Establishing your Fish Tank

Since I already have my fish tank established, I turned to my friend Lori, or rather she turned to me. She has just purchased a starter kit and asked me to help her get everything set up, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity.

Rinse Rocks

We got to her apartment and immediately washed the gravel, and by wash I mean we rinsed every batch of rocks with hot water before we put them in the tank. This helps to clean off any dirt particles, or anything that would've been on the rocks from packaging and shipping. It helps to establish the tanks own ecosystem by doing this.

So we put a bucketful of rocks in the sink and rinsed them off, then transported them to the fish tank. This is a tedious process and gets very boring very quickly. Lori had decided to use all one color gravel for her tank. My mom and I have a healthy batch of rocks, from my mom's previous years of keeping fish, so we tend to mix colors. The colors of your rocks don't really make a big difference, Lori has black so I suggested bright colored fish, yellow and orange just to be aesthetically pleasing. 

Feng Shui

The next thing we need to do is place your aquarium. Lori had a handful of objects to put in her tank, some live plants and a dragon with an air-attachment.  I have never personally had an aquarium with live plants, my mom and I are working on this together. Lori and I read the instructions and planted them in the rocks as instructed, after she determined where she wanted them in the tank. So far as tank placement, be as creative as you want. The fish are usually most content in places that look more natural, lots of foliage and hiding places. If I know I'm getting frogs, I tend to place rocks against the glass so they will hide behind the rocks, but I will still be able to see them. So while arranging your aquarium, keep in mind the type of fish you would like to get and what their natural habitats would look like.

Waterfall 

 After you place your plants, or ceramic devices you can start pouring in the water. The best way to do this is to have help.

    You need to break the fall of the water so that plants (especially live ones) aren't disrupted. The rocks can move due to a huge fall as well, usually creating a hole. Landscaping the rocks is always a great idea, but wait until you have fill the tank about halfway before doing so.

Waterfall Effect - Break the fall of water

Pour the water into the tank and break the fall of the water with your hand. Typically this is another long and tedious process, as you need to fill the tank all the way to the top.  That is if your tank is standard, if you have a bowl, or any curvature in the vertical sides of your tank then you need to leave a significant amount of space for air. Most goldfish bowls only need to be filled part the way to the top, leaving about 1/4 to a 1/5 of the top of the bowl empty. This creates more air for the fish, due to the surface area of the water. In a tank such as the one Lori has, she will have plenty of surface area, not to mention the air she will be pumping into the tank through her dragon.

Electrical Objects

After we filled up the tank the last few things to do are set up the heater, filter and air pump. I had already connected the dragon to the air pump. You will have to cut the tubes to an appropriate length for the area you need, depending on how far you are placing your pump from the tank. Heater's are usually simple enough, but don't plug it in until you have enough water in the tank. If you don't the glass might shatter, most modern heaters have a built-in detector and won't turn on without the pressure of water on them.

Drip Cord- notice the loops!

Lastly the filter, my filters are older, but Lori has a newer model. I was extremely nervous because this filter is actually inside the tank! Electricity and Water! My mind was blown, but one very important thing you need to do with this type of filter is make sure you have a drip cord. It's very simple, tie a loop in the filter's electrical cord before plugging it in. Trace the cord from the tank down, if you think water could drip straight to the outlet you didn't do it right. The drip cord, should prevent water from running straight to the outlet. 

This may seem really overwhelming, but it's very simple. Here is my short version of how to establish a fish tank.

5 Easy Steps to Setting up a Fish Tank

1. Rinse Rocks - wash your gravel for particles 
2. Feng Shui - arrange your tank decorations in a natural way to make fish happiest 
3. Waterfall - Fill your tank and break the water fall
4. Electrical  - connect the Heater, Filter, Air- pump necessary Don't forget the drip cord!
5. Hood  - Most fish tanks come with a hood to keep the water from evaporating and stuff getting inside, find a good lid or hood and a light.

NO FISH - This is essential you must leave your tank empty for at the very least 48hrs, it's best to let it sit as is for three or four days.  

Now enjoy your tank! I'll be discussing types of fish that can live together next time!