How do I set up an aquarium? What kind of water should I use?

Question

Someone gave me an aquarium. I would like to use it, but I don't know anything about it. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

First thing you're going to want to do is clean it out. You don't want any chemicals, especially cleaning chemicals in there to mix in with your tank water. Just use a sponge with plain water. If you notice any unusual or foul smells comming from there, then use some cleaning substances. Avoid using something like windex where it contains ammonia. If you are going to attempt a fishless cycle this might be ok, but you are going to be better off just using plain water.

Now you will have to decide between a salt water set up or freshwater. I have no experience to guide you on a salt water set up so I will reccomend freshwater on that basis. You'll want to get a gravel substrate, sold at many pet stores, a heating unit suffecient enough to cover that many gallons, in this case 55, proper filtration. On filtration there are almost endless possibilites to use so I'm going on the premisis of a non restricted budget here. I happen to use aquaclear filters. I find the filtration components sound, and easy to use and replace when needed. You could get lots of advice on what exactly to use, so whatever you end up using, just make sure it has a good turnover rate. Meaning it should cycle through the water of about 165 gallons or better per hour. About three times the water volume of the tank. Lighting and keeping it covered are going to vary from what you end up wanting to populate. Going over populations will be the last step and you have a ton of possibilites there.

Once you have your gravel filter lighting heater decorations ect all in place, fill the tank just short of capacity and add a dechloriator product. I use Aquasafe, there are many products you could use, but the goal here is treat the water to remove cholorine and chloramine, chemicals added to water to make safe for human usage, but not good for fish.

After you have treated the water, let your tank settle for 24-48 hours. Get a set of testing kits. Testing to include ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. Check your ph. If the ph is showing higher then 8.2 or lower then 6.6, then you will need to adjust it now before you get any fish. Leveling off your ph to 7.0 if desired at that should be done prior to any fish populating the tank. Shifts in ph can cause just as much damage as the cycle can that I will explain shortly. Now it is time if you decided to use fish for cycling to get them. The cycle I am referring to is called the Nitrogen cycle which will take place in your tank immediatley when an ammonia source is added. There really is no getting around this so I will explain what will happen now.

Fish you will want to use for the time being are Danio zebras, guppies, mollies, or platties. For 55 gallons, about 3-4 of any of those should be sufficient. As soon as fish are added, ammonia will begin to accumulate in the water. This is because fish respiration, fish waste, uneaten fish food, and decaying plants if you have plants will decay into ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. After a few days begin testing your water to measure the ammount of ammonia in the water. To keep your ammonia levels or rather help it stay optimum, feed your fish once a day. Don't worry, they will be fine and can go days if they had to with no food. Feed them only as much as they will eat, entirely in two minutes. Excess food is the biggest cause of excess ammonia.

When you check your levels, you should start seeing it detectible in just a few days if not soon. Monitor this. Ammonia exposure to fish will cause death ultimately. PH and temperature play factors, but if followed above we would have addressed that already. Ammonia will damage gill functions and if your fish begin to suffer from exposure to it, you will know by seeing them near the surface of the water appearing to have trouble breathing. If you see this or start seeing ammonia levels going above 1.0 ppm (parts per million) do a small water change. About 10-20% of the total water volume. Try not to do more then that. What is going on is this.

Once your ammonia is present in the water, a bacteria called Nitrosommas will begin to form. Don't worry this is normal and necessary for the end population of fish you want to keep. Nitrosommas oxidize ammonia into a compound called nitrite. Bacteria generally takes about 24 hours to double in size so be patient with this. Most of the time you should start to see a drop in ammonia in your water in about 10-14 days but this can vary depending on total fish in the water, feedings and many other thing. This is just a general guideline. If you must do a water change, try not to do more then 10-20% because the ammonia is a fuel source for the Nitrosommas to grow with.

Now once you see ammonia begin to drop in measurements, you should see readings in nitrites in your water. Again another bacteria will begin to develope in addtion to the other one. These are called Nitrobaciters and they oxidize nitrite into a compound called nitrate which compared to the other two, is much less harmful to fish and maintained by weekly water changes.

Nitrite however is still toxic to fish. Fish suffering from nitrite exposure will have damaged gills, possible redness there, and become sluggish and not eat as much. This is in part due to nitrite binding to blood cells and blocking oxygen transfer, similar to what smokers experience. If you see your nitrite levels starting to go above 1.0 ppm, perform a water change, but keep in mind again, the Nitrobaciters need that nitrite to grow to a stable colony.

