Setting Up A New Aquarium
Take It Slow and Be Successful
by Jesse B. Hunt
From Jesse's web site: http://www.save1004.com
Aquarticles
It's an all too common occurrence, a new aquarist gets this brilliant idea to rush out
and buy a new aquarium, set it up, and go straight to adding fish. This new aquarist has a
beautiful new aquarium for about a week and then it happens, the aquarium begins to cycle
and the fish begin to die. Before long this aquarist is discouraged and has given up,
packed up the aquarium, and now it's sitting in a closet waiting on warmer weather so it
can be sold in garage sale. Sadly, all of this could have been avoided if they had just
done a little bit of planning.
Since your reading this article, I'm going to assume that you are making the right
decision and doing your homework before you rush into a new aquarium. The first thing you
need to do is sit down with a pencil and paper and plan out what you want to achieve with
this aquarium; will it be fresh or salt water, and what type of inhabitants do you want?
Once you have determined that, you should get books and do research on the Internet to
determine what is involved in caring for the particular type of aquarium that you are
interested in. While you are doing this research, you should take note of any specific
types of equipment that are mentioned as being important for a particular type of
aquarium.
Once you have done some basic research on aquariums and specific types of fish (or
invertebrates), you can begin to visit local aquarium stores and obtain prices on the
necessary equipment. You should find a dealer who is willing to spend time with you and
help you to determine exactly what fits your needs. If the dealer only seems interested in
your money and doesn't seem to care about getting you set up with an aquarium that suits
your needs, move on to a different store that will be more helpful as you pursue your new
hobby.
By now you should be forming a general idea of what equipment this new aquarium will
require and what kind of budget it will take to set it up. When you are confident that you
have decided what aquarium and equipment you need, you can begin purchasing them. Don't,
however, buy fish for this new aquarium yet. After you set the aquarium up it will undergo
a chemical cycle that can be very stressful and often deadly to the fish. Use a chemical
test kit (can be purchased at any fish store) to determine when it is safe to purchase
fish. As a rule of thumb for the marine aquarium, wait until ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate
levels have fallen to zero before adding any fish. Once the chemicals in your aquarium
have reached safe levels then proceed cautiously in adding fish. Start with more hardy
fish, watch to insure their good health in the new aquarium, and then slowly proceed to
more fragile fish.
As a new aquarist it will be hard to resist the urge to jump off into the hobby head
first, but the reward will be well worth the wait. Do your homework first, proceed with
caution, and then enjoy the rewards.
Good Luck.
|