Tropical Aquarium

A tropical aquarium is a beautiful addition to any home,in fact one of my earliest memories is of my dads tropical fish tank.
They are quite easy to set up but take a lot of time and care to mantain properly. To set up your first tropical aquarium you will need.
A fish tank with a light unit ,filter, thermometer, heater, air pump, gravel, plants, rocks or wood, net, algae scrapper, water conditioner, fish food.
STEP1
Make sure your fish tank is not in direct sunlight,this could cause the water to over heat and will promote the growth of algae. Make sure your fish tank is dead level and on a rock solid stand. Put in the gravel to a depth of around two or three inches and decorate with rocks or wood and if you are not planning on real plants then you can place your plastic plants in your tank. Don't go overboard as your tank will look cluttered and your fish will have no room to swim.
STEP 2
Wash out your fish tank with cold water,fit the filter, thermometer, heater and air pump (chances are you bought a fish tank with all this ready setup for you). Fill your fish tank with cold tap water then flick the switch to power up all of your equipment. You should set the temperature to between 22-29 degrees centigrade. Then wait and wait and wait i think you get the message,don't add any fish for at least three weeks. This gives the water time to get rid of all the chlorine and for the filter system to build up some good bacteria. I usually put a little pinch of fish food in the tank to help speed this up,or if you have a friend with a clean healthy aquarium then add a pint or two of water from his tank.
STEP 3
While your tank is maturing why not choose your fish and plants. Choose fish with care,make sure you find out how big they will be when they are fully grown,that is a mistake i made with my first tank. I bought a pleco for my three foot tank,big mistake the fish can grow to around two feet in length. But as with most things you learn from your mistakes. I tend to go for one big show fish and a few medium size tank cleaning catfish.
STEP 4
Now after three to four weeks you can add your fish i do this one every week or two so i can keep an eye on them. There is nothing worse than buying lots of fish and they all die after a few days because the tank wasn't quite ready. Use the Equalising method to add your new fish to the tank, by floating the fish using their bag. Leave them there for 15 - 20 minutes,then open the bag and little by little add small amounts of water from your aquarium to the bag. Then release them and enjoy,tropical fish are so relaxing to watch you will get years of pleasure from a well looked after tropical tank.

mike
13-May-09