Freshwater Fishkeeping Guide For Beginners
I know that a lot of things are bothering your mind about fishkeeping. I’d rather say that you’re about to set up a natural TV. It isn’t that tricky and is pretty simple actually. All you have to do is be determined about what you are going to start. Let me tell you about my first experience about fishkeeping. It all started with a 5 liters’ water bottle which I transformed into a temporary aquarium with a little air pump and without any water filtration system.
Water change was required three times a week due to the number of fishes I kept but don’t worry about it because once you have set it up with filters it will only take approx. 30–40 minutes a week. I guess you are wondering about the fishes I kept as a beginner. Well, there were four pairs of mollies and three pairs of platies. It was all quite interesting and afterwards I set up multiple aquariums to keep a lot of different fishes including Goldfish, Tiger barb, Shubunkin, Angelfish, Oscar, Parrot Cichlid, Flower horn cichlid, etc.
Let’s talk about the essentials required to set up an aquarium.
- Glass Tank (with hood and light)
- Decorations (live or artificial plants)
- Dechlorinators (To remove chlorine from tap water)
- Aquarium Gravel.
- Net (To transfer fishes)
- Fish Food
- Water Filter
And of course, beautiful creatures called fishes… Now you can set up your aquarium. Following are some guidelines that you need to follow.
Prepare Glass Tank
Clean the walls of the tank with damp cloth, do not use any detergent or cleaning agents.
Add Gravel
Ensure to wash the gravel. Add approx. 2 pound of gravel in a gallon of water.
Install Filter
Powerhead filters are a great choice for beginners as they also keep the water aerated. You can simply submerge it in the tank and place it on the side wall of the tank. All you’ve to do is to clean or replace its cartridge timely. Furthermore, the filter’s type also depends upon the fishes you want to keep.
Add Water
Before filling the tank with water, ensure to place a flat dish on top of gravel to avoid the disturbance of the gravel bed by stream of water. Water should be at room temperature, now you can start filling the tank.
Add Plants
Once the aquarium is half-filled with water, you can add plants (artificial or live) and decorative ornaments and place them on gravel bed. Make sure to rinse them before adding.
Add Dechlorinators
Dechlorination is mandatory to make the tap water safer for fishes. Plain tap water is harmful for fishes.
Light and Heater
Lighting is essential for aquariums as it highlights natural colors of fishes and helps live plants to grow but be careful that excessive light may also trigger algae growth. Moreover, you may need heaters to maintain water temperature depending upon the fish species you are keeping.
Note: Before plugging in or adding any electrical equipment in the aquarium, you must take safety measures and read all the safety precautions written in the owner’s manual of electrical equipment. GFCI protected outlets are recommended to ensure safety.
Introduce Fish
Before you add fish make sure to allow the system to be operational for 1 day at least without fishes. In the meantime, you can ask the dealer about the fish which is best for your aquarium as a beginner. Always remember to feed your fish twice a day. Only the food which they will consume in 3–5 minutes, overfeeding is dangerous for your fish.
Now you are ready to add your fish in the aquarium. First you have to make sure that the container or plastic bag you’re carrying your fish into should match the temperature of water in your aquarium because sudden change of temperature may stress out fish. You may leave the plastic bag floating in the tank for about 20 minutes to maintain temperature then you can use net to transfer fish by allowing it to swim from net to the tank in order to make it less stressful for fish. Don’t add the bag’s water in the tank.
Maintaining your aquarium
- Make sure to unplug electrical equipment before performing any sort of maintenance.
- Twenty-five percent water change and replacement of filter cartridges will be required every two or three weeks depending upon the quantity of fishes. Be noted that overcrowding the aquarium will stress-out fishes therefore fewer healthier are better.
- Always treat tap water with dechlorinators before adding it to the tank.
- Whenever the water in the tank seems yellowish, cloudy or smells bad is indicating that a water change and replacement of filter cartridges is required immediately.
Now you have ample knowledge to set up your natural TV. You may consider fish as other pets, all they need is properly maintained habitat. It may sound a lot but it’s not. In fact, it is quite easy to achieve. Happy fishkeeping!
