Beginner's Guide to Setting Up Your First Freshwater Aquarium
A detailed guide on how to successfully create a freshwater aquarium for novice and new fish keepers.
What is a Freshwater Aquarium?
A freshwater aquarium is a type of recirculating aquatic system that houses freshwater fish. Many of these freshwater fish originate through the ornamental aquarium trade, which is a multi-billion-dollar market, encompassing freshwater and saltwater fish, corals, filtration, plants, and other supplies/equipment.
What Makes a Freshwater Aquarium Function?
Aquariums function through stability of limited resources. A recirculating aquatic system such as home aquariums, does not receive a constant influx of water that a river, creek, or lake would have.
We could list every single item/criterion that an aquarium would need to thrive, however there is one subject that is most important above all, besides knowing how to care for the fish you plan to place in your aquarium. That being the aquatic nitrogen cycle.
The aquatic nitrogen cycle is what predominantly allows for recirculating aquatic systems to function properly. In home aquariums, this pertains to waste/nutrient management and removal.
A generalized 3-step description of the Aquatic Nitrogen Cycle is below
1) Fish waste is usually in the form of Ammonia (NH3). Ammonia is a toxic compound to fish and is a leading cause of death in new aquariums due to overfeeding, placing fish in an aquarium that has not been established long enough, or overstocking your aquarium. Keep ammonia in your aquarium at 0.0 ppm (parts per million) to ensure that your fish remain healthy.
2) With the help of various species of nitrifying bacteria, Ammonia will be converted into Nitrite (NO2). Nitrite is also toxic to fish and can result in nitrite poisoning. Keep nitrite in your aquarium at 0.0 ppm to ensure that your fish remain healthy.
3) Nitrite gets converted to Nitrate (NO3) by nitrifying bacteria. Nitrate is not toxic in small quantities to aquatic life, but you want to have that value be less than 10 ppm. This polyatomic ion is usually absorbed by aquatic plants who use nutrients and minerals within your aquarium to perform photosynthesis and grow.
If your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are not at their ideal values, you must perform a partial water change. A partial water change removes these compounds and dilutes the remaining concentration once you add fresh aquarium water. To prevent pH and temperature shock, never change more than 30% of your aquarium's water unless parameters 100% match between your water source and your tank's water (Temperature, pH)
To ensure that your water parameters are consistent, purchasing an API Freshwater Master Test Kit is strongly recommended to get quick and accurate results.
How Much Time Does It Usually Take to Maintain a Freshwater Aquarium?
The time invested into maintaining a freshwater aquarium depends on the person and their time management skills, the tank volume, its inhabitants, and what routines are in place. For well-established aquariums, maintenance could potentially take up only an hour in total across two weeks. These duties would include a bi-weekly routine water change with possible algae removal, observing fish for ailments/disease, and the most enjoyable task: feeding your fish.
What Supplies Do You Need to Set Up a Freshwater Aquarium?
Below is a list of items you will need (not including the fish tank itself) that you possibly would need to successfully keep an aquarium:
1) Aquarium Heater
2) Aquarium Light
3) Filtration- Mechanical, Biological, Chemical
3) Aquarium Substrate- Inert (Sand) or Nutrient Rich (Aquarium Soil)
4) Live Aquatic Plants
5) Water Quality Additives (Water Conditioner, pH buffer, etc)
6) Fish Food
7) Maintenance Tools (Freshwater Test Kit, Fish Nets, Aquarium Thermometer, Gravel Vac/Siphon)
8) Aquarium Stand
This list may seem overwhelming at first, however, we like to make first-time experiences with animals enjoyable for everyone. Scholarly Exotics offers a great selection of Aquarium Starter Kits that include a strong staple of supplies and tools to jumpstart your fishkeeping adventure!
When Will You Know When Your Aquarium is Ready for Fish?
Once your aquarium is fully set up and all essential equipment is functioning, it must "cycle". Cycling is a term used for ensuring that bacteria are able to colonize aquarium surfaces at a strong enough population to support fish and invertebrates. Many people start the cycle by adding some fish food into the aquarium to produce ammonia or add an ammonia starter liquid to kickstart the colonizing process.
You only have to add the starter liquid or fish food once. After a few days test your water to see the concentrations of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate to see if any nitrification has begun.
The "cycling" process can take up to a few months to reach an equilibrium that is safe to carry fish. This may seem discouraging due to how much time this takes. Despite this it is safe, you are not stressing about water quality or fish health until you know the tank is ready, and it gives you time to decide what fish you would like in your aquarium! Many people already have a planned stocking of their aquarium before setting it up, as many fish have species-specific parameters like African Cichlids.
However, it does not hurt to reach out to us at scholarlyexotics@gmail.com for any freshwater aquarium inquiries or stocking options. We strongly encourage it!
Conclusion:
Thank you for reading this article on setting up your first freshwater aquarium. If you have any questions, please contact us at our email address: scholarlyexotics@gmail.com; we will respond back as soon as possible!
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