Splashing in the aquarium. Six secrets to clear water in an aquarium

Why fish are hiding in the aquarium or suddenly they suddenly start hiding? You need to write a rather detailed article about the reasons for this behavior - you can’t explain it in a nutshell, but this note will tell you how to overcome the savage effect, or the excessive timidity of fish.

Such an offensive story often happens. You purchased expensive and spectacular fish, thinking that their beauty would certainly transform your life. appearance aquarium But it was not there. The handsome ones bought at an expensive price (this could be any large cichlids, distichods, piranhas, elephant fish, etc.) get hidden behind a filter or somewhere else and sit there motionless. The fish give the impression of being completely wild. There can be no talk of any decoration. Moreover, the fish can become so “stressed” that they don’t even come out to feed, and then the question arises of not losing them. This seemingly serious problem is very easy to solve.
Firstly, just in case, make sure good quality water in the aquarium (be sure to check the pH, C, check the content of nitrites and nitrates in the water, if this is difficult, evaluate the oxidability of the water, how to do all this is written in the article "5 parameters...", since the above behavioral features may be associated not only with the stress of transplantation (change in the usual environment), but also with the deteriorated well-being of the fish due to poor hydrochemical conditions in the aquarium. Secondly, if everything is fine with the water, add fairly large and calm fish to this aquarium, for example, macropods, fire barbs, rainbowfish, etc. Looking at their neighbors, not afraid of anything and swimming happily, your cowardly beauties will get used to the new place much faster and soon they will also begin to behave normally.
If in this way you adapt to a new place predatory fish, place someone of low value next to them, because once they get used to it, the predators will start eating.
Now let's look at a specific example. I apologize in advance for the not very high-quality photos and videos, because the shooting was not staged and was taken casually, when I was practically solving the problem described above.

There were too many changes in the aquarium in one day. Discus fish lived together with red-spotted severums. Almost all the severums were removed, all the soil was siphoned off and the decorations were moved. The consequences of such large-scale changes came immediately. The fish, which previously swam freely throughout the aquarium, constantly spawning, suddenly became wild. They stopped swimming and hid in the corners...


... like this.


The problem was solved by introducing a flock of red silversides (Glossolepis incisus), which immediately, as if nothing had happened, began to swim throughout the aquarium. Looking at this, the disus began to leave their shelters, move more and more confidently, and soon returned to their previous lives.

1. Clean from the start

Clean your aquarium thoroughly. When the walls and bottom are completely clean, rinse them again with a saturated solution. table salt or pink solution of potassium permanganate. And then rinse again under the tap. Take coarse sand, dark fine sand does not retain dirt, but light sand reflects light, and the fish get scared and lose their color. Carefully sort the sand, removing organic impurities and light stones (chalk, limestone, marble, etc.). And then wash the sand in a basin under the tap until the water becomes completely clear. After this, the sand needs to be boiled and rinsed several more times under the tap. After this, lay sand at the bottom in a layer of 3-5cm. Experienced amateurs under layer clean sand Often they put unwashed sand, boiled peat, and clay. Beginners should not do this: in the future it will be difficult to maintain the purity of the water. And, of course, you cannot fertilize the soil with manure, black soil, or mineral fertilizers.

Beginner's first plants:

• Vallisneria;
• pinnate,
• Ceratopteris ferns of all kinds;
• hydrophila;
• ludwigia;
• cabomba;
• ambulia;
• various sagittariums.

Amazons, cryptocorynes, aponogetons and many other “difficult” plants will be able to grow in you only after 3-5 months of “aging” of the soil: during this time the sand will silt up and become fertile. Plant plants in clusters, “groves”, consisting of one particular species. This is done not only for beauty: with this method of planting, plants grow better.

Never plant Vallisneria and Cryptocoryne, Vallisneria and Sagittaria next to each other - these plants interfere with each other.

Make sure all plants are well lit. Place the plants first and then pour in the water: if you do the opposite, the water will be cloudy. To plant a plant, make a depression in the sand with your finger, lower the roots there, and cover them with sand. The growth point of the stems cannot be covered. Cover the planted plants with paper and carefully pour water onto it. When the aquarium is full, remove the paper. Don't put grottoes in the aquarium, it's in bad taste. The bottom can only be decorated with stones, not too bright, preferably red or black. Even shells usually spoil the picture.

