Unfortunately setting up your tank is not a simple case of choosing a tank and filling it with water and fish. Before you bring your fish home from the store or breeder you will need to prepare your aquarium properly and this could take days or even weeks. Your first priority is choosing a tank. When choosing the size and shape of your tank, aside from considering the space and location you intend to put it in, you will also need to do some research concerning the type of fish you want to keep in it. Some fish will require a larger amount of space and therefore a bigger tank. Although buying bigger tanks can be expensive they also have the advantage of being generally easier to clean.

You can buy your fish tanks in separate parts (base, tank, hood, filter, lighting / heater) but many people now choose to buy the complete sets which are available from most pet stores. Whichever method you opt for you will need to choose between a glass or acrylic tank, both of which have their relative merits. Glass tanks are generally cheaper and a safe bet for people who are opting for a standard sized tank. Acrylic tanks are lighter and stronger but can be easily scratched and often cost more to repair.

When you set up your tank make sure you place it on a solid even surface. You can place foam or polystyrene underneath to help with this. As obvious as it sounds – make sure you have power outlets near your setup point as you don’t want to trip over any wires and damage your fish and tank. You will also need to keep your fish tank away from things which vibrate.

The next step is to set up the correct environment for your fish. Covering the base of the tank with rock or gravel will help with this as they will act as a natural filter. Make sure you use gravel specifically for fish tank use and rinse it with water before spreading a good few inches across the base. Healthy water is incredibly important as it will act as the life support system for your fish; add yours by pouring into a bowl inside the tank to avoid dispersing the gravel inside. In addition to an external or internal filter you may wish to use a filter boost. These work as a catalyst to speed up the growth of bacteria in the water which break down toxins, they can also be used to shorten the time needed to prepare your aquarium. Depending on your filtration system you may also choose to invest in an air pump.

A thermometer will help you monitor the temperature in your tank which can be controlled by an in-built or add-on heating/lighting system. Another item which may not be included in fish tank set up kits is a hood. These are essential for keeping things in and out of your tank and will also home your any internal filter and heating equipment so make sure the one you choose has space to accommodate your equipment.

Just like preparing your own home your final step for tank preparation may be engaging in a little interior décor. If you choose to include plants in your tank make sure they are compatible with any fish you will be keeping and rinse them thoroughly before bedding in your base. Be sure to rinse any other decorations such as logs too; you don’t want anything nasty lurking in your tank before your swimming beauties take up residence.

Generally the most common is when you first set up your aquarium and put in new plants and gravel or sand. Before you add these to your aquarium or tank it is wise to wash them as they will probably have picked up a lot of dust or have some loose bits on them which need washing away. This is really easy to do, and plants just need gently rinsing in some water whilst with gravel or sand the trick is to rinse it through in a bucket or bowl and then gently filter it out until the water runs clear through it. If things like gravel or plants are the reason for your cloudy water it will usually only last a day or two before it settles down at the bottom of the tank and it shouldn’t be harmful to your fish at all.

If you notice a grey or white haze in the water of your tank it can usually mean you’ve got some bacterial bloom. This is completely harmless to your fish and is simply caused by an imbalance between the bacteria in the water and the waste and debris in the tank from the fish and any plants you have. As the tank matures this will usually sort out in its own time, and it’s usually only an issue with newer tanks. If you want to get rid of it quicker a partial water change of around 20% should speed it up and removing waste and uneaten food (and avoiding over feeding!) will help cut down on the waste that is mixing in the tank.

Another reason for a grey coloured haze could be a chemical imbalance in the water. A simple explanation for this can be harder water with more minerals in, or using a lot of chemical additives in the water. If you use a water conditioner this can help cut down on the hazing by binding metal elements, and regularly changing the water will also help. However, it is worth checking the pH and hardness of the water you are putting into your tank to see if that may be the cause. Bubbles of gas in the water are a common cause of chemical imbalances and this is easily solved by allowing the water to stand and reach room temperature in its own time.

Algae is a common problem in fish tanks and will cause a thick green cloud in the water, though this won’t hurt the fish at all. It does, however, mean you can’t see your lovely fish. The way to solve this is to make sure the tank is kept out of direct sunlight, and if you have a light in the tank don’t keep it on more than 12 hours a day- as this can encourage algae growth- and change the water every so often to minimise the nutrients that fuel the algae. This is often the root cause of the algae, and if you stick to these measures you should be ok, though things like UV filtration or a Diatom filter can help in the short term. However, if the problem keeps occurring you may need to move your tank or look at your filtering system and change it.

To grow your plants well in the aquarium you need the right balance of light and nutrients. It can be a difficult balance as most aquariums only have a single light tube, and this sometimes isn’t enough for the plants to grow with, however if you have too much light it can encourage excess algae growth. You can help balance this by adding nutrient supplements or fertilizers.

Never keep your tank light on for more than 12 hours a day, not only does it use a lot of electric it also can encourage algae growth. When planting your new tank try to put in some fast growing plants at first to get an established base before any algae can set in, you might also want some algae eating fish, such as Otocinclus species (catfish), to help with this as they won’t eat your plants. You could also use some floating plants to put shade in areas that you’re not planting in- if you have dark loving fish like catfish they’ll definitely thank you for this.

