How to set up a freshwater aquarium
This is a step 11 for the creation of a freshwater aquarium at home.
Equipment you need:
Aquarius
Aquarium gravel
Aquarium filter
Replacement filter media
Heater
Other decorations (such as plants)
The chemical test kits
Fish for human consumption
Empty aquarium
Fishing Nets
Glass Scrubber
5 gallon
Pasta strainer
1: Realize the responsibility involved.
A tropical fish tank is like having a dog or a cat when it comes to the amount of effort on your part. To have a successful aquarium will have to work on it. Once a week, or at most once every two weeks, will have to perform any maintenance in the tank. Most times you will do water changes. You also need to feed your tropical fish at least once a day. If you are prepared to the challenge, please proceed!
2: Decide on the size of an aquarium.
It's a good idea to consider what type of tropical fish you want to keep before purchasing an aquarium. Some tropical fish grow only one or two inches, while other types of tropical fish can grow 12 or 13 inches long! Knowing what of tropical fish you want will help you decide the size of tank you need. If this is your first time with an aquarium, I recommend you go to an aquarium of 10 or 20 gallons for now.
3: Decide on the location of the aquarium.
Place the aquarium in an area where light and temperature of the tank will not be affected by sources external sources such as windows and heater vents. You want to place your aquarium on a stand that will be able to maintain their weight. A good general rule for determining the total weight of a tank full is 10 pounds per gallon of water. For example, a 55-gallon tank weighs about 550 pounds when full of water!
4: Buy your aquarium and equipment.
Now is the time to decide on the type of filtering you want to use. You also need to purchase a heater capable of heating the tank size you have. Buy gravel plants, a power strip and other decorations. A good rule of thumb for the amount of gravel that is needed is 1 to 1.5 pounds of gravel per gallon of water.
5: Set up the aquarium and stand.
Wash the tank with just water! Do not use soap or detergents. soap residue left behind be harmful to tropical fish. If you use a gravel filter (not recommended) now would be the time to set it up well.
6: Wash Gravel, plants and decorations.
Be sure to wash the gravel thoroughly before adding to your tank. An easy way to do this is to put some rocks in a pasta strainer and wash in the bath. Then place the clean gravel in a clean 5-gallon bucket for transport to the aquarium. After adding the gravel you can place your plants and decorations.
7: Add water to the aquarium.
To avoid damaging your plants and gravel, you can place a plate or saucer in the middle of your aquarium and direct the flow water in the dish. Use room temperature water when filling. To remove chlorine and chloramine, use something like Tetra aquarium AquaSafe. Not completely, not to fill the tank until you are sure of the layout of your decorations. Otherwise, when you put your arm to move stuff around water is going to spread. Doh!
8: Set the computer.
Install the heater, but do not switch until the thermostat on the heater has adjusted to the temperature of the water. This usually takes about 15 minutes or less. Connect your filter and any other computer, then high water tank, just below the rim of the hood. Place the hood and light in the aquarium and then check your power cables to ensure they are free of water. We also recommend using a drip loop on all power cords to be extra cautious. Connect all the computer into a power strip and then "activate" the aquarium.
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Wait, wait, wait and wait some more.
I know you want to add some tropical fish. But to do this well have to wait until the aquarium has cycled before adding any fish. There are ways to accelerate this process. View out the nitrogen cycle page for more information. If you must use fish to cycle, try to get a more resistant species as the zebra danio or cherry barb. -
Add tropical fish.
Just add one or two fish at once. Adding a couple fish tropical at a time gives your filtration system the time required for the increased biological load that the new fish introduce. When you bring home fish to float the bag in the tank for about 15 minutes for fish can acclimate to temperature and pH of aquarium water. After 5 minutes of floating the bag should add a little aquarium water to the bag so that fish can acclimate to the level of pH in the aquarium. This will help reduce the amount of stress imposed in the tropics fish. Stressed tropical fish often leads to dead tropical fish! Do not feed your tropical fish on the first day. Probably not eat any food in the first day anyway. Let them know their new home. -
Get ready for regular maintenance.
Be prepared to spend some time once every week or two to clean the tank. Performing regular water changes will reduce nitrate levels and keep your tropical fish happy and healthy.
Please visit http://www.FishLore.com for more information on tropical fish .
About the Author
Mike is an editor at FishLore.com. Designed for beginners, http://www.FishLore.com provides tropical fish information, how-to guides, articles, fish profiles, FAQs, forums and more! FishLore.com – Tropical Fish & Aquarium Information.
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