Feeding management of tropical fish
The breeding and management of tropical fish is a comprehensive work. Including water, feeding, heat preservation, etc. It requires mastering the living habits of different kinds of tropical fish and improving the living environment of tropical fish.
1. Feeding equipment
In addition to aquarium and water quality filter, tropical fish culture equipment also includes water quality circulating filtration equipment, heating equipment, oxygen increasing equipment, lighting equipment, pumping equipment and so on. A single aquarium can use a small circulating filter pump, 100-200W heating pipe, single-hole and double-hole air pump, fluorescent lamp and small submersible pump. For multiple aquariums, the equipment is more complicated. There are two kinds of circulating filtration equipment for tropical fish: in-box filter and out-of-box filter. Small aquariums mostly use in-box filters or low-power circulating filter pumps, while large aquariums mostly use out-of-box filters. The heating equipment for tropical fish has various electric heating tubes with different powers, such as 100W, 200W, 500W, 1000 W glass or stainless steel electric heating tubes with automatic temperature adjustment, and the heating equipment for large fish houses adopts heating, air conditioning and electric heating. Delivered by boiler room.
The aerobic equipment for tropical fish includes single-hole air pump, double-hole air pump, four-hole air pump and turbo aerator. For a single aquarium, you can choose a single-hole air pump. For multiple aquariums, you can choose two-hole or four-hole air pumps. Single-hole, double-hole or four-hole air pumps are all made of plastic materials, and the oxygen flushing in water is completed by the movement of rubber plugs. The rubber stopper will rupture or age after long-term use and should be replaced in time. Turbine oxygenator can be used to raise tropical fish in a large area. Made of metal material, with low failure rate and long service life. In addition, the auxiliary oxygenation equipment includes gas stone and oxygen pipeline.
The lighting equipment of tropical fish is mainly fluorescent lamps, in addition to halogen lamps and mercury lamps. For the lighting of a single aquarium, sometimes underwater colored lights can also be used. It is a small glass tube, which can be directly placed under water and adsorbed on the glass tube wall. Its lamp tube can emit red, blue, green, white and other different colors, and the beautification effect is good.
The pumping equipment of tropical fish mostly adopts low-power submersible pump made of all plastic materials. It is small and light, with power of 200W, 500W, 1000W, etc. , its lift is 5- 10 meter. When in use, it can be adsorbed on the cylinder wall, and the water in the aquarium can be drained in a few minutes, which is safe and reliable.
feed
(1) foraging habits:
The feeding water temperature of tropical fish is generally controlled between 24-28℃. In this temperature range, tropical fish have a strong appetite and grow rapidly. It is not affected by the change of external temperature and always maintains a relatively stable state. The bait of tropical fish includes fish worms, earthworms, earthworms, Tenebrio molitor, small live fish, pellet feed and so on. There are many kinds of tropical fish, and their sizes vary greatly, so the bait selection of different kinds of tropical fish is also different. Tropical fish with a body length of 3- 12 cm take soft-shelled turtle as the main bait, supplemented by water worms, red worms and Tenebrio molitor. For tropical fish with a body length of 12 cm or more, soft-shelled turtles are small and have poor palatability, so they should choose larger bait, mainly red worms, water worms, Tenebrio molitor and small live fish. Tropical fish mainly feed on animals, and small species can also be domesticated as pellet feed, while a few fish feed on plants.
(2) Feeding times:
The feeding amount of tropical fish depends on the size and quantity of fish. Generally, domestic cultured tropical fish only need to be fed 1-2 times a day, and the feeding amount should be eaten within 5- 10 minutes. When raising tropical fish in large quantities, feed them 2-3 times a day; During the breeding period, fish are generally fed 3 to 4 times a day. Due to the small size of tropical fish, the food intake is limited, and it is appropriate to be 7-80% full at a time. Increasing the number of bites will promote the rapid growth of turtles. In most tropical fish, turtles are the main bait. When entomology is the main bait, the feeding amount should be controlled within LO-30 minutes. When the bait is mainly water earthworm, the feeding amount should be controlled within 5- 10 minutes, and each person should feed it for 2-3 times, and the fed water earthworm should be washed clean. When the bait is mainly small fish and shrimp, in principle, it should be fed more meals and less, and when tropical fish are replaced with new bait, the amount of bait should be gradually increased from less. Tropical fish should stop feeding 1 ~ 2 days before transportation.
