Often when people come visit my house they are fascinated with my fish tank. Its a fairly simple fish tank which does require some maintenance but not huge amounts. So I thought I would write a very quick blog on my fish tank setup, maintenance, and how much time it would take up if you wanted such a thing in your home.
Firstly I shall explain the tank. The tank is Chinese make called Boyu. I liked the tank as it was slimmer (less depth front to back) than others as I knew space would be an issue in our house. It also had rounded glass edges which makes for a nicer appearance without structural corners getting in the way. The tank is 100 cms long and about 50 cms tall. It holds 130 litres of water which meant that I could stock a fairly large amount of fish. Many fish need a certain amount of water and size of tank or they don't fair well. The tank sits on a stand which is designed for the Boyu fish tank range. It fits perfectly and is robust enough for the job.To set a tank up of this size does require a couple (maybe even 3) weeks of preparation as stocking a tank from day one would cause you a lot of problems and a large loss of fish and money. Every new fish tank has to have the following....
- Substrate (Many to choose from gravel, mud, stone and sand)
- Filtration system
- Plants (Artificial or Real... in my eyes real is the only way to go)
- Thermometer (measure temperature accurately)
- Heater (for a 130 litres of water I requires a 180 Watt heater)
- Anti Chlorine solution
Once you have added your choice of substrate and aqua-scape the tank you can add your plants and water. The water will need to be treated with some anti chlorine juice. This stuff can be bought in any fish shop and I would imagine pet store. The brand I used is called TAP SAFE. When choosing the substrate please think of what sort of plants you would like to include and what sort of nutrients will be required to maintain these aquatic plants. It is all in the planning. Substrate changes are meaning you have to start the whole tank again so this is a very important step to get right.
Right you have a nice tank with water in it now. Time to get the heat on. Install your heater and start thinking of what fish you would like to stock. Fish take different temperatures so please research the fish you want. Some fish don't even get on with each other. In your research you will find the temperature required for that species of fish. My tank is running exactly at 26.4 Celsius and I chose my fish accordingly.
Filtration comes next. The Boyu tank does come with a built in filter which runs in the lighting hood. Although this is an acceptable filter there are better. Water filtration really is important so I decided to go for a U3 Filter by FluVal. The best filters are external but I chose to do an internal filter as I did not want to risk any water being lost out of the tank onto the floor. Most external systems of quality wouldn't do this and have fail-safes in place but for peace of mind I made my choice for the internal. There is also a significant price hike for external filter systems over internal plus if you don't have a cabinet it would look pretty ugly sitting on your floor.
Okay so now the tank is empty of livestock but otherwise up and running. Really now you should buy yourself a water testing kit for tropical aquariums. What your looking for to happen over the next few weeks is an ammonia spike and then it to slowly return to normal. Ammonia is poisonous to fish and this is why you have not stocked the tank. Once this spike returns to normal levels you should be ready to start adding the fish. If no ammonia spike happens after a week you might need to buy some ammonia powder to get it started. Once the ammonia has calmed down this is a clear indication that the fish tanks life cycle has now kicked in. Good and bad bacteria are working in an ecosystem which your fish and plants require.
Hot tips on adding fish? Yep... DO NOT add too many to quickly. You can also look up how many fish your size of tank can support. Loads of info on the web. Why not add many fish quickly? Because you will cause another one of those ammonia spikes in your cycled tank. It is also very stressful for a fish to adapt to a new environment. Stress can induce many fish diseases which will affect your entire tank and everything in it.
When adding fish I follow this method. I keep them covered or in the dark until I get home. Once home I leave them in their sealed bag and put the whole bag in the tank. I let the temperatures between both tanks equalize and let all the fish settle. This takes around 20 minutes. After that I open the bag slightly and let in some of the fish tank water into the bag. You have to bear in mind that the fish shops PH values might differ from yours. After about 10 mins with mixed water I then release the fish into the tank.
So that is pretty much it. Keep an eye on your Ph and ammonia. Other than that fish tanks once cycled tend to look after themselves. I do an almost half water change every two weeks and check filter elements and clean the tank. Other than that I just feed them once at night and once in the morning. A tiny pinch that all the fish can clear the food in 2 minutes. With regard to buying fish, please choose your local fish shop wisely. Far too many people will sell you poorly looked after fish which already have signs of disease. Once you found that store...support it and try not to venture away from them. All it takes is one poorly fish and you could possibly kiss the lot goodbye. Seriously.
Extras you may want to consider.....
- I have a planted tank so I have added a CO2 unit to deliver higher parts of CO2 in the tank. This helps dramatically with plant growth. Keep a careful eye on your CO2 levels though... overdosing will kill your fish.
- LED lighting makes a massive difference to a tank and to the plants within. highly recommended upgrade which I have not done myself but wish too in the near future.
- Choose Amazonian ADA substrate soils. Best in the marketplace and definitely the best substrate for growing plants.
- Add some scenery. I chose a large peace of bog wood. Helps lower the Ph (very marginally) but makes for a great scen in the tank. The fish and shrimp love hanging around it.
*Please excuse the poor pictures..... Mobile Phones and Bad Lighting create disastrous images.
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