The stones need to be washed very thoroughly, and best of all - boiled. It’s a good idea to first drop hydrochloric acid onto the stone: if it starts to bubble, “boil,” it means that your stone is unsuitable for an aquarium, as it contains soluble calcium or magnesium salts, which increase water hardness. Place the stones after the water has been poured: this makes it easier to make the aquarium beautiful. Cover an aquarium filled with water with glass: this will save the water from dust, and an unpleasant-looking film that interferes with gas exchange will not appear on the surface. It is better to let fish into the aquarium only after two or three days, when the water has settled properly.

2. Lighting

If an aquarium is placed on a window, people often think: there is enough light in it. But this is true only for summer: winter days are short, and even on the brightest window, plants either slow down their growth in winter or simply die. It should always be summer in the aquarium, so there should be at least 14-15 hours of daylight. Electric lamps are best placed on top, covered with reflectors. However, all common aquarium fish, except characins, live well in side light. Therefore, beginners can be recommended to place the lamp on the side, pressing it against the glass below the water level.

If you have two aquariums, sandwich the lamp between them. Don't be afraid, the glass will not burst: “accidents” of this kind only happen when the lamp is located too high. Select the lamp power based on the calculation of 10-15 watts per bucket of water. This calculation is also suitable for those aquariums that do not receive daylight at all. If the lamp is located on top, its power should be increased by 20-25%, and when the lamp (subject to appropriate insulation) is lowered into water, it can be half as much. The above applies to incandescent lamps. Daylight and white light tubes are usually located on top. Successful aquariums with such lighting are rare.

With side lighting, there is usually no need to additionally heat the aquarium. But if the temperature in it drops below 18°C, put on a heating pad. The simplest and most reliable are heating pads with saline solution. The more salt you add to the water filling the heating pad, the higher the temperature will be. You need to start with a pinch, and then, if necessary, add more. If the room is not too cold (temperature above 18°C), it is better to turn off the lighting and heating at night. Small gradual temperature fluctuations (4-6 degrees per day) are beneficial for fish.

3. “Residential” water

A freshly filled aquarium is very beautiful. But it doesn’t please the eye for long: a day or two will pass and a slight cloudiness will appear, and after another day of cloudiness, clouds will appear. This is the proliferation of bacteria, whose spores come from the air and are carried with plants. And this is where a novice amateur often makes a mistake: he changes the water, and everything starts again. Meanwhile, if you wait three to five days, the cloudiness will disappear. The water becomes clear, slightly yellowish. Aquarists call such water “residential”: it already contains the usual aquarium microscopic inhabitants, mainly ciliates, there is a certain amount organic matter, and there are very few bacteria, since the multiplied ciliates destroy their excess.

Yellowish “living” water can stand in an aquarium for years without any change, without losing any transparency. Such water must be protected: it is the key to the well-being of the entire aquarium.

If the reservoir is of sufficient size, there are not too many fish, and no excess food gets into the aquarium, such water does not need to be changed for many months. If the aquarium is overcrowded, you can change part of the water once every 7-10 days, no more than 1/3, by first cleaning the walls with a razor blade and collecting dirt from the bottom with a siphon.

4. Basics

“Residential”, old water needs to be protected. If you change more than half of it, a lot of bacteria reappear in the aquarium, the water becomes cloudy again, and you have to re-establish the normal regime again. How to preserve old water, how to ensure that the aquarium is always clean and beautiful without unnecessary labor?

To do this, first of all, you need to feed the fish correctly. Fish in nature only have food in abundance during certain seasons of the year. But even in this “happy” time in natural reservoirs there is never such a concentration of food as is often created in aquariums by novice hobbyists.

Meanwhile, every extra crustacean or worm not eaten, and even more so every extra pinch of dry or artificial food, is the beginning of water spoilage. The main rule of a novice fish fan should be the following - it is better to underfeed fish than to overfeed.