Use water
(1) water exchange:
Adding water means partially changing water, which is a simple and effective method commonly used in tropical fish culture. Before adding water, turn off the power of the heater, air pump, circulating filter pump and other electrical appliances in the aquarium, and then wipe off the moss attached to the aquarium wall or scenery glass with gauze. After letting the water stand for 15 minutes, all the suspended substances in the water sink to the bottom of the cylinder, and gently suck out the dirt at the bottom with a rubber tube. Generally, the sucked water accounts for about 1/4 ~ 1/3 of the total water. Then the prepared fresh water with the same temperature is slowly injected along the cylinder wall.
(2) Change water:
Changing water means changing all the incoming water, which is the simplest and most effective way to change the water quality, but the workload of changing water is large, especially when the aquarium is small and the scenery is good, the process is complicated and cumbersome. Before changing the water, cut off the power supply of all the electrical appliances in the aquarium, take out all the fish and scenery, and drain the water. After the aquarium is cleaned, put away all the scenery and put it in fresh water for later use.
Peacock fish is the first choice for newly cultivated tropical fish.
Peacock fish is a small tropical ornamental fish, generally 3 to 5 cm long, petite, agile and lively, and colorful. It is mainly produced in Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana and the West Indies in South America. According to their different characteristics, it can be divided into common guppies, phoenix-tailed guppies, long-tailed guppies, guppies and yellow guppies.
It should be said that among many tropical ornamental fish species, guppy is not a noble fish species, and its price and requirements for the surrounding living environment are not high, but it is deeply loved by people because of its liveliness and beauty. Especially the male fish is more beautiful. Its green-brown body is mixed with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, just like a rainbow in the sky, so it also has a nice name-rainbow fish. At the same time, it is also called "peacock fish" because there are several small blue dots on its abdomen, and there are light-colored rings around the dots, much like pride as the eye spots on a peacock.
Some fish buyers told reporters that peacock fish is popular largely because it is gentle and lively, will not fight with other fish, and is suitable for mixed culture with some non-aggressive fish; Moreover, the selectivity to food is not great, and egg yolk, steamed bread residue and so on can be fed, but it is best to feed live bait such as fish worms and nematodes when raising artificially; At the same time, the requirements for water quality and water temperature are low, and it is very easy to raise and survive.
Generally, purebred guppies are large in size, with large and stretched caudal fins and dorsal fins, pure in color, distinctive in characteristics and high in price, because the quality of their strains varies from about 10 yuan to about 50 yuan; On the other hand, hybrids or degenerated species are cheaper, and they can be bought for only a few dollars per pair. But for people who have just raised tropical fish, it is more economical to buy hybrid degenerated species, because they can accumulate a lot of experience in fish farming.
In addition, it's best to make sure whether you buy fish for viewing or breeding. If you just want to watch, you can choose individuals with bright colors, long tail fins and normal development of each fin; If it is a well-bred guppy, it is best to choose a young and energetic guppy, because fully mature guppy is not suitable for breeding, although their tail fins are large and the patterns are gorgeous.
Generally speaking, the principle of choosing guppies is not much different from that of choosing other fish, except that there is no abnormality on the body surface, no wound, no damage to the fins, no contraction of each fin, no growth of white hair and white spots, and a desire to eat and a quick response. It is best to choose individuals who are not injured or killed in the whole tank. However, a key point in purchasing guppies is to choose males with large body, large tail fin, stretching and lively swimming. Usually buy two or three months old guppies.
In addition, don't forget to buy an aquarium while buying guppies. The fish tank for keeping guppies had better not be too big. Generally, it is suitable to be 60 cm long, 30 cm wide and 40 cm high, and you must pay attention to testing the water before buying to ensure no leakage.
After the peacock fish is selected, the next step is the bait problem. Peacock fish does not have high requirements for bait, and generally can use Daphnia, earthworm or compound pellet feed.
"Forbidden Zone" for Newly Cultured Tropical Fish
After getting used to the new environment, you can start feeding the newly bought fish. Generally, the fish is put in the water tank for half a day. If it is found that the fish starts pecking at the sand on the tank wall or bottom, it can start feeding. Some fish refuse to eat when changing the environment, so they should be fed with their favorite feed, which can be balanced with artificial feed and domestic feed. Pay attention to the amount, and avoid the leftover residue, because the residue will corrupt and destroy the water quality.
Several causes of illness and death of tropical fish;
1, the water temperature changes dramatically-the best temperature for tropical fish to survive is 25℃, but different species still have different requirements for temperature, some as high as 30℃, and some like 20℃. So on average, 25℃ is a generally acceptable temperature. In addition, to avoid sharp changes in water temperature, the temperature range is generally 2 degrees.
