So here are some tips to get you
started off on the right foot. It may not be a complete guide but it will at least help in the long run as it helped me when I started out.
1)
You would need at least 2 aquariums at any point
in time.
Ø
Main Display aquarium
Ø
Quarantine aquarium
For the main display aquarium you should buy the at least
something bigger than 40 gallon and up to 55 gallon. These are decent sizes for
the main display aquarium. The reason I went with these dimensions are because
· You are starting this hobby to watch the fish
grow and enjoy how they move in the tank. So give them the space they would
need.
· You would want more fish at least 15 to 20 in
your tank. If you buy a small 20 Gallon aquarium you would be able to
accommodate only 5 to 6 fish.
· They say 1inch per gallon. So the 1 inch should
be calculated based on mature size of the fish and not when it’s really small.
This is a very safe calculation.
· You could add more but then you need more
filtration in your tank. For example, your filter should be able to cycle the
tank water at least 3 times in an hour. But if you can cycle them more than 6
to 8 times in an hour then you could add couple more fish into the tank.
· You may start off with 2 or 3 gold fish in a 5
gallon or 10 gallon tank but soon they will outgrow the tank. So choose wisely. Stores do not buy back fish.
For the quarantine aquarium get a
decent 20 gallon aquarium. This should be sufficient. The reason you need a
quarantine aquarium is for 3 reasons
· When you buy fish from the fish store, you do
not know what infection or disease they carry. So you need to quarantine time
for at least 3 weeks before moving them to the main tank. You do not want the
fishes in your main tank to get affected and end up losing more livestock.
· Let’s face it, even in the main display aquarium
there could be some sort of infections that can crop up. You would need to keep
a watch out and move the infected fish out as quickly as possible to the
quarantine tank.
· Say you had only a main display and you had live
plants in that aquarium. If you were to add medication to it, then you risk killing
all the beneficial bacteria and also losing the plants as most plants don’t do
well with medication used to cure the fish illness.
So don’t start off on the wrong
foot. Make sure you have plans for 2 aquariums for the reasons listed out. It
will help in the long run
2)
Cost involved in building these 2 aquariums.
Everyone underestimates the cost involved in setting
up an aquarium. You would buy a tank based on a 1$ per gallon deal, but soon
you will realize that the accessory cost would mount up. Let me list out the
items you would need to start a 55 gallon aquarium.
Ø Tank.
Prices can range from 55$ - 400$ depending on the type of tank. There are 2
types of tank that you can get. There are pros and cons to both. Described
later on.
Ø Heater
based on aquarium size
Ø Filter
based on aquarium size, either canister or hang on the back. Everyone says that
the filter is where the beneficial bacteria reside, but I tend to disagree and
more bacteria resides in the gravel etc.. within the tank..
Ø Python
No Spill Clean and Fill Aquarium Maintenance System. This will save a lot of
water spills and time performing water changes.
Ø For
cleaning glass or acrylic: Use an old credit card to scrape of algae ;-).
Ø API
Water tester: Buy the API kit. This will save a lot of time and headache in
figuring out what parameters are going wrong or right within the tank and take
necessary action.



Ø Chemical
removers: If you are going to use tap water, you would need to remove the
Chlorine, Chloramine and other harmful chemicals. Use Seachem Prime for the
same. Buy from amazon it’s has always been cheaper there.
Ø Plant Additives: it’s a closed environment, you may need to add additives once in a while to make sure the plants are getting the necessary nutrition they need. Seachem Flourish Excel or Advance should be good..
Ø Medicines: Always have Seachem Paraguard handy to treat fish with any illness or disease. Make sure to keep them separated for at least 3 to 4 weeks before re-introducing them back into the main tank.
Ø Lights:
If you are planning to do a live planted tank, then select good lighting. 6500K
or 10000K Beamswork LED lighting should be good. Select based on aquarium size.