Malnutrition, of course within reasonable limits, does not harm the fish, but overfeeding is a constant cause of water spoilage, illness and death of fish. A beginner should feed the fish once a day, giving as much food as the fish will eat in 10-15 minutes. Excess food that accidentally gets into the aquarium must be removed immediately. Over the years, experience will come to you, and then you will be able to switch to a more rational two- and three-time feeding. You should try to give the fish live food: bloodworms, cyclops, daphnia, tubefex, coretra, pot worms. You shouldn’t get too carried away with the latter: if you feed fish only with them, the water will spoil, and many species will stop reproducing.

If there is no live food, dry, artificial, or frozen food is used, which can be purchased at the retail chain. If the water in the aquarium is slightly cloudy as a result of overfeeding, but the fish do not float to the top or are not suffocating, the easiest way is to stop feeding for two or three days. The fish will not starve at this time: they will eat the leftover food and clean the plants of algae and weeds. As soon as the water clears completely, you can start feeding. If, after overfeeding, the fish float to the surface and begin to take in outside air, you need to take urgent measures: clean the bottom with a hose, change a third of the water.

5. The “Mystery” of the Brass Coin

There isn't a novice hobbyist who doesn't complain about microscopic algae. This happens because the aquarium is lit too much, the water often blooms (becomes green, opaque), and the plants and walls are covered with green weed algae. But it often happens differently: in insufficient light, glass and plants become covered with a brown coating of diatoms. It is easy to cure an aquarium from this second “disease”: just increase the illumination. It is more difficult to get rid of blooms, threads, green and blue-green algae. And this is where it’s useful to know about the “secret” brass coin.

Water that never blooms can be prepared by dropping a few silver coins or a silver spoon into a jar of water for a day or two. Silver derivatives, when they are contained in water even in the smallest quantities, have a depressing effect not only on microscopic algae, but also on many bacteria and ciliates.

Doesn't this mean that in order to prevent algae and weeds from multiplying in the aquarium, you need to throw a silver coin in there? It turns out - no. Some hobbyists use this method, but they don’t really grow any plants, and perhaps silver has a negative effect on fish. But where silver does not help, a brass coin provides excellent help. To prevent algae weeds from growing, experienced hobbyists have been using this method for several decades. You should not think that as soon as you throw a brass coin into the aquarium, the algae will disappear immediately. Brass is slow-acting and usually takes a month to clean the aquarium. One five-kopeck coin in the absence of water changes is enough for an aquarium with a volume of three buckets. Brass does not have a depressing effect on all types of microscopic algae: some of them that settle on the walls “cannot be bought for a coin.”

6. Filters, non-living and living

Aquariums use mechanical filters of the most various systems. It should be said that experienced aquarists achieve ideal cleanliness in their ponds without any filters, and in the best aquariums that we have seen, there were no mechanical filters. Therefore, you should not get carried away with them: it is much more rational to learn to maintain cleanliness without them. If the aquarium does not have a mechanical filter, but it is perfectly clean, know: perhaps unconsciously, but a biological filter is used in it (of course, we're talking about about aquariums in which the water does not change).

Dense thickets of plants planted in well-lit places can serve as biological filters in an aquarium. Many different creatures live in such thickets, mainly ciliates and small worms that feed on bacteria. At the same time, the plants themselves retain mud particles suspended in water with their roots, leaves and stems. Of the lower animals, the bryozoan is a good filter feeder. A couple of colonies of bryozoans are enough to maintain cleanliness in an aquarium with a volume of several buckets. Usually, bryozoans are introduced into the aquarium by accident.

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It happens that aquariums are invaded and infested with “pest” organisms that cause concern among aquarists, although they are harmless in nature. Sometimes these fears are not unfounded, since the presence of these organisms in large numbers in the aquarium (which has the nature of an epidemic) is a sign of deterioration in the fish’s habitat. In addition, this indicates inattention to detail on the part of the aquarist: he does not check the live food in which they may be present, and collects decorative material in natural reservoirs inhabited by fish, which should not be done. Such pests are unpleasant to look at and create some inconvenience. Although they do not directly harm the fish, their presence is a warning sign and should not be ignored.

