Aquarium | Aquarium Accessories

Tropical Fish Aquarium Accessories

April 6th, 2009

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A Guide to Basic Tropical Fish Aquarium Accessories

Saltwater aquariums designed for tropical fish are very different from freshwater aquariums designed for lake or river fish, making the tropical fish aquarium accessories a particularly relevant issue. They make sure that tropical fish will be able to be strong and healthy in their new home, and are essential to any tropical fish owner’s aquarium tank.

One of the most important tropical fish aquarium accessories that you need are various test kits for water acidity, salinity and purity. Other accessories will help your fish thrive, but determining the suitability of your tank’s water is essential if you want your fish to last more than a few hours inside the tanks; you would not be able to make full use of these accessories anyway.

Once you have a few test kits to check the suitability of your tank for tropical aquatic life, other essential items you will need are aquarium salts and additives to condition the water. These will help condition your water for your fish, but make sure you follow the instructions to the letter if you don’t want your fish to die a few minutes after putting them in the water. If you are not feeling confident about your mixing skills, then you can opt to purchase pre-made saltwater in your local fish store.

Once you have the water in place, you will end up needing a live rock or two to promote bacterial growth in the water. These bacteria are essential for filtering out the ammonia and nitrite buildup that will eventually come around when your fish go about the natural processes of respiration and excretion.

Once you have these basics pinned down, next comes the more technical tropical fish aquarium accessories that use complicated gadgets to do their job properly: protein skimmers, power heads and temperature controllers.

As most tropical fish are used to warmer temperatures, normal room-temperature water may prove to be stressful or even lethal for them. Thus, you will need a temperature controller to warm (or cool) the water enough for the fish to thrive comfortably in.

Ocean water is marked by constant motion, and this moving water is another essential need for most tropical fish. This makes power heads one of the more essential tropical fish aquarium accessories to keep in your tank: they keep the water flowing and in constant motion; allowing the fish to survive in an artificial environment.

Protein skimmers (or “foam fractionators”) are more complicated filters designed specifically with saltwater aquariums in mind: they remove the organic compounds before they break down and introduce a toxic effect on the specially formulated saltwater.

These three accessories are a little more technical and costly than the first three simpler accessories, but are nonetheless essential accessories to ensure the survival of your tropical fish. Just remember: all of these tropical fish aquarium accessories are essential to the survival of your saltwater fish, so don’t skimp out on any of them unless you want to lose your $100 fish in the blink of an eye.

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