Minimum 8 hours a day or lighting
Ø Aeration
tubes, stones and pumps: Air stones. 1 or 2 depending on the size of the tank. Possibly
get the air stones which generate the smaller bubbles. The bubbles are not what
increase the oxygen in the water, the disturbance which the bubbles cause at
the surface cause better oxygenation to take place.
Ø Check
Valves: If placing the air pump below the aquarium, this is a must to prevent an
automatic siphon to be created when the pump is switched off or when power is
lost. If not you are looking at water all over your floor.
Ø Décor:
You can take your time and decide what type of theme you would like to have.
Don’t add any décor into the aquarium without testing it a week or two for PH
changes, other chemicals that it may slowly leach into the water. Fish are
sensitive to PH changes which decreases their immunity.
Ø Fish:
Try to get fish based on the following matching factors if planning for a
community tanks
o Behavior and how they co-exist with different varieties
o
PH levels they prefer
o
Top, mid and lower level fish
o
Temperature they prefer.
All
the above have to match, if not it would be out of balance.
Ø Gravel:
Sand or rocks
Ø Fish
Food : Different types flakes, blood worms, shrimp pellets. Don't feed more than what fish can eat within 10 minutes nor should you feed them more than once a day. Resist the temptation to feed them when someone requests you too. More food is more waste, and more waste is more ammonia, nitrates etc. I either do once a day or alternate days.
Ø Automatic
fish food feeder : when planning for vacations. I use the Eheim Battery Operated Auto Fish
Feeder and it seems to be doing a good job
Ø Hand
Towels: Have a bunch of them always in
hand. You would need them after you dip your hand in the tank and out.
Ø A
Cover or top for the tank, so that fish do not jump out. Trust me they do jump out.
I have had two fishes jump out to date and luckily both are still alive as I
saw them lying on the floor on time.
Aquarium Maintenance
You would need to spend some time
at least 1/2 hour a week or once in 2 weeks in maintenance and upkeep of the aquarium, as its a closed environment.
1) Regular Water Changes: 20 to
30%. This is your friend. But don’t perform more than 30% water changes over a span
of 3 or 4 days as you would be adding more chemicals into the tank and that
could play a more detrimental role to the balance in the tank.
2) Test the water to make sure Ammonia,
PH, & Nitrate parameters are proper. The sooner you take corrective action
the better. If not there could be a PH collapse and everything collapses with
that.
PH : 7.0
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrites : 0 ppm
Nitrates : <20 p="" ppm="">
If you have more nitrates, then it would start forming brown algae or start affecting the fish. Nitrate poisoning is what its called. You can add a money plant or Pothos with their roots dipped in the water to suck the nitrates out of the tank.. but sometimes water changes are the only resolution.

Glass or Acrylic
Glass tanks are very heavy almost
5 to 10 times the weight of the acrylic. They are commonly available in
rectangular shapes. The sides are stuck together with glue. Possibility of a
crack forming is high if hit by a sharp object.
These are the cheapest, commonly available, and widely used tanks
around. All pet stores or Local Fish Stores (LFS) carry them. Only the outer rims
of the tank need to be supported by the table. The tanks are not flexible and
rigid.Below is a Glass tank
Acrylic tanks are very light
weight and 10x stronger than glass. They tend to get expensive. This is the material used in almost all public
aquariums. Instead of being stuck together with glue, they are welded together
with a product called Weld-on. The full base needs to supported by the table. After having both aquarium types, I have to say
acrylic looks better but its just personal preference as it gives better color depth and originality. Below is an acrylic tank
This is an expensive hobby if you
do not get the things right and have patience at the start. But if you do it
right at the beginning it will cost very less to maintain it for years. The aquarium hobby is addictive,
i.e. you would start off with 1 small tank and before you even realize what’s
going on, you would have couple of tanks to maintain and more effort and cost.
If you feel anything is not accurately portrayed, please feel free to comment and I will try to rectify the same. Also I am not advertising any product here.. It worked for me so I have added their pictures and references here..