Q: How often should one change their filter on their aquarium? What about changing water?
A: First of all, you should NEVER do a complete water change! It will put your fish under stress and cause disease and even death. If you have decent filtration and are not overstocked, a partial water change of about 25% every few weeks should be fine. A good test kit will help you adjust the schedule to fit your tank's needs. Most power filters today have carbon and foam. The carbon should be changed every month, and the foam (or floss or whatever your filter has) should only be lightly rinsed monthly (not changed), since that is the site for bacteria to grow and provide biological filtration.
Q: What should the temperature of my tank be?A: That depends on what type of fish you keep. Goldfish and other cold-water fish will prefer unheated, room temperature water. Tropical fish (which includes tetra, mollies, platies, swordtails, etc.) need to have a CONSTANT temperature of between 76 and 80 degrees. CONSTANT is the key, so purchase a quality heater and give it time to stabilize the temperature before adding fish.
Q: Is it okay to mix tropical fish with goldfish?A: The fish will be much happier if you don't mix them. Goldfish prefer a different environment than most other fish. They like lower water temperatures and a higher pH. They also give off high levels of ammonia that most other fish cannot tolerate.
Q: My fish seem sick, and they have little white dots on them, like grains of salt. What's wrong with them?
A: Chances are they have the protozoan parasite Ichthyophthirius, commonly called "ick". This parasite was probably there all along, but it is not until the fish undergo some kind of stress that signs of the disease are evident. First, purchase a medication for the fish. There are LOTS of ick treatments on the market (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals has a good one). You might want to raise the temperature of your tank a few degrees to help speed up the lifecycle of the parasite. Once you have cleared up the initial infection somewhat, you have to find the reason for the stress. Check your water quality and conditions. Adding new fish also produces stress, in the added AND existing fish. Once you have removed the stressor, you may want to treat the tank with a copper-based medication (such as Coppersafe) as a preventative measure.
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