# 25 tips from my lfs-wow



## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

recently, we went to one of our fish stores, and they gave us this paper at the checkout that has 25 tips for your freshwater aquarium. I sure was suprised at what they had on it! hope everyone doesnt mind me posting this...

1. Do not overfeed! once a day should be sufficient! 
2. While an incandescent hood is cheaper initially, a florescent bulb will last much longer and is less expensive to operate 
3. Don't pick up a full aquarium. its heavy and the glass will break. 
4. remove chlorine from water unless you have unchlorinated water. 
5. never use soap on or around the aquarium, its toxic to fish 
6. dark gravel will cause the fish to appear darker and brighter 
7. start with only a few fish, slowly and gradually add more. 
8. cloudy water is normal the first week, feed very sparingly, AND DO NOT DO A WATER CHANGE!!! it should clear up on its own 
9. Maintain 1tbsp. of aquarium salt for each 5 gallons of water 
10. Always do a 20% partial water change before adding new fish. 
11. a rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water 
12. only feed what is completely eaten in 2 minutes 
13. shells and corals are only for saltwater aquariums. 
14. have more than one female livebearer for each male 
15. have 3 or more of each schooling fish 
16. no heaters for goldfish. for tropical figure 5 watts of heater per 5 gallons of water and yes you Do need a heater in the summer! 
17. Never have your heater plugged in unless it is properly immersed in water. unplug for 10 minutes before removal. 
18. frequent small partial water changes are always better for your tank compared to a large one. 
19. Algae in your tank can be reduced by feeding less and decreasing the amount of light. Aquarium plants also compete for available nutrients so add live plants 
21. Do partial water changes once weekly for the first month then atleast monthly afterwards. remove 20% of water with a hydroclean to remove detritus down in the gravel. 
22. If you have to use medication in your tank assume you lost good bacteria and do not add any new fish take carbon out of the filter 
23. Make sure one person is responsible for feeding the aquarium. 
24. Losing a new fish in the beginning is common, always test your ph ammonia nitrites and nitrates frequently. 
25. Check out the acclimation sheet attached for proper and safe fish adding. we do not suggest floating bags or using water from bag.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Not bad. Better than most I've seen but a few are off base. It is NOT common to lose new fish.
2 min a feeding? How would my bottom feeders eat? Or the fish lower on the food chain? And I would definitely do more waterchanges than once a month.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

yes, your right, so is number 11- the 1 inch rule :chair:


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

yea i give it 7 out of 10 rating. though i wouldn't agree with the salt thing as cats and pleco's dont do well with it


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

#1 on any lfs list should be an explanation of the nitrogen cycle, directions for a "fishless" cycle and advice against adding any fish until cycle is complete. You will rarely see that from a fish shop, for obvious reasons. Any place you DO see that is where you need to shop.


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## laura (Mar 18, 2005)

Where i shop it doesnt have a list but does offer free good advice on pretty much every stage of hving a tank


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## PigMonkeyFish (Apr 19, 2005)

Generally not bad. better than most shops that wants you to spend money on new fish,food and equipment. Its rare to find a shop that really cares if you get fishkeeping right because your mistakes mean money in there tills.
My fish would go insane about the 1 feed a day rule though.


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## ritzgirl34 (Jan 20, 2005)

"13. shells and corals are only for saltwater aquariums."

Not true either. I have crushed coral, as well as conch shells, in my cichlid tank.


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## John (Apr 19, 2005)

It's pretty cool that your LFS is trying to appeal to (and create) better aquarists.  

Mine is pretty good. Generally, the owner is an awesome person, and doesn't ever give out bad advice. His other employers, though, are younger (I think one is his daughter), and not all of them always give out great advice, but they are pretty good. It's cool that he is keeping the business in his family. One more thing: He raises koi in huge ponds and sells hastas. It's really awesome.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

Not bad, but 3 really is no school. All pet stores should give this kind of info.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

i was just back for a visit to this store, and they are still giving out the same piece of paper.


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## Stix87 (Jul 28, 2005)

maybe u can revise their list and approach them in a nice manner about changing a few of the more missleading tips like the 1'' per gallon and the 3minimum for schools. Since there mostly out for $$ u can say that making 5 a minumim for schools will mean more profit for the store. Or instead of adding a number for schools just have it say "The more fish u have in a school the more likely they are to school together and the nicer the school will look"


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

The owner of my lfs would not let a man buy fish because he had just bought the tank that day. He told him where to get the things to cycle the tank and said to come back in 4 weeks. That is a real LFS for you.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Its good to see a few LFS out there trying to educate especially when one realizes that they are there to make money. Its come a long way from 15+ years when I got started in the hobby. There were no "bio-wheel" filters. The nitrogen cycle wasn't mentioned in ANY of the LFS I went to all over the state. Plants in a fishtank? Unheard of in my area.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

Makes you wonder where we'll be in another 15+ years :-D


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## blixem (Jun 13, 2005)

ritzgirl34 said:


> "13. shells and corals are only for saltwater aquariums."
> 
> Not true either. I have crushed coral, as well as conch shells, in my cichlid tank.


They should have denoted "Live shells and corals". Then again, dead shells and corals (e.g. crushed coral) bring your pH up, which can cause dead fish if you aren't buying ones that like high pH. African cichlids love it, but you'd kill most of the schooling tetras dumping them in high pH waters.


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