Water burros Asellus

Asellus water burros are aquatic crustaceans also called water lice. They bear some resemblance to woodlice, of which they are relatives. They can be brought into the aquarium along with live food (or as live food), and they colonize inaccessible crevices in decorative items, as well as the filter. They do not cause direct harm to fish, but can play the role of intermediate hosts for acanthocephalus (spiny-headed worms). These worms rarely infect aquarium fish, so there is no need to worry too much about this. However, a large population of Asellus aquatic burros indicates that the aquarium has heavy organic pollution, to which these creatures contribute further.

Polychaete worms

These are annelids from the family Naididae, reaching a length of 2 cm. They are characterized by the presence of bristles (perhaps due to these bristles they are inedible for fish). Most often these are white or pink worms that reproduce by budding or laying eggs. They can be brought into the aquarium along with plants, in the shells of aquatic snails or with water in which live food caught in wildlife. In an aquarium, they can live in the soil layer or on its surface, feeding on detritus. Therefore, their presence in significant quantities is an indicator of poor aquarium hygiene and the danger to which the fish are exposed due to contamination. These worms themselves are harmless. Improving aquarium hygiene will bring their numbers under control and will benefit the fish by improving living conditions.

Seaweed

Algae are lower aquatic plants that, depending on the species, either attach to underwater surfaces or live freely in water. They may have different shapes and color (green, brown, red, gray, yellowish). In appearance, they can resemble a slimy coating or fluffy tufts, form a carpet resembling moss, or long fibrous tufts (for example, the mud that we see in ponds in summer). True algae are different from so-called blue-green algae, which are scientifically classified as cyanobacteria.

The presence of algae is inevitable where water, nutrients and light are present simultaneously. All three elements are present in every aquarium, so the aquarist must learn to accept that algae is a natural and unavoidable part of the aquarium ecosystem. In an aquarium, as in nature, algae provide whole line benefits. They are a natural food for some herbivorous fish. Together with the microorganisms living on them, they are an excellent source of first food for fry. They reduce the amount of nitrates in water used as food. In addition, algae give completely bare decorative objects - for example, stones - a more natural look, because in natural bodies of water, stones are usually covered with algae. If algae grows too vigorously, this is a warning about possible problems with water quality.

Different aquariums are populated completely different types seaweed Part of this depends on the lighting of the aquarium, with low lighting favoring the growth of brown slimy algae and bright lighting encouraging the growth of bright green algae.

Algae is thought to be particularly troublesome when it coats aquarium glass and plant leaves. However, it is not difficult to keep the front glass of your aquarium clean using a scraper or a magnetic glass cleaner. Algae can be left on those glasses of the aquarium that are not used for viewing. By remaining there, the algae will help remove nitrates and provide food for the fish. If you're an aquarist with a penchant for photography, the algae-covered back glass is an added benefit because it prevents flash light from being reflected.

In nature, it is completely normal for algae to cover the old leaves of aquatic plants. These leaves die and are successively replaced by new leaves. If algae is on aquarium plants create problems, this is usually too fast growth algae or insufficient growth of higher plants. Aquarists often make the mistake of reducing the intensity or duration of lighting in the aquarium in an attempt to curb algae growth. But instead, they inhibit the growth of higher plants and thereby exacerbate the problem even more! Healthy plants help control algae growth by competing with it for available nutrients.

If it becomes necessary to remove algae from the sight glasses every few days, this means that the algae is growing too vigorously. This phenomenon occurs when there is an excess of nutrients. Algae becomes a real problem - it is a sign of high levels of nitrates or phosphates. This, in turn, may be due to too high a dose of aquarium fertilizers intended to accelerate plant growth, but more often it is an indicator of poor care of the aquarium - its overcrowding, overfeeding of fish, insufficient volumes water changes, excessive waste, or a combination of these factors. Tap water used for partial water changes in an aquarium may contain too much nitrates and other substances that serve as food for algae. Thus, it is not the algae themselves, but the cause of their excessive growth, whatever it may be, that requires attention! Otherwise, the health of the fish will be adversely affected - due to contamination of the aquarium, and not due to the algae itself!

