Mom used to have a lot of aquariums, and at one point she had ten of them. However, she began eliminating them about 5 years ago. She got rid of the last few when auntie moved home a couple of years ago. Watching the fish swimming around in their aquariums was fun.
An aquarium in your home can add beauty as well as fun to your living area. Psychologists claim that watching fish swim in an aquarium is one of the greatest stress relievers there is. That is probably why so many doctors’ offices now have aquariums. If you are going to install an aquarium in your home, there are a few simple tips you need to keep in mind if you're going to be successful at this intriguing endeavor.
1. Choose an appropriate aquarium for your home.
Don't purchase an aquarium that is extremely deep unless you're prepared to do a lot of extra work. If you own a deep aquarium and one or more of your fish dies, the water may become polluted before you even notice any dead fish.
In a deep aquarium it's difficult to get the plants you may wish to introduce to grow properly since the light has to go all the way down to the bottom. If you want an extra large aquarium, you need to purchase a 48-gallon aquarium that is 48 inches long by 12 inches wide by 12 inches deep. Get one that comes with a flourescent light canopy as this will be capable of illuminating the large aquarium's bottom. Because the aquarium is only a foot deep, your plants will get adequate light and you will have no difficulty seeing all parts of your aquarium. If you get a 48-gallon aquarium, make sure that you get a filter that will be large enough to adequately filter that volume of water.
2. It's best if you purchase all needed aquarium supplies before you set up your aquarium. Let the aquarium sit for at least one week full of water with the filters going before putting any fish into it. Then only put one or two in at a time with at least a three day to one week interval between each group of fish. In this way you won’t upset the biological balance in your aquarium.
Here are some supplies you're going to need:
* aquarium
* aquarium cover with a flourescent light bar
* heater
* aquarium filter
* gravel
* 5 gallon bucket
* strainer
* glass scrubber
* fish food
* replacement filter media
* chemical test kits
* plants -- natural or artificial
* decorations
* fish net
* aquarium vacuum
* aquarium stand - if you don’t have a piece of furniture capable of supporting over 500 pounds (480 pounds of water plus the weight of the aquarium, gravel, fish, filter, and decorations) you should consider getting an aquarium stand to put your aquarium on.
3. It's essential that you keep a close watch over your aquarium. Be sure to check the water in your aquarium for fungus infections, parasites and bacteria. There are parasites that can enter your aquarium through infected fish. Before you notice anything wrong, your entire aquarium could be totally infested. Therefore, be sure to keep close watch to see if any of your fish show signs of being infected and put them in a separate tank away from your healthy fish.
Before adding new fish to your aquarium, you should keep them in a separate tank for at least a week before introducing them to your other fish. You only need an inexpensive plastic tank with no gravel or plants to keep your new fish in to make sure they're healthy. Then add fish gradually so you don't get so many fish in your aquarium that ammonia problems arise, which can result in some or all of your fish dying. A good rule for the number of fish, is to have a maximum of one inch of fish for every gallon of water. Therefore, a 48-gallon tank could handle up to 48 inches of fish. Note! Fish grow. Before purchasing fish, check with the pet store you are buying them from to find out how big they will be when full grown. Overcrowding your tank will cause a lot of problems and spoil the fun of having an aquarium.
4. Take care of your fish by choosing them wisely. Not every fish is compatible with every other fish; so don't purchase fish that won't get along well together just because they're attractive. You'll be sorry if you do. A friend of mom’s did this. Three days later he only had his new attractive fish in the tank. It had eaten all the rest. Pet store staff should be able to tell you if the fish you are looking at is a candidate for a community tank (one with a variety of different fish in it). If they can’t, then go to a different store to buy your fish.
Educate yourself about fish at your local pet store before you make your purchases. You will want to learn what your new fish is like and what its habits are so you'll know how to take care of it. You'll also need to learn if it is compatible with your other fish. Check with the pet store to see if there is an aquarium club in the area. If there is, join it. You will meet a lot of knowledgeable fish enthusiasts at the club. They will gladly help you out and answer all your questions. Aquarium club members frequently have fish to sell or give away, so you can frequently get some good quality fish at very reasonable prices. Also, having someone you can call when you have a problem is invaluable.
5. Be sure that you don't give your fish too much to eat. One of the most common causes of fish dying prematurely in aquariums is overfeeding them. A good rule is to only put enough food in the tank so that your fish can eat it all in two minutes, with none settling on the bottom of the tank. It is much better to under feed your fish than overfeeding them. Provide a little variety in the diet of your fish. Just like you, your fish won’t be happy eating the same food every day of the week. Pet store clerks should be able to help you out in this regard. If they can’t, members of the aquarium club certainly will.
Now that you've read these five simple tips to help you successfully raise fish in your home, be sure to put these tips into practice. Then have fun as these marvelous creatures entertain you.
Until next time,
Teia
PS. The tank shown above is too deep. Mom had a lot of trouble getting the water to circulate properly and as a result, polutants from fish waste built up regularly causing the fish to become ill. She finally solved the problem by putting extensions on the intake tubes to the filters. In this way she drew in the water to be filtered from the bottom of the tank and emptied the filtered water into the top. Once she did this, her fish remained healthy and the tank ended up being in biological balance. She never had this sort of problem with her 48 gallon tanks.
PPS. When buying a tank over 10 gallons, always buy a tank with thick walls. The glass should be one-quarter of an inch thick or thicker. There is much less chance of the glass breaking and spilling a large volume of water onto your floor. Also, the pressure of the water will not make the sides of your tank bulge out. If this happens, your tank cover will not fit properly and your glass will always be under stress.
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