How Do I Set Up My Aquarium?

So you’ve decided what sort of aquarium you want and where you are going to put it. You’ve also decided whether you are going to keep coldwater or tropical fish. How its time for the best bit, setting up the tank.

Once you have got your aquarium home a wise person would fill it with water and leave it for a few days just to make sure it doesn’t leak. You don’t want to discover this when the tank is full of gravel, plants and fish!

It is also important to stand the tank on polystyrene sheets to cushion the glass base from the water pressure bearing down on it.

You now can decide on what you will place in your aquarium. You can have a fun set-up, with brightly coloured gravel and comical ornaments, which is great for children but a serious fish keeper will want to create a set-up which is as close to the fishes natural environment as possible.

The tank will need a background. You can choose from textured plastic panels which go inside the tank or the glossy picture sheets that are attached on the outside. Everything that goes into the aquarium should be washed with warm water. Never use any sort of cleaning fluid!

You can then add gravel and rocks to create an environment for your fish. This should be done before the water is added. Spend some time experimenting with different designs until you are happy and don’t forget to rinse the rocks, gravel and anything else you include. Remember, fish sometimes like to hide away from the world, so make sure you create lots of hiding places. An old plant pot, half buried in the gravel makes an excellent cave.

You can also add plants to your aquarium. Either plastic ones or real aquatic plants. This can be done after the water has been put in.