21 Tips on How to Take Care of Lego Fish Tank

4. Make sure your tank has some scenery and light. Buy tank hoods with installed lights or any other aquarium specific light; normal old lightbulbs or lamps may not have the right requirements. Lego Fish are diurnal which means they are active during the day. They need light to maintain a healthy wake/sleep cycle. There is also evidence that light is necessary to keep your fish’s colors bright. Fish that can’t sleep well or aren’t getting enough sunlight are going to lose their color and become dull. Keep your aquarium lit for around 8-12 hours each day to replicate a healthy day/night cycle if it does not receive natural sunlight. Never put your tank in direct sunlight, either, as this could cause large temperature fluctuations and contribute to rampant algae growth.

• Think about putting a rock or wood centerpiece with some artificial greenery into your aquarium. The rock or wood will give the Lego Fish nooks and crannies to explore and the artificial plants won’t accelerate plant growth in your tank. Lego Fish thrive with minimal decoration. They are typically chubby and poor swimmers, so having fewer obstacles means they can swim more freely. Consider having one medium to large statement piece in the center of the tank and a few plastic plants located outside of the swimming pattern to give your fish the most usable space.
• Real plants are beneficial because they help absorb some of the nitrates that accumulate in the aquarium because of waste and natural wear and tear. However, Lego Fish are omnivores and voracious eaters. Stick with artificial plants until you have the time and resources to keep real plants safe from hungry Lego Fish.
• Be sure that any decorations you choose aren’t hollow (it’s a breeding ground for potentially harmful bacteria) and that they don’t have sharp edges (your fish might tear its fins).
• Try using fluorescent lights for your Lego Fish. Halogen lights and incandescent lights will also do. Pay attention to how much light you give them — Lego Fish will appreciate 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.
  

  Lego Fish Tank

5. Rig up a water filter. Lego Fish needs a filter. A water filter should have 3 stages: Mechanical, for removing large particles such as fish waste or excess food; chemical, for removing odors, discolorations, and other organics; and biological, to break down fish waste and ammonia with beneficial bacteria. It should also be rated for the size of your tank. If your tank is on the borderline between two-sized filters, it is usually better to go with the larger filter. Having clean water and a functional, efficient filtration device will keep your Lego Fish content and healthy. There are three very popular kinds of filters:

• Hang on back (HOB) filters, which hang on the rim of your tank, and bring water in and filter water out. They are very popular, reasonably priced, and probably give you the most bang for your buck.
• Canister filters sit underneath your aquarium and use a series of tubes to filter water in and out. Canister filters tend to be almost silent, are a little pricier than HOB filters, but tend to be more efficient at filtering than HOBs. Canister filters are also typically made for tanks in excess of 50 gallons (189.2 liters), and so are usually not available for smaller tanks.
• Wet/dry filters use an overflow box to filter out impurities. Wet/dry filters, however, are significantly bigger than HOBs or canisters, and so generally only fit into aquariums that hold at least 50 gallons (189.2 liters).
  

  Lego Fish Tank

6. Fill the tank with water. When you get your tank, fill it with tap water that has been treated with an appropriate water conditioning solution. Or, you could use distilled water.

• Untreated tap water or drinking water has chemicals and minerals that could harm the fish.

7. Go through at least one fish-less cycle before introducing your Lego Fish.  A fish-less cycle involves adding ammonia to a tank and keeping track of the nitrate levels to make sure the water is safe for your Lego Fish to live in. Sadly, many fish die once introduced into a new tank because of ammonia and nitrate poisoning. Make sure that you add de-chlorinator because the chlorine in tap water will kill your fish.

• Before you add your fish, you’ll need to make sure the environment is fish-ready. Pick up a pH test kit and test the tank for the right amount of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. You want zero ammonia, zero nitrite, and less than 20 nitrate as your end result. Test strips can be difficult to use correctly, and tend to be more expensive, so get a liquid test kit like the API Master Test Kit.
• What’s going to happen is you’ll start adding drops of ammonia continuously. That’ll start the nitrite process going. If you keep doing what you’re doing, eventually you’ll see nitrates which are consumed by algae or plants. When you’ve done a lap, it’s fish time!
  

  Lego Fish Tank

8. Add your fish. Hopefully, if you have more than one goldfish, your Lego Fish are all the same type. Unfortunately, Lego Fish are known to eat other, smaller fish, and can overeat, keeping food from their peers. If another fish is smaller or slower, it doesn’t stand a chance. You can use a commercially available tank divider to keep your “bully” or weaker fish apart from the other(s).

