How To Set Up A 60 Gallon Fish Tank

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Having a freshwater aquarium is a wonderful style to bring nature into your home. Setting upward a new aquarium is easier than it looks at first glance. The scope of gadgets and accessories on the shelves in pet stores is intimidating, merely all you actually need are the nuts to get started. You'll be watching fish swim gracefully by in your new freshwater aquarium in no fourth dimension.

1. 1

   Choose a fish tank. A fiddling forethought tin can go a long way towards keeping your fish salubrious and your aquarium fun to maintain. Practice a little research on what kind of fish yous desire, (described in further item later in this article) and and then select a tank that volition adjust them. The tank you choose needs to be large enough to hold plenty water for the type and number of fish y'all plan to accept. Different fish demand different amounts of room and produce unlike amounts of waste material. In general, the larger the fish are, the more waste product they make and the more water is needed. Keep in mind that alive plants and other decorations volition also accept upwards space.^[ane]

   • In that location be diverse calculators to help you determine what fish are condom to keep based on tank size, compatibility, and needs.^[2] The one-inch per gallon dominion yous may have heard is a rule of thumb that scales quite poorly to smaller or larger tanks. You would never keep two five-inch fish in a ten gallon (37.9 L) aquarium!
   • A 55 gallon (208.2 50) tank is a standard size that will permit yous to have a multifariousness of fish. Every bit a beginner, you probably don't want to go larger than this just yet.
   • Yous could as well go with a twenty or 25 gallon (75.seven or 94.6 Fifty) tank for a starter tank and go along just a few hardy fish (Mollies, guppies, platys, tetra, small cory cats and no cichlids) to see if y'all similar the hobby.
   • It is not recommended to first out with annihilation less than 10 gallons (37.9 L) - significant no "Desktop" aquariums or the small, single Betta holders. Equally tempting equally information technology is, information technology is actually harder to maintain good water quality in a small tank.^[3]

2. ii

   Get an aquarium stand up. Aquariums that concur 20 gallons (75.7 L) or more will need a stand up no matter what. The only exception is if they are on a heavy, well-anchored counter. Purchase one that is designed for the dimensions and shape of your tank. Don't underestimate the weight of a full fish tank! Brand sure the stand is either rated for the size of your tank or that it has been custom congenital to be very sturdy. Information technology is vital to the integrity of the tank information technology will concord that information technology be sturdy enough to concord the tank'southward weight. In add-on, it is not rubber to have an border of the tank sticking out over the side.^[4]

   • Piece of furniture like dressers, TV stands, end tables/buffets, or flimsy wooden desks aren't strong enough.
   • Look for complete tank kits at those big box pet stores. Used setups from websites similar Craigslist are often available for great prices, just be sure to check for leaks and make clean very well before use.
   • If you don't buy a complete setup, make sure the equipment you choose is rated for the size of your tank.

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3. 3

   Decide where to put the aquarium and stand. Choosing the right spot is of import for the wellness of your fish. You'll want to put it in a place where the temperature remains pretty consistent and the amount of lite doesn't become overpowering. Allow at least 5 inches (12.7 cm) between the wall and the aquarium to make room for the filter. Some things to keep in heed when choosing location for your tank:^[5]

   • Too much sunlight will cause excessive algae growth and a maintenance nightmare.^[6] An interior wall, away from bright calorie-free, is best.
   • Try to stay away from putting the tank under a vent - grit will blow out and drop into the fish tank. It will besides be harder to maintain a consistent water temperature, something that is important for all fish just vital for some.
   • It is also important to consider the ability of the floor to support the weight of the fully loaded aquarium. Make sure that there is adequate structural support nether the flooring. If necessary find your home'due south blueprints and look for crossbeams.
   • Choose a location about an outlet, and keep in mind how far you lot will have to haul water for weekly tank maintenance! No cords should be straining to go to the outlet either. In fact, it'due south a practiced idea all effectually to go a surge protector power strip (which yous'll love when the ability snaps back on after an outage) and go from in that location.
   • Gear up your tank stand ideally on a wooden flooring, not a carpeting or rug.

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1. 1

   Decide which filtration arrangement you would like to apply. The most common and easiest are either under-gravel filters or power filters (recommended for first-time owners over nether-gravel filters) that hang on the back of the tank. Don't become caught upward in technology. Penguin and Whisper power filters provide both mechanical and biological filtration and are easy to clean and employ. Only utilise Tiptop Fin if yous know your manner effectually filters (go a Whisper if you become the splendid Top Fin starter kit).

