animal care |

animal care : "Remember the goldfish from grade school? You won them at a fair, brought them home to a bowl full of water, loved them with all your heart-and they died. Although fish aren't really hard to care for, if you don't know a few basic facts you can doom the critters before they ever really have a chance. Keeping your scaly pet alive and swimming isn't a fishy matter, so read on for the watery basics.
Relocating
It's a good idea to set up your tank and let it sit for a week before you anticipate putting Wanda into her new home. This gives the water a chance to dechlorinate and gives the 'good' bacteria (we'll talk about this later) a chance to grow. The absolute minimum for tank size is ten gallons; with anything smaller, you will have problems maintaining stable water chemistry and controlling temperature fluctuations.
When Wanda arrives at her new home, she'll be a little apprehensive about the impending switch to new waters. You can ease her fishy qualms by making the transition a gradual one. Float Wanda's bag in the tank for a while to let the temperatures equalize. Then slowly begin adding small amounts of tank water to Wanda's bag; continue for about an hour before you transfer Wanda to her new home. Avoid mixing the old bag water with the new tank water-you can't be sure what kinds of parasites you have brought home in the bag. "