Roughly 14-21 days, your nitrite levels should if not sooner have begun to drop as well. You should start seeing readings in your nitrate. Nitrate as mentioned above is less lethal to fish then the other two. If you see your nitrate readings going into 40 ppm or higher, do your water changes. At this point your cycle is essentially over. It is over when you are reading 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and getting your readings in nitrate only. At this point you will maintain your tank by performing regular water changes. Weekly is generally good, but depending on your fish population you may need to do it more frequently.

Now once your cycle is finished, then you will want to begin stocking the tank with the less hardy fish you want to keep. When doing so, do NOT go and buy all the fish you want and introduce them to the tank. This will cause your tank to spike in ammonia and following with nitrite and expose the delicate fish to toxic chemical. Instead introduce a couple fish a week so the bacteria that is there to oxidize those compounds will not have problems doing so and cause a rise in those compounds.

I know this is long and excessive, but most people I have seen that have a new tank are not aware of this process that takes place, and to be honest neither did I until just last year. I learned some lessons the hard way and just wish to pass on what I know to help. If you have ANY questions feel free to email me.

JV

Answer 2

Well..it depends what you plan to put in it. For a regular freshwater community tank, you'll need a substrate: gravel is easiest..or sand. Add rinsed gravel (to get rid of the dust). Add regular tap water. At this point you can let it sit for a couple of days to let the chlorine dissipate or you can add water dechlorinator to it. Add a filter meant for a 55 gallon or 70 gallon tank (hang on the back is best unless you'll be keeping big cichlids...which would best be filtered with a canister filter). Add a heater (5 watts per gallon is recommended) If the tank is for goldfish, no heater is required.
You should add a lid to keep fish from jumping and to keep the water from evaporating quickly. Add decorations and a few fish at a time to start the cycling process. Also purchase test strips that will test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and pH if possible to test your water so you'll know when to change the water.

Answer 3

First, is you water supply chlorinated or not? If you don't know, just fill a large container of water and leave it there for 3 days. Be sure its more than enough for the capacity of your tank. After 3 days, put the water into your tank and leave the last 20% at the container. It contains the residue and is not good for fish. Buy a small bottle of water conditioner (it costs really cheap) and put some on the tank. Buy an overhead filter, set it up and you're good to go. Buy some fish. Don't overstock. 1-2inch fish is good for 5 gallons of water. Start with 2 fishes then add as needed with 1-2 weeks interval. Hope this helps you.

Good luck fishing!

Answer 4

First go to the library and find a book a-z fish keeping or something you'll find plenty, read it, and bobs your uncle, you'll be well on your way.

Having read so much on answers do not go to the fish shop and ask them otherwise you 10 gallon tank will have a shoal of 15 pacu's in it.

I'm being very sarcastic I don't mean it personally to you on the contrary the reading the book bit is the best way to start it has all the do's and don'ts there, once you've got the basics from there, any problems and you can call me on the email or any of us on answers.

there is quiet a bit that you need to do to do it properly and here is a bit difficult for one thing the check spelling doesn't work on long answers and I'd hate for anyone to see how illegitimate i am.

AJ

Answer 5

It all depends what kind of aquarium you want fresh or salt? If salt they need a lot of work in the beginning but after a few months they are good. If you want a salt water aquarium you need a filter, sand, rocks ( live rock ), powerheads, a heater ( good guality), test kite ( good one, the powder kind), and a light.

Answer 6

if u have a 20 gallon, get 3, 5 gallons of distilled water. do the rest with tap water.

Answer 7

How to Set-Up Your New Aquarium
Getting Going with Your New Aquarium
For the simplest setup, I would recommend that you purchase a fifteen, twenty, or twenty-nine gallon glass tank with an air driven under gravel filter, plastic top with a fluorescent light, one pound-per-gallon of aquarium gravel, an air pump and a hanging heater. To save a little money in initial setup, you can get an incandescent light rather than the fluorescent. If, on the other hand, you have some extra money, get a power head rather than the air pump and replace the hanging heater with a submersible model. For beginners I recommend a selection of plastic plants and plastic, resin, wood, ceramic or stone decorations available from most pet shops. Most pet stores will have setups similar to this at a discounted price (decorations not included). You will also need a stand which can support the weight of a tank (about 10 pounds per gallon of tank capacity). Larger tanks are much less work than smaller tanks or bowls, can hold many more fish, provide more stable water conditions and will generally lead to a much more pleasant experience with the fish keeping hobby. Small tanks and bowls will require a great deal of maintenance and more expert care to keep the tank stable and your fish healthy and happy.