   • If yous choose an under-gravel filter,^[7] brand sure that the air pump or powerhead yous purchase with it is stiff plenty for the size of the tank. In this case, bigger is better. Note that if yous don't regularly vacuum the gravel it will somewhen clog the under-gravel filter and turn it into a killing zone. Keep in mind that you can't use an under-gravel filter if you programme on having sand or other fine substrates.
   • If y'all make up one's mind to go with a power filter, select ane that will broadcast enough h2o for the size of your tank. (Ideally, it should filter your water five or more than times per hr [gph], depending on your tank capacity. For instance, a 10-gallon tank would need a filter that circulates at least 50 gph.)

2. 2

   Install the filter. The installation methods vary by the filter. Effigy out which ane works with the equipment you take:^[8]

   • For nether-gravel filters put the filter plate in, and brand certain the lift tubes are fitted. (If you have a submersible powerhead, you only demand one; with a traditional air pump, two are best for most tanks under 40 gals, one at each end.) Do not turn information technology on until the tank is filled completely with water. Attach your pump airlines or powerhead into the appropriate lift tube(due south) now, if you lot've got an nether-gravel filter. Don't plow it on.
   • If you lot've chosen an external ability filter, set it upwards on the back of the tank in a position where the outflow volition evenly distribute the h2o. Some tank hoods come with pre-perforated cutting-outs which go far easier to position your equipment. Practise not turn it on until the tank is filled completely with h2o.

3. iii

   Fill the bottom with gravel. Having about 2 to three inches (5.one to 7.vi cm) of gravel on the bottom is essential to a salubrious aquarium and helps fish keep their orientation in the water. Cheap gravel (lots of color choices) can exist purchased from pet stores dealing in aquarium products.^[ix]

   • Sand is optimal for fish and invertebrates that like to burrow just information technology needs to be stirred on a regular basis to prevent dead spots that can wreak havoc on your tank or ruin a filter. Beginners are better off using gravel.
   • If you are interested in a planted tank, brand sure to get an appropriate substrate. Good ones include Amazonia and Azoo substrates.
   • Rinse the substrate in clean water before adding it to the aquarium. The less grit in the water, the faster it'll clear when the filter is started up. This step is peculiarly crucial if you lot're using sand instead of gravel but remains of import for all setups.
   • Wash gravel through and through. Make sure to utilize no soap - it is very harmful to fish and will kill them.
   • Slope the substrate slightly upwards toward the back of the aquarium.
   • If you lot take an nether-gravel filter spread the rinsed gravel in an fifty-fifty layer across the surface of the filter. (Pour in a bit at a time - to allow it to settle the way you want but also because information technology volition scratch the tank walls if you pour it in too fast).
   • Put a plate on meridian of the substrate so it doesn't disperse when yous add water.

4. 4

   Gear up upwardly chosen plants and decorations. Brand sure yous arrange them how you like at this point because in one case the water and fish are in the tank, you'll desire to have as piddling stress as possible––and that ways no hands in the tank.

   • Plants are functional decorations;^[10] it is difficult to brand a mechanical filter control a plankton flower, but alive plants make it easy. For some fish, plants really help them stay good for you. However, live plants get gobbled upward chop-chop past some types of hobby fish such equally goldfish. Aside from plants, you can add driftwood or other decorations specifically designed for freshwater aquariums. Don't put random objects in the tank.
   • If you utilise live plants, you'll need to monitor the CO2 level in the tank. Aim to keep the CO2 level around twenty-25 mg per liter so your alive plants thrive.^[eleven]
   • Choose the plants you demand co-ordinate to what type of fish y'all're getting. Submerge the roots in the gravel, only not the stems or leaves.
   • Certain plants demand to exist fastened to something, so go some angling line (volition not hurt the plant or fish) and tie the plant to a decoration or an appropriately cleaned piece of driftwood or rock.

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1. ane

   Await for leaks. ^[12] Make full the tank with about 2 inches of water, then expect for a half an hour. If there are any leaks, it's better they evidence upward now, rather than when you have filled the entire matter. If you don't see leaks, fill the tank about 1/3 full.

   • Do this somewhere where you won't mind water if it does leak. Accept sealant on hand so that you can dry out the tank and start fixing it.

2. two

   Make full the tank the rest of the way. In one case you are sure that all the decorations are simply the way you desire, make full the tank up to simply under the rim of the tank, leaving a gap of 1 inch (2.5 cm).

