By Alex Hendricksen
Aquariums are something you might’ve had as a kid. You may have had a Betta or a Goldfish. While this may be a start, aquarium keeping has so much more to offer. Aquariums are a great way to incorporate nature into your home and invite a peaceful hobby into your life. Aquariums are super relaxing, so they can be a nice way to unwind after a long day of school or work. This article is a short guide to starting your own aquarium.
Deciding the Look
For people just getting started with keeping an aquarium, it would be wise to look at something large. Some commonly found sizes at pet stores would be the 20 or 29 gallon aquarium. Larger aquariums are easier to maintain. If any of your water parameters are off, it will affect the aquarium more slowly.
Now that you have your aquarium, it is time to decide what you want it to look like. If you’re the adventurous type, you could go for a planted aquarium with all kinds of plants, driftwood, and rocks. For the sake of this tutorial, it might be best to stick to a plain gravel with some hardscape. The reason gravel is a good choice is that it allows you to easily clean it for when the time comes. I would recommend a darker gray, brown, or black gravel. This would also hide some of the dirtiness that comes along with owning an aquarium.
Once you have your aquarium and your gravel of choice, you may want to look at some hardscape options. While you could add types of wood, such as spider wood, mopani, or Malaysian driftwood, it would be most simple to add some stones first and see what you like.
The reason that wood may also not be the best for beginners is that it needs to be boiled before being put into an aquarium. It can also alter your water parameters, so it may be difficult for someone just starting out to get the hang of it.
Different types of rocks also have different effects on water, but they’re generally less impactful than wood. Some great examples of rocks you can use are black lava rock, seiryu stone, Okho/dragon stone, or river slates.
Deciding how much hardscape you want will allow you to determine if you need some grounding structure at the bottom of the aquarium to support the weight of it. Using squared sections of egg crates can redistribute the rock very well so it won’t crack the glass beneath it. Having more than 20 pounds of rock wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a 29 gallon aquarium, but it is imperative that you make sure your aquarium can handle it.
Life Support
Once you have beautifully decorated your aquarium, you need to consider having the necessary resources in the aquarium to get started and keep your fish healthy. You’ll need a filter and a heater to keep your fish happy. You also will most likely want a light so you can see the wonderful aquarium you have created.
There are plenty of options for filters, which are often the most important part of an aquarium. There are many different types of filters, but they all have the same purpose: to mechanically and chemically filter the water in your aquarium repeatedly so that it stays clean and healthy for fish. I would recommend a hang-on-the-back filter because they’re easy to set up and maintain. These filters hang on the back of aquariums and often either have refills for filter cartridges containing carbon, sponge, and bio media. These filters do not take up very much room inside of your aquarium, so you’ll have plenty of room left in the tank for decorating.
Heaters are also very important because they keep your fish alive and warm. It is important, though, that your fish don’t get too hot either, and that’s where the smart heaters come in. The Spruce Pets recommends that you should get 5 watts of heater per gallon of water. It would also be wise to consider a smart heater that has the ability to switch on and off based on the water’s temperature, ensuring consistency.
Fishy Friends
Now comes the exciting part. You can finally pick what you want in your aquarium. If you picked a 29 gallon aquarium, your options begin to open up a little bit. I would choose a school of 8 to 12 rummy nose tetras to start. These fish are relatively hearty, simple to take care of, and swim together in a very tight school. Along with the tetras, I would recommend a single angelfish. Angelfish are beautiful, slow-moving fish that should leave your rummynose tetras alone.
Another easy option would be a tank full of guppies. Guppies can be very colorful and beautiful depending on the specific genetic strand that you get. They can also be very exciting to keep because you’ll definitely wake up one day to baby fish!
Why Aquariums? There are many ways to bring life into your home. Pets, like dogs, are great but cost a lot of money in the long run. Keeping houseplants is fine, but sometimes it can be boring for even excitable children. Aquariums have a relatively low start-up cost, even if you purchase everything brand new, this whole build should cost you less than 200 dollars. Fish also are constantly moving, so there’s never inactivity in the tank. With all of these pros, there’s almost no reason not to have an aquarium in your home!
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