Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
Step by step guide to your first aquarium
OK, so you want a fish tank but you just don’t know where to start, what you need, how to set it all up or what fish to get. So here’s a little step by step stumble to take you through the process and what basic decisions to make.
There are a lot of excellent pinned topics in the new to the hobby forum, this thread contains links to a few of them so take the time to read them through and understand them. Don’t be shy to ask questions, it’s what we’re here for, just fire away and we’ll give you all the help you can. On this forum we try to cater for everyone, there’s the ‘new to the hobby’ forum for when you are just starting out, specialist forums for all the main families of fish and types of tank we’ve even got a forum dedicated to aquarium plants, there’s the scientific section for in-depth discussions and perhaps most importantly there’s the emergencies forum so if you think you’re fish are unwell or your in a panic about something then shout out in there and we’ll help you all you can.
I hate to start on a negative but it's important to note before this that the onus should always be on personal research, fish shops are a business, they have to make a profit so they do not always give good unbiased advice, on this forum we're not biased but we're not perfect either! Any of us is capable of making mistakes or mis-understandings, so it's best to not take any one person's advice at face value and to try and do some research of your own which will confirm/deny the advice given. If you post up a question here you'll hopefully get a few different people replying to you, you can generally get a consensus and make your own mind up from there.
The tank itself
So, onto tanks, before you even consider equipment you should firstly think about what you want from the tank, different set-up’s require different equipment so it’s important to have a clear goal… or at least clear-ish!! When you start researching fish you’re bound to change your mind about a million times, but just try to pick a general theme of what you want. Do you want lots of small fish, one big fish with bags of personality, predatory fish, something unusual, a breeding project, a saltwater set up or just a humble goldfish?! You may have your heart set on one particular fish, if this is the case be sure to check their requirements before choosing the tank, some popular fish such as angels should be kept in tanks at least 18” tall so a lot of people buy a tank and are then disappointed when they can’t have what they want in it. For the sake of this thread we’ll take you through setting up a ‘normal’ average sized community tank, if you want something a bit different then just make a post and we’ll help you understand what needs to be different for your set up. Here is a link to a post about working out what fish are compatible and suitable for your tank.
The first thing to consider is the size of the tank; it’s common for people to think ‘oh I’ll just get a small one to start as it’ll be easy to look after’. Smaller tanks can actually take a lot more work than the big ones, because a small body of water is not very stable it will heat up and cool down quickly giving temperature fluctuations, any pollutants that get into the water will be heavily concentrated because there isn’t much water. A larger tank gives you more margins for error, and of course the more tank you have, the more fish you can have!
You need to be somewhat careful if the tank is going upstairs, people often ask how big a tank can I put upstairs in my house, the short answer is no one can tell you this. Basically every house is constructed differently, and the condition of a house will vary significantly from house to house, so if you want to put a large tank upstairs you should first consult a qualified structural engineer, here’s a more detailed article for further reading.
So space and finances permitting, get the biggest tank you can. I would recommend a tank of 30 US Gallons as a nice size to start off with.
You can get all in one kit tanks which come with lighting, heater and filter or you can just buy a plain glass box with or without a hood and buy your own equipment. My personal preference is to build a set up from component parts, but all in one systems are not all bad, they’re a lot easier when your starting from scratch and they do cover all the basics.
All in one tank’s are designed to fit together, so everything is neat and tidy, it all looks nice and you know everything will work together. The main complaint with all in one tanks is the quality of equipment you get for the price, the tanks are often expensive so you would expect the equipment with it to be top notch, unfortunately this is not always the case. Usually you get the bare minimum needed to get by, the filtration won’t be enough to support a heavy stocking of fish and the lighting will only be good enough for easy to grow plants. However they’re easy and they look good so a lot of people start off with them, you can always upgrade the equipment later on if you need it, but you should think about the cost of this when buying the tank, do you really want to pay for equipment that you may not use? Another advantage is they often come in fancy shapes, now the curved and corner tanks are not always the best option for specialist tanks (for example with large/territorial fish it’s best to have a rectangular tank as you get a bigger floor plan) but if you are short on space they can be a great way of fitting in a larger tank.
Building your own set up from component parts is often a cost effective way to start and you can tailor make your set up, but it does require a bit more research and work setting it up. So the first thing is the tank itself, plain glass box. One glass box is very much like another to be totally honest! If you are getting a very large tank then you need something with thick glass, if you’ve got a bit of cash to spend then you can get very good quality tanks with very clear glass and silicone. But really, as long as it holds water it won’t make that much difference to the quality of life for the fish, the rest is just aesthetic. So measure the space you have and find a tank to fit, if you’re fitting the tank into an alcove or confined area remember you will need access to and around it so best to get something a little smaller than the space you have for ease of maintenance.