Caring for your aquarium plants couldn’t be easier and there are some very simple steps to making sure they thrive in their environment. Removing any of the yellowed or dead leaves before you plant them will ensure that they grow right, and the same goes for roots. The roots should be pale and rigid if they’re healthy, not brown and limp- dead roots will just rot and add substrate to your tank and cloud it. Taking away the bottom few leaves of the plant which won’t get any light will ensure that the nutrients will go to the leaves higher up and will ensure that the new root system can cope. Take note as to whether your plants need planting in the sand or gravel, or whether they need to root themselves to rocks or bogwood. Things like Java fern and Java moss grow best this way and have to be planted correctly.

When your plants start to grow bigger, naturally they will need trimming. Once the plant reaches the surface of the tank you can start to take cuttings and these can be replanted to create more greenery in your aquarium or to replace older plants. These new plants will soon root and thrive with the other plants. Other plants reproduce via runners, and once these get to about a third of the size of the mother plant they can be cute and replanted in the aquarium.

I have been testing one of these in a small tank with just two fish in and a couple of plants. The tank is well established.

First impressions

Looks ok. Feels sturdy enough. The sucker pads locate well (on of my biggest hates is the cheap suckers on small equipment as they never stay put).
Dead easy to assemble.

First use

Its certainly powerful initially. It moved a lot of water and I was concerned it was going to stir the tank up a lot but once I got it dialed in it was fine. It did take a bit of trial and error to get the flow rate and the air rate set but nothing too hard. One trick I did find was to adjust the depth under water to get the air rate right.

1 Month on

Irritations. Whist it is still quiet it loses its power quickly. The filter gets clogged very easily. Im having to keep a lot of water ready to clean the filter it needs doing that often. The advertised flip top does not flip with the filter in place! So every time you have to remove the whole filter all the way before you can get to the foam inside.
With evaporation the water level falls and so the air rate also changes and every few days it does need adjusting again.

Overall

It is a nice cheap small filter. It is whisper quiet. It does the job. But it does need a lot of maintenance.
I would still say its a good buy, but there may be better.

We need a tank!

Tank size is important. We have already decided how much room we have available so you can look at tanks which will fit in your available space. An ideal size for a small group of fish is 75 litre or higher. There are tanks smaller than this and which can be ok, providing you don’t overcrowd your tank. Remember that most of the fish you see in the store are young ands have not reached adult size yet.

There are two options with the construction of the tank. These are acrylic and glass tanks. Acrylic tanks weigh less than glass but need to be totally supported under the base to avoid damage. Acrylic does also have a reputation of scratching easily, but there are products available to help cover and remove the scratches. Make sure you have something sturdy where the aquarium will be situated. The tank when full will weigh a lot!

Lights

A light is needed if you want live plants on the aquarium. They will also bring out the beauty of your fish and aquarium so they are well worth it, even if you only use if occasionally.

Lid

A lid is cheap so it makes sense to own. They protect your aquarium from accidents. In the future you may wish to change to tropical fish. Some of which are renown for jumping so a lid can save your fish. Lids also reduce the evaporation.

Gravel

Gravel looks nice and in this instance wont affect the fish so it is a personal choice. In some tanks it can cause problem by either changing the pH, harbouring bacteria or causing issues with breeding. But we aren’t covering any of that here.

Heater

A heater would only be necessary if the aquarium were to be in an exceptionally cold room. Goldfish are hardy and are fine in a range of comfortable room temperatures. Again other kinds of fish will definitely need a heater.

Filter

A filter is imperative. Fish constantly excrete chemicals which build up over time and will cause issues. Also other impurities build up which have to be removed. Filters also keep the surface of the water moving which is needed to allow for oxygen to enter the water.
The size of the filter is dictated by the amount of water held in your aquarium.

Plants and Ornaments

Now you can decorate the aquarium to your desire! Just make sure any plants are safe for aquariums.

Once you have all the equipment needed for your aquarium its time to put it all together, make your water safe for the fish and finally add your new friends to the aquarium. Keep a watch out for part 3 where we will go over these final steps to get your aquarium live!

There are various opinions around (see references at the end of the article) on what is the best way to move an aquarium. These range from not feeding any animals prior to moving, so that they will not contaminate the water to simply moving the fish into a small transport container, whilst partially draining the aquarium and then putting them back in. Whatever you try to do, make sure that you have a plan and that things are able to go as smoothly and without problem as possible for both the welfare of the marine life and your benefit as well.

As mentioned already, the first thing to take into account is the marine life that you will be transporting. When moving fish Jerome Gaw recommends discontinuing feeding a few days prior to moving. Whilst this might seem logical, of course depending on the health of your fish this could potentially not always be a good idea – check to see if your fish are in good health for example, if you decided to follow this line of action and as mentioned do not hesitate to seek the opinion of a suitably qualified fish expert if there is any doubt. Furthermore Jerome suggests actually sealing the fish into plastic bags – whilst this might possibly work for very short journeys, needless to say for longer journeys, you may need to make sure that they receive proper amounts of air with an air pump. Again other obvious considerations would be the size of the fish involved.

