Setting up an Aquarium for Your Fish Without Them Dying!
Fish make pretty popular pets. They are one of the easiest pets to care for and are perfect for someone who isn’t home a lot. They are quiet, calm, and don’t require a whole lot of daily care. However, fish do still need a healthy and happy environment to live in … which means setting up an aquarium!
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Steps for Setting Up a Fish Tank …
1. Choosing a Fish: Tropical or Not?
Different fish may need different things. The exotic, colorful fish you may like at the pet store are tropical, which means they require a heater, light, filter and other specialized equipment. Simpler fish such as betta fish and goldfish have very low needs and can live in a glass bowl. Tank size should get larger depending on the size of the adult fish (plan ahead) and the number of fish you are planning to buy. Each fish should have about 10 gallons of space.
Make sure you are getting what your fish needs.
2. Clean the Tank and accessories
Do NOT use soap/detergents as they are very toxic to fish. Use warm water instead.
3. Position Your Aquarium
Place your aquarium on an appropriate stand. It needs to be somewhere away from direct sunlight, heaters, and air conditioning. You should have a power source accessible nearby as well. Also make sure that the tank is sitting level.
- Clean modern design
- Fish tank stands assemble quickly with easy to follow instructions
- Adjustable protective nylon leveling feet
4. Rinse/Add in Substrate
Type of substrate is usually up to you (Sand, gravel, etc). Some fish need a certain type of substrate though. To rinse out your substrate fill up a bucket with cold water and put a small amount of substrate in it. Use your hand to swirl the substrate around and repeat until the water is as clear as possible.
- Will not affect PH
- Safe for use in freshwater aquariums
- Non-Toxic coating
5. Fill the Tank about Halfway with Water
*Tip- use saucer/bowl to prevent substrate from getting disturbed.
6. Install any needed equipment
Most setups require a filter. Installations will depend on the brand. If your fish needs a heater you can now place it in the tank (don’t plug it in yet) Allow the heater glass to acclimate to the water for about an hour before plugging it in. (You can hide the heater behind some decorations)
7. Add accessories
Put in your plants, rocks, driftwood, and any other decorations in the aquarium. The decorations should be arranged in a way so that your fish can have “hiding places” but also have the centre mainly open for swimming.
8. Fill up the Remainder of the Tank with Water
You can now fill the remainder of the tank up with water.
Cycle the Tank (Wait)
Now you have finished setting up the tank! Wait at least a few days before adding in any fish. Adding fish right after setting up can be unsafe for them. All newly set-up aquariums take about 4 to 6 weeks to develop a proper nitrogen cycle (the filter conditioning process). Some people recommend using bacterial supplements to help speed up the process.
Add Fish
It is now the time you’ve all been waiting for. Time to add in fish! The amount of fish you can add depends on the size of the tank. Do this slowly, fish can be very sensitive to changes in their water. A good way to do this is to acclimatise your fish. The temperature in the tank might be a different temperature than in the bag so a good method is to “float the bag”. This is a great way to equalize temperature without the two waters mixing.
Hopefully this guide helped you set up your aquarium successfully. Once you set up your tank, send us a photo on Instagram and tag us @crittermamas!
