How to set up an aquarium for fish: procedure

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1 How to install an aquarium at home yourself
2 Selecting an artificial reservoir model
3 Equipment
4 Laying out the soil
5 Scenery
6 Vegetation
7 Fish 7.1 Other interesting articles

A home aquarium with fish is the dream of many, but some people are afraid of the need to install and maintain an artificial pond, because an aquarium is a complex ecosystem. It is important not only to know what is needed to start the tank and how to properly install the equipment for the aquarium, but also to choose the right fish, plants and decorations. However, following simple instructions, even beginners who are interested in aquarium hobby will be able to set up an aquarium with their own hands.

How to install an aquarium at home yourself

Creating a home artificial pond with your own hands is a responsible and complex process, but quite doable if you follow the rules and recommendations of experienced owners. Setting up an aquarium includes several stages, the most important of which are the following: choosing a tank model, and what equipment is needed for the aquarium in order for the artificial pond to function normally.

Which compressor to choose?

For underwater inhabitants, oxygen is a prerequisite for existence. However, if you have a powerful filter and sufficient space, it is quite possible to do without a compressor. If the fish do not float to the surface as a result of oxygen starvation, then there is enough air. However, when choosing fish for your aquarium, take into account the details of their maintenance. For example, some types of tropical fish require high oxygen availability.

Moreover, it creates a beautiful effect. Air bubbles rising up decorate the underwater world with a natural phenomenon. Using sprayers you can create incredibly attractive effects of the movement of oxygen bubbles.

Choosing an artificial reservoir model

Setting up an aquarium for fish always begins with choosing the tank itself. It is best for novice aquarists to give preference to small containers - 60-100 liters in volume, since caring for huge bodies of water is much more difficult. The best shape for a tank is a rectangle or square, which will be comfortable for both fish and vegetation. Other forms of aquariums look more original and unusual, for example, round tanks or glass aquariums, but you should know that setting up an aquarium of such forms is more complex and time-consuming, and besides, pets will be uncomfortable in them.

Before installing an aquarium at home, experienced aquarists recommend considering the following points:

the number and types of fish that the owner wants to place in the reservoir;
types of desired flora;
equipment.

DIY aquarium for kindergarten

As for kindergarten, here, as a rule, they neglect the use of an aquarium, no matter whether it is square, round or corner type. Therefore, for the room where children play, an imitation of an aquarium, a model or a craft can be installed. Such beautiful natural installations can be placed on the wall, using them to study freshwater fish species. The best ready-made crafts can decorate wallpaper and take up space in a living corner.

Very often in kindergartens, in a corner of nature, fish are installed. This installation is pleasing to the eye and creates a calm atmosphere.

But you can make a craft aquarium, which in such a corner will be no less pleasing to the eye, and the amazing colors of the fish will definitely attract the attention of children and reduce their anxiety.

Since many groups prohibit installing an aquarium, parents still found a way out and replaced live fish with artificial ones, and a real aquarium with transparent boxes.

In order to make it you will need:

The box is transparent from a toy;
Sea stones, shells and artificial algae, which can be purchased at pet stores;
Drawing for background
Artificial fish;
Fishing line and glue.

The entire creation process is simple. We fill the bottom of the box with pebbles, shells and install algae. We attach the fishing line to the fish and use glue to secure it to the top of the box. The aquarium is ready.

Equipment

No body of water can exist for a long time without the technical equipment that is necessary to care for the reservoir and provide comfortable living conditions for fish and plants. You can install equipment for an aquarium with your own hands, following the simple instructions on the packaging of the equipment, but to do this you need to know what you need to buy from technical devices. So, before equipping an aquarium, you should choose the following devices in the store:

filter;
aerator;
heater;
thermometer;
lighting.

This is a minimum list of what each fish tank requires. Models of devices are selected taking into account the requirements of future residents and the size of the reservoir. In addition to equipment, you should not forget to purchase tank care items:

nets;
sponges for washing;
containers for placing fish;
a lid or glass to cover the pond;
glass scraper.

Having purchased the necessary equipment, you should not install it right away - you first need to take care of the soil.

It all starts with site preparation

Let's say you have a large apartment that allows you to acquire a large-tonnage aquarium with predatory fish. For some reason, many beginners, having read information on the Internet, come to the pet store with exactly this wish. When sellers start explaining the risks, potential buyers get angry and stick to their guns.

Dear readers, don’t do this! Your desire is understandable, but a home aquarium for beginners should be completely different. This is discussed below, but for now let’s talk about the installation location.

You will need a stable bedside table; it is advisable to purchase one at a pet store before buying an aquarium. At worst, any sturdy cabinet will do, just refrain from installing the aquarium on a thin chipboard panel. It’s one thing if the future home is for fish of small sizes - up to 25 liters, but aquariums of 40, 50 or more liters are completely different. They are heavy on their own, and with water they become even heavier. The chipboard panel is frail, there are certain irregularities that are invisible to the eye. The slightest distortion is enough (1 millimeter is enough) for a crack to appear in the glass. As a result, it bursts and water ends up on the floor, often along with the fish.

Where is the best place to install an aquarium? Away from the window so that direct sunlight does not fall on it. Be sure to purchase a mat for the aquarium bottom; it will help prevent accidentally breaking glass for the reasons stated above.

