So you want to start a freshwater aquarium, but don't know where to begin? Hopefully this article will help you start and maintain a happy, healthy aquarium and turn you into a permanent hobbyist.


#1: Plan Ahead - Do Your Research

The most important thing that this hobby requires is that you do your research before you get started. Knowing everything you need and being prepared will save you a lot of headaches, time and money down the road. By planning out your purchases, you can get them at a cheaper rate by being able to shop around.

You can find more information on equipment and supplies here.

#2: Choosing A Location And Tank Size

Before choosing your new tank, choose the spot in your house where it is going to go. Remember that your new tank is going to weigh approximately ten pounds per gallon when filled with water, substrate, ornaments, etc. While a ten gallon tank may seem small, it will weigh over 100 pounds when filled. This is especially important if you are going to be placing your aquarium on a piece of furniture. Most furniture is not built to maintain this amount of weight. If you are going to have a tank larger than ten gallons, be sure to purchase or build a stand that will hold it.

Regardless of tank size, however, be sure that the floor will hold the tank. The strongest points in your house are near load bearing walls or corners.

Also be sure that the area where you are putting your tank can stand getting a little wet. During water changes, feeding time, adding new fish, and filter changes, your flooring is bound to get wet at one point or another.

When choosing your new tank, remember that larger tanks can be easier to take care of than smaller tanks. If you are just starting out in the hobby, be sure to choose at least a ten gallon or larger. The larger tanks require just a little more work than the smaller tanks, such as water changes, but since you already have all the equipment there, it really doesn't take too much longer. By having more water, the aquarium is more forgiving. You won't have to be as concerned about sudden changes in water quality like you would in a smaller tank.

You can find more information on choosing the right equipment and substrate here:

#3: Cycling Your New Aquarium

Cycling is the most important thing you can learn from this article. It is how you are able to keep and maintain a healthy, thriving aquarium. The term cycling refers to the nitrogen cycle. This is where ammonia is turned into nitrite, and nitrite is then turned into nitrate. When you first start an aquarium, there is no significant source of ammonia to get the cycle started. This is where one or two hardy fish, snails, or household ammonia come into play. There has to be ammonia available in the aquarium to get the cycle going. It is important to have a test kit available during this process for at least ammonia and nitrite. Whatever you choose to get the cycle started, you will notice that after a few days your ammonia levels will rise at a steady rate until they top off. Most fish are unable to survive the cycling process, that's why it is important to find fish that are extremely tolerant of water quality. After your ammonia tops off, you will see it start to go down. At this time, your nitrite will start to rise. Again, just like the ammonia, the nitrite will top off and start to go down at a steady pace. It is at this point you will start to get nitrates in the aquarium. When you have no traceable levels of ammonia or nitrite in the aquarium and around 15-20ppm of nitrate, your tank is cycled. Being cycled means that there are enough ammonia-eating bacteria and nitrite-eating bactera to maintain the current bio-load of the aquarium. If you add fish this will start a mini cycle as more bacteria grows to take care of the excess ammonia and nitrites. The cycling process generally takes about four to six weeks to complete.

#4: Water Changes

Fresh water is like fresh air to your aquarium inhabitants. By changing the water, you are removing harmful nitrates and replenishing trace elements into the water. How much water you need to change and how often depends on how many fish you currently have in your aquarium. An aquarium is only able to handle so many fish before the bacteria can't keep up. This is when you would have to do more water changes to keep the water quality at acceptable levels. An adequately stocked aquarium should only need a 15-20% water change around every 2 weeks.

#5: Choosing Fish For Your Aquarium

Be sure to remember, that no matter what your local fish store or chain store tells you, fish WILL NOT grow to the size of their aquariums! The only reason that they would stop growing is because so much ammonia and nitrite are being produced, that it actually burns the fishes gills, stunting their growth.

When choosing fish to go into your aquarium, be sure to research their MAX size. If you don't, you may have trouble getting them new homes when they outgrow your aquarium.

