Have you ever visited a home that has a beautiful aquarium set up? The movements of the fish flitting about behind the glass, the water plants softly waving in the filter outflow, and the rippling light on the pebbled bottom is utterly entrancing, a window into a mysterious watery world! The aquarium hobby is enormously popular worldwide, and there is bound to be a reputable aquarium store in your area, so why not have one to enjoy in your home? It’s not that hard, but it does require some time and effort to get started, and then some diligence in its healthy upkeep- think if it as an indoor garden, many of the same concepts apply!
The first thing to do is figure out what kind of water you have coming out of your tap, it makes a big difference in the types of fish you can keep successfully. Just like you wouldn’t keep a puddle duck in a dry desert, or a desert fox in a damp swamp, the water chemistry dictates your choice of fish- some like their water hard and some like it soft, there are lovely choices available for either environment! The majority of public water supplies tend to run acidic, but if yours doesn’t and you want to keep soft water jungle fish like cardinal tetras, then you just need to have whole home water filter systems installed in your house! You can buy a pH water test kit (don’t use the garden type, it’s different!) to find out where you are at and go from there!
Although some people think they should start small with a 40-litre tank, it’s actually more forgiving for the beginner to double that to an 80-litre tank, you have more room for fish and more room for mistakes!
This is important- you are NOT purchasing any fish the day you buy your set up, just don’t do it! You need time to put it all together and make sure the components like the filter system and heater are functioning properly, and you don’t want a fish slowly dying in a bag while you go about it! Put in the gravel bottom, plant your underwater plants, place your bottom decorations- we like natural stones, but if you must have a pirate skeleton we won’t fault you! Tomorrow you can go get your starter fish, just one per litre to begin with to get your biological filtration going! We are out of space here, we highly recommend you study up before you start so you can keep them healthy, there is some science involved!
Enjoy your lovely aquarium!
