For a typical beginner setup, you will need the following:
o 1
tank (15-20 gallons or bigger)
o 1 Powerhead or water pump with overhead filter and filter media (usually polyester wool)
o
Test
Strips (For Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and/or PH)
o
Fish
food (algae flakes)
o
Sand
or gravel (optional, but not necessary)
Assuming you have the above tank components, below tips would
explain why you need these and how you can plan the rest of your hobby moving
forward.
1. DON’T START SMALL. In terms of aquarium size, some people make the mistake of going for
smaller aquariums (2.5 gallons – 5 gallons) thinking it would be the most
prudent way to cut their losses if their hobby (pardon the pun) ever tanks. Unfortunately,
having a small aquarium exponentially increases the risk of killing off all
your fish if you don’t manage it properly. The reason? NITROGEN CYCLE. Fish are
living organisms and produce waste via their poo (or urine, which DOESN’T make
the ocean salty, BTW) and this increases the amount of Ammonia in the water. In
high concentrations, Ammonia spikes can kill fishes en masse. More poop means
more biohazard for your poor fishes, which brings us to item #2
2. CYCLE YOUR TANK FIRST. Cycling your tank means making sure it’s prepared to handle
the bio load coming from all that poop and waste inside your tank once your
fishes start calling it home. Cycling is normally done without any fish inside,
you just fill your tank with water, leave the air pump running and put some
fish food in to jumpstart the process. Make sure you do regular water changes as
well from 4-10% every week or so. Incidentally, you might have heard from your
local pet store that when changing water, you should never use water straight
out of the tap because the chlorine is too strong and can kill off your fishes.
This is partly true but the rest of the story says you should worry about
killing the fishes last. The first thing you should be worried about is all the
good tank bacteria that’s pushing your tank’s Nitrogen Cycle. See, fish waste, excess fish food or rotting plant/animal
matter can raise Ammonia levels in the water. Your tank needs to have the good
bacteria that will eat the Ammonia and turn it into Nitrites. Nitrites are
still harmful so you need bacteria still
that would eat the Nitrites and turn then into Nitrates which are NOT as harmful
as the other two. How do you know about the chemical levels on your tank? Use
water test strips. You normally get these from big pet stores. You’ll just need
to collect a sample of tank water, put it in a vial or strip of paper and match
the resulting color to the colored chart of chemical values. This will tell you
if your tank is safe enough to use. If you’re the impatient kind, you can cycle
the tank (process can take anywhere from two weeks to a month) with a few
super-hardy fish inside. Gouramis and most catfish can be pretty hardy and
thrive even as you go through the whole Nitro cycle thingie. But if I were you,
why subject your own fishes to unnecessary suffering? Better buy them later when
the water is all prepped and clean right? BTW you might be asking, is there a
way to fast track the process? You luckyimpatient guy you, of course there is.
One time-tested method is to get dirty media from a ‘seasoned’ tank and place
it inside your new tank’s filter. This way, good bacteria from the other filter
can spread and take root in your new tank. This normally cuts the waiting time
in half. You may also want to “import” sand, plants or rocks from other “seasoned”
tanks to put your cycling into overdrive. Just be ready with your test strips
to confirm the water quality. Once a tank is cycled, you can change water far
less often than the initial phase. As a rule of thumb, bigger tank means less
water changes which is why it is always better to get a bigger tank if you’re
just starting out.
3. CHOOSE YOUR DÉCOR. Do you want to go for the artificial look with the plastic plants, requisite
resin sunken ship or diving bell guy/oyster belching bubbles? Or do you want to go for the all-natural look
with driftwood and live plants? Whichever you choose, the net, especially Youtube
has tons of videos that will help you decide the look and feel of your beloved
tank. If you’re using driftwood for the first time, make sure you soak it in
warm water first to remove all the tannins in the wood. Tannin is the chemical
present on the bark of these driftwood roots or branches. Putting them in
without soaking can foul up your water and harden it significantly to the detriment
of your fishes and plants. Some people bring the water to a boil to leach the
tannins faster. If you want to put live plants, make sure you have ample fluorescent
or LED lighting to keep your plants warm and happily growing. Just as it is
with any décor, make sure you clean off your river rocks or pebbles but do not
use any soap. You may use aquarium water to rinse them instead. As for anything
found in the sea like shell, corals, wood, etc. It would be a good practice to
soak them in for a few weeks first to ensure there are no salt/minerals embedded
that can potentially kill your fish.