Next thing you’ll need is a hood, most tank sellers will be able to sell you a hood to go with it, or if you’re quite handy you can DIY an attractive wooden hood yourself. Same goes for stands really, if you’re unsure it’s best to buy one that’s made specifically for that size of tank, remember 1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram (1 Gallon is 8.34 pounds), so when the tanks full it can be pretty heavy. Alternatively you can sit the tank on a table or other piece of furniture, again if you’re skilled in DIY you can make a stand but make sure it’s sturdy! Generally it’s best to have something with some draws/cupboards in it then you can store fish food, medications etc near the tank or put an external filter in the cupboard. If possible having the cupboards open backed is handy so you can feed wires and equipment down the back of the tank into the cupboard.
Equipment
Filters
The next purchase should be a filter, a word of warning first regarding the manufacturers recommendations, any filter you buy will say ‘suitable for tanks up to X gallons’, this figure is optimistic to say the least! You need to make sure the filter you buy is suitable for a tank at least one third bigger than yours, so if your tank is 30 gallons, buy a filter which is rated up to 40 gallons as a minimum, if you plan to stock heavy waste producing fish or lots of fish then go for a filter rated for double your tank size. There are only a few species of fish which will struggle with too much flow, the vast majority of them prefer an over filtered tank. Sometimes filters will not have a recommended tank size but will give a value in litres or gallons per hour, if this is the case then aim for 5x tank turnover so the 30 gallon tank we want a filter which will turn over 150gallons per hour. The conversion from US Gallons to litres is 3.7 litres to a US gallon by the way, UK gallons are 4.5 litres but in the fishkeeping world we tend to work in the US gallons.
Generally people choose between internal and external canister filters, under gravel filters are seldom used in the hobby nowadays as they don’t have the filtration capacity of the canister filters. An internal cannister filter is a box which sits inside your tank, it has a pump which draws water in, it passes the water through your filter media (usually a sponge in internal filters) and pushes it back out into the tank. External cannister filters work on the same principle but are much larger, they sit outside the tank and you have hoses running to and from the tank. Externals have a large media capacity so a variety of media types are often used to give maximum filtration capacity. Another filtration option is the Hang on the Back or HOB filter. These, as the name suggests, hang on the top edge of your tank and use a suction pump to pull water into the filter and the water trickles back into the tank over the edge. These filters can be very cost effective when compared to the external canisters, but lack the shear volume of media that canisters can contain, so for a tank that needs higher filtration, cansiters may be the best. But on a normal community tank, a HOB can be a quick and effective filtration device. External filters are generally stronger and they don’t take up space in the tank, for smaller tanks though people will generally use internals, HOB's are commonly found on smaller tanks in the USA but don't seem to have made it big across the pond!
There are plenty of threads in the Hardware forum discussing the makes and models of filter so I won’t dwell on this here.
Heaters
Heaters are fairly straight forward; the guideline for heater size is 5watts per gallon so for our 30gallon tank we want a 150watt heater. Aquarium heaters should have a thermostat so you set them to the correct temperature and they will switch on and off as needed, so there is no need to turn them up in the winter or off in the summer. There are two types of thermostat, electronic and by-metallic strips, the electronic seem to be more reliable so go for one of those if possible. Make is not all that important, as long as it has a thermostat and is rated for your size tank it should be fine, one thing to note though is that the difference in price between the different sizes of heater is minimal or non-existant so it’s a good idea to get the next size up. Because of the thermostat it won’t overheat and it’s never a good idea to push equipment to the maximum it can do, so get a heater which can comfortably heat your own tank. You’ll also need a thermometer, don’t trust the thermostat on the heater they’re often a bit dodgy so get a thermometer and use this as your temperature guide.
If you don't like a lot of equipment in the tank then you can buy an external heater, it hooks into the outlet of an external cannister filter and warms the water before it goes back into the tank. These are more expensive than the standard heaters but are often used if the tank's aesthetics are important to you. You can also buy some cannister filters which contain a heating element so basically do the same job.
Aquarium heaters (except for the external ones) are designed to be fully submerged all the time, if you remove them from the water when they are hot or switched on they can shatter, trust me this makes a big old mess (one of the many mistakes I have made over the years). So when you are doing water changes on the tank be sure to either switch the heater off and allow it to cool down for 10 minutes before doing the water change, or push it down in the tank so it stays fully submerged.
