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Facts about Setting up an Aquarium - Do’s and Don’ts

Amber Hinton from Australian Aquarium Magazine has put together some very important do’s and don’ts for fish keeping. Often people buy an aquarium and fish without having the experience to look after them. We always recommend buying your fish from an aquarium specialist. Let the person serving you know how much experience you have. They will help guide you and give you the best options. Combine that with the do’s and don’ts in this guide and you’ll be sure to have many hours of calm relaxation in front of your aquarium. 

AQUARIUM DO’S

1 – Do know the volume of your aquarium.
Always know the volume of your aquarium. This is essential when adding medicine, plant fertilisers, water conditioners, salts etc. and is more beneficial than just knowing the length of your aquarium.
Volume Formula - Length x Width x Height (all in centimetres) divided by 1000 = L
For example a standard four foot aquarium is 120 cm's long, 30 cm's wide and 45 cm's high, so the formula would be 120 x 30 x 45 ÷ 1000 = 162 L 

2 – Do wash your hands before putting them into the aquarium.
Chemicals, moisturisers, grease etc can all make their way into our aquariums via our hands harming the inhabitants, so remember to wash your hands prior to putting them into your aquarium.

3 – Do turn off all the power, heaters etc, before putting your hands into the aquarium.
It is better to be safe than sorry, and we all know that water and electricity don’t mix that well. Aquarium equipment is designed to function underwater, and should not be a problem unless it is faulty. For this reason it is best to unplug all heaters, pumps and filters inside the aquarium before immersing your hands in the water.

4 – Do test the water often. 
Especially when water changing or if there is a problem like fish dying or cloudy water. Testing the water will ensure that your tank mates are happy and healthy. Testing can tell us much more about the water than the pH level. We can find out if excess phosphate and nitrate are the cause of our unwanted algae, we can find out what levels of toxic wastes are in the water such as ammonia and nitrite.

5 – Do maintain a stable temperature in your aquarium
Check the temperature of your aquarium regularly if it is a tropical aquarium.
The optimum temperature for tropical fish is around 26 ˚ C. Keep your temperature stable with an aquarium heater, and check it with a thermometer daily. Sometimes in summer aquariums can overheat on really hot days. And remember that even Bettas (Siamese fighting fish) need heaters in winter.

6- Do add conditioned tap water to your aquarium
Tap water contains Chlorine and Ammonia (Chloramines), added to kill the nasty bugs that might make us sick, unfortunately it will also kill your pet fish. Fortunately these toxic Chloramines are easily neutralised with a liquid water conditioner or ‘water ager’. In addition, it is recommended to add an aquarium electrolyte salt to the tap water to replenish the natural minerals required for good health of your fish. 

7 – Do choose the right size aquarium for the species of fish you want to keep
Don’t make the mistake of buying an unsuitably sized aquarium for the fish you are going to purchase. For example the little Oscar in the tank at the shop might just look really cute, but is highly unsuitable if you only have a two foot, or 50L aquarium, he will soon outgrow it. Do your research and find out what the maximum size is of the fish species you want to keep, and what size tank is needed to house particular species.

8 - Do your homework when selecting compatible fish species for your aquarium.
Research the fish want to keep, find out what goes well with them, find out their needs and if you can meet those needs easily. Some fish (seahorses) only eat frozen food and need several daily feedings. Other fish will simply not tolerate each other in the same aquarium and will fight. Keeping fish is pretty simple at the end of the day. If you do your research, ask a lot of questions and find a local aquarium store you are comfortable with who offers good honest advice you should have no problems.

AQUARIUM DON’TS

1 - Do not set the aquarium up on an unstable surface.
For example a bookshelf that may sag or warp under the weight of the aquarium (remember each litre of water weighs around one kilogram). On top of or near electrical equipment is also a bad idea.

2 – Do not set the aquarium up in direct sunlight.
Avoid window sills, near a window, a sun room, pretty much anywhere the aquarium is going to get direct sunlight, you are just asking for an aquarium full of green soup.

3 – Do not set the aquarium up in an area of heavy traffic.
Of course you are not going to set up your aquarium on the street, what I mean is people traffic. Avoid hallways, next to the front door, anywhere there is a regular, heavy flow of people. All the vibrations and movement from passing people will make the fish to hide all the time, causing them to become stressed and unhappy, and an unhappy fish is not a long lived one!

4 – Do not place aquariums in young children’s bedrooms.
Unless they are older (I would wait until the child is at least six or seven and ensure rules are laid down i.e. no unsupervised feeding and no putting objects into the aquarium), children should not have an aquarium in their bedrooms.

5 - Do not add too many fish at once. 
New aquariums do not have enough good aerobic bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacters) to break down high levels of waste from fish. Basically, fish will poison themselves if you add too many at once. It is better to add fish slowly over a period of around two to three months, adding around one to two fish per 20 litres each week.

6 – Do not overcrowd/overstock the aquarium. 
A good general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per one inch of aquarium length, although as mentioned this is just a general rule of thumb and can not be applied in all situations, for example you could not put two twelve inch fish into a twenty-four inch aquarium. Just use your common sense, and do not be scared to ask the staff for information when purchasing fish.


7 - Do not ever change 100% of the water in your aquarium. 
This will get rid of all the good bacteria in your aquarium and will probably lead to more waste, it is like starting again with a new tank, and if you have a tank full of fish, this is bad news (See do not add too many fish at once.). It is better to change smaller amounts regularly. Around 30% of the water should be changed around every 3-4 weeks depending on the amount of waste being produced.

8 – Do not overfeed your fish.
Do not kill your buddies with kindness. I know they swim up to the top of the tank and look at you ever hopeful everytime you walk into the room, but adding more food to your aquarium than the fish can eat, is the quickest way to kill your fish, and believe it or not, the most common. You should feed your fish daily but feed ONLY what they can consume in 2 minutes.

9 – Do not spray air fresheners or aerosols near the aquarium.
Even if you have a hood on your aquarium, things like bug sprays, air fresheners, perfume and deodorant can still make their way into the water by small gaps. These chemicals could be highly toxic to the inhabitants of your aquarium.

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