2, the stocking density is too high-many people see that the aquarium can put a lot of lovely fish in a fish tank, so they also raise a lot of fish in the fish tank at home. No matter what kind of fish you raise, you will die. If we raise many different kinds of fish, we must consider the suitable space for each kind of fish to reduce the number of fish. Either way, it is not a good thing to have many small fish in a jar. The feeding principle of tropical fish is very similar to that of goldfish, which requires a wide water surface and a normal proportion to the number of tropical fish to ensure adequate oxygen supply.
3. Types of feed-The feeding habits of tropical fish vary from species to species, which can be roughly divided into three categories: animal, plant and omnivorous. Therefore, we must know what fish are in the tank, what food we like to eat, and how to raise them by classification.
4. Diseases-There are many reasons for tropical fish to get sick, including the infection of sick fish bought, white spots caused by low temperature, food residue or fish manure decomposition, which leads to the deterioration of water quality.
Newly bought tropical fish often carry germs or parasites, because the illness is mild and there are no obvious symptoms, so it is not easy to detect when buying. If you put it directly into the fish tank without drug treatment, you will get sick and even die as soon as 2-3 days 1 2 weeks. Even if the newly purchased tropical fish is healthy, it sometimes causes injuries and bacterial infections through fishing and transportation. Therefore, it is very important to prevent and disinfect the newly purchased tropical fish.
There are two kinds of drugs commonly used for disease prevention and disinfection. The first is salt, which is safe, effective and convenient to source. Add 100-300g to every 10kg of water to prepare 1-3% saline, and disinfect for about 5-20min. The soaking time depends on the water temperature, which can kill most germs and parasites.
The second is potassium permanganate, which can be added directly to the fish tank. The drug concentration is 10 kg water and 0.03 g potassium permanganate. It is inconvenient to weigh 0.03 grams of potassium permanganate. Therefore, firstly, 1g potassium permanganate is weighed and fully dissolved in 1kg water, that is, a liquid medicine with a concentration of one thousandth is prepared and stored in a Coca-Cola bottle for later use. Then use a straw or syringe to suck 30ml of potassium permanganate liquid medicine and add it to 10kg of water, and change the water 24 hours after taking the medicine. However, it should be noted that for small tropical fish. Potassium permanganate is highly toxic, so we should pay attention to the activity state of tropical fish after taking the medicine. If there is any abnormality, we should rescue it immediately, that is, change a lot of water or remove it.
The accumulation of organic matter such as bait and excrement in fish tanks will cause the deterioration of water quality. There are two forms of organic matter in water. One is undissolved granular solid organic matter, and the other is organic matter dissolved in water. Dissolved organic matter will be decomposed into toxic ammonia nitrogen and nitrite by bacteria. If there are enough beneficial bacteria (such as nitrifying bacteria) in the water, toxic ammonia nitrogen and nitrite will be decomposed into non-toxic substances (nitrate). Therefore, water purification has two purposes: ① filtering out insoluble solid organic matter; ② Cultivate enough nitrifying bacteria to decompose toxic ammonia nitrogen and nitrite in water.
There are two specific treatments:
First, use water treatment circulation equipment. Circulating filtration equipment is used for large and medium-sized fish tanks, and biochemical cotton can be used for small fish tanks. There are many kinds of commercial water treatment circulating filtration equipment, including built-in equipment, external equipment and self-made equipment. The overall structure consists of three parts. ① Cylindrical shell made of stainless steel or plastic; ② Filter cotton, quartz sand, plastic biochemical balls or biochemical ceramic rings are placed in the cylinder; ③ Small pumps and pipes. Filter cotton and quartz sand are used to intercept large particles of organic matter in water, so they often need to be cleaned.
Biochemical balls and ceramic rings are used as carriers for cultivating beneficial bacteria. In technical terms, it is used to cultivate biofilm, mainly to cultivate enough beneficial bacteria to decompose toxic ammonia nitrogen and nitrite in water into non-toxic nitrate.
A small fish tank can be equipped with 1-2 biochemical cotton and an air pump. Biochemical cotton has the function of filtering solid organic matter and cultivating bacteria.
The second is to add beneficial bacteria regularly. There are many kinds of beneficial bacteria, such as photosynthetic bacteria, nitrifying bacteria and Bacillus. Most products sold in the market are compound bacteria. For example, a Japanese product called EM consists of more than 80 kinds of bacteria in four categories.