Lighting
Next comes lighting, wheather you want live plants in your tank is going to play a big role in lighting choice. So let’s consider the benefits and drawbacks of live plants, most fish need some cover in the tank, now your fish do not care one iota if this is natural rocks and plants or a bright pink shipwreck, how the tank looks is purely aesthetic and your choice, but you should provide some areas of cover for the fish in some form. If you like the look of live plants then rest assured there are plenty of species which are easy to grow without lots of work or fancy equipment, however if you want your tank to resemble an overgrown jungle then it’s a good idea to hop over to the planted tank forum and talk to the guys there about the equipment needed to get this in place. Assuming you do want live plants then for most of us it’s a bit of trial and error for what species will grow in our tanks, however if something fails to grow it’s just a case of removing it before it completely decomposes as this will foul up your tank. Having live plants can be beneficial to the fish as they photosynthesise and produce oxygen. That being said providing your filter gives some surface agitation there will be plenty of oxygen in the water anyway so this is by no means essential. Having live plants in the tank will also decrease your chances of getting significant algae growth because the plants use up the light and nutrients that algae needs to grow, however it is normal to get some algae growth in the tank so don’t be concerned if you get a few spots on the glass. If you don’t fancy the work involved with keeping live plants but like the look of them, then look for good quality silk plants, the fake plastic plants can have sharp edges which fish can cut themselves on the silk ones don’t, they also look more natural as they move with the water a bit more.
So once you have decided if you want live plants or not it’s time to look at lighting for the tank, lets assume you want a few easy live plants but not a significant amount of them. Aquarium lights come with a wattage rating, aim for 1 watt per gallon of water in the tank, so for our fictional 30gal tank we want a 30watt tube. It’s not exact but just a rough guide. For the easy option, but specific plant growth tubes from a fish shop, if you want to save a few quid though then you can shop around for bulbs elsewhere, however you need to be sure you get an appropriate tube, if you buy just anything then you may end up with a load of algae growth caused by the wrong colour lighting. Look for daylight coloured tubes with a green spike in the spectrum (when you buy the bulbs look for a colour spectrum on the packaging somewhere although this may not always be the case from non-aquatic outlets), obviously the length of the tube will be dictated by the size of the tank. You can use multiple tubes to make up the right wattage per gallon if necessary. As with all the equipment if there's anything you're not sure of then post up a link that what you're thinking about buying and we'll try and help you out. You’ll need a starter unit to go with each tube, make sure the wattage of the bulb you’re using is the same as the wattage on the started unit, using the wrong size starter unit can mean that a, it doesn’t work or b, it works for a while, then blows up and catches fire. So don’t try and save a few quid by getting a cheaper starter unit!!
Most people will control their lights by a timer, you can buy aquarium specific ones or you can just get them from a hardware store, you plug your lights into them, set the time you want them to switch on and off, and then plug the timer into the plug socket. Simple! Start with your lighting on for 8 hours a day, if you are getting a lot of algae growth then reduce this, if you aren't and plants are struggling you can try bumping it up. There are other factors which influence plant and algae growth though so if you're really interested in this then I recommend you hop over to the planted forum and do some reading.
So that is your basic equipment tank, hood, stand, filter, heater, thermometer and lights.
It’s wise to think about building some redundancy into your system, there is always the possibility of faults in any equipment (no manufacturing process is perfect) so plenty of people will have two filters or heaters running on a tank, this means that if one of them fails there is still something in place to keep the tank running. This is particularly important if you travel a lot or are aware from home frequently, likewise if your financial situation is such that you would not easily be able to buy another filter/heater at short notice then you should account for this in your initial preparations and get some spares in. If you’re at home every day then you can usually spot failed equipment and replace it quickly, if it fails while you’re away and the fish are without filtration or heating for a couple of days things could go very wrong very quickly.
Extras
Now there are other things you’ll need for the tank so here’s your shopping list
Substrate – usually people go for sand or gravel, you can go for coloured or natural looking the choice is yours. If you want natural looking sand then buy play sand designed for kids sand pits, it’s much cheaper than the aquarium stuff and is safe for aquariums. You can also buy substrates specifically for growing plants, they’re not necessary but can be very beneficial, again if you’re interested in this hop over to the planted tank forum and ask the guys and gals there about substrate choice.
Dechlorinator – this is what you use to remove chlorine from the water, chlorine can kill off the beneficial bacteria that make your filter work (more on this later), while there is some discussion and research into how essential this is the common consensus at the moment is that it’s an essential. Brand is not important; just make sure it removes chlorine and chloramine.
A quick note at this point about RO (reverse osmosis) water, you can buy RO Units which you hook up to your tap and they produce RO water, this is pure H20, or at least as close to it as you are likley to get in the home environment. If you are looking to set up a saltwater tank or keep sensitive fish such as rays or discus you may choose to get one of these, if you are using RO water you need to add minerals back into it (you can buy powders to do this) and you don't need to use dechlor. Some people find if their home water source is unreliable is it wise to invest in an RO unit, if you are thinking about this please put a post up with your individual circumstances and we can help you make the correct decision.
