighting as it creates an atmosphere more like the natural habitat of the cichlids, but use dim lights and never bright lights. Bright lights will agitate your fish.

Fish Food

Cichlids will eat any type of fish food without any problem. Just remember that you should only feed them what they can eat in about five to ten minutes and the rest of the food should be taken out of the tank.

So now you’ve purchased some tropical fish. You’ve made sure you have selected healthy fish and you have done your homework to make sure the fish that you have will go together.

Your fish should have been packed in a plastic bag with oxygen and then put into a dark bag or polystyrene box to keep the heat in.

You should try and buy fish no longer than a couple of hours away. Fish can last over 24 hours if packed right but the longer you keep them in transit the more stress they go through. You should try and keep stress to a minimum to make sure the fish remain healthy.

Once you get them home you should float the bags in the water and then open the bags up. This will help equalize the temperature between the water in the tank and the water in the bag. You should also keep adding little bits of tank water to the bag. Add just a little and then leave for five minutes before adding more. This will help acclimatize the fish to the water chemistry of the tank and even the ph and water hardness out.

After doing this for about 20 to 30 minutes you should then gently release the fish to the tank and let them swim out of the bag on there own. Then you should leave them with the aquarium light on overnight. This will reduce stress because the fish can see where they are swimming and there surroundings and they will also see that there are no predators around.

You should not feed them for around 24 hours to let them settle in and then over the next few days only feed sparingly. It will take them a couple of days to get used to the tank and feeding.

It is a good technique to add the smallest and weakest fish to the tank first. This will prevent bullying in the aquarium between the fish. Please follow these keeps to keep the stress of your new tropical fish to a minimum. This will help the fish settle in faster and in the end cause you less stress.

There are a number of factors involved when considering your chickens’ health and your chicken coop plans are an integral part of keeping them healthy.  For the most part, chickens will take care of themselves, but they do need to be checked on regularly the make sure the basic necessities and temperature are taken care of.<p>

Chickens produce the best when they are clean, safe and happy. Having automatic water, that is well placed, would be ideal, although not necessary and placing the food at the right height for feeding will help with the mess (chickens will put their feet up on, or in, the food if not set up high enough and create a large mess on the floor with the droppings).  <p>
 

By supplying electricity you create not only warmth but adequate light in the winter months so that your hens continue to produce the eggs that you want more consistently.  Lighting is also key if you are considering raising chicks.  They will need extra attention and lots of additional warmth in the winter.

Adequate ventilation, without being drafty, is a must for the health of the chickens as well.  You need to keep it ventilated to remove the methane from the droppings while keeping it from being drafty and getting your chickens sick.  Insulation is also very important in certain climates.  Chickens are very similar to humans in these respects. 

Also include a chicken door and ramp to enter, enough perches for your chickens as well as nesting boxes and easy cleaning, when you are choosing from the chicken coop plans. This will help you keep the smell to a minimum, save yourself time and keep your chickens healthy.

If you consider yourself to be a loving and responsible pet owner, then you’re always looking out for your dog’s health. Nothing could be more painful for your dog then to have an unnoticed or untreated medical ailment. Ear infections in particular, are a common health condition that can easily be overlooked, even by the some of the most mindful and caring owners. It’s important that you are aware of the signs and symptoms, so that you can avoid common mistakes and get your dog treatment when they need it the most.

Ear infections can and do occur with any dog breed, however, Cocker Spaniels and Poodles are affected the most frequently. So these dog owners should be extra aware. The most common sign to keep an eye out for is a preoccupation with itching and scratching of ears. Dogs will often rub up against furniture or carpet and scratch their ears with their paws. As far as symptoms, you should be on the lookout for irritated, red inner ears and an odorous blackish yellowish discharge. If left untreated for a long period of time, symptoms may move from the outer ear to the inner ear, causing your dog to have poor overall hearing. At this point, if left untreated you dog may even experience permanent deafness, so speedy treatment is essential.

If you notice any of these signs or symptoms, then you should take your dog to your local veterinarian as soon as possible. In most cases, he or she will diagnose your dog’s ear infection utilizing an otoscope, which will magnify and lighten the inside of the ear. A small sample will also be taken and sent to the lab to determine what type of infection your dog has. Proper action will be taken after your vet determines that your dog does in fact have an ear infection. Sometimes more than one infection may be found in your dog’s ear, so several medications could be needed for proper treatment. In addition to proper medication, you will also need to make sure that your dog gets plenty of rest in a comfortable dog bed.

As long as your dog’s ear infection is treated quickly and properly, then he or she will most likely recover without much trouble. As a responsible pet owner, you need to make sure that you always fully aware of the signs and symptoms so that your dog can get to the vet early and avoid any unnecessary pain and suffering as a result of this common and incredibly uncomfortable medical condition.

Many times it is hard to decide whether to get freshwater aquarium plants or to go with fake plants. It is the same sort of decision you also have to make for your home. Do you want real, live houseplants or artificial plants? Certainly live plants create a more natural environment, and for fish this translates into being more comfortable in their surroundings. Both live and fake plants provide places for fish to hide, which keeps aggressive fish from bullying smaller fish.

Fake or live plants?

The big advantage of fake plants is that they require absolutely no care whatsoever, but in an aquarium they do get covered with algae and need to be consistently cleaned. Even those big algae-eating bottom dwellers don’t like to clean off fake plants. Live freshwater aquarium plants not only look more natural, they help you to keep your fish healthier. They deliver oxygen to the water and take in nitrates, which fish expel. There are also many fish who like to eat plants and unless you have some aggressive plant-eaters, you will only notice some nibbled edges now and then. Stay away from Silver Dollars, as they can destroy an entire underwater garden in a day.

Live plant selection

While live plants require more care and may need some specific lighting changes to grow well, if you get just the right plants they will provide a completely natural habitat for your fish. There are many different types of freshwater aquarium plants and all have different characteristics. For instance, floating plants, as you probably guessed, float on the top of the tank. Rhizomes are horizontal plants and they have roots which act like a runner across the bottom of your tank’s substrate. They have leaves on top but grow horizontally. If you have a small tank they can fill it up pretty fast.

A good example of a floating plant is the floating fern. These plants will thrive with hardly any effort at all on your part. You will need to trim them just like you would prune outside plants. If you don’t they will cover the entire top of the tank and leave you no open water at all. If you are conscientious about trimming, however, they make a nice looking plant for fish to hide underneath. Plants with rhizomes can include anubias, which are good for beginners because they are pretty much indestructible. They don’t need a lot of carbon dioxide like some other plants and a plectostomus can keep them clean of algae.

Java Moss is a very popular aquarium plant. It can grow on the bottom of the tank, or it can attach itself to rocks, driftwood, or other structures. The great thing about java moss is that it doesn’t require special lighting like many other freshwater aquarium plants. And, some fish will lay their eggs in the moss, and this is an especially good characteristic if you want to have more fish.

A few other hardy plants you will want to check out are Cryptocoryne or crypts. They grow slowly and further down in the tank where the lighting is not good for many other kinds of plants. One of the most colorful is the cryptocoryne beckettii, which has the unusual ability to grow underwater and on land. The Amazon sword is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium plants, and it really depends on what you have for fish whether this plant is a success or a failure. It needs lots of light, fertilizer and carbon dioxide to do well.

No matter what you end up choosing for freshwater aquarium plants, the chances are you will be happy with the looks of the habitat they create. The amount of carbon dioxide and oxygen in your water will determine which ones do well and which ones do not. Just make any necessary adjustments and remember to trim the plants so that you don’t end up with an underwater jungle.