Before you start looking for fish, do your research. Make sure the fish you like are compatible with one another. The cute 2" Red Bellied Pacu at the store will soon grow to be a seventy-five pound, three foot long monster. Only the largest aquariums would be able to hold one, as each one needs at least 300 gallons. Once you find what you would like to put in your aquarium, it's important to only purchase a two or three at a time. This will allow your cycle to catch up. By putting too many fish in at one time, you can have stressed or dying fish very quickly. It's also important to take note whether the fish likes to be the only one in a tank, or if they like to school or shoal. Fish that like to school/shoal will be happy with others of the same species.

One of the common myths within this hobby is the one inch per gallon of water rule. While this is a good rule to get a general idea with, it's not concrete fact. Ten one inch guppies in a ten gallon aquarium would be OK. However, you could not hope to add a ten inch oscar to a ten gallon aquarium. Even though they both might add up to ten inches, the oscar put's out significantly more waste, and requires much more room to swim and thrive. The smart thing to do is use common sense when choosing what fish you would like to have.

When you finally get to the store and start looking for your new fish, there are a few things to keep in mind. You want to make sure that the fish you are buying have been in the aquarium for at least a few days. This will allow time for diseases to pop up if they are on the fish. Make sure that the fish you are buying are actively swimming around and eating well. Most fish stores will feed their fish to show you if you ask them too. Healthly fish are always hungry. Be sure to look for frayed fins, clamped fins or ich to name a few. If you are looking for a fish to go into a community, be sure it comes out of an aquarium that has a lot of different fish in it. If the fish is by itself, it's more than likely not suited for community life. Most fish are separated because they are agressive.

#6: Adding New Fish To Your Aquarium

So you've bought your new fish and you've got them home. Now it's time to put them in the aquarium. If you have water than is extreme, such as very soft or very hard water, or at a high or low pH, then it is extremely important that you properly acclimate them. This process slowly adjusts them to your water quality. By adjusting them too quickly, such as 'dumping' them in there, you can send their bodies into shock, which quickly leads to stress, disease, and death.

There are two important steps to this process. One is acclimating them to the temperature of your water, and the next is acclimating them TO your water. One way to get the temperature of the bag they are in to the temperature of your aquarium is just to sit the bag into the tank. It's good to leave them like that for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. After they are adjusted to the temperature, you need to open the bag up, making sure not to get any water thats in the bag into the aquarium (water from your LFS can carry disease that your aquarium may not be resistant to). Then, at fifteen minute intervals, you want to put 1/2 to 1 cup of your aquarium water in the bag. This slowly acclimates them to your pH and the hardness of your water. By doing it like this, they don't go into shock. Most fish can adjust to high or low pH, as long as it is stable, and it is done slowly. After about an hour, if your fish are still fine, you can net them out of the bag and put them in your tank. if your fish still look a little stressed, keep acclimating them at the fifteen minute intervals. I usually put my fish in a 3 gallon bucket with an airstone, and acclimate them all day long. Then, to adjust the temperature, I put them back in a bag, and float them in the aquarium, net them out, and put them in the tank. It's a very easy process.
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It is better to underfeed than overfeed. By overfeeding you put excess ammonia and nitrite into the aquarium. It's good to only feed what your fish will eat in 3-5 minutes. Any food leftover decays and produces ammonia and nitrite.

Be sure to give your fish a varied diet. If you feed your fish a sinle type of food, they will be less likely to adapt to change, say, if the manufacturer went out of business or stopped making the product. Your fish would be so used to that one particular type of food, that they wouldn't eat anything else. Or it could make them sick.

What works for one person may not work for another. Be sure to use common sense and experiment a little. What makes this hobby so much fun is the ability to make your own 'aquatic environments.'

Most of all, if you have any questions, feel free to post it in the forum. Fins members will be more than happy to help you by giving you advice, recommendations and reliable information. If you're ever unsure of anything, just ask.



Enjoy your new aquarium!