I am starting up an aquarium?

Question

could someone tell me all the important stuff I need for it and how to set it all up? Its a 10 gallon tank

Answer 1

So, you bought your very first fish tank. And you probably already decided where to place it. But keep in mind that a fish tank filled with water is much heavier than it seems. So please, place it on something strong and stable.

It is also advisable to keep your fish tank away from direct, or even indirect, sunlight. Long hours of sunlight will induce algae, something you do not want if you wish to keep your aquarium beautiful.


Any gravel?

Skip this part if you plan to have a simple bare-bottom fish tank. Personally, I feel that gravels make an aquarium looks so much nicer. Having gravels also helps hide your fishes' wastes.

Before you start pouring your gravels into your fish tank, stop! Take a pail, pour your gravels into it instead. Start washing them over and over until the water is decently clear. This is important, as you don't want your fishes to be swimming in chocolate milk.


Preparing your water

Water is the single most important element of an aquarium. It is important to prepare your water before adding any fishes, as most tap water contains chemicals like chlorine and chloramine, which are harmful to fishes. So be sure to get a bottle of water conditioner from your favourite pet shop that neutralizes both chlorine and chloramine.

If you have gravels, be very gentle when pouring water into your tank, so as not to stir up the gravels. A useful tip is to pour your water onto a floating plate or saucer, so as to divert the force of the falling water. Fill water to your preferred height, and add measured amount of your anti-chlorine-and-chloramine water conditioner.


Setting up your filter

Setup your filter according to your filter's manual. Make sure that it is working properly as intended, as the filter is a very important part of an aquarium. Your filter provides water circulation, and also oxygenates the water, if your type of filter causes water surface disturbance. If your aquarium is heavily loaded with fishes, and your filter fails for even a few hours, it could be fatal.


What is cycling?

"Cycling" is the process where bacterias break down ammonia(NH3) into nitrite(NO2), and from nitrite to nitrate(NO3). Ammonia and nitrite are both very toxic to fishes, and nitrate being the least toxic of the three. Therefore this process is the most important for any aquarium.

The nitrosomonas species of bacteria starts forming when ammonia is present. They form all around our fish tank, the driftwoods, the substrate, and especially inside our filter. Slowly, they will form into a colony large enough to efficiently breakdown ammonia into nitrite. When nitrite in the water has reached a certain level, the Nitrobacter species of bacteria starts forming. Slowly, they will breakdown the nitrite into nitrate. And finally, nitrate in the water can be removed via the most common and cost-effective method, water changes.


In a nutshell: Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate

Introduction of ammonia

These are the various ways of introducing ammonia:

- "Seeding". Transfer some gravel or filter sponge/wool/etc from an established fish tank into the new one.

- Fish wastes. Zebra danios are very hardy fishes that are commonly used for cycling.

- Market prawns. Yes, it will stink.

- Commercial products.

Personally, I feel that the "seeding" method would be the most reliable and yields the fastest results.

Fish method is slow, but adding more fishes does makes the process faster. Just that the fishes might not survive the intense ammonia poisoning. We don't want fishes to die in our new fish tank. It is also not recommended to use feeder fishes for this task, as they often carry diseases.

Prawn method is easy, throw them in and wait. But be prepared for the smell.

Commercial products are not the most reliable. Most of us would wonder how much shelf life do these products have. After all, we are talking about live organisms here. But there are indeed cases where hobbyists introduce fishes without cycling, relying on commercial products to do its work. It all boils down to how much risk you are willing to take.

Personally, I have a bottle of Nutrafin Cycle, which I bought when I upgraded my filter.


The wait

So you've introduced ammonia, turned on your filter, and is waiting for your fish tank to cycle. I would recommend at least three days of cycling before introducing your fishes. Longer, if the fishes you plan to keep are sensitive. Or if you have not decided on what fishes to keep, now is a good time to research on that.

Find on how big will the fishes grow up to. Most fishes are so tiny when young, but can grow up to huge sizes. This is important, as having no space to swim will stunt their growth, their colors will not show, and they get sick easier. So get suitable fishes, unless you have plans to upgrade to a larger fish tank.

Find out if the fishes are to be kept in brackish water or fresh water. Do not mix the two types of fishes. Find out also their aggressiveness, feeding habits, behaviors, and anything else you need to know to keep your fishes healthy and happy.


Acclimatizing your new fishes

Finally, it's time for you to go out and buy your fishes. Get the pet shop people to help you select healthy ones. While at the shop, make sure you've already gotten everything you need. Things like food, aquarium salt(if keeping brackish water fishes), net, water pump, and a bottle of anti-chlorine-and-chloramine water conditioner.

Once you reached home, float the packet of your new babies in your tank water. This is to acclimatize your fishes to the new water temperature. Float for about 15 minutes, then open up the packet, and pour some of your tank water into it. This is to acclimatize your fishes to the new water parameters. Wait for another 15 minutes, or more, if your fishes are sensitive species. And finally, use a net to catch your fishes into your fish tank!


Observing your fishes

If your fish tank has decorative objects, most likely your new fishes will go into hiding. This is normal, and will last up to a few days. When they do show themselves, observe them. Take note of how their bodies look like, and how they behave, so you will know when something odd happens.

