Setting up your own freshwater aquarium is not as hard as one might seem, as long as you do not get too anxious to set it up and put fish in the tank when it is not ready. The first thing you have to do when setting up your new aquarium is make sure that the tank is clean, as if it is brand new, all you should have to do is wipe it down with a damp cloth. I would avoid using any type of soap as this can be harmful for the fishes environment.
Regular tap water is not sufficient for aquariums, unless it is chemically treated. There are many kinds of tap water treatment for fish. They can be found at any pet store, or better yet, online. You will also need to get some bacteria supplement to mix into the water. But before you go putting water inside of your aquarium it is recommend that you put some gravel at the bottom of the tank, as this is essential for the freshwater fish environment.
Once the rocks are in place you can go ahead and add the water. You can either premix it with the bacteria and water conditioner or just add it to the tank, it really doesn’t matter as the aquarium is no where near ready to add fish to it yet.
Ensure that you have the proper type of water filter in the tank, it should be sized accordingly to your tanks size and also make sure that you have plenty of water filters for the tank. Should you have any decorations that you want to add now would be the time to add them so they can start to grow bacteria on them.
Now you should have your water filled to the top of the aquarium with the appropiate mixtures of bacteria supplement and water conditioner. The only thing you have to do now is wait 2-4 weeks before adding any fish to it. This is the hardest part and it is strongly recommended that you wait the full 4 weeks until you begin to add freshwater fish into your aquarium. Believe me it will be worth it. Adding fish to your aquarium to soon can be extrememlely detrimental to your fish and they could die if the water conditions are not right.
How many fish should you add at a time? Most experts say that you should only add about 2 fish at a time to your freshwater aquarium. A good rule of thumb is you can have 1″ of fish for every gallon of water that your aquarium holds. If you exceed this the water will get dirty quicker and it will not be a suitable environment for you fish to live in. So this is something that you will have follow if you want your tank to look good and have clear water.
If your tank begins to build up algae you can know that it is about the right time to start adding fish. Some people like to add algae eating fish to their freshwater tanks. This is a good way to keep your tank clean but you will also need algae waffles for the algae eaters once all the algae is cleaned from the tank.
For more information on fish tanks for sale and aquarium accessories for sale check out the authors website.