Free-floating algae, which are not visible to the naked eye, sometimes multiply to such an extent that the water becomes cloudy and resembles pea soup. This is the so-called “water bloom”. This phenomenon can be observed in ponds in summer, but it can also occur in an aquarium if it is illuminated for a long time with bright sun rays. And this problem is also an indicator of high levels of organic pollution.

Although there are special aquarium products available on the market to kill algae, the solution to this problem, which seems too easy, is not really a solution. Death and decay large quantity algae can overload the filtration system and further exacerbate the pollution problem that is causing the algae outbreak. Even if this does not happen, dead algae will further increase the organic content of the aquarium. Therefore, when algae colonizes the aquarium again (and this inevitably will happen), then the problem will become even more acute than the first time. Reuse chemicals for algae control and biological overload will almost certainly have adverse effects on fish and higher vegetation. Therefore, it is better to identify and eliminate the cause of excess algae, and if their growth is normal, consider them friends rather than enemies.

Some fish - such as Gyrinocheilus aymonieri and some suckermouth catfish - are known algae eaters, so they can be used to control algae growth. However, this method does not eliminate the need to maintain a low concentration of organic waste in the aquarium.

Copepods

Free-living, harmless copepods are usually translucent and reach a length of 3 mm. They move in short leaps, but can also lie on underwater surfaces, including on the glass of an aquarium, where they are introduced either intentionally (as live food) or accidentally (on plants). Few manage to survive in an aquarium for a long time- for most fish this is a real treat. True, large fish do not pay attention to them - after all, they are too small and should not be eaten. Thus, contamination of an aquarium with free-living copepods can only occur if the fish do not eat them - either because they are unsuitable food, or because the fish are so unwell that they have lost interest in even such a tempting food source . This may be due to environmental pollution (heavy organic load). If copepods begin to reproduce in the aquarium, it means that there is organic pollution there.

If you eliminate the problem that caused this behavior of the fish, then the fish will solve it themselves with great pleasure.

Cyanobacteria

This is a group of microorganisms that causes the growth of a substance resembling algae. Aquarists call it “blue-green algae.” The appearance of such “algae” is associated with high level content of nitrates and phosphates. True, not all aquariums with big amount organic waste is filled with these “algae”. In one night they can cover all decorative objects in the aquarium, including the soil, with a slimy bluish-green coating. There is no evidence that they cause direct harm to adult fish (but they may be harmed by poor quality water, which caused the rapid proliferation of cyanobacteria). However, these “algae” can very quickly cover and suffocate fry lying on the ground or decorative objects. In addition, they can completely cover plants and destroy them.

It is very difficult to completely get rid of blue-green algae. Subsequently, at the slightest deterioration in water quality, they can again begin to multiply rapidly. The only way out is to reduce the amount of organic waste and filter out as much of this green matter as possible each time during the next partial water change. Unfortunately, blue-green algae seems completely unpalatable to fish. It is said that sand snails feed on these algae, but none of the authors of this article can confirm this based on their own experience. In addition, these snails create no less nuisance than the cyanobacteria themselves.

Hydras

These small coelenterates are freshwater relatives of sea anemones. They can be from 2mm to 2cm in length (including tentacles). They have the shape of a stem, topped at one end with tentacles, while the other end is attached to a solid base. All these signs make it possible to unmistakably recognize them. However, sometimes they shrink into tiny jelly-like balls. Their color can vary from cream to gray or light brown. (There are hydras of a pleasant green color, which can easily be mistaken for algae. - Consultant's note.).

Hydras sometimes enter the aquarium along with live food or decorative items collected from nature. Subsequently, they settle on some objects or aquarium glass and represent additional interesting objects, almost as charming as the main inhabitants of the aquarium.

Hydras are safe for adult fish, but they can catch fry and other small fish, as well as small particles of fish food. Sometimes their numbers reach such a level that they become real pests. Like many other pests, they indicate problems with aquarium maintenance.

