It is a proven fact that keeping fishes in an aquarium is the most relieving hobby that will restore your lost energy and when you keep watching your beautifully decorated aquarium it will take away all the stress that was bothering you.
But there are certain rules and techniques that you need to follow if you are looking forward to a steady aquarium with healthy fishes and do not wish to watch them die out of diseases or unhealthy environment.
In fact apart from the methodical approach towards setting up an aquarium you will need ample patience. Here are some tips that will come handy if you are planning to get started with a freshwater aquarium.
Useful things that you need to collect
The first important thing that you will need to decide is how many gallons should be the volume of the aquarium and after deciding that you will need to buy an aquarium. Then comes the aquarium stand on which the aquarium will be placed.
The lights that you put inside the aquarium are also very important and they should be done according to the requirement of the animals that will be kept inside it.
There should be under gravel filter as well as a power filter in any aquarium. If you are planning to keep the tropical freshwater fishes in it then a heater is an important tool that you must get.
Natural rocks are essential for the aquarium. The air stones are equally important. The plastic or real plants will make the aquarium look beautiful as well as provide hiding place to the fishes.
A Dechlorinator is needed to keep the water pollution free and finally a cup of water from an already established aquarium is simply indispensable for setting up the new aquarium.
Assembling the aquarium
There are some aquariums which come in an already assembled form. They have all the necessary tools like the lights, heaters, filters fixed in the right place. But the stands are not included in this package but they are sold in the shops separately. When it comes to placing your aquarium, try to select a corner where it will be away from the direct light of the sun.
This will put a stop to the excessive growth of the unwanted algae. There are many aquariums available in the stores which have the lights and the filtering system positioned at the top. If you are going to put some living water plants in the aquarium then the light should give full spectrum so that the plants can survive easily and produce their food by photosynthesis.
In fact the living plants should not be kept with the vegetarian fishes like the gold fishes as they will eat them up. The power filter along with the under gravel filter will help in filtering the waste produced by the fishes. The air stones will keep the water of the aquarium oxygenated enough which is important for the fishes in both cold and warm water aquariums. These are available in various shapes and sizes and can be easily hidden in the decoration of the aquarium.
Decoration of the aquarium
Decoration of the aquarium is very important and the looks of the aquarium depends on it. There are various ways to make an aquarium look beautiful. You need to put in gravel after washing off all the dust particles from its body and this needs to be done after the other parts of this filter are fixed in the right place.
Then you can use the plants which often add a lot of beauty to the aquariums. There are different types of plants available in the market. The mosses and ferns, rosette shaped plants are the general choice of the aquariums. The plastic rocks or natural rocks also make the aquarium look magnificent.
There are many curios that are ready to be kept in an aquarium. But make sure they do not have sharp edges that might hurt the animals kept inside. In a freshwater aquarium, the shells and lime stones should be avoided as they will destroy the salt balance of the water.
Aquarium fishes
As you are setting up the aquarium afresh you need to give it some time to settle before the fishes are put inside the water. In these few weeks the environment of the aquarium will become somewhat similar to the natural habitat of these fishes and they will not face any problem adjusting in their new home. There are a number of fishes that you can put in this new aquarium.
The gold fishes are probably the most popular choice. They are colorful and their activities are quite lively. But there are other options as well which include the Characins, Cichlid, Freshwater Eels, Labyrinth Fish, Kill fish, rainbow fish etc. But the combination is very important.
Make sure you do not mix the tropical fishes with cold water fishes like gold fish in the same aquarium. This will create a survival problem for both. Then there are some aggressive species which are not really happy with the other species staying with them in the same aquarium. Precautions to be taken for a freshwater aquarium
Never use soap to rinse any of the items that are there in the aquarium as this can even kill the fishes. Never overfeed the fishes as this can kill them. Heaters if kept in the gold fish aquariums will affect them as they are comfortable in lower temperature. Be careful about changing the water and keep a certain percentage of the water unchanged. The pH balance of the water should be maintained properly.