.jpg)
Polls
Loading ...
Correct Placement of Aquarium Stand
As discussed before in Finding the Best Location For your Aquarium you must decide on its final location to take into consideration drafts or sunlight which will affect the water temperature, and physical aspects of the floor where the stand will sit and any electrical or water supply nearby.
First Check Floors and walls
Make sure your floors can take the additional loading especially if you setting up your freshwater aquarium on a upper floor, as last thing you want is to have come though the floor. Remember a 100 gallon aquarium can weigh almost 1000 pounds when full.
When setting up your aquarium offset it from the wall, as you need to allow room for maintenance and all the piping work.
Look for Power and Water Supply
When determining the location for your new aquarium, consider the power supply as you will need 3 to 4 sockets. Last thing you want do is fix up the tank, add the water then find out there’s no power supply then you will have reserve your sequence and relocate.
If possible locate your tank near water too, as it will help you in the movement of water to and thou to save you spilling water.
Moving Aquariums
If you have done all the planning you shouldn’t need to relocate the aquarium but if you really need too then here’s the best way.
Always have two people to carry the aquarium for two reasons. Firstly you may damage your back if over stress for lifting the heavy aquarium and secondly you can damage the silicone and frame of the tank if you move alone.
So you are ready to move the tank, follow these steps:
Unplug the equipment and remove it from the aquarium, but allow 15mins after switching off for the heater as too not shatter it.
Take a bucket of water from your aquarium and place all the fish in it, count them to ensure there is none left.
Now you can remove the remaining water and take out any heavy decorations or rocks.
Don’t lift the tank by the top of the frame, this will damage the silicone or crack the glass, the correct way is to lift from the bottom corners of the tank.
Freshwater Fish Compatibility Chart
Always wondered which fish can live with others? Are angefish campatible with Mollies?
This chart will help you work out which fish can live with each other, but remember it will depend on your own freshwater aquarium environment your fish live in, how many of the fish are together and many other factors but the compatibility chart will serve as a good guide to start with.
Source: thereefshop
Other factors that effect Water Temperature
Windows
Sounds harmless ..right? But if you place your aquarium near a window you can have several problems. Firstly the temperature of your water could be effected,when your freshwater aquarium has long periods of sun on it the temperature will rise and thus affect the fishes. Consider not puttng it there or add curtains to keep the heat off. If you live in a cold country then its the opposite drafts or chilly air can lower the aquarium temperature,so therefore its easier to avoid windows full stop.
Another factor that you must consider is algae growth. placing a tank near natural sunlight will increase the growth of algae by many fold. Once algae begins to overrun your aquarium, it can be really difficult to get of.
So you can see windows are a no go for aquariums.
Doors
Exterior doors can be very drafty, and placing your aquarium near them will lower the temperature of water. Place your tank well away from any outside doors to avoid drafts.
Interior doors have other issues, not from the cold but from the door hitting the aquarium, most door knobs are at the right level to hit the tank. WIth a hard bang from a door knob and yur fish could be swimming on the floor. So before fixing the location test out the door to ensure it will not hit the tank.
For more information on Location of Freshwater Aquarium click here.
Room Temperature and its Affects on Freshwater Aquarium
Freshwater aquariums need a stable water temperature and if there is extreme changes in temperature can weaken the fishes immune systems and increase their risk of diseases. Heaters can keep your water temperature high enough assuming the outside or room temperature is high enough as heater can only handle so much work. Be careful for airconditioning too, as it is on in the daytimes and off over nite, this can have an effect of hot and cold spells for the water.
Too high of a water temperature can also cause death baecause as water temperature raises the oxygen in the water is reduced, therefore the fish will come to the surface to take air and in a short time wil die of asphyxiation. For this case you will need a chiller and not a heater, but chillers can be expensive
The most important thing to remember is that your room should not change the temperature of your aquarium more than a few degrees from the normal.
Next we will look at the effects of doors and windows on freshwater aquariums.
For more information on Location of Freshwater Aquarium click here.
What kind Aquarium do you want?
You are setting out on the freshwater side of the hobby or why else would you be here…right? This site wll go though the processes to set up your aquarium, but before we go to far into freshwater aquariums lets have a quick glimpse what you may want move into after you mastered the basic freshwater aquarium guide.
The aquarium hobby has three basic systems:
- Freshwater System
- Saltwater System
- Brackish System
The fish, plants, equipment, tanks and management will be different for each type of system. We will discuss over the next few articles a brief overview of each type of set up and give you ideas of initial set up cost, difficultly level, space considerations and availability of speices.
Freshwater Systems
freshwater aquariums are the most commonly practiced hobby and ideal for a beginner for a few reasons:
A freshwater system is not quite as expensive as a saltwater aquarium- Saltwater aquariums require additional equipment and genrally larger tanks.
- Freshwater fish are generally cheaper than marine fish- its always better to work wth less expensive fish an buying exensice fish and lsing them.
- Freshwater fish are generally more ready available from most aquarium shops than the marine fish- Marine fish are more sensitive to water conditions than freshwater fish which can have a more varied water conditions and still survive.
- Generally freshwater fish breed more easily- you may have the opportunity to sell yout fih back to your local fish shop.
- You can have more fish- With the same size tank you can keep more freshwater fish than you could mariine fish.
Freshwater systems can come in two types either tropical or coldwater.
Freshwater Tropical Aquariums
A freshwater tropical aquarium offers huge numbers of variety for both fish and plants and will give you endless ideas for your aquarium. Most tropical fish are easy to keep and very inexpensive which is why they are ideal for the beginner hobbyist. There is plenty of ready available kits for sale at your local fish shop which will include, tank,hood,light,filter and heater but these sets will exclude fish,plants and gravel but can be brought seperately.
Freshwater Coldwater Aquariums
These fish will come from colder waters than there tropical cousins, kits can be brought much alike the tropical kit, but they will not have any heater. Tanks or ponds will need to be larger as the fish are largr and consume more oxygen.
When keeping freshwater coldwater aquariums the room temperature they are kept in is important, as a warm room will heat up the tank. Generally getting fish for this setup is difficult except for goldfishsoyou may have to source though the internet to find the fish you want.
Marine Systems
The saltwater used for these type of aquariums is normally made form combining freshwater and a manufactured salt. A good filtration system is required in marine tanks as the fish require higher oxygen levels and lower ammonia levels.
Its recommended before you start out with saltwater aquariums is that you have basic knowledge with freshwater aquariums, you can actually go straight to saltwater aquariums but they are expensive and a little mistake could put you off aquariums for good.
You may want take a look at Saltwater Aquarium Guide to have a better understanding of whats required.
Brackish Systems
The brackish aquarium is the least popular of the three types of aquariums because they are hard to find at your local fish shop and generally they are more expensive than freshwater fish.The water in a brackish aquarium lies some where between the other two in terms of salt content.
The equipment is the same as a freshwater aquarium system but the plants are different as they need tolerate a brackish system.
Recommended Reading
