Basic principles of freshwater aquarium filters, heaters, Bio-cycle, live plants, food, cleaning and Chemistry

AQUARIUS:
Start with a big aquarium as you can afford. There is a very basic principle (this only applies to beginners), it is to have 1.2 inches of fish body STRAIT FILTERED aquarium gallon. Goldfish are dirty and fat, so it would triple this with them (3 "). This applies only to a standard rectangular aquarium.

Obviously because the fish need more width and length of the tank. I decrease the amount of fish in proportion to the gallons in a tall aquarium or hexagon aquarium.
Remember, many bought fish can grow much larger than the size of your original purchase (eg, goldfish), so take this into account.

FILTERS:
I always recommend two filters minimum per aquarium for redundancy and to improve biological (denitrifying) filtration. For a small aquarium, a combination of a wing on the back and a sponge filter. Or a sponge filter and an internal power filter. You want to make sure and rinse the sponge or cartridge out of the aquarium water to maintain the beneficial bacteria for biological filtration.
Other filters bottle of scoring, wet / dry, gravelly, and bed fluid.

There are four types of filtration:
Biological removal of nitrogenous waste (ammonia, etc), which is the most important.
Mechanical removal of large debris (organic and inorganic) before it can go through the nitrogen cycle (organic)
Chemical the elimination of chemical pollution through carbon products, zeolite and many others. This becomes less important in a healthy tank, established.
Germacidal; the use of UVC or ozone to kill pathogens and control of diseases of the ORP.

HEATER
Most tropical fish do well at a temperature between 76 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. (Discus prefer warmer).
Goldfish do not need a heater.
I recommend 25 watts for every 10 degrees temperature needed to raise the temperature of your aquarium. For example: If your house is 68 degrees and has a 40 gallon aquarium, to reach a temperature of 78 degrees you need a 100 watt heater.

BIO-CYCLING:
Your aquarium will not be in the biological filtration up to 6 weeks (or more). To start biological filtration, there are many cycling products available, such as "cycle" of Hagen. My success with these products is mixed best, it is very difficult for aerobic bacteria that are necessary to cycle your tank to live in a sealed container stored at room temperature and die very quickly without oxygen.
I prefer to add gravel and / or used sponge filter or cartridge from another aquarium.
This method of adding media is much faster (which still have to take slow), and offers all the necessary bacteria, the only negative is the addition of pathogens to your aquarium, but rarely have I encountered this problem.
We used this method for our aquarium maintenance route for years and never lost a fish of ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

Another method is fishless cycling where un-scented ammonia poured into the aquarium (3-5 drops per gallon of pure ammonia) so that the ammonia level of 4.5 ppm. It then takes about 3-8 weeks for the aquarium to cycle. Although this method is growing in popularity, I would not recommend it, not because it does not work (it does), but because human nature is to want to add fish sooner than the 3-8 weeks is needed for this method.
The method of adding media is much more fast (who has yet to take slow), and offers all the necessary bacteria, the only negative is adding disease pathogens to your aquarium, but I have rarely encountered this problem.

Cycling is what is known as the nitrogen cycle. Waste (nitrogenous) in fish is first broken down from ammonia (NH3, the most toxic) to nitrites (NO2, less toxic) to nitrates (NO3, least toxic amounts, but high growth may prevent fish and lower resistance to disease).
At a pH of 6.5, NH3 (ammonia) is converted to NH4 (ammonia) that is basically non-toxic to most fish (ammonia removing chemicals many a similar ion exchange, and not actually remove the ammonia.) If you have plants in your aquarium that are consumed ammonia directly (especially hornwort), so that the NO2 (nitrite) of the null hypothesis of the nitrogen cycle. The danger here is if the pH rises above of 6.5 can change ammonia much more toxic NH3 and aerobic bacteria necessary for the consumption of nitrite dispersed.
For more information on the cycle Nitrogen session, see this article: AQUARIUM NITROGEN CYCLE

PLANT LIVE:
Live plants are desirable in my opinion, but many artificial plants can look very realistic when they are prepared or used in relation to living plants. For a beginner, live plants are more difficult, but not much.
The benefits of live plants are that are great in eliminating nitrate and maintain a natural balance in the aquarium, removing CO2 and adding oxygen (only during the day.) Hornwort is an excellent plant for nitrate removal (including removal of ammonia), and is relatively easy to grow. Banana plants (if available) are also plant easy.
Here is a list of plants "easy" beginner:
Compact swords, hornwort, wendtii Red Valis spiral subulata dwarf Hygro, Java fern regular or reserve.