Filter media – check if your filter comes with this, if not then you will need to buy some media this takes a number of forms, the most important is biological media, sponges and ceramic shapes designed for the bacteria to grow on. You don’t need carbon, zeolite, ammonia removing media or nitrate removing media, whatever the man in the fish shop tells you! Remember all fish shops are out to make a profit, there are loads of products out there which you just don’t need, if you take a little time to set up the tank properly in the first place you’ll need very little else to keep it running day to day. Heres some more info on types of filter media which is really important.
Test kit and a bottle of ammonia – this is the most important of all, it’s discussed further on in the cycling info though so I won’t cover it all now. Suffice to say you need a liquid based test kit which tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and a bottle of plain household ammonia. The pet shop will be able to test the water for you, but it's better to get your own test kit, here's a link which explains why.
Décor – what décor you choose to get is up to you, but fish do not like a completely bare tank, so either get some ornaments or get some wood, rocks and plants. Do buy ornamnets which are specifically designed for aquariums as some may not be safe when submerged, likewise if you are using natural wood or rocks make sure that these are inert and clean them thoroughly before adding them to the tank.
Fish food – a good quality flake/pellet or other processed food will form the staple diet of most fish although it is important to check the requirements of the individual species you intend to buy and purchase appropriate foods. The diet is often supplemented with live/frozen ‘meaty treats’ as we call them such as bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp, and fresh veg for those fish who need it.
I would also recommend at this stage you buy a few basic medications, just as you would keep aspirin in the house in case of a headache it’s good to keep a few basic remedies in the house for your fish.
My recommendations for a basic fish health kit are as follows, remember in other countries these may vary.
Pimafix
Melafix
King British WS3
Myaxin
Remember if you have children in the house regularly that these should be kept out of reach and preferably locked away just as you would with human medications or cleaning products.
So that’s your shopping list sorted, dunno about you but I’m worn out just from typing all that!
So the next section can mostly be covered by some useful links.
Cycling
Before you even think about setting up the tank you need to learn about cycling, remember earlier I mentioned the test kit and beneficial bacteria in the filter, this will all be explained in the following links new tank syndrome and whats cycling
Once you’ve had a good read of these you should understand the basic chemical make up of our water and what your readings should be, you are now in the lucky position that you can save yourself and your fish all the agony of ammonia and nitrite problems, have a good read of the fishless cycling instructions here.
It's also worthwhile at this point to do a little bit of reading into pH and KH as this is one of the most common things we have problems with while fishless cycling.
So when you have understood all that you’re ready to set the tank up and begin cycling, so here’s a step-by step guide
Setting up the tank
1. Choose the position for your tank, remove anything from this area and ensure the area is clean. I recommend you move furniture to ensure you have clear space around the tank to set it up.
2. If the tank is of a reasonable size and going upstairs or above a cellar then it’s advisable to put a sheet of ply or something similar on the floor under where the tank goes, this will spread the weight of the tank over as many joists as possible.
3. Put the stand in place and check with a spirit level if it is level. This doesn’t need to be millimetre accurate but if it’s significantly off then you should level it as much as possible.
4. This step can be skipped if you have a floating base tank. Put a layer of thin polystyrene on top of the stand, this levels out any lumps and bumps and can stop the tank from cracking. This is as important to a fish keeper as a towel is to an interstellar hitchhiker.
5. Put the tank on the stand, ensure it is sat squarely and there is no overhang. Again this is very important.
6. Hook up the equipment onto the tank, do not turn it on!
7. Wash your substrate thoroughly and put it in the bottom of the tank
8. Add dechlorinator to the tank and fill the tank with water to roughly three quarters full (I only say don’t fill it entirely because you’ll need to muck around in the tank a bit, if it’s full you’ll just make a mess of the floor, this is especially important if you do not have a forgiving wife/husband), switch the heater and the filter on. Depending on the make/model of the filter you may need to prime it to get it to start, there should be instructions with the filter.
9. When the heater and filter are working you can start to put your décor in, it’ll take a while for the tank to get up to temperature so feel free to muck around and take your time.
10. When you’ve done arranging the tank fill it completely up, you’ll notice that there are bubbles forming on the glass and the water may not be totally clear, don’t worry about this it should settle down within 24hrs or so. Put the thermometer into the tank.
11. I’d recommend running the tank for a day before starting your fishless cycle, if there are any problems with the equipment they’re likely to manifest fairly quickly, this gives you a chance to sort things out without worrying over your bacteria colony. Also you may need to tinker with the temperature a bit to get it right, remember trust the thermometer as your temperature reading and just adjust the temp up and down as needed.
So there you go, one correctly set up and running tank, once you’ve gone through the fishless cycle you’ll be ready for fish and should have a fairly smooth ride of it for having done your prep work first.
Contributions from - ox5477, rabbut, Dave Spencer, tenohfive, rdd1952
Thankyou everyone for reading and commenting.
