The addition of a freshwater aquarium to your home can transform it into a relaxing and beautiful space. Watching the colorful fish swim, interact with each other and feed can be an entertaining as well as an educational experience. Freshwater aquariums are particularly good teaching tools for young children and they bring a natural an organic feel to any room in your home. Many people choose to set up a freshwater aquarium in their living room but you can place it in the study to watch in between working or in a child’s room where they can be involved in the feeding and breeding of the fish. Wherever you choose to display your freshwater fish there are some important things you need to know before you set up a freshwater aquarium.
Follow this useful step by step guide and enter an amazing underwater world in no time:
Setting up the Tank
* Clean the tank, gravel and your chosen decorations with non-soap based cleaning products. Your local aquarist will be able to recommend a suitable one
* You should set up a freshwater aquarium in a carefully chosen location. Choose a place where it will be visible to all who use the room, perhaps in view of a couch or dining room table. Never place a tank in direct sunlight or near a window that gets the sun’s glare. Naturally it will need to be near an electrical outlet so you can hook up your filter system. Don’t place your tank where it will get a draft.
* Install the aquarium’s filtration system by following the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter. There are different models available and all installations have unique requirements.
* Add enough clean gravel for the tank size – about one pound of gravel for every gallon of water the tank holds. Clean your gravel by boiling it. (i.e. if it isn’t plastic!).
* Place your chosen water plants into the bottom of the tank, anchoring each in the layer of gravel.
* If your aquarium tank isn’t level place a ΒΌ inch Styrofoam sheet under it. This will distribute the weight evenly and prevent a nasty accident or wobbly, unstable tank. An unbalanced tank causes the seams to be stressed and a leak will result.
* Now you are ready to fill the aquarium tank with water. Leave about one inch at the top of the tank. Tropical fish are generally very sensitive to the chemicals found in tap water so ask your aquarist if you will need special water conditioners for the area you live in.
* Switch on your aquarium’s water filtration system
* Now place your heater and thermometer into the tank. Tropical fish will thrive at a temperature of seventy-six to seventy-nine degrees. If you are going to keep cold water fish they are most comfortable at fifty to seventy degrees.
* Now the wait! Allow your aquarium to run for at least twenty four hours making sure that your temperature settings are correct and that the water is properly aerated.
* You may need to cycle your tank for a while longer when you first set up a freshwater aquarium. A new tank needs to establish colonies of bacteria that keep the fish and water healthy. This will depend on the fish species you have chosen so ask for expert, professional advice.
* After making sure that the chemical levels are adequate you are ready to add your new underwater friends to your aquarium.
Choosing Fish Species for Your Aquarium
* The size of your tank will determine how many fish you can keep. Allow about two inches of fish per gallon of water.
* Always buy your fish from an experienced dealer or breeder who can guarantee the health of his product. It is very important to house fish that are free from illnesses to avoid infecting the whole tank. Inspect the fish in the dealer’s tanks and make sure that they are in a good state of health and that the tanks are clean. Any dead or sick fish should raise a red flag!
* Do some research on the fish that you are attracted to before you set up a freshwater aquarium. Find out about their habits, feeding preferences and if there are any illnesses they are prone to. Make sure you choose fish that have similar temperature preferences and chemical needs. You also need to know if the fish you want are compatible with each other. Many larger fish like Oscars prey on smaller ones so to avoid them vanishing day by day try to choose ones that don’t.
* Choosing fish that swim in schools will give you fewer compatibility problems and it is easy to gauge whether any of them are ill by watching them in a group. Neons or Cardinal Tetras are a good choice, as are Corydoras catfish, small barbs, rasboras, loaches or pearl and zebra danios. Either way try to avoid getting only one of everything you like rather get several and allow them to cluster together in the tank.
Build a Freshwater Aquarium – Conclussion
* Certain fish are good to keep as they are algae eaters and help to maintain the health of your tank for example bristle-nose or clown plecostomus or otocinclus catfish.
* Make sure you understand how large your fish will grow. Cichlids grow quite large and Angel fish need a tank larger than ten gallons. Catfish also grow to very large sizes so choose them with caution as they are predatory fish.
* When you first set up a freshwater aquarium, it may be tempting to want to impress your friends with exotic species like piranha. Don’t! They eat many smaller fish like goldfish and since these are often carriers of disease you may end up having to quarantine your fish. They also tend to feed on each other if food is not plentiful. Choose bala sharks instead although they do need quite a bit of space.
* All new fish should be quarantined before adding it to the tank. When you do introduce it to the tank, do it slowly. Float the fish in its bag in the tank water until the temperature is equalized. Periodically add some tank water to the bag.
* You lighting should be kept low until the new fish has acclimatized to its new environment.
* Make sure that your tank has plenty of hiding places for the new fish to seek shelter until they are comfortable with their new home. You should set up a freshwater aquarium to take all the different preferences of a multitude of fish species into account.
* Never add more than four fish at any one time to avoid causing a chemical imbalance in the water.
Cleaning Your Aquarium
* Each week clear your filter strainers of plant debris or fish waste and clean any algae build-up from the tank walls with an algae scraper or scrubbing pad.
* Your filter should be cleaned every two weeks. Clean it according to the manufacturer’s instructions and never neglect a cleaning date.
* The filter impellers should be rid of any slime, algae or plant debris and you will need to replace the activated carbon bags in the filter.
* The hood or canopy of the aquarium should be cleaned with your algae scrubber pad or scraper.
* NEVER use any unsuitable chemicals to clean the walls or hood of your aquarium. Buy a suitable product from your local aquarist.
When you set up a freshwater aquarium remember you need to be there for your fish as much as they are there to enrich and entertain you. A tank is a contained environment and does need some meticulous attention to detail and regular care to keep it healthy.
If you think you can handle this responsible commitment then go ahead and set up a freshwater aquarium and enjoy the wonderful colors and fluid swimming motions of our fishy friends. If you are lucky you may get to see them mate and produce young – a true sign that they really feel at home!