When moving an aquarium, one key thing to keep in mind, is that it will be very difficult to do or indeed virtually impossible whilst it is full of water. To this end, try removing as much water as possible so that it becomes lighter and will not risk overflowing when tilted – if you consider the volume of water you put in and then assess its weight, this should be self-explanatory. Aquariums could be costly to replace and not to mention there being a lot of inconvenience – be safe, slow and cautious.

Another key consideration when moving an aquarium is the fragility of the equipment. Make sure that for instance the glass of the aquarium is properly protected against bashing – remember that it is a heavy object and could pick up quite a bit of momentum if the vehicle that it is moving in suddenly brakes. To this end, consider buying some cheap materials such as air packaging or bubble wrap to properly insulate your aquarium against mishap. Needless to say, if you arrive at your destination with the aquarium life intact but their home damaged, that would be a great inconvenience and a problem you don’t need when you might want to be concentrating on things such as settling in, not looking for the nearest pet shop.

One more thing to consider when moving is what to do in the event of a problem. Whilst you hope that it will not be at all difficult, one thing you might want to do for example is bring some towels for instance, in case water gets sloshed about. Another thing to perhaps check out in advance is where pet shops might be in the new area that you would be going to anyway, just in case you needed to get in touch immediately and might well need this information later on in any case.

Even if you follow all steps safely and have installed your aquarium in the new residence, make sure to check the water quality for temperature, pH etc., so that you do not stumble at the last hurdle. Finally, just as you would make sure in its previous home, make sure that the aquarium is in a secure position away from potential hazards and those that might damage it, such as pets etc.. By damaging anything, this could incur great expense – take care that you do not do this by mistake. In short, plan well, take slow and reasoned action and review – with this action plan hopefully you will have great success. Finally, in some situations it might seem reasonable to simply call in the professionals. If you are traveling by plane or over multiple days etc. – do not see this as failure, rather than realistic pragmatism, unless you are absolutely confident in your ability. Beyond this why not run your plan by us in the forums?

To sum up, here is a possible checklist of actions to undertake.
Firstly prepare the materials such as packaging for transport and identify a safe new location.
Secondly relocate the aquarium life into safe transport items and secure the aquarium by draining enough water to be easily transported.
Thirdly, whilst looking after the welfare of the fish and the equipment, move the equipment to the new location and reassemble everything.
Fourthly double-check that things are setup according to how you would like them and how they should be for any new install.
Fifthly – now you can relax after all things have been done well – happy moving.

Reference:
Jerome Gaw – http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-and-animals/a1783-how-to-move-an-aquarium.html

It costs nothing to make but can save your equipment and better still it can save your life!

On to the good stuff; The first job you have is to have a bit of a planning session. Its no good shooting off to the shop and buying something unsuitable for you and your fish! Enjoy the planning stage and take your time. It will make your new hobby much more enjoyable in the long run.

The first thing to consider is the type of fish you want to keep.
There are three main groups of fish you can keep in aquariums. These are

• Cold Water Fish
  These are fish which will thrive in normal room temperature water. They are also, generally speaking, the easiest group to keep.
• Tropical Fish
  This group need more specialist equipment and more tending to but they are still accessible for a dedicated beginner. Tropical fish also tend to be the more colourful and prettier fish.
• Marine Fish
  A marine aquarium will be the most tricky and most expensive to set up and maintain. These are not really suitable for beginners.

We are initially going to look at cold water fish.

We need to look at the location we have available for the tank as this will dictate the size of the tank and so the types of fish we can keep.
The tank needs to be kept in away from sources of noise such as TVs, Radios and machines (eg washing machine, dishwasher etc). Fish don’t like the vibrations and it will stress them.
Changes in heat need to be avoided too so this means any source of heat such as radiator, fire or electrical appliance needs to be given a wide berth.

So you now know the location you are going to use and so you have a range in the size tank you can accommodate. This means you can think about what kind of fish you can keep. I’m guessing you already have an idea of the fish you would like?

Fish

The most common cold water aquarium fish is the goldfish. Goldfish come in a few different varieties. They range in colours from black to white, to grey, to orange and even yellow and there are specialties such as fan tails with their long flowing tails and bubble eyed with their (obviously) bubble eyes and the comets with the streamlined body.
Goldfish can be large producers of waste and so can need a slightly larger tank along with some varietys growing to become quite large fish again needing that extra space.

Another good option for a beginner aquarium is the White Cloud Mountain minnow. These fish are very hardy and forgiving. They are a schooling fish so do like to be in groups of five or more but they are still comfortable in the smaller end of the tank ranges.

Lets stick with Goldfish for now as that is by far the most common first fish!

That’s part one. Keep an eye out for part two coming soon…

Subscribe for regular updates, offers and news!