3. iii

   Starting time the filter. Fill the reservoir of the filter with water, and plug information technology in! Water should smoothly (and quietly) circulate after a couple of minutes. Plug in the powerhead/pump if you have an under-gravel filter. Water should start moving vertically in the lift tube(s).

   • Look for an hour or 2 and check that the temperature is however in the prophylactic range, that at that place are no leaks, and that the water is circulating properly.

4. 4

   Install your heater on the inside of the tank. It volition attach with suction cups. Try to position it well-nigh or at the mouth of the filter expelling h2o. This way the water will be evenly heated. Nearly of the thermostats on new heaters at present come pre-set at an acceptable temperature range of seventy-77 degrees Fahrenheit (21-25 degrees Celsius). Plug in the heater and install your thermometer. Do not plow it on until the tank is filled completely with water.^[thirteen]

   • The fully-submersible heaters are the easiest to use. Look for i with an adjustable thermostat, since different fish adopt dissimilar temperatures. A good rule of thumb is 3-5 watts of heat per gallon of water. Most fish like it between 70 and eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Basically, keep it between 78-82 degrees F. or 28-32 degrees C in a customs tank.
   • Some lights (sometimes included in starter kits) put out so much heat that the water temperature volition be drastically altered. When it is turned off, the temp. falls drastically as well. Not practiced for fish. If this happens, just go to the hardware store and get the kind that doesn't give off such farthermost oestrus.
   • Recall to turn on the heater only after water is added to the tank.
   • Requite the heater fourth dimension to accommodate the temperature before cycling the tank.

5. 5

   Add water dechlorinator. Tap h2o contains chlorine and other chemicals that will impale fish, so it's necessary to add together a neutralizer unless you use distilled h2o off the bat. Add the dechlorinator according to the instructions on the canteen. This is besides the fourth dimension to add a starting dose of SafeStart or another bacterial goad which will speed upwardly the growth of expert leaner.^[14]

   • Make certain to follow the instructions on the bottle closely. The activated carbon of your filter may demand to be removed while the chemical circulates, otherwise, the filter may remove it before it has a chance to detoxify the water.

6. six

   Bike your tank, preferably for at least a few weeks. For instructions on the fishless bike (the nigh humane manner to grow the benign bacteria all tanks need) see Do a Fishless Bike. The bicycle must be completed earlier you add whatever fish to the tank, or they will die. During the cycle, you need to monitor the water parameters (pH, High pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate). When the numbers for Am., Nitrite, and then Nitrate spike and lower to 0, you accept completed your initial Nitrogen Cycle and are in the articulate to add fish. (To help motility Ammonia and Nitrites forth, you may have to use Ammonia Remover. The only way to reduce the Nitrates is to exercise water changes and physically remove the bad chemicals).^[xv]

   • Remember to proceed doing water tests, peculiarly with a new tank. You may need to practice daily 15% h2o changes to go on your fish tank clean, depending on the nitrate levels. Adding alive plants volition reduce the number of nitrates as well.

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1. 1

   Choose fish . Discuss what type of freshwater, tropical fish yous desire to have with the salesperson.They should give you tips on which types can and tin can't get along, and and so along. Look for a locally-endemic fish shop in the area, since they tend to provide the almost accurate information and high-quality fish. Quality pet stores usually have compatibility charts for freshwater and saltwater fish.^[16]

   • Although yous may run into two types of fish y'all actually like, they may not exist compatible. The consequence of bringing them both abode would be harassed colorless fish (they lose color when stressed), and somewhen the fish that is not the blastoff bully will simply dice. Why spend the money, correct?
   • Often, fish stores will accept stickers that signal whether the fish are "customs" fish (highly recommended equally they go forth with other customs fish), "semi-aggressive" or "ambitious". Yous may mix customs fish together, simply not a community with semi-aggressive.
   • If this is your offset tank, practise not get fish that are simply recommended for intermediate or experienced aquarium owners. Similar owning a dog, there is a reason they are not for beginners.
   • Exist aware of the size of the adult fish (non the infant you're getting) and do non get a fish y'all won't be able to handle down the line. The same goes for freshwater sharks, venereal (who, by the fashion, effort to escape all the time), Cichlids, and animals that bury themselves. Information technology's not fair to the fish.
   • Guppies, platies, swordtails, or mollies are proficient starter fish. Merely it all depends on your tank size. If your tank size is 5–10 gallons (18.9–37.ix Fifty), you might get 3-4 African dwarf frogs, or a betta, or possibly a betta and some shrimp. Exercise lots of inquiry before adding any fish to your tank.Do not only use the 1 inch (2.v cm) of fish per gallon rule.