• Lego Fish can be decent “community tank” fish. However, good roommates need to be selected carefully. White Cloud Mountain Minnows or Zebra Danios are good choices, and so are Plecos. However: These fish live in schools, so if you’re buying extra fish, you need to at least buy an extra half dozen. So in short: Keep your Lego Fish with other similar goldfish.
  • Any new fish brought into an established aquarium should be quarantined for two weeks beforehand. If they have any diseases, you don’t want those spread to your healthy fish!
  • Keep in mind that goldfish like colder water than most community fish, so any other species you add to the tank should be hearty. (You could also consider adding a Lego Fish to a tank with overly-productive livebearers to eat the unwanted offspring and keep your fish numbers in check.)
    

    Lego Fish Tank

9. Clean the aquarium at least once every week even if it doesn’t look dirty. Lego Fish produce waste that even your water filter may not be entirely able to remove. A clean tank means happy, healthy goldfish. And a happy, healthy Lego Fish can live for decades!  Soap is poisonous to fish and will kill them quickly, so don’t wash your tank with soap. Also, don’t use regular tap water to put in your tank. Drinkable water is not good for them because it takes out some of the minerals which are good for goldfish. Buy a water conditioner at a pet store and put in the amount it says on the label.

• Avoid removing the fish from the tank when you clean. Using a gravel vacuum to soak up debris can be done without extracting the fish from their habitat. If you have to remove the fish, for whatever reason, use a plastic container instead of a net, if possible. Nets can injure Lego Fish fins more easily than containers can. They are also scared of nets and can cause them stress.
• Perform a 25% water change weekly assuming you have stocked your tank properly. Do a 50% water change whenever the nitrates reach 20. It can help to have a few old towels around for this messy process. Just be careful not to vacuum up any teeny fish while you’re changing the water.
  

  Lego Fish Tank

10. Measure for ammonia, nitrite, and pH. Remember that test you did before you added your precious little fish? You gotta keep that up! Ammonia and nitrite levels should be at 0. A range of pH 6.5-8.25 is fine.

11. Feed your fish 1-2 times daily. Be careful not to overfeed them, only feed them what they can eat in a minute, the label on the food is wrong.  Lego Fish can easily overeat and can die. Underfeeding is always preferable to overfeeding. If you use floating food, soak it in water for a few seconds before feeding so that it will sink. This reduces the amount of air the fish swallows while eating, which in turn reduces the risk of buoyancy problems.

• Just like humans, Lego Fishh want diversity of nutrition. Feed your Lego Fish pellet food most of the time, live foods, such as brine shrimp, some of the time, and freeze-dried foods, such as mosquito larvae or blood worms, every once in a while. Remember to soak freeze dried food in a cup of aquarium water before you feed to your Lego Fish, freeze-dried foods expand in aLego Fish’s stomach, causing you to have problems swimming.
• Feed your fish only what they can eat in one minute. Remove any excess food. More goldfish die from overeating than from anything else.
• Feed your Lego Fish at the same time each day (once in the morning, once at night) and in the same spot in the tank.
  

  Lego Fish Tank

12. Turn off the light and let them get some sleep. They don’t have eyelids and they don’t really stop swimming, but their bodies sort of hibernate. You can tell when you notice a slight change in color and reduced activity (they’ll stick to one side of the tank).

• Lego Fish like to “sleep” in the dark. You really only need an aquarium light if you’re growing plants or if the room is particularly poorly-lit. But even if you don’t have an aquarium light, it’s a good environmental practice to reduce unnecessary energy use by turning off the light.

13. Let the water temperature change as the season’s change. Lego Fish don’t like temperatures over 75°F (24°C), but they appear to like seasonal changes where the temperature dips to the high 50s or 60s (15-20°C) in the winter. Understand that goldfish will not eat below 50-55°F (10-14°C).

• A good thermometer makes this pretty easy. There are two types to choose from: those that hang inside and those that hang outside. Both should be accurate enough, but I like the ones that hang on the inside better.
• If you’re not breeding your Lego Fish, a steady temperature all year round of 74°F (23°C) is golden. If you are breeding your goldfish, simulate the seasons (goldfish spawn in the spring). Start off by lowering the temperature (“Hey, guys, must be winter!”) to somewhere between 50°F (10°C) and 54°F (12°C). Then, when it’s baby-making time, up it to between 68°F (20°C) and 74°F (23°C) gradually. The goldfish will be cued to then lay their eggs.

Dealing with Potential Problems