OK, so you want a fish tank but you just don’t know where to start, what you need, how to set it all up or what fish to get. So here’s a little step by step stumble to take you through the process and what basic decisions to make.
There are a lot of excellent pinned topics in the new to the hobby forum, this thread contains links to a few of them so take the time to read them through and understand them. Don’t be shy to ask questions, it’s what we’re here for, just fire away and we’ll give you all the help you can. On this forum we try to cater for everyone, there’s the ‘new to the hobby’ forum for when you are just starting out, specialist forums for all the main families of fish and types of tank we’ve even got a forum dedicated to aquarium plants, there’s the scientific section for in-depth discussions and perhaps most importantly there’s the emergencies forum so if you think you’re fish are unwell or your in a panic about something then shout out in there and we’ll help you all you can.
I hate to start on a negative but it's important to note before this that the onus should always be on personal research, fish shops are a business, they have to make a profit so they do not always give good unbiased advice, on this forum we're not biased but we're not perfect either! Any of us is capable of making mistakes or mis-understandings, so it's best to not take any one person's advice at face value and to try and do some research of your own which will confirm/deny the advice given. If you post up a question here you'll hopefully get a few different people replying to you, you can generally get a consensus and make your own mind up from there.
The tank itself
So, onto tanks, before you even consider equipment you should firstly think about what you want from the tank, different set-up’s require different equipment so it’s important to have a clear goal… or at least clear-ish!! When you start researching fish you’re bound to change your mind about a million times, but just try to pick a general theme of what you want. Do you want lots of small fish, one big fish with bags of personality, predatory fish, something unusual, a breeding project, a saltwater set up or just a humble goldfish?! You may have your heart set on one particular fish, if this is the case be sure to check their requirements before choosing the tank, some popular fish such as angels should be kept in tanks at least 18” tall so a lot of people buy a tank and are then disappointed when they can’t have what they want in it. For the sake of this thread we’ll take you through setting up a ‘normal’ average sized community tank, if you want something a bit different then just make a post and we’ll help you understand what needs to be different for your set up. Here is a link to a post about working out what fish are compatible and suitable for your tank.
The first thing to consider is the size of the tank; it’s common for people to think ‘oh I’ll just get a small one to start as it’ll be easy to look after’. Smaller tanks can actually take a lot more work than the big ones, because a small body of water is not very stable it will heat up and cool down quickly giving temperature fluctuations, any pollutants that get into the water will be heavily concentrated because there isn’t much water. A larger tank gives you more margins for error, and of course the more tank you have, the more fish you can have!
You need to be somewhat careful if the tank is going upstairs, people often ask how big a tank can I put upstairs in my house, the short answer is no one can tell you this. Basically every house is constructed differently, and the condition of a house will vary significantly from house to house, so if you want to put a large tank upstairs you should first consult a qualified structural engineer, here’s a more detailed article for further reading.
So space and finances permitting, get the biggest tank you can. I would recommend a tank of 30 US Gallons as a nice size to start off with.
You can get all in one kit tanks which come with lighting, heater and filter or you can just buy a plain glass box with or without a hood and buy your own equipment. My personal preference is to build a set up from component parts, but all in one systems are not all bad, they’re a lot easier when your starting from scratch and they do cover all the basics.
All in one tank’s are designed to fit together, so everything is neat and tidy, it all looks nice and you know everything will work together. The main complaint with all in one tanks is the quality of equipment you get for the price, the tanks are often expensive so you would expect the equipment with it to be top notch, unfortunately this is not always the case. Usually you get the bare minimum needed to get by, the filtration won’t be enough to support a heavy stocking of fish and the lighting will only be good enough for easy to grow plants. However they’re easy and they look good so a lot of people start off with them, you can always upgrade the equipment later on if you need it, but you should think about the cost of this when buying the tank, do you really want to pay for equipment that you may not use? Another advantage is they often come in fancy shapes, now the curved and corner tanks are not always the best option for specialist tanks (for example with large/territorial fish it’s best to have a rectangular tank as you get a bigger floor plan) but if you are short on space they can be a great way of fitting in a larger tank.
Building your own set up from component parts is often a cost effective way to start and you can tailor make your set up, but it does require a bit more research and work setting it up. So the first thing is the tank itself, plain glass box. One glass box is very much like another to be totally honest! If you are getting a very large tank then you need something with thick glass, if you’ve got a bit of cash to spend then you can get very good quality tanks with very clear glass and silicone. But really, as long as it holds water it won’t make that much difference to the quality of life for the fish, the rest is just aesthetic. So measure the space you have and find a tank to fit, if you’re fitting the tank into an alcove or confined area remember you will need access to and around it so best to get something a little smaller than the space you have for ease of maintenance.
