You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Listen to this article:

Buy the Tank

Before you do anything else you need to decide where in the house you want put your home freshwater aquarium. It must be out of direct sunlight and away from draughts and vibration. Once you know where it is going then you will have a good idea as to its possible size. Any tank less than 30 galls water capacity (36″ x 18″ x 12″) is too small as a beginner’s tank. This is because small home freshwater aquariums tend to be more unstable than larger ones and can go wrong very quickly.

You will find fish tanks made of either glass or the more expensive acrylic. Glass is not as strong as acrylic but acrylic is less scratch resistant than glass. Acrylic is also a better insulator than glass so running costs may be less. Glass tanks are normally fine but if there are children about you might prefer to consider acrylic.

Buy the other equipment

Your home freshwater aquarium will weigh a lot so you must make sure that the tank support is strong enough.

If you are going to have live plants you will require a substrate of some sort. Filtration is also very important. There are several kinds of filters ranging from under gravel through external filters to power filters. To complete the water treatment equipment you will need one or more heaters and thermostat and two or more aeration blocks with a pump.

If you are going to have live plants in your home freshwater aquarium then you will need a timer and high K value lighting. If you’re not clear what that means then you would b well advised to seek advice from your fish man.

You’ll also need a few bits and pieces like a gravel cleaner, small net and rubber glass scraper.

Set the tank up

Place your under gravel filter in the tank first if you are using one and then add the substrate or gravel then fill it with freshwater. Setup everything else such as rocks, plants, background paper on the back of the fish tank, filter system, heater, thermostat and aeration blocks. Plants are a subject in themselves so if you are a beginner be advised by your fish supplier on the best plants to get. Then leave your tank for about a week to allow the water chemistry to stabilise and give the important micro-organisms time to grow.

Before you add any fish to your home freshwater aquarium, it is a must that it has stabilised. It is the most common mistake made by beginners so be warned.

The pH level should settle to an acceptable level and the temperature should be normal for all the fish in the tank. When you stabilise the tank everything should be in place including rocks, ornaments and plants.

Buy the fish

Now that your home freshwater aquarium is stable and has been running for about a week, you can go back to the pet store and buy your fish. You need to make sure that the water conditions (temperature, pH, hardness) suit the fish that you buy. You should also make sure that the fish you select will happily live together in peace. Finally, you should not exceed 1 inch of fish for each gallon of water. Don’t forget that your fish are usually youngsters when you buy them and they will soon grow bigger so you should bear this in mind when aapplying the formula. The greater the number of fish in your tank means the more often you will have to clean it out.

Don’t just tip your newcomers straight into the tank. Float the plastic bag that they arrived in for about 20 minutes this equalises the temperature, then open the bag and mix a little tank water in it for another 20 minutes before finally allowing the new fish to swim out of the submerged bag. Don’t be worried when your new arrivals huddle together at the back of the tank for a day or two, this is perfectly normal.

It is true to say that fish are cannibals and if a fish is of a size that will fit into the mouth of another then it will be eaten. The consequence of this is that you should not add small or baby fish to an established aquarium, the larger fish are going to eat them.

Maintain it

Your home freshwater aquarium will need to be cleaned out regularly because unlike ponds and lakes it is not large enough to reach an equilibrium. This normally should be done every two weeks. Use a siphonic ‘hoover’ to clean the gravel and make sure you change at least one third of the water with treated freshwater. Treated freshwater means tap water that has a small amount of a chemical added to remove its chlorine.

So that’s it. If you do everything that I have described above then you should have an enjoyable introduction to your home freshwater aquarium.