How We Care For Our Fish Q&A

Here at the Natural Environment Aquatix, we know that you want the best fish. We also know you expect them to be treated well before they reach your home aquarium. We are passionate about getting healthy, quality fish and we strive to care for them well.

Whether you're just starting your home aquarium or just got your first fish tank, you deserve to know how your fish are being treated. Read our popular Q&As to see exactly how we source and care for our fish.

How often do you get new fish and plants?

Our shipments vary. Our fish and plants come in weekly, while we receive some shipments multiple times a week. Most of the time, we get all our shipments by Thursday.

We always aim to keep our crowd favorites in stock, but our main draw is the rare and exotic freshwater fish and aquatic plants we always have. We have a little something for everyone.

Where do you get your fish from?

We have multiple fish vendors. We carefully select all our wholesalers based on their quality, fish and plant availability, and practices. We love going to fish farms to handpick fish, but our favorite vendors are too far away to do this regularly. Typically, we order off the weekly stock list our vendors send us. We are very grateful for all of our amazing vendors. 

Our top four favorite wholesalers are:

The Cichlid Exchange, Inc.

The Cichlid Exchange is located in Portland, OR, and has been a wholesale distributor for over 30 years. They pride themselves on keeping healthy, happy fish as well as offering a wide selection of quality freshwater fish. Their customer service is unmatched, and that is why we will always be loyal customers. 

We order all our discus from The Cichlid Exchange. But we also get a little bit of everything here, such as bettas, community fish, puffers, oddball fish, etc. We absolutely love that they quarantine everything there before it's sent to us.

Ruinemans Aquarium, Inc.

 Ruinemans Aquarium is one of the biggest wholesalers of ornamental fish, and they're also very reliable. They import from over 25 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. They offer a wide range of fish and plants, but their guaranteed quality and service make them an ideal wholesaler.

Ruinemans Aquarium is our go-to vendor for plants and rainbow fish. We also source a lot of our knife fish and community fish here. Their customer service is easy to work with, so we're always very confident with our orders from here.

Sun Pet

 Sun Pet is located in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a popular pet supplier throughout the United States. They offer freshwater and saltwater fish, as well as other small animals. 

One of our favorite things about Sun Pet is that they have their own delivery driver, so there's less stress on the fish, so it's helpful to have a vendor that does it all. We order a lot of our old world/new world cichlids here, but they also have some really unique fish like arowanas, eels, and catfish.

Florida Exotic Fish Sales

 We love how Florida Exotic Fish Sales is located here in Florida. They always get us quality, healthy fish. They're our go-to for African Cichlids. They carry the best selection out there, with the best colors and sizes. You can get cichlids there you won't see anywhere else!

Do you medicate your fish?

Before you purchase from us, all fish go through at least one round of medication. We do this because you can never be too careful and we strive to provide nothing but healthy fish. 

We use:

Ich-X

 Ich-X is a common treatment for fish. Pet stores, aquariums, and fish owners everywhere use it to fight common fish diseases. It's used to treat Ich, as well as mild fungal infections. Ich-X also treats the following conditions:

• Velvet (Gold Dust Disease)
• Saprolegniasis (Cotton Wool Disease)
• Trichodiniasis
• Fungal Issues
• Protozoan-caused diseases

Ich-X is the most widely respected treatment for ich and other mild fungal infections, so we rely on it to keep our fish safe until they reach your home aquarium.

Erythromycin

 While Ich-X controls fungal diseases, erythromycin controls bacterial disease. It treats the following conditions:

• Furunculosis (open lesions and swelling)
• Bacterial gill disease
• Body slime
• Hemorrhagic septicemia (blood spots on skin)
• Mouth fungus
• Secondary bacterial infections

Erythromycin is effective and safe for both freshwater and saltwater fish. It's safe to use with other Ich, fungus, and parasite remedies.

General Cure

 General Cure is a parasitic fish disease treatment. It can treat current parasite problems whether symptoms just developed or are farther along. Some diseases General Cure treats are:

• Fish lice
• Velvet
• Hole-in-the-head disease
• Gill and skin flukes

General Cure is safe for both fresh and saltwater aquariums. It treats a wide range of parasitic diseases, which makes it an obvious choice for our aquariums.

Besides the medication, we keep aquarium salt in our fish tanks. The salt protects our fish from stress and disease by providing essential electrolytes. These electrolytes promote healthy gill function, making it easier for our fish to breathe. We also use it because it effectively treats bacteria, parasites, and fungus along with the other medications.

What foods do you feed your fish?

We only feed our fish top-quality fish food, which we also sell in our store. Because we believe in only offering the best of the best, and how are we supposed to know if we don't use it ourselves. We carry many different foods, but these are our go to. 

 Our favorites are:

Xtreme Aquatic Foods

 Xtreme Aquatic Foods use high-quality marine proteins such as krill, shrimp, squid, and herring. This gives your fish a balanced diet that Enhances their natural colors and healthy growth. Xtreme has many different foods made specifically for your fishes needs such as Cichlid PeeWee and Community Crave. Not only that, but all their products are sourced, packaged, and labeled in the USA. 

Repashy Super Foods

 Repashy Superfoods offers its custom gel mixes for different kinds of fish. You mix the pre-packaged powder with water, and it becomes a gel-like substance that you can use like fresh food. Repashy has different formulas for all kinds of different fish. I have yet to have found a fish that won't eat Repashy.

Live brine shrimp from our brine shrimp hatchery

 We have a brine shrimp hatchery where we hatch live baby brine shrimp for our fish. They love it, and we sell brine shrimp hatcheries so that you too can feed your fish live brine shrimp. Brine shrimp have high protein levels and are very small so that even the tiniest fish can enjoy it, making them an ideal snack for tropical fish. I feel like live Brine shrimp is the secret sauce when it comes to keeping finicky fish healthy, for example, Celestial Pearl Danios and Kill Fish.

What maintenance do we do?

We pride ourselves on the cleanliness of the shop and our tanks! The majority of our time is spent on maintenance. We keep our fish tanks in pristine condition by caring for them every week. Some of the routine maintenance is:

• Weekly 50% water changes on every tank
• Vacuum gravel
• Clean filters as needed
• Scrub algae as needed

It takes about four days total to finish all the water changes because we have over 100 aquariums in our shop, and we are very thorough when it comes to gravel vacuuming and scrubbing algae. Our first commitment is to the health and quality of our fish. Tank maintenance is the key to that, so it is a high priority.

We love our fish here at the Natural Environment Aquatix, and we are dedicated to getting you the fish you want and the knowledge to take care of them. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have more specific questions about recommended foods, compatibility, or other care. Our team is always here for you. We can't wait to hear from you.