2. ii

   Don't buy all of your fish at once. Know all the fish you hope to eventually have in your fish tank and buy two of the smallest (this goes for all types except for schooling fish, which should be bought in groups of four (ideally vi+). You can introduce a new group of fish every 2 weeks. Add the largest fish last.

3. 3

   Transport the fish home safely. The salesperson will have filled a plastic clear purse with water, and then fish, and then blow it up with oxygen. When you lot get to the machine, balance the bag in a place where it won't roll effectually or have something fall on it. Become straight domicile. The fish can only survive on the h2o and oxygen they've been given for maybe 2 1/ii hours. For trips longer than that, different packing procedures should be taken.^[17]

4. 4

   Later the pet store worker catches your fish, bring the fish home and set the pocketbook in your tank. Let it sit there for virtually 20 or thirty minutes. So open the bag and permit some of the h2o from the tank in. Be sure to non allow whatever water from the pocketbook into the tank! Let information technology sit for another 20 or 30 minutes. Gently net the fish out and pour all the pet store's water in the sink. Or pour the fish into the net over a bucket and so release into tank. Discard store h2o.

   • The reason you do not want to add together pet shop water into your tank is that the shop h2o may comprise unwanted contaminants like parasites, fungus, or freshwater snails. Pet stores that bike their fish rapidly often treat their h2o regularly for diseases, but in a home tank you will non have the same tools available and an infection or infestation can wreak havoc on your tank's ecosystem.

5. 5

   Introduce the fish to your aquarium. ^[xviii] Start with two or 3 fish the first ten days, and then get 2 or three more, wait some other ten days, etc. If you lot put too many fish at in one case into a new tank, the water will non exist able to fairly bicycle, and volition apace turn toxic. Patience is the key for the starting time six to eight weeks. That said, a big mistake people make is to buy schooling fish just only go 1 or 2 of them. This is stressful and roughshod for the fish. A school means that a grouping of v is the minimum. A great book for stocking suggestions is "The uncomplicated guide to freshwater aquariums by David E Boruchowitz".

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Add New Question

• Question

  Why practise people want to imprison the fish instead of letting it enjoy its life?

  

  When cared for properly, aquarium fish tin can live full and fulfilling lives. Fish in captivity do good from routine feedings, make clean environments, medical care, and condom from predators. Without the constant stress caused by fearfulness of predation, parasites, lack of nutrient, and harsh weather, captive animals frequently live longer than their wild counterparts. Fish are no exception. Furthermore, many ornamental fish have become domesticated, leaving them unable to survive in the wild. Therefore, an aquarium is not a prison for a pet fish, just rather a safer facsimile of their native environment. In a well-maintained tank, you lot can encounter fish freely engaging in a wide range of natural behaviors with footling stress.

• Question

  How long must h2o sit before I can add fish?

  

  Ii weeks is recommended, but if yous treat with dechlorinators, and your nitrate/nitrite levels fasten and residuum, it may be shorter.

• Question

  Which types of food are best for adult fish?

  

  When yous buy your fish, the associate will requite you lot intendance directions like which foods your fish prefers. Nearly freshwater fish tin can swallow dry or frozen foods labeled for freshwater fish. Some are planteaters and some are carnivores (usually ambitious and semi aggressive). Well-nigh community fish are omnivores. Don't requite your freshwater fish "marine" frozen foods because they may comprise saltwater. baby fish need special food because their mouths are so tiny, but adult fish can eat nearly anything.

• Question

  Is it okay to put the water in my tank a week or so before adding the Safestart and fish?

  

  Yep, of course! Letting the h2o stand up allows chlorine to evaporate. It'southward recommended to care for the h2o and bicycle your tank for a couple more weeks before adding fish. Yous can do a water test for pH and nitrites/nitrates to see if it'south ready for fish.

• Question

  Should I treat the water with both a dechlorinator AND a conditioner? The pet store recommended both, but I am worried nearly putting too many chemicals in and hurting the fish.

  

  Yeah, both treatments are necessary to remove chemicals that might harm the fish, such as chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, and nitrates.

• Question

  Is an external filter recommended for a freshwater aquarium?