To completely destroy hydras, you have to completely empty the aquarium, scrape all its surfaces, wash gravel, decorative items and underwater equipment in a hot 2-5% saline solution at a temperature above 40 ° C. If the aquarium is planted with plants, then these plants are unlikely to respond well to cleaning in hot salty water! Therefore it is better to apply alternative method, which consists of removing all the fish from the aquarium (as well as snails, if they are desirable inhabitants of the aquarium) into some temporary room and raising the temperature of the water in the aquarium to 42 °C for half an hour. During heating from internal filters The media that serves as a substrate for bacteria should be removed, but the filters themselves are best left in place because hydra attaches to their surface. External filters should be turned off, but no more than an hour, otherwise the bacterial population may die due to lack of oxygen. Then the aquarium should be allowed to cool to normal temperature or cooled by partially changing the water, adding cold water. After this, you can start the fish (and snails) again and restore filtration.

In an aquarium populated with fish, the hydra population can be controlled by dissolving table salt in the water - you should get 0.5% brine. This solution should be maintained for about a week, and then gradually get rid of the salt through repeated partial water changes. This method can only be used if all fish tolerate this salinity well. Otherwise, you will have to regularly clean the glass of the aquarium, filter out separated hydras, and remove stones and other solid decorative objects from the aquarium and process them in hot salt water.

Some species of fish feed on hydras (especially gourami, as well as young cichlids “grazing” on the rocks). Therefore, they can be used to control the hydra population, but only if these fish are suitable inhabitants for the aquarium in question.

Leeches

Roundworms (nematodes)

Shelly crustaceans

Ostracoda barnacles are bean-shaped crustaceans that reach a length of 4 mm. Sometimes you can see them scurrying around on the substrate, like tiny moving specks. These creatures are yellowish or black-brown in color. They attach their eggs to plants, so they can be accidentally introduced into the aquarium along with plants, as well as live food. They are found in small numbers in aquariums, but if aquarium hygiene leaves much to be desired, they can begin to multiply rapidly and become a real disaster. Thus, although barnacle crustaceans are harmless, their presence indicates the existence of problems with environment or with fish food. These problems can have adverse effects on fish. Improving aquarium care is a simultaneous solution to both problems. It allows you to control the number of these animals and eliminate the causes of their rapid reproduction.

Planarians

Planaria can be unintentionally introduced into the aquarium along with aquatic plants or live food. In an aquarium there may be a small and completely invisible population of planarians living in the ground or on its surface. Sometimes their numbers become too large, and then you can see them crawling along the front glass of the aquarium or swimming freely in the water. Such rapid reproduction is an indicator of overfeeding of fish. Uneaten food is consumed by planarians, whose population grows at an explosive rate. It is necessary to review the feeding regime of fish and improve water quality if it has suffered due to overfeeding.

Planaria problems often occur where large fish feed on food that disintegrates in their mouths. After this, a whole rain of food particles flies out of the gills and falls to the bottom. These particles are too small to be of interest to large fish. In such cases, it may not be the quantity, but the type of feed that is the real problem. Possible Solution- change the diet or keep in the aquarium fish that have a habit of rummaging in the ground and cleaning up everything that has fallen from above.

Some fish species, such as gouramis, eat planaria and thereby control their numbers. However, this method of control does not avoid other hazards, particularly contamination resulting from uneaten feed. Therefore it should not be considered as optimal solution Problems.

Snails

Some aquarists deliberately introduce aquatic snails into the aquarium to serve as “cleaners” and clean up leftover food. Sometimes snails get into the aquarium by accident - usually on plants. But no matter how the snails got into the aquarium, if they later turn out to be unwanted, removing them from there is not at all easy. This is especially true for the viviparous snail called Melania tuberculata. These snails live in the ground, where they can reproduce very intensively, and in such a way that the aquarist will have no idea that they are there.

Snail populations can be kept within reasonable limits by regularly removing all snails that can be seen. For example, you can collect them with a net or filter them. Large specimens can be caught individually by hand. It is better to remove snails after turning off the lights in the aquarium, since most snails are active at night. Ground snails leave it at night to look for food on decorative objects and glass of the aquarium.

