1) 4 Popular Freshwater Schooling Fish for Your Aquarium

Have you ever felt awkward and isolated in your life while living or traveling alone? It’s quite natural that every living being needs companions to live comfortably and happily. Same in the case of some fish and other aquatic species. Some fish breeds prefer living alone who are rageful and isolated in nature, but there are many schooling fish who always prefer to dwell with a shoal of fish of same and different breed.

Common Schooling Fish for Tropical Tanks

Usually, schooling fish are small and bright; they need a large tank to swim comfortable. Therefore, you have to understand the requirements of each schooling fish for petting them. Take a look at a few names of freshwater schooling fish and add them to your colorful fish world by knowing details about them:

1. Harlequin Rasboras

This flamboyant freshwater fish is one of the popular schooling fish that is comfortable to live with different types of peaceful breeds. You can keep about 6-8 fish together in a 10-gallon aquarium.

Harlequin Rasboras are extremely shy fish, so they need a group of fish to actively stay with them. If they are kept alone then they will become stressful. This fish can also pair well with other Rasboras. To know more about this mid dweller, have a quick look at the specifications:

Quick Details

· Size: 2” (5 cm)

· Temperament: Peaceful

· Care Level: Easy

· Tank Size: 10+ gallons

· Diet: Omnivoros

2. Rummynose Tetras

Most popular schooling fish for tropical tank, this silver-red flashy Tetra fish can add beauty to your aquarium by its brightness and colors. When this fish moves together with a school, the water of the aquarium beautifully splashes like thunder lighting.

This fish also cannot live happily alone, so fishkeepers should keep a shoal of colorful Rummynose Tetra in their tank. However, try to keep aerated and clean water in the tank of this freshwater fish because they fall sick if they experience a wrong water condition. You can get short details about this fish:

Quick Details

· Size: 2” (5 cm)

· Temperament: Peaceful

· Care Level: Easy

· Tank Size: 25+ gallons

· Diet: Omnivoros

3. Zebra Danios

Bright background and dark black horizontal stripes on the body of this schooling fish make it vibrant and beautiful while kept in an aquarium. A school of Danio is always happy and they cannot live alone any time.

These fish are infamous for the nipping habit, so it is better to keep them in a same community. Don’t keep long-finned fish breeds with Danios because they can harm other breeds. Know more about them for taking care of the breeds:

Quick Details

· Size: 2.5” (6.35 cm)

· Temperament: Peaceful

· Care Level: Easy-Moderate

· Tank Size: 25+ gallons

· Diet: Omnivoros

4. Clown Loaches

Clown Loaches are unique and beautiful fish with black bands on their body. They like to live by hiding themselves in tank but when they swim, they always prefer to move with a school of Loaches and other peaceful fish.

You can keep about five Clown Loaches in a freshwater tank but the aquarium should be spacious and comfortable. To know more about this fish, know its key features.

Quick Details

· Size: 16-20” (40-50 cm)

· Temperament: Peaceful

· Care Level: Easy

· Tank Size: 100+ gallons

· Diet: Omnivoros

Final Thoughts

There are many schooling fish but the above-mentioned names are the popular and common breeds for freshwater aquariums. You just need to follow a proper care guide to nourish these fish.

2) Reasons of Water Changing in Your Aquarium

Being an aquarist, you must have been very familiar with the term “regular water change.” Beginners sometimes find it difficult to understand what it actually means by regular. Another biggest confusion for them is the reason of changing water even though the water looks clean from outside. Here some reasons are listed to show why it is so important to change water each week.

Dirt Removal

The primary reason behind water change is obviously removing dirt from the aquarium. It is true that sometimes, on the date of water change your aquarium water looks clean. However, the reason behind this clean appearance is the dirt is settled at the bottom or on the substrates. You just need to stir the substrates once to set them free in the aquarium.

Aquarium dirt collectively means the fish waste, the falling leaves of plants, algae, and of course the uneaten food particles. All of these can be stuck to the aquarium base.

You may think that dirt is sticking to the aquarium base means substrates are dirty, and it may not have any impact on the water. You are wrong because it will change the chemistry of water too.

Right after stirring the substrates, you need to do partial water change each week. By changing, you allow the dirt to come out and insert the healthy and breathable water for better health of your fish.

Nitrate and Phosphate Reduction

Well, the dirt will form multiple harmful elements if kept untreated for a long period. It means that the dirt has a direct contribution in polluting the water even though it is stuck to the bottom. Nitrate and phosphate are such two water pollutants that are formed by dirt.

A fish slowly release whatever eats in a day in the water. Huge quantity of ammonia is released in the water with the urine and excreta of fish. Uneaten food and dead leaves of plants too supply ammonia, which reacts with water and forms nitrite and nitrites later form nitrate. Phosphates, too, are formed by dirt and food particles and cause health problems to the fish.

Nitrates are directly responsible for algae growth and stress among aquarium fish. Sometimes the growth of the aquarium fish is restricted due to excess nitrate and phosphate in water. pH balance can be hampered because of these two.

As experts opined, a water change is the best way to reduce the rate of nitrate and phosphate slowly in any aquarium. During water change, you take out specific quantity water with nitrate and phosphate and pour the same quantity of fresh and healthy water inside, which will promote growth to the fish.

Some aquarists think that filtration will save water from dirt, it is not completely wrong, but it cannot scrape the dirt from substrates. Also, it cannot reduce nitrate and phosphate. Because of these two elements, fish will fail to acquire minerals from water.

What Is Actually Meant By Regular Water Change?

Based on tank size and the number of fish in a tank, the frequency of water change is determined. It is a general rule to change10-15% water every week in a tank, so regular here indicates weekly water change. You cannot change more than 20% of the water in a week.

So, water changing is not just a way to keep the tank clean; it is also a solution to multiple health problems of your aquarium fish. Before water changing, you need to clean the gravels and filters on the alternative weeks. It will be dangerous and stressful for the fish if you change much water or clean dirt from gravels, filters, and decorations on the same day.