Next thing you’ll need is a hood, most tank sellers will be able to sell you a hood to go with it, or if you’re quite handy you can DIY an attractive wooden hood yourself. Same goes for stands really, if you’re unsure it’s best to buy one that’s made specifically for that size of tank, remember 1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram (1 Gallon is 8.34 pounds), so when the tanks full it can be pretty heavy. Alternatively you can sit the tank on a table or other piece of furniture, again if you’re skilled in DIY you can make a stand but make sure it’s sturdy! Generally it’s best to have something with some draws/cupboards in it then you can store fish food, medications etc near the tank or put an external filter in the cupboard. If possible having the cupboards open backed is handy so you can feed wires and equipment down the back of the tank into the cupboard.
Equipment
Filters
The next purchase should be a filter, a word of warning first regarding the manufacturers recommendations, any filter you buy will say ‘suitable for tanks up to X gallons’, this figure is optimistic to say the least! You need to make sure the filter you buy is suitable for a tank at least one third bigger than yours, so if your tank is 30 gallons, buy a filter which is rated up to 40 gallons as a minimum, if you plan to stock heavy waste producing fish or lots of fish then go for a filter rated for double your tank size. There are only a few species of fish which will struggle with too much flow, the vast majority of them prefer an over filtered tank. Sometimes filters will not have a recommended tank size but will give a value in litres or gallons per hour, if this is the case then aim for 5x tank turnover so the 30 gallon tank we want a filter which will turn over 150gallons per hour. The conversion from US Gallons to litres is 3.7 litres to a US gallon by the way, UK gallons are 4.5 litres but in the fishkeeping world we tend to work in the US gallons.
Generally people choose between internal and external canister filters, under gravel filters are seldom used in the hobby nowadays as they don’t have the filtration capacity of the canister filters. An internal cannister filter is a box which sits inside your tank, it has a pump which draws water in, it passes the water through your filter media (usually a sponge in internal filters) and pushes it back out into the tank. External cannister filters work on the same principle but are much larger, they sit outside the tank and you have hoses running to and from the tank. Externals have a large media capacity so a variety of media types are often used to give maximum filtration capacity. Another filtration option is the Hang on the Back or HOB filter. These, as the name suggests, hang on the top edge of your tank and use a suction pump to pull water into the filter and the water trickles back into the tank over the edge. These filters can be very cost effective when compared to the external canisters, but lack the shear volume of media that canisters can contain, so for a tank that needs higher filtration, cansiters may be the best. But on a normal community tank, a HOB can be a quick and effective filtration device. External filters are generally stronger and they don’t take up space in the tank, for smaller tanks though people will generally use internals, HOB's are commonly found on smaller tanks in the USA but don't seem to have made it big across the pond!
There are plenty of threads in the Hardware forum discussing the makes and models of filter so I won’t dwell on this here.
Heaters
Heaters are fairly straight forward; the guideline for heater size is 5watts per gallon so for our 30gallon tank we want a 150watt heater. Aquarium heaters should have a thermostat so you set them to the correct temperature and they will switch on and off as needed, so there is no need to turn them up in the winter or off in the summer. There are two types of thermostat, electronic and by-metallic strips, the electronic seem to be more reliable so go for one of those if possible. Make is not all that important, as long as it has a thermostat and is rated for your size tank it should be fine, one thing to note though is that the difference in price between the different sizes of heater is minimal or non-existant so it’s a good idea to get the next size up. Because of the thermostat it won’t overheat and it’s never a good idea to push equipment to the maximum it can do, so get a heater which can comfortably heat your own tank. You’ll also need a thermometer, don’t trust the thermostat on the heater they’re often a bit dodgy so get a thermometer and use this as your temperature guide.
If you don't like a lot of equipment in the tank then you can buy an external heater, it hooks into the outlet of an external cannister filter and warms the water before it goes back into the tank. These are more expensive than the standard heaters but are often used if the tank's aesthetics are important to you. You can also buy some cannister filters which contain a heating element so basically do the same job.
Aquarium heaters (except for the external ones) are designed to be fully submerged all the time, if you remove them from the water when they are hot or switched on they can shatter, trust me this makes a big old mess (one of the many mistakes I have made over the years). So when you are doing water changes on the tank be sure to either switch the heater off and allow it to cool down for 10 minutes before doing the water change, or push it down in the tank so it stays fully submerged.