There are special products on sale for killing snails, but their use in aquariums inhabited by fish is undesirable. Most of these shellfish control products contain copper, which is toxic to fish, so overdosing can be fatal. Snail corpses can seriously pollute an aquarium, especially where the main problems are caused by sandy melania. Even if it's Chemical substance apply at night, there will still likely be countless dead snails left in the substrate. If you are still convinced that such a product needs to be used to kill sand snails, the fish should be transferred to another room. After this, you need to treat the aquarium, then thoroughly clean it and reinstall it, adding a new substrate.

To avoid accidentally introducing snails, it is perfectly acceptable to treat the plants with a shellfish killer before planting them in the aquarium. Remember that tiny snails may be missed when visually checking plants. Do not buy fish from aquariums that contain sand melania. If they get into one of your aquariums, keep it in quarantine until they are completely destroyed, because tiny newborn snails can very easily end up as stowaways in nets, fish bags, siphon tubes, etc. items of equipment.

Tubifex Tubifex

Tubifex Tubifex are commonly used as live fish food despite the fact that they can introduce some disease into the aquarium. If tubifex worms are thrown into an aquarium that has soil in it, some of them may burrow into it and avoid being eaten. This can also happen if the fish are fed from a special feeder and too many tubifex worms are fed at one time. Those tubeworms that remain uneaten will eventually crawl out of the feeder and fall to the bottom. As a result, a whole colony of tubifex worms is formed in the soil - small red-brown worms that partially protrude from the substrate. The best solution- stop feeding the fish. When the fish get hungry due to the lack of easier prey, they will take the trouble to catch these worms and soon solve the problem themselves.

I have a large aquarium. But the fish, instead of swimming back and forth, as they should, endlessly stick out above and smack... - Fish behave this way because they lack the oxygen contained in the water, and they are forced to swallow atmospheric air mouth. This disease is called oxygen starvation, or anoxia.
When fish live for a long time in water poor in oxygen, they eat poorly, grow slowly, their reproductive organs change greatly, and they are no longer able to prolong their genus.
If the fish are still able to lay eggs, these eggs die or larvae hatch from them and grow into fry, which also die. And if the fry remain alive, they grow slowly, despite the fact that they are very well fed.
When fish are constantly starved of oxygen, they can eventually die from suffocation - from asphyxia.
If the fish begin to choke, you need to replace some of the water in the aquarium and install an aerator - a device with which the water is blown with a finely sprayed stream of air, and thus saturates it with oxygen. In addition, in case of severe oxygen deficiency, a quick effect is obtained by adding a 15% solution of hydrogen peroxide (1 drop of concentrated hydrogen peroxide per 2 liters of water).
In order for fish to stop experiencing a lack of oxygen, there must be plants in the aquarium: after all, they are the ones that produce oxygen. And since oxygen is formed in the leaves of algae only in the light, it is necessary to place electric lamps above the surface of the water, and in winter the daylight hours should last 10-12 hours, in summer - 15 hours.
If there are plants in the aquarium, but they have grown greatly, this is also bad. Some of them should be removed, since at night they consume a lot of oxygen.
In addition, you should not give the fish a lot of food. All uneaten parts of plants and dead parts of plants must be removed from the aquarium every day: the decomposition of organic residues is accompanied by the consumption of oxygen.
The more inhabitants there are in the aquarium, the more oxygen they require. Therefore, excess fish and other inhabitants, especially shellfish, must be transplanted into another aquarium.
But how many extra fish are there? It is difficult to give an exact answer, since much depends on the volume and shape of the aquarium, on whether it has an aerator, on the type of fish, their size and biological features. And yet it is possible to determine approximately how many fish should live in an aquarium. If the aquarium capacity is from 40 to 50 liters and the water in it is not aerated, then for each fish up to 5 centimeters long you need 2 liters of water, fish whose length is from 8 to 10 centimeters - 3-4 liters, and fish that are more than 12 centimeters , - 8-10 liters of water.

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How to make your first aquarium successful? Buy expensive equipment and rely on common sense? Paradoxically, the first advice...

Food is the material used to build the fish’s body and generate energy. Let's name six the most important rules points to follow when feeding...