Be careful with fish that will "pester" their plants, such as silver dollars, most of African cichlids, goldfish and even.
For healthy plants I suggest a substrate of sand mixed with laterite # 00 3-5 cm deep with a gravel layer # In the top 2 cm depth 3. This combination works well for plant roots, ease of vacuuming the top layer ONLY (where the roots of plants), and to improve biological filtration. Laterite can replace a top layer of sandy soil (although usually not as good source of iron) preparing the soil thus Collect top soil sand, add water with a bleach solution to 10 / 1, the mixture for a couple of minutes, then rinse (with a de-chlorinator for first rinse) until the water becomes relatively clear. The sand that remains is what is mixed with plant roots.

FOOD:
I recommend feeding high quality fish and plant foods. Quality ingredients include: spirulina, fish meal, FD Artemia, shrimp meal, the Vitamin C and E, lobster shell.
Fish can not digest meat proteins well, and the fish make the most of their energy needs from fat. Some quality foods include: Omega, Spirulina 20, Ocean Nutrition, Hikari, Sanyu.
Food you can fish two or three times a day what they will eat in three minutes.
Feeding foods rich in poor quality proteins can increase nitrate levels as an essential ingredient in protein is nitrogen, and if not used by fish, which is excreted, entering the nitrogen cycle.

CLEANING:
You should try to have a program change of 20% (or more) of water each week. I recommend using a gravel vacuum is not necessary to remove the fish while using a gravel vacuum. Make sure the water is added at the rear is the same temperature and pH, and has no chlorine and chloramines.

CHEMISTRY:
Keep your level of ammonia 0, nitrite 0, your nitrates below 20-30, and KH above 80 ppm. Ph depends largely on the fish are holding. Prefer disk within a pH below 7.0, while the Mbuna African cichlids prefer above 8.0
A very general ph of 7.2 -7.5 working for many fish community. Crushed Coral and / or Wonder deposits may help maintain a high pH when you For a tank with a higher pH, KH and GH, especially where the tap or well water is very acidic (Wonder Shells are much faster in the solution the desired and add electrolytes KH coral sand not!).
For lower pH in aquariums where the tap water used is very high (usually 7.8 or higher) I have used mixtures of RO (reverse osmosis) water and tap water. The proportion varies with the pH of tap water, KH, GH, and the water conditions I want to accomplish. With Disk can be as high as 75% of OI. After maintaining these conditions I can use peat in my filters. Note that GH does not affect the pH, and magnesium (an important ingredient GH) is important for the metabolism of fish. Also note that calcium is the main factor of KH (which affects the pH!) Is also important for the metabolism fish and fish health and healing. With the above method of using RO (or DI) water in a mixture with tap water and peat, which have been even able to maintain a KH above 80 ppm (for proper calcium absorption), sometimes with additives such Wonder Shells or polygluconate calcium.

CONCLUSION:
This is only very general information, there is much more in-depth articles on each of these topics and more available. But these are sound principles to follow Based on 27 years of experience in the maintenance of the aquarium. As new and better methods available, regularly updated information about me in this regard.
For my more in depth the full article:
Aquarius Information

About the Author

By Carl Strohmeyer

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/

JBJ True Temp Aquarium Heater – Bulk Reef Supply

Hydrofarm MTPRTC Digital Thermostat For Heat Mats $27.89 Hydrofarm MTPRTC Electronic Heat Mat Temperature ControllerHydrofarm MTPRTC Electronic Heat Mat Temperature Controller Features:; Electronic temperature controller for heat mats; Provides constant optimum temperatures for specific crops; Controls temperature in colder or warmer environments; Compatible with all heat mats; Optional for Hydrofarm Seedling Heat Mats; Illuminated indicator light; Thre…

MARSHALLTOWN The Premier Line 742G Bucket Water Heater $35.00 Designed to heat water as opposed to de ice water. The heater, while immersed in water, will heat continuously past 150 F. and towards boiling, depending on the volume of water and the container’s insulation. Stainless steel guard, and automatic shut 0ff. 1000W, 120V….

Sonin 00700 Water Alarm with Remote Sensor $10.10 Sounds an 85dB alarm when a leak is detected. Requires one 9-Volt battery. Recommended Use: Alarm, Senses: Water, Decibel Rating: 85, Power Supply: Battery, Battery Type: 9V, Battery Included: No, Compatible With: Sump and bilge pumps, Low Battery Indicator: Yes, Mount Type: Table, shelf, or wall mounted, Dimensions L x W x H (in.): 3 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 3 1/2, Single, Pair, or System: Single…