4. CHOOSE YOUR FISH CAREFULLY. Now that you have a cycled tank, you don’t want to be
getting cute cuddly fishes that would grow to be monster tank busters in a few
months’ time. Fishes like the Oscar, Plecostomus (locally known as Janitor Fish),
Arowana and Red Tailed Catfish can grow
to immense sizes quickly. Some of them are also hyper sensitive and demand a
lot of care and attention. As a beginner, you’re better off caring for fishes
that don’t grow too fast, non-aggressive and are hardy enough to stay alive even
if you commit a classic beginner mistake or two (which you might actually make
if you go running to the pet store without finishing this article). By beginner
fish, you can choose any of the following: Mollies, Platies, Guppies, Angelfish,
Blackfin Tetras, Bettas, etc. Contrary to popular belief, goldfish keeping isn’t
as simple as getting a crystal bowl, filling it with water and throwing a poor Bubble
Eye or Black Moor inside. Goldfish love cold water and our tropical heat can
have a negative effect on goldfishes if the water doesn’t circulate properly or aerated improperly. Go for fish that can thrive in water that’s tropical –
and warm. Also avoid putting slow moving fish with fast, agitated swimmers (say,
Angelfish and Hammerhead Catfish in that order). Also avoid putting carnivorous, aggressive
fish like Cichlids inside a tank with docile, slow moving or non-carnivorous fish like Koi or Mollies or Angelfishes.
They’re just like people and can end up hurting and stressing each other too!
5. DO NOT OVERFEED. As a newbie, you might start to
appreciate the not-so-subtle reactions of your fishes when you step into the room.
Some of them like the Oscar, the Angelfish as well as Flowerhorns have great
personality and will try to approach the glass, catch your attention and beg
for food any chance they get. Regardless, you should only feed your fish twice
a day tops. Some fishes don’t know when to stop eating and can eat themselves
to death. Those that don’t will start pooping like crazy and foul up your water
sooner versus later. I know you love
your pets but holding back when the temptation to overfeed comes will be one of
the wisest decisions you will ever make as a responsible pet owner.
6. DO NOT OVERSTOCK. A jaunt at your neighborhood petstore can easily turn into a buying spree
especially if you see a lot of new, pretty and colorful fish on sale. Remember
the cardinal rule for stocking fish: 1 gallon for every inch of fish. That
means your 15 gallon tank should be able to hold 15 1-inch Neon Tetras or Zebra
Danios. Take note though that this rule applies best for small fishes only. A
15-inch goldfish or pleco will of course, have a thicker body and will not be
able to move around freely inside a 15 gallon tank. Goldfish can grow big and
they poop big time as well so a minimum of 70 gallons is almost always
necessary for a couple of Goldfishes, assuming they’ll grow old enough to reach
their maximum size. If you can help it, don’t buy plecos at all. They tend to
become too big and they have become invasive species owing to their extremely
hardy nature. Also they cease to become effective algae cleaners as they grow
older. Plus, you can’t keep them inside a planted tank as they will
destroy/uproot whatever plant you put in your substrate. Perhaps you can buy
the bristle nose variant which also eats algae but doesn’t grow quite as big as
the common ones which can reach 24” long.
And there you have it! 6 essential tips to get you started on
your new hobby. I will be posting more tips in the future. Don’t forget to subscribe and
leave your comments. I’ll do my best to answer your questions as well.
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