Items every fish keeper should have.

Over the last few years ive experienced and heard of fishkeepers always having emergencys with setups making trips to freinds at 2am for help etc .As most of us always think of what is going in our tanks but not what else might be needed.
This is a basic list of things that I have found usefull when the %$ hits the fan .
please feel free to add:

1:Spare tank\quarintine tank .No matter how small it is for new fish plants or medicating sick fish,when things go bump in the night you dont want all your fish in tupperware now do you ?.

2:Spare pump\ spare parts from old pumps.\spare air pump -spare parts from broken ones.

3:Spare heater -even a small 25w heater is better than nothing at 10 pm when there is no chance of getting a replacement.Infact running 2 heaters on your sysytem is the best idea.

4:Spare tubing ,hosepipe for just in case,I had a freinds malawi tank spill its guts out from the cats clawing the tubing..

5:An extra bottle of dechlorinator.

6: A jerry can filled with pre conditioned water.

7: A tube of marine silicone for patching cracks ,leeks etc.

8: Duck tape ...need I say more.

9:A dedicated fish only soft bucket for emergency mop ups ,
fill ups,rescues.make sure it is not being used for anything else.We dont want the tile cleaner or handy andy near our fish.

10: Spare nets for catching fish/ if you have more than 1 tank make sure each one has its own net to prevent cross contamenation if one tanks fish are sick.

11:Kitchen spounges (new only )dedicated to eack tank perfect for cleaning glass and removing algae.

12:Spare 2 point plugs.double adaptors,extension leeds.

13:Half a kg normal tropical fish salt.

14:A propper test kit using drops and vials alot more accurate than strips.

15:Log book with all water tests recorded

16:TROPICAL AQUARIUMS SA as your home page.some of us nutters are on here at the strangest hours.

 

some good advice....
and I am one of those Nutters that are on almost 24hours a day......lol

 

Hi S

whats the salt for?

Scaly.

Ooops, did not think of the marine and brackish guys...

 

And for emergency powerouts

Battery powered pump(incl spare battery one set of batteries last 8 hours)
Emergency corner filter ( put ur filter media in it to provide some biofiltration during power outs this is filter media in use such as bioballs/ caramic rings)
A blanket to wrap the tank(lost only 1 deg yesterday in a 8 hour powerout)

 

yes, but for the tropical guys ,raised temp and salt exellent for treating mild cases of ich .cuts and scrapes.just please dont use marine sea salt

good point ADT have been phoning me for a while now asking if they can come and check the back up battery.mmm I wonder why that could be ?

 

NEVER use regular aquarium salt for brackish or marine setups.

This salt is, as Stormer said, used for treating disease mainly, and can also help if you;re worried about new occupants having parasites. However, all this salt really does is add fuel to the fire of the old wive's tale that "salt in the tank keeps the fish healthier".

When keeping brackish or marine fish, use only the salts intended for marine setups: Tetra, RedSea, and Instant Ocean are all good for such purposes. It's easy to tell the difference - the salt intended for marines is about 2 or 3 times more costly than 'aquarium salt'.

 

The only thing you need is t a s a!!!

 

I think you meant Stormbringer101.

 

Good post and advice. Since Kattz and I moved in together, all our fish stuff moved in as well. We have two fish-dedicated buckets, extra tubing, two siphons, a small army of air pumps and heaters, spare plugs and switches, and two sets of most important water chemicals. And a few powerheads and extra filter media lying around.

We no longer have aquarium salt, and our spare tank is growing a Polypterus rather than being a quarantine tank, but other than that, we're mostly sorted.

 

Ahhh i just want to add point 17.
17.Some spare cash.(or willing Tasa members!!!)

 

with out a doubt.i think i would need a 100% extra 50 % for fish related things and 50% FOR BRIBES TO THE WIFE !