ANIMAL BEHAVIOR LABORATORY

NOTES FOR TEACHING ASSISTANTS

CARE OF AQUARIA AND FISH

Taking care of the fish for BIOL 73L can be a time-consuming and frustrating task. Here are some suggestions for keeping the aquaria healthy with minimal time and effort.

MATERIALS

(replenish every time you go to the pet store)
  • 1 large bottle of StressCoat

  • flake fish food for fish (and crabs)

  • carbon filters for side filters (change every 6 months)

PROCEDURES

  • Get the undergraduates involved!   Make care of the fish a part of the students' class participation grade.   At the end of lab each week, have the students stay to help take care of the animals.   You can divide the class into teams so that enough people stay each week.   Keep them for 15 minutes and work until the lab is clean, the fish are fed, and whatever needs to be done to the aquaria has been done.

  • Vacuum the gravel in each fish tank once every one or two weeks.   Empty about 1/3 of the water (10 gallons) into the gray buckets, dump the water down the drain, and use the orange hose to refill the tanks.   Don't forget to add de-chlorinator (StressCoat or equivalent).

  • When cleaning the gravel, the water level might drop below the intake for the side filter.   You can leave the filter running.   It will be loud as it sucks in some air, but the water inside the filter will protect it from damage.   This tactic is a big time-saver because you won't have to re-prime the filter each time you clean the gravel.

  • Check the tanks and filters for dead fish each week.   Dead fish can cause serious problems for the chemistry of the water!

  • Allow new fish to acclimate in their bags (floating in the tanks) before releasing them (about 15 minutes of temperature adjustment is fine).

  • Don't put too many fish in one aquarium.   The tanks used in the schooling lab cannot sustain more than 60 fish of all species.   The tank for paradise fish cannot hold more than 30 fish.   If you put in too many fish, the bacteria in the tank cannot remove enough ammonia, and you risk a cruel die-off of fish.

  • Clean the side-filters once a month.   The main effect of the filters comes from the bacteria that live in the sponge and remove waste from the water. Wash out the carbon chips thoroughly at each cleaning.   The carbon should be replaced about every 6 months (manufacturer recommends every month, but 6 months seems often enough).   Wash out the sponge with tap water at each cleaning too, but be gentle.   Wash some of the dirt out of the sponge, wring it out, and replace it.   When you put the filter back on the tank, prime it with water and be sure that it is level before you turn it on. These measures prevent the motor from burning up.

  • Do not overfeed the fish!   Feed the fish (or crabs) once per day.   Put in just enough food so that the fish can finish all of it in five minutes. Put one flake of food per fiddler crab per day in their tanks. Fish and crabs are ectotherms, so they don't need much food.   The more food you put in, the more waste they create, and the more unhealthy their habitats become.   They are better-off hungry than over-fed.   If you do put in too much food, remove some with a net.   Uneaten food will destabilize the chemistry of the tank.