Setting up your aquarium is easy, now that you have your equipment. Take the stand and put it someplace in your home where you will be able to enjoy your fish, and where you will be able to take care of them. You will also want to put it someplace where it will look nice for quite some time, since it is quite a bit of work to move the tank, and you should place the aquarium where it will not get direct sunlight (this will help control algae).
Place the tank on the stand, and make sure that there is solid contact between the tank and the stand. Warped surfaces can break the glass bottom of most fish tanks.
Check to see what kind of filter you have, if you have an Under Gravel Filter (UGF), you will need to place that next. The UGF goes on the bottom of the tank. Place the lift tubes in their sockets. For most smaller tanks one lift tube will be plenty if you are using a power head to run the filter. If you are using an air pump to run the filter, you will probably need two. Check the setup instructions on the filter container to see if you need to do anything else when setting up your filter; for example, plugging unused lift tube ports or attaching bubble walls. You want to leave the tops off of the lift tubes for now.
Thoroughly rinse the gravel and put it in the tank. Spread the gravel out so that you have a relatively even layer. You want the lowest point in the gravel to be near the front of the tank, so detritus will collect there, where you can see it to clean it out. Make sure that the gravel does not have many dips in it as it slopes to the back of the tank, to simplify your cleaning job.
If you have a filter other than a UGF which goes inside the tank, set it up and place it in the tank now. Thoroughly rinse everything with cool running tap water before you put it in the tank.
Now you can add the heater and water pumps (if necessary). If you have a hanging heater, hang it off the back, someplace where you can still see it. You want to be able to see it so you can tell when it is on. If you have a submersible heater, place it near the bottom of the tank (heat rises), and approximately horizontal. Find a location for your air pump. It should be placed above the water level, because water can drain back out through the air tube if the power goes off, damaging the pump, and maybe damaging other things. If you cannot place the air pump above the water line, you should probably check into getting some check-valves for the air line. You will probably also need a gang valve for the air line, which will let you run two lift tubes off of a single outlet air pump. Run a piece of air line from the air pump to the gang valve. Run another piece of air line from the gang valve to each of your lift tubes. Check the instructions for your filter to see exactly how to attach the air line to the air stones (this varies from model to model...). If you are not using a UGF, check to see if your filter needs an air pump attached, and how to attach one. If you are running your filter with a power head, rather than an air pump, place the power head on top of the lift tube following the instructions on the package. Make SURE that your pumps and heaters are all UNplugged. You can break your heater or air stones by having them running when you add water, and your power heads can easily overheat without water to cool them. At this point, your lift tubes should be closed off so that fish cannot get into them.
Now you should place your decorations in the tank and see what they will look like (more or less) without getting your hands wet and making a lot of mess. Remember that many ceramic or plastic decorations will trap air and either float or tip over as you put water in the tank. (Just a warning, so you won't be surprised when it happens.)
Once your decorations are in place, you will want to put the top on the tank. If you bought a kit from a pet shop, you should either have a glass top with a light strip, or an integrated plastic top. However it is made, the back section should be made of light weight plastic which you can cut to accommodate power cords, heaters, filters, and air lines. With a pair of scissors or a utility knife, carefully cut out notches as necessary for your setup.
At this point, you should be ready to add water. You can just pour water into the tank without treating it at this time, since you have no fish, plants, or biological filter to worry about. Just add treatment after you have the tank full. If you are just pouring the water in, you probably want to pour it over a rock or some other ornament to keep from digging a hole in the gravel. If you don't have an appropriate ornament, get a bowl or plate from your kitchen and use that. Once the tank is full, let it sit for an hour or so, to saturate your air stones and to equalize the heater temperature, then turn everything on. Wait a day or two before getting any fish, this way you can stabilize the temperature, make sure that nothing leaks, and insure that all of your equipment is working properly.

Once you have your aquarium equipment all set up, and you are sure that the equipment is operating correctly, and that the temperature is stable and set correctly, you are ready to introduce your first fish and begin the cycling process.

If you are just thinking about getting your first aquarium, you might want to start with some simple steps to a successful aquarium.
http://fishtankguide.net

Answer 8

My suggestion to you would be that you take just a few minutes and read through the following link. There are a few short pages here that will help you gain a better understanding of the tank and equipment as well as setting it all up properly and even running and maintaining it. I promise it will be well worth your time and save you tons of headaches inthe near future!

http://www.firsttankguide.net/

Hope that helps and welcome to the hobby!

MM

Answer 9

a tank should have some pebbles and under that u can have a 1ft ug filter ..the ug filter should be covered by big white pebbles ..then have a powerhead jet pump..

Answer 10

go to a pet store and ask..i did and they helped me completley but basically, pebbles, greenery if you would like , a filter (size depends on size of the tank) a light , thermometer and fish : )