Laying out the soil

Choosing a substrate is an important stage in how to set up an aquarium, because a lot in the aquatic environment depends on the type of substrate. The most popular and convenient types of soil are sand or gravel, which contribute to the natural design of the pond and are easy to clean when dirty. You can buy soil in a specialized store, or get it yourself in nature. Before placing the soil for plants in the tank, the selected soil is treated by rinsing well in running water and calcining in an oven to get rid of bacteria and dirt. If the soil was purchased in a store, it must also be thoroughly washed.

After processing, the substrate is laid in an even layer on the bottom of the tank. The optimal thickness is 3–4 cm.

Man in the aquarium hobby

Excursion submarine Altanta

Engraving of Flammarion

Melbourne, in the aquarium

Man has always been ruled by great curiosity. It’s a great pleasure to look into a place where no one has been before. And for a long time, people began to dive into the water element in order to feel involved and see with their own eyes sea inhabitants in their natural environment; in this sense, it is worth mentioning the underwater bell, known since 1531. It is clear that the idea of an aquarium would never have come to mind if a person had not looked into the depths of the waters. Looking at the underwater world through the window of an excursion submarine, imbued with the romance of Jules Verne, who published his famous book “20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” in 1869, we ourselves find ourselves in a kind of reverse aquarium. If we continue the Aquarium-Terrarium chain, the submarine can be called “Aerarium”, which, together with its inhabitants, is examined by intelligent dolphins.

Editorial: Bedocia

But there are enough reasons for a person to get close to the inhabitants of an ordinary aquarium. For example, in aquariums, divers feed stingrays, moray eels, sea snakes and even small sharks.

Scenery

One of the most exciting activities in arranging an artificial pond is the selection and placement of decorative elements. They can be presented in the form of stones, driftwood, sunken ships, houses, caves and other colorful and attractive objects. Here you can give free rein to your imagination and create a unique pond design using decorations to suit your taste. However, it is important not to forget that decorative elements, as well as the soil, should be thoroughly washed and treated before immersion. This is especially important for stones and snags taken from ponds or forests, as dirt, germs and bacteria can remain on them.

After laying out the soil and decorations, install the necessary equipment in the tank, fill the container with water and turn on only the filter, aerator and heater to create a temperature of 24–25C. The lights in the tank must be turned off.

Psychology of aquarium keeping

Aquarium science will allow a person to realize his deepest desires: to feel like the creator of his own special world, to act in this world as the arbiter of destinies. A home aquarium can also create a unique harmony of the inner world and bring peace and tranquility to the home. As psychologists note, the presence of aquarium fish in the house has a beneficial effect on the general state of the human psyche and relieves stress. It is enough to sit for no more than half an hour in front of a beautifully decorated aquarium for internal passions, worries, aggression, and nervous tension to subside. Those who suffer from insomnia are recommended to install an aquarium in the bedroom. The steady swimming of fish and the swaying of plants have a calming effect and help you fall asleep. Aquariums not only help relieve stress, but are also a source of positive emotions, they also help create the calm atmosphere necessary for work. Child psychologists recommend placing an aquarium in the room of an active, noisy or anxious child and keeping fish in it.

Vegetation

Three days after filling the aquarium with water, you need to start planting vegetation. For beginners, unpretentious types of flora such as ferns, mosses, varieties of cryptocorynes and echinodorus are suitable. Aquarium flora is divided into several varieties, each of which is planted in a specific place: for example, flowers with a long and strong stem are planted in the background of the tank, and small and low shrubs are planted in the front. Setting up an aquarium that is about to be launched for the first time should include planting many plants, since a small number of flowers will not cope with harmful algae and bacteria. Having placed the selected types of flora, you should turn on lighting fixtures for the growth and development of vegetation.

Create the right conditions for fish

If your fish is sick - it doesn’t eat, hides, has lost color, or behaves strangely, but the water quality and conditions in the aquarium are normal, then it is often difficult to understand why the fish got sick.

Beginners often do not take into account one important factor - the environment in which the fish live. Everything, for example - rocks, plants, decor, even other fish, affects your pets. If you take a small fish that naturally lives in dense, shady ponds and streams and place it in your aquarium with bright substrate, light and no plants….

Then she will experience stress, get sick or die. Let's take the same fish, put it in an aquarium with plants, soft light, and it will eat and grow well.

When you buy fish, don't take everything you like. Now there is a lot of information, read, think, find out the compatibility of different types and you will not have to be disappointed.

Fish

After five to six days, having carried out the necessary measurements and tests, and having made sure that the water indicators are acceptable for living, it is necessary to proceed to the last stage. The final and most enjoyable stage of setting up an aquarium is the selection and stocking of fish and shellfish. Beginning aquarists setting up a tank for the first time should give preference to unpretentious and colorful phenotypes, for example:

catfish;
guppy;
neons;
swordtails;
zebrafish;
gourami;
angelfish;
cockerels.

The number of pets depends on the size of the reservoir and fish. It should also be remembered that not all species get along with each other, so you should select neighbors for a species tank taking into account the compatibility of the fish.

Setting up an aquarium is a responsible process that requires compliance with rules and recommendations. Having selected the necessary equipment and launched an artificial reservoir, you should not forget to care for pets and vegetation, keeping the aquarium clean and tidy.

Water quality

Pay special attention to water quality

Water is very important for fish. In addition to the fact that it should be changed and cleaned, also monitor its composition

All fish, without exception, are very sensitive to chemicals. Therefore, an unbalanced water chemistry can lead to negative consequences. Keep it under control. There are special techniques for this. Reagent tests. With their help, it is easy to determine whether water meets the standards.

In case of deviations, measures should be taken to normalize it. It is recommended to carry out such a test when starting up the aquarium for the first time and periodically in the future.