How Do You Avoid New Tank Syndrome?
New tank syndrome is the term used to describe what happens when you first start up a fish tank. The most people do when setting up their tanks is to make sure the water is decholorinated and at the right temperature, then the make the mistake of dumping fishes into the tank. It seems innocent enough, but leaving the tank like this for a week, or more, is creating problems behind the scenes. The fishes are doing what natural to them; they are pee and pooping. Unfortunately that breaks down into ammonia, and ammonia is poisonous to fish. It inhibits their breathing and slowly they start to suffocate. Before long all your new fishes are dead. Here are a few simple tips on how to avoid that. Set up your tank as you normally would. However start off with only one or two hardy fish. The suggestion is to have no more than 2 total inches of fish for every ten gallons of water Feed your fish VERY lightly. Any excess food will cause additional waste your tank cannot handle. It suggested feeding