Some people have done experiments, adding beneficial bacteria regularly, and the water in the fish tank can remain unchanged for one year.
Some necessary conditions for breeding tropical fish
I. Water
1, water quality
All water in nature contains different chemical components to some extent. Some chemicals will directly affect the growth and survival of fish, and tropical fish have higher requirements for water. Tap water, river water, well water and lake water can be used to directly raise goldfish, but they can't be used to directly raise tropical fish, otherwise the fish will get sick or even die.
The so-called water quality mainly refers to the hardness and pH of water.
The hardness of water depends on the content of calcium, magnesium and iron salts in water. It is divided into hard water, soft water and neutral well water, and spring water is mostly hard water; Tap water and river water are mostly neutral water; Rain belongs to soft water. The cultivation of tropical fish should use neutral water, but although the pH value of urban tap water basically meets the requirements of tropical fish life, water plants often add some chemical disinfectants and purifying agents when treating water, so this kind of water often contains ⒘ kangmlao? What are the numbers? Beautiful chimney? Hey? Write? Hey? What's the matter with you? Law of Lipo-Pancreatic Barrier? /span>。 2~3 days, or dry in a cool and dark place for a week before use.
Step 2 change water
Fish should constantly metabolize and excrete feces, and the bait fed to the fish will continue to oxidize and rot, which will affect the water quality, so it is necessary to change the water in the fish tank often and timely to keep the water fresh. Water exchange is divided into partial water exchange and total water exchange. A part of the changed water is also exchanged with water. Replenishing water means that you should replenish the water in the fish tank as much as possible. There is no need to take fish and aquatic plants out of the water tank. Generally, the amount of water replenished at a time should not exceed a quarter of the total water in the fish tank. Pay attention to the water temperature of the newly added water when adding water, and keep it consistent with the water temperature of the original fish tank as much as possible. The frequency of adding water is once or twice a week in autumn and winter, and twice or three times a week in spring and summer. The specific number of times depends on the turbidity of the water in the fish tank. If the water quality is clear and the filtration conditions are good, the frequency can be reduced appropriately, and if the filtration conditions are poor, the frequency can be increased appropriately, but not too frequently, otherwise the fish will get sick.
Second, the temperature
Temperature is the most important condition for tropical fish to survive. Fish can't live without proper water temperature. Tropical fish have strict requirements on water temperature, and tropical fish are extremely sensitive to water temperature.
The water temperature of tropical fish is generally 20~30℃. However, different kinds of tropical fish have different requirements for water temperature. For example, guppies, swordfish, black Mary and other fish species can tolerate the water temperature around 18℃ without dying, while swallowtail and tiger fish will die when the water temperature is lower than 18℃. Most tropical fish are very sensitive to water temperature. If the water temperature changes by 2℃, they will catch a cold. If the water temperature fluctuates for a long time, fish will suffer from various diseases. So try to keep the water temperature constant. The water temperature should not be too high, and the fungi in the water will multiply too fast, which will affect the water quality. The normal temperature of most fish is 20~24℃, and the water temperature of culture is 25~28℃. There are two ways to control water temperature, natural control and manual control.
Natural control is to put the fish tank in a sunny room and let the fish tank receive sunlight to raise the water temperature. Some water temperature changes in the volume of fish tank are relatively small. On the contrary, if there is little water in the fish tank, the water temperature changes greatly. If room conditions permit, it is best to make the fish tank as big as possible.
Manual control of water temperature mainly adopts heating measures such as stove, kang and heater. In recent years, there are more and more electric heating appliances on the market, which is a better heating method. Most products have automatic temperature control function, so this kind of products should be the first choice.
Third, oxygen.
Any living thing needs oxygen. There is no life without oxygen, and tropical fish can't live without oxygen. The oxygen needed for fish survival is obtained through the microvascular absorption of dissolved oxygen in water by fish gills, and then brought to the extraction part through the blood circulation system, and the discharged carbon dioxide is also carried out through the microvascular of fish gills. The amount of dissolved oxygen in water directly affects the growth of fish, so make sure there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water. Dissolved oxygen in water can be obtained not only by adding water to replace water, but also by oxygen produced by photosynthesis of aquatic plants in water.
There is a special oxygenator-air pump in the market. It is convenient and simple to add oxygen to the air pump, and the appropriate air pump can be selected according to the size of the fish tank. The price is cheaper.