Lighting
Next comes lighting, wheather you want live plants in your tank is going to play a big role in lighting choice. So let’s consider the benefits and drawbacks of live plants, most fish need some cover in the tank, now your fish do not care one iota if this is natural rocks and plants or a bright pink shipwreck, how the tank looks is purely aesthetic and your choice, but you should provide some areas of cover for the fish in some form. If you like the look of live plants then rest assured there are plenty of species which are easy to grow without lots of work or fancy equipment, however if you want your tank to resemble an overgrown jungle then it’s a good idea to hop over to the planted tank forum and talk to the guys there about the equipment needed to get this in place. Assuming you do want live plants then for most of us it’s a bit of trial and error for what species will grow in our tanks, however if something fails to grow it’s just a case of removing it before it completely decomposes as this will foul up your tank. Having live plants can be beneficial to the fish as they photosynthesise and produce oxygen. That being said providing your filter gives some surface agitation there will be plenty of oxygen in the water anyway so this is by no means essential. Having live plants in the tank will also decrease your chances of getting significant algae growth because the plants use up the light and nutrients that algae needs to grow, however it is normal to get some algae growth in the tank so don’t be concerned if you get a few spots on the glass. If you don’t fancy the work involved with keeping live plants but like the look of them, then look for good quality silk plants, the fake plastic plants can have sharp edges which fish can cut themselves on the silk ones don’t, they also look more natural as they move with the water a bit more.
So once you have decided if you want live plants or not it’s time to look at lighting for the tank, lets assume you want a few easy live plants but not a significant amount of them. Aquarium lights come with a wattage rating, aim for 1 watt per gallon of water in the tank, so for our fictional 30gal tank we want a 30watt tube. It’s not exact but just a rough guide. For the easy option, but specific plant growth tubes from a fish shop, if you want to save a few quid though then you can shop around for bulbs elsewhere, however you need to be sure you get an appropriate tube, if you buy just anything then you may end up with a load of algae growth caused by the wrong colour lighting. Look for daylight coloured tubes with a green spike in the spectrum (when you buy the bulbs look for a colour spectrum on the packaging somewhere although this may not always be the case from non-aquatic outlets), obviously the length of the tube will be dictated by the size of the tank. You can use multiple tubes to make up the right wattage per gallon if necessary. As with all the equipment if there's anything you're not sure of then post up a link that what you're thinking about buying and we'll try and help you out. You’ll need a starter unit to go with each tube, make sure the wattage of the bulb you’re using is the same as the wattage on the started unit, using the wrong size starter unit can mean that a, it doesn’t work or b, it works for a while, then blows up and catches fire. So don’t try and save a few quid by getting a cheaper starter unit!!
Most people will control their lights by a timer, you can buy aquarium specific ones or you can just get them from a hardware store, you plug your lights into them, set the time you want them to switch on and off, and then plug the timer into the plug socket. Simple! Start with your lighting on for 8 hours a day, if you are getting a lot of algae growth then reduce this, if you aren't and plants are struggling you can try bumping it up. There are other factors which influence plant and algae growth though so if you're really interested in this then I recommend you hop over to the planted forum and do some reading.
So that is your basic equipment tank, hood, stand, filter, heater, thermometer and lights.
It’s wise to think about building some redundancy into your system, there is always the possibility of faults in any equipment (no manufacturing process is perfect) so plenty of people will have two filters or heaters running on a tank, this means that if one of them fails there is still something in place to keep the tank running. This is particularly important if you travel a lot or are aware from home frequently, likewise if your financial situation is such that you would not easily be able to buy another filter/heater at short notice then you should account for this in your initial preparations and get some spares in. If you’re at home every day then you can usually spot failed equipment and replace it quickly, if it fails while you’re away and the fish are without filtration or heating for a couple of days things could go very wrong very quickly.
Extras
Now there are other things you’ll need for the tank so here’s your shopping list
Substrate – usually people go for sand or gravel, you can go for coloured or natural looking the choice is yours. If you want natural looking sand then buy play sand designed for kids sand pits, it’s much cheaper than the aquarium stuff and is safe for aquariums. You can also buy substrates specifically for growing plants, they’re not necessary but can be very beneficial, again if you’re interested in this hop over to the planted tank forum and ask the guys and gals there about substrate choice.
Dechlorinator – this is what you use to remove chlorine from the water, chlorine can kill off the beneficial bacteria that make your filter work (more on this later), while there is some discussion and research into how essential this is the common consensus at the moment is that it’s an essential. Brand is not important; just make sure it removes chlorine and chloramine.
A quick note at this point about RO (reverse osmosis) water, you can buy RO Units which you hook up to your tap and they produce RO water, this is pure H20, or at least as close to it as you are likley to get in the home environment. If you are looking to set up a saltwater tank or keep sensitive fish such as rays or discus you may choose to get one of these, if you are using RO water you need to add minerals back into it (you can buy powders to do this) and you don't need to use dechlor. Some people find if their home water source is unreliable is it wise to invest in an RO unit, if you are thinking about this please put a post up with your individual circumstances and we can help you make the correct decision.