  

  Filters come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, and this will normally come down to a case-past-example basis. Nevertheless, typically external filters are larger than internal filters of the aforementioned litre chapters. While there is a limit to the bigger is better in aquariums (a tank can only sustain a certain amount of leaner with the waste fish produce), internal filters tend to be then small you are more than prone to having problems with ammonia, due to an inadequate amount of bio-media.

• Question

  I have a xl gallon tank in the process of cycling. I'm thinking of a schoolhouse of cardinal tetras and glo danios), 10 of each. Volition I stress them out since both will be on the same level of the tank?

  

  Add them gradually, say two a week to let the h2o quality adjust to the population. Some surface fish spend time in the middle and bottom. Danios are going to be mostly at the top for sure. Tetras might savour the rest of your tank. I think you tin can exercise it in a 40 gallon. Watch them for signs of stress (faded colors, rapid breathing, clear stool). Sounds like a fun bunch!

• Question

  Can I proceed two one year one-time Oscars in a threescore litre tank?

  

  Oscars are very large fish, two fully grown Oscars will outgrow even a 200 litre tank (a iv foot aquarium). 60 litres of water would be as well small for these Oscars. Ideally you should purchase a tank that is the right size for your fully grown fish, it works out cheaper in the long run equally you don't demand to buy multiple tanks every bit you upsize, and it is kinder to the fish (less stress from changing from tank to tank, they are never in a tank that becomes modest for them, and while they are younger they'll love the extra space). Oscars are fantastic fish, but if you plan on looking later on them, you lot should defiantly put in a practiced amount of enquiry before setting upwardly for them.

• Question

  Practice I need an air pump?

  

  An air pump is non required, but it may be helpful for a number of reasons. There is a gas commutation that refreshes oxygen in the tank without the need for a pump, just for heavily stocked tanks, having an air pump can assistance. Another area where an air pump tin be helpful is with cold water fish in warm weather. Warmer water has two main effects: warmer h2o holds less oxygen, and the metabolism of fish increases in warmer water, resulting in higher oxygen consumption. Adding an air pump can ensure that this does non issue in problems.

• Question

  Do I take to cycle my tank if it is just 5 gallons?

  

  Yes. No matter the size of the tank, information technology will demand to be cycled before adding fish.

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• Over time, benign leaner build upward on the surfaces within the tank that help to process ammonia and nitrite. Adding a large number of fish at once can overwhelm these bacteria, taxing your filter heavily. A lightly stocked tank will generally "cycle" in thirty-45 days, pregnant the bacteria will become well established and tin can "go on up" with the fish wastes. Adding more fish does not expedite this process.

• Make sure you don't buy a half expressionless fish. You tin tell it'due south good for you if the fish swims swiftly.

• 5 gallons (18.9 L) of h2o weighs almost 42 lbs. This should help you lot decide whether or not yous have something that the tank will safely sit on. Anything over 15 gallons (56.8 L). will almost certainly demand a special stand up, commonly sold at pet/fish stores.

• Ownership an inexpensive bank check valve for your airline tubing can save you having to purchase a new pump in the consequence of a power outage.

• If you're having a hard time keeping the tank clear, consider using live plants. They keep the tank from getting murky and wait nice. Just make sure that you buy them from a pet store so that they won't impairment the fish.

• Research the conditions of your municipal h2o. At that place are unlike kind of fish suited to live in "hard" or "soft" water, and fish living in the correct water conditions will live longer and exist more than healthy. Unless y'all are willing to care for all the water going into the tank (tin can be expensive and/or time consuming), choosing a setup adapted for your local h2o can make your life easier.

• If using an undergravel filter, consider getting a single submersible powerhead instead of an air pump - they're much quieter, and more efficient. Use the same guidelines for the ability filters to select the right size.

• UGFs(under gravel filters) are becoming less and less popular for several reasons: they don't perform as well equally a HOB(hang on dorsum)/power filter, they tin be noisy, and they require more than maintenance.

• If you choose an under gravel filter, the gravel volition need to be vacuumed occasionally to remove built up organic cloth. Failure to practice this thoroughly can issue in high ammonia or nitrite levels and fish death.

• Avoid putting a fish tank where some other pet can reach it. They could possibly kill your fish.

• Getting a fish tank can exist super stressful if it'southward not "hooked" up right. Never allow your tank exist to close to sun considering the lord's day rays can cause a huge algae growth and your fish tin get very sick from that. The worst thing to see is dead fish correct later you become them. Before yous arraign the pet store, make sure you followed all the bones rules of using aquariums because it could be your own doing.

