Buying Aquarium
For Aquarium Setup, first step is to buy an aquarium. There are various shapes and sizes available. A beginner may get confused on entering the pet store and wonder which one to buy. There may be robot shaped aquariums, fish bowls, Hexagonal, etc.
There are 2 major types:
a. Acrylic Aquarium.
b. Glass Aquarium.
Acrylic Aquarium may be unbreakable or less likely to break with little kids around. But these are very scratch prone. Avoid these if possible.
Glass Aquariums are breakable. But these are virtually scratch proof. These need to be handled with care. Visibility in these aquariums is better.
Next process in Aquarium Setup:
Selecting Aquarium capacity.
One may be tempted to go for a smaller 10 gallon aquarium. Please avoid this. The cost difference between a 10 gallon and 20 gallon is not much. Go for the largest size your budget allows for. I have a 20 gallon aquarium and am pleased with this.
Selecting Aquarium dimensions:
An aquarium may come in various configurations for the same capacity. Some aquariums are longer versus the taller ones. Most fish enthusiasts prefer the longer aquarium.
The reason being that fish have more room to swim (length wise). But one would choose a taller aquarium, if one is choosing an angel fish as a pet. These grow taller compared to other fish.
One can get a used aquarium (from craigslist/ garage sales or buy a new one.
If buying an aquarium as a kit, these normally come with hood lighting, heater (for tropical fish), thermometer.
Next on the Aquarium Setup shopping list:
1. Gravel: One would need to buy at least one pound per gallon of aquarium water.
Type: Select rounded smooth gravel or sand if considering to keep catfish (algae eaters). The sharp gravel can damage the barbels on these fish.
Color: Any colorful gravel to suit your liking.
2. Live Plants. These help in oxygenating the water and providing some food source for some fish.
3. Plastic Plants. These are colorful and impossible to kill.
4. Water conditioner and dechlorinator. (Essential, one needs this during every water change).
5. Driftwood (if you want to keep this in the aquarium).
6. Other decorations like bubblers/ aerators.
7. Buy water testing kits. At the minimum buy an Ammonia test kit, Nitrite test kit and Nitrate test kit. The liquid test kits from API are good and accurate.
Process in Aquarium Setup.
Wash gravel in tap water thoroughly 3 to 4 times, till the gravel is clean. For the final wash use dechlorinated water. Follow instructions on the dechlorinator bottle.
After this is done fill the aquarium with gravel.
Fill tap water in a bucket. Dechlorinate this using dechlorinator. Dechlorination is very important. If this is not done, the chlorine will kill the fish and the helpful bacteria very quickly in a couple of days or less. Then pour this into aquarium.
When aquarium is about 25% full, put the live plants, decorations, aerator wands etc.
Fill to the top using a plate at the bottom to deflect the water and not disturb the gravel.
Cycle the aquarium
Next you will need to cycle the Aquarium.
Click here to learn how to cycle an Aquarium.
Here is a picture of the completed aquarium:
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