Filter media – check if your filter comes with this, if not then you will need to buy some media this takes a number of forms, the most important is biological media, sponges and ceramic shapes designed for the bacteria to grow on. You don’t need carbon, zeolite, ammonia removing media or nitrate removing media, whatever the man in the fish shop tells you! Remember all fish shops are out to make a profit, there are loads of products out there which you just don’t need, if you take a little time to set up the tank properly in the first place you’ll need very little else to keep it running day to day. Heres some more info on types of filter media which is really important.
Test kit and a bottle of ammonia – this is the most important of all, it’s discussed further on in the cycling info though so I won’t cover it all now. Suffice to say you need a liquid based test kit which tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and a bottle of plain household ammonia. The pet shop will be able to test the water for you, but it's better to get your own test kit, here's a link which explains why.
Décor – what décor you choose to get is up to you, but fish do not like a completely bare tank, so either get some ornaments or get some wood, rocks and plants. Do buy ornamnets which are specifically designed for aquariums as some may not be safe when submerged, likewise if you are using natural wood or rocks make sure that these are inert and clean them thoroughly before adding them to the tank.
Fish food – a good quality flake/pellet or other processed food will form the staple diet of most fish although it is important to check the requirements of the individual species you intend to buy and purchase appropriate foods. The diet is often supplemented with live/frozen ‘meaty treats’ as we call them such as bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp, and fresh veg for those fish who need it.
I would also recommend at this stage you buy a few basic medications, just as you would keep aspirin in the house in case of a headache it’s good to keep a few basic remedies in the house for your fish.
My recommendations for a basic fish health kit are as follows, remember in other countries these may vary.
Pimafix
Melafix
King British WS3
Myaxin
Remember if you have children in the house regularly that these should be kept out of reach and preferably locked away just as you would with human medications or cleaning products.
So that’s your shopping list sorted, dunno about you but I’m worn out just from typing all that!
So the next section can mostly be covered by some useful links.
Cycling
Before you even think about setting up the tank you need to learn about cycling, remember earlier I mentioned the test kit and beneficial bacteria in the filter, this will all be explained in the following links new tank syndrome and whats cycling
Once you’ve had a good read of these you should understand the basic chemical make up of our water and what your readings should be, you are now in the lucky position that you can save yourself and your fish all the agony of ammonia and nitrite problems, have a good read of the fishless cycling instructions here.
It's also worthwhile at this point to do a little bit of reading into pH and KH as this is one of the most common things we have problems with while fishless cycling.
So when you have understood all that you’re ready to set the tank up and begin cycling, so here’s a step-by step guide
Setting up the tank
1. Choose the position for your tank, remove anything from this area and ensure the area is clean. I recommend you move furniture to ensure you have clear space around the tank to set it up.
2. If the tank is of a reasonable size and going upstairs or above a cellar then it’s advisable to put a sheet of ply or something similar on the floor under where the tank goes, this will spread the weight of the tank over as many joists as possible.
3. Put the stand in place and check with a spirit level if it is level. This doesn’t need to be millimetre accurate but if it’s significantly off then you should level it as much as possible.
4. This step can be skipped if you have a floating base tank. Put a layer of thin polystyrene on top of the stand, this levels out any lumps and bumps and can stop the tank from cracking. This is as important to a fish keeper as a towel is to an interstellar hitchhiker.
5. Put the tank on the stand, ensure it is sat squarely and there is no overhang. Again this is very important.
6. Hook up the equipment onto the tank, do not turn it on!
7. Wash your substrate thoroughly and put it in the bottom of the tank
8. Add dechlorinator to the tank and fill the tank with water to roughly three quarters full (I only say don’t fill it entirely because you’ll need to muck around in the tank a bit, if it’s full you’ll just make a mess of the floor, this is especially important if you do not have a forgiving wife/husband), switch the heater and the filter on. Depending on the make/model of the filter you may need to prime it to get it to start, there should be instructions with the filter.
9. When the heater and filter are working you can start to put your décor in, it’ll take a while for the tank to get up to temperature so feel free to muck around and take your time.
10. When you’ve done arranging the tank fill it completely up, you’ll notice that there are bubbles forming on the glass and the water may not be totally clear, don’t worry about this it should settle down within 24hrs or so. Put the thermometer into the tank.
11. I’d recommend running the tank for a day before starting your fishless cycle, if there are any problems with the equipment they’re likely to manifest fairly quickly, this gives you a chance to sort things out without worrying over your bacteria colony. Also you may need to tinker with the temperature a bit to get it right, remember trust the thermometer as your temperature reading and just adjust the temp up and down as needed.
So there you go, one correctly set up and running tank, once you’ve gone through the fishless cycle you’ll be ready for fish and should have a fairly smooth ride of it for having done your prep work first.
Contributions from - ox5477, rabbut, Dave Spencer, tenohfive, rdd1952
Thankyou everyone for reading and commenting.
/www.lampspecs.co.uk/
~~WD~~
the strip also wears out, making the heater hold a less stable temperature before failing.
