For new aquarists
     
Tan aquariums

My Aquariums photo

my fish in 200L brackish tank

my fish in 100L tank

my fish in 120L tank

400L tank community with Discus

Piranha

Discus

Puffer 

For new aquarists

 Links

 


The first step of getting into the fish hobby is to actually buy the equipment you need to keep fish. This first step is usually a scary one for new aquarists.


How Many Fish?
In case you haven't heard, there is this stupid "rule of thumb" in the aquarium hobby that you can keep 1 cm of fish for every 2 liters (1 inch per gallon) of water. Let me start by explaining why that rule should be ignored completely. Consider a 3 cm (1 in.) Neon Tetra and a 3 cm Goldfish. In terms of waste produced and body mass, it will take about 20 Neons to equal that 1 Goldfish. The cm/liter (in./gal.) rule is meant to apply to small fish at their adult size, such as Neons, Cherry Barbs, Cardinal Tetras, White Clouds, and Zebra Danios. Do NOT use this rule for any fish which is bigger than a Neon. The most important consideration is that you are doing regular water changes and have the appropriate biological filter for your tank size. Provided you are doing the appropriate maintenance and have the correct sized filter, then you will probably never have problems with water quality, regardless of how many fish you put in the tank.
  Tanks
First off, the amount of fish you keep is directly related to the amount of water you have and thereby the size of your aquarium. Now I know you walk into PetShop and see 45 fish in a small tank and think "I can do that at home." However, you cant do that at home for reasons I explain better in the selecting the How Many Fish article. For now Ill just say three things about this. Number one, PetShop has all their aquariums daisy-chained together, so its like having one really big tank. Knowing that, you realize the tanks are still overstocked, which brings me to Number two, every PetShop throws away over 100 dead fish every week, often that number is in the high hundreds. You of course dont see that if the store is being run well, but if you lose a single fish at home, it might be more traumatic. The third reason is that PetShop cleans its tanks more often than you might. If you dont plan on cleaning your tank weekly, you ll need a big tank with few fish so the fish dont all pollute themselves to death. (to put it nicely) So the main point to take home here is more water means more fish so get a bigger tank.

Filtration
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when buying a fish tank is that they buy a "kit." These kits almost without fail include something you dont need. Often they include many things that you dont need. One of the most common things that kits include that you dont need is undergravel filters and pumps. My personal feeling is that both are a relative waste of time. However, they are low maintenance for the first year. Let me explain. An undergravel filter helps filter the tank by taking water down through the gravel. The gravel then becomes home to many bacteria that will break down substances as the water passes through the gravel. The system is often driven by a pump that pushes air to the bottom of a tube. The air then heads towards the surface creating a lift that pulls water through the undergravel filter and up the tube. The actual air being pumped into the aquarium does NOTHING for the fish. Air does not enter water anywhere other than at the surface of the water. If you have a sales associate telling you that you need a pump so you can pump little air bubbles into the water, he might be as clueless as you used to be about the whole filtration thing.

Heaters
Heaters are another way that pet stores sell you things that you dont need. For a 40L tank a 50 or 75 watt heater will be fine as long as the fish tank is kept anywhere in the house. Fish tanks should be kept about 24Β°C-27Β°C . Often your house will be at this temperature; so a heater does do anything more than make sure there arent any dips at nighttime. You definitely will want a thermometer, be aware that you wont be able to buy a good one, but anything you buy will work fine for what you are doing. For 1$ expect a thermometer that will help you set your heater to the correct temperature. For a beginner I would suggest the cheapo heater. It probably wont make any difference to you what kind you get. Be aware that while heaters that you can set to a specific temperature might be nice, they rarely work. If you do get one of those, be ready for it to cost a bit more, and read carefully the suggested tank size. If you get one that is made for a 80L and put it in a 40L, it will usually run hotter than youlike. If you like to look at how aquarists rate different heaters, check the heaters buying guide.


*****


Gravel & Decorations
As far as gravel and directions go you are on your own. If you like little diving men and pink gravel, enjoy. People will laugh at you, but if that makes you happy, go for it. I would suggest that you have a few plants and hiding places. Again, look at the fish first. The kind of fish you will get should determine how you will arrange the tank. I would suggest finding a tank you like and trying to make yours look like it. Have you ever seen those plastic divers in that big tank you love at your favorite Chinese restaurant? A sales associate should be able to help you determine how much gravel to buy.
 
   
 

For any informations send mail:THANASISBALASKAS@MAIL.GR