Feed very sparingly during this beginning stage. As the filtration and bacteria system is still new, do not want to pollute the water too much. I suggest feeding small amounts once a day starting from the second or third day. If your fishes refuse to eat, do not put in more food. Try feeding again the next day. This is normal and you do not need to worry, as the fishes most likely already eaten when in the pet shop, and they can survive for as long as a week without food.


Conclusion

Soon, your fishes will get used to their environment. They will start becoming more active. Their vibrant colors will start showing. And they may even recognize you whenever you come close to feed them. That is the reward of fish-keeping! But of course, you have to be a responsible owner. Performing the regular water changes, medicating them when they get sick, and feeding them quality food everyday. And I officially welcome you to the hobby!

Answer 2

Okay, what you have to do is establish the tank. That means that you have to let the tank sit for a while. Let the natural nitrates or nitrites build up and then after around 2 weeks, buy some platies, of the same gender trust me, and an algae eater. NOT A PLECHO! They grow WAY to big for a 10 gallon tank. And also if you have bought a kit and it comes with a filter, buy a cascade 20 instead. It will filter the aquarium A LOT better than the standard. So the bottom line is set up your aquarium, let it sit 2 weeks, buy platies and an algae eater, and wait one week before you add more fish. The WORST thing that you could do is go out and buy 20 fish right after it is set up. And you should also have no more than 6-8 fish in the aquarium. The best place to buy ornaments, plants, and such is Petsmart. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Your 10 gallon tank will weigh only 100 pounds plus, so you don't have to worry as much about it's weight or placement. You want to make sure you don't overstock, and get a gravel cleaner to clean it and do water changes once a week (about 20 percent, depends on the fish). Be sure to keep in mind the size of hte adult fish, since fish DO NOT grow to the size of an aquarium. Make sure you dechlorinate water and have a powerful filter. Good luck!

Answer 4

An airpump,airhose,undergravel filter,lights,rocks,sand,heater,thermometer,and of course the fishes.

First,fill the tank with tap water,and buy an antichlorine from a petstore.

Secondly,put the undergravel filter and connect it to the airpump,and install the heater and monitor temperature ,adjust heater to get the right temp.then put the sand and then the rocks,and wait for a few days then you can start adding fishes gradually


*don't put the rocks before the sand cause it will make a weak foundation and might damage the bottom part of the tank

Answer 5

This is an emergency solution i did myself: Since you have your tank already set up and it has a filter, you're doing already good If you have the water already conditioned, you can put your goldfish in there, but get a bag and put your goldfish in there with the old water, and float the bag on the surface of the new tank, add 1/2 cup of the new tankwater every 15 min, for up to 2 hours After that you can just net him into his new tank, please don't wait 24 hours, he will sufficate in the bowl Over the next weeks, you will need to test your water constantly for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates (they sell a masterkit for that at the petstore) Keep up with daily waterchanges of 10% until there is no more ammonia present. you will see a spike of ammonia and nitrite in the middle of the cycle process, and then start seeing nitrates starting to show and to raise As soon as your tank is cycle, that means no ammonia present, you can stop with daily changes and just have to keep up with weekly partial waterchanges of 25% with a gravelsiphon Also replace your carbon cartridge every 4-6 weeks, after your tank is done cycling Leave the light on only for 10-12 hours during the day, and turn it off at night for 12-14 hours place your tank in a place where no sun can get to it, since that is the main source for algae growth You can also buy live plants like hornwort, cabomba and anacris for your tank, these are all coldwater plants your tank is about 12 us gallon, so you won't be able to put another goldfish in there, but you could buy about 3 white cloud minnows for your tank And feed your goldie twice a day, whatever he will eat in under 2 min Hope that helps good luck EB Feel free to email me for further questions

Answer 6

They sell products at pet stores that are called things like 'Water Clear' and 'Start Right', etc. You drop them into the water and they fizz up and make ordinary tap water safe for freshwater fish. I don't know too much about saltwater. Some people like gravel, and decorations and stuff. Also you should make sure you have fish food for all of your different types of fish and that the fish won't become aggressive to each other. The tank itself usually comes with a filtration system but if it doesn't you'll need to get one of those too.

Answer 7

Set up your tank with all the decor. Fill it with water and add some kind of chlorine remover. Once you have it running you then need to decide how your going to cycle your tank to get the biofilter established. You have two choices for that. With fish and fishless.

If you do it with fish you will want to get one or two hardy fish like Zebra Danios. Then over the period of 6 to 8 weeks you will need to monitor The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. First will be ammonia. You will see it start to rise and you will need to do partial water changes to keep it down. Soon it will stay at zero and then the nitrites will start to rise. Keep doing water changes to keep the nitrites down till it stays at zero. Last the nitrates will start to rise. Once that happens your tank is cycled. You will need to do occasional water changes to keep nitrates down but your tank will be ready to add your desired fish.

To do fishless cycle you can buy products at pet stores that will add the amonia to your water to get the cycle going. With fishless cycling you don't have to worry about water changes because there are no fish that the high ammonia and nitrites can harm.