• If yous have a choice of light seedling in the lite fixture, go with fluorescent: it shows off fish colors better, and generates less heat.

• Non all air pumps are created equal - the box may say "quiet" or "silent", merely always ask to test ane in the store before y'all purchase it.

• Always enquiry the needs of whatsoever living thing (fish, constitute, or invertebrate) going into your tank. Make sure they are uniform with what you already accept and that yous can meet their maintenance needs. Information technology is all-time to become your information from many sources; don't automatically trust what the store employee tells you.

• Get a pet shop worker to help you. Make sure y'all ask someone who looks similar they have lots of fish experience, or ask at the front desk-bound for a fish skilful. If you lot become someone who doesn't seem they know what they're doing, don't be afraid to enquire for someone else.

• When choosing fish, yous tin await in large pet stores or check out a "family unit" store like Brook'due south Farm & Feed. Look upwards some "family unit" pet stores in your expanse and decide.

• If your power filter makes a rattling dissonance, endeavour wiggling the intake tube - air gets trapped sometimes and makes a noise.

• Don't leave a calorie-free on all night; fish need slumber. They need a menstruum of darkness for this, because they don't have eyelids to close. If you don't have any live plants in your tank, just turn on the light when yous are domicile to view the fish. Fish do not need 14 hours of noonday sun, and the additional light only encourages algae.

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• Don't but put tap h2o in the tank and plop the fish in, chances are that they will dice in a couple minutes.

• Avert using a spray bottle or ammonia to clean tank sides.

• If using a bit of aquarium salt in a freshwater tank, make sure to add aquarium common salt and non marine common salt or salt for man consumption.

• Effort to avoid lifting an empty tank by its rim - the rim may break or come off, which volition compromise the structural integrity of the tank. Big tanks frequently demand a pinch pad beneath. Also, do NOT lift an aquarium with wet hands.

• Don't put the tank in or close to a window - this will cause the water to overheat, and also encourage algae to abound. This is non a trouble for a fishless tank.

• Compare the charge per unit of staff turnover at the stores available in malls with stores where yous can actually get to know the owners. As that rate descends, the quality of information from your staff ascends. Pond keepers commonly maintain glass enclosures, also.

• Recall, they say feeding your fish molasses makes a expert treat, but don't feed your fish it as well much.

• Ammonia, nitrate, and phosphate build-upwardly in a tank should tell you to alter your water and found your tank. pH (alkalinity) testing is almost compulsory. Bring in a h2o sample when yous become to the pet store.

• Consider breeding feeders and danios before you buy carnivores similar cichlids, sharks or oscars.

• Existent sea shells that you found on the beach could be toxic to your fish - think this a freshwater tank. Avoid buying fish if they have any sores, blemishes or other defects. Plenty of fish are in the sea, and prognoses. Yous are probably not a veterinarian.

• Under no circumstance should you lot buy fish by how beautiful they are. That cute piffling fish might exist the terror of the seas (or lakes) when information technology gets bigger, or y'all may not be able to take care of it properly.

• Don't always listen to a pet store employee, sometimes they are knowledgeable (get to know your pet store employees!), but well-nigh times they requite advice based on loose facts. Research and research once more to fact-check anything.

• Some models of heater will become dangerous when they are dry and on. Sometimes, mechanical safeties fail.

• Resist the urge to buy a lot of fish as soon every bit you set up your tank! The conditions in a fledgling tank can fluctuate a neat bargain, which can be lethal to fish.

• Do non tap on the glass. The fish will go scared/irritated.^[19]

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Things You'll Need

• Aquarium
• Aquarium stand up
• Gravel or sand substrate
• Filter
• Airline tubing (if you lot have an undergravel filter and an air pump)
• Plants and decorations
• Heater
• Neutralizer to rid tap h2o of chlorine
• Lid for the aquarium (with lighting component)
• Fish
• Thermometer

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Article Summary X

To set a freshwater aquarium, choose a tank, aquarium stand up, and filtration organization based on the number and size of fish you desire. In one case yous accept your equipment, fill the bottom of the tank with gravel and add together plants and decorations before filling the tank with water and installing the filter. Then, place a heater in your tank to keep the water between 70-77 degrees Fahrenheit and add a water dechlorinator to become rid of harmful chemicals. Brand certain to cycle your tank for a few weeks before introducing fish. For tips on introducing fish to their new tank, read on!

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