I hope this is helpful and best of luck with your aquarium.

Answer 8

You need to put chlorine killer in the tank before you put the fish in. Well fist put in the rocks, fake plants, and all that cool stuff in the tank after you have filled it up with water. Than ad the chlorine killer in the water, wait at least a day. Add the fish.

Answer 9

well once you get all set up (make sure you rinse your gravel )
and add your drops to take out the hard water and chemicals in it. also wait and let it run for about 2-3 days before you add your fish. also don't leave you tanks light on all the time or to often cuz this could breed allege.

Answer 10

You can have a bare tank or one with substrate. If you opt for rocks I'd choose pea gravel over painted. I'd choose natural rock over synthetic or ceramic gaudy ornaments. You need a good filter, bio-wheel types are easy to clean and maintain and are an excellent choice. An arator with a good quality airstone. There are different types of air stones on the market. Bubble wands clog easily and need to be replaced often. Some bubble stones will crumble after a while. What you want is a good ceramic bubble stone that creates a fine mist of bubbles. Ask specifically about a higher grade air stone. They may cost a few bucks more but will save money in the long run as they won't need to be cleaned nor replaced. I have had mine running for 4 years now, never cleaned them too much and they are not clogged a bit. Most fish (including goldfish and coldwater fish) need a heater to keep the water temperature constant. Constant temperature, or very little fluctuation in temperature is very important for any fishes health. You will need a syphon with bell and tube for water changes and tank cleaning. You will need water conditioners. If you choose to use tap water, you will need a conditioner such as Amquel Plus, that removes both chlorine and chloromines. If you choose to buy water from a dispenser at the grocery store you will need some extra minerals to buff up the water. I have to buy Reverse Osmosis water BC the water in Dallas, Texas has all kinds of stuff in it that fish can't live in. I was never successful using the tap water here. I use Kent Marine R.O. Right with Kent Marine's Neutral Controler (keeps the Ph stable at 7.0) along with Amquel for electrolytes and benefits it provides. You need a guide book to help when you run into problems (or a good web site). I would also highly suggest you get your own set of water test kits. Test kit is the life line to what is going on in the tank. When fish become ill first test the water and go from there. You will need 4 basic ones to get you started. A ph kit. Ph needs to always be the same don't attempt to control ph with anything other than what I have listed for RO water. Only adjust ph through normal, regular water changes. All fish are very sinsitive when it comes to changes in temp and Ph. An ammonia test kit. A nitrite test kit and a nitrate test kit.
To avoid new tank syndrome you will need to monitor ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate daily for about a month. Do not clean your filter at all the first 6 weeks. (you can refurbish the carbon as needed - monthly) You will need to do a 50-75% water change ANYTIME ammonia AND/ OR nitrite reaches 1ppm. That may mean daily or every other day at first. Don't use any product claiming to remove ammonia, water changes are far superior to any of that stuff. It will cause the tank to take much much longer to cycle too. How you will know the tank has cycled is first the ammonia will drop to zero, with in a week nitrite will drop to zero, then you should by that time finally get some nitrate in the system, which is second to last step but the water at this point is correct. After this happens you simply need to keep an eye on Ph level and nitrate level. When nitrates get 20 ppm change 50% of the water. How quickly it reaches this point depends on number of fish and number and amount of food given. Then you will know exactly when to change water. After the tank has cycled you may clean your filter, but be careful. You are not only keeping a tank with fish you are keeping a tank of bacteria as well. These are the bacteria responsible for cleaning up the fish wastes and bi products. Never clean the wheels of a bio-wheel too well and never in tap water. Use a bucket of tank water. (water your plants with the water from the tank and watch the magic happen!) If there are foam pads in the filter or you use some type of bio-bead (ceramic type, they're great) rinse those off in tank water only. After everything from the filter has been broken down you can wash all the tubing, filter box, propeller in tap water. Replace it on the tank quickly and get it back up and running. I would in the beginning clean the tank one day and wait a couple of days to do the filter. After a while, 4 or 6 months or so, you should be able to safely clean the filter and tank on the same day. You do everything right and that tank will cycle in 3 weeks. Feed the fish very lightly for a month. It won't hurt him. Half rations every other day. The most important thing at first is to keep that water as close to correct as possible. The fish need to have clean water before they need to be fed. Little feeding doesn't cause the stress and threat to life like ammonia and nitrite. The last step in the cycling process is green algae. Green algae is so beneficail to the aquarium you should keep as much as you can stand to see grow. Any other color algae is a problem scrape it off with an algea scraper or my favorite filter floss. Filter floss is nothing more than poly-ester fiber fill, if you want that in your filter get it from Walmart as its so much cheaper than at Petco. Make sure it isn't the fire retardant kind though. So there you have my little novelette on how and what you need to start an aquarium. Welcome to the hobby, its addictive!

Answer 11

People should give credit to authors when they copy material from websites. Especially when there are other good articles that you can find for additional information: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/settingup.php

Here are a few websites I like as well:

http://www.fishlore.com/
http://www.firsttankguide.net/
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/