You should refer to my Shopping List page to see what items you will need to buy.
You need a tank, and you need some fish. DO NOT BUY THE FISH UNTIL A FEW WEEKS AFTER YOU HAVE SET UP YOUR TANK! Your tank needs time to cycle .
Choose the largest tank that is practical for your space. Bigger is better: the more water you have, the more stable the water conditions will be. Fish like stability. You can choose either acrylic or glass: acrylic scratches easily but glass is heavy. Your call. Choose long tanks over tall ones because you get more surface area, which is good for gas exchange, allowing you to keep more fish in the same amount of water. The hood and lights are usually sold as part of the aquarium package. You need a good stand. By "good" I mean one that is made specifically for your aquarium. Other furniture will not do. Water weighs eight pounds per gallon. Your little ten gallon tank weighs more than eighty pounds! It takes a sturdy tank stand to properly support the weight. You should also put some kind of pad under the tank - ask your dealer. Put the tank in a place away from doors and windows, near at least four electrical outlets (for the filter, heater, air pump and lights). So much for the big stuff. You also need to choose a lot of little stuff...
When choosing a net, be sure it is the proper size for your fish.
The white fabric nets are called "brine shrimp" nets
because they are fine enough to catch such tiny critters. I like
them for other fish also, if you can find them large enough. The
soft blue ones are nice too. Some nets have a little hook on the
handle for hanging it on the back of the tank. I love those; where
I don't have one I make one out of twist ties. You should always
have a separate net for each tank. Never put the net from your
hospital tank into your main tank unless you have sterilized it.
All hardware can be sterilized with very hot very salted water.
You may also use a weak bleach solution, but it is imperative
you rinse it well with dechlorinator.
When choosing a heater, you will need about five watts per U.S.
gallon. In a large tank, using two heaters eases the burden on
one and provides a backup sorce of heat should one fail. Unfortunately,
heaters often fail in the "on" position, raising the
temperature of the water twenty or more degrees too high! This
is why you check the temperature every day. Try to buy a heater
that promises to fail in the "off" position instead,
but don't take that promise too seriously. Always check the temperature.
If a serious spike does occur, you will have to reduce the temperature
slowly over the course of a day or two, by adding slightly cooler
water over time. A sudden change in temperature is unhealthy,
so take your time.
You will need to buy some kind of algae scrubber. Many kinds of
scrubbers are available, but I recommend the "Mag-Float."
It keeps your hands dry and will never fall into the bottom of
the tank. If your tank is acrylic, be certain that what you choose
will not scratch your tank.
Bubbles are decorative and aid in circulation. Unfortunately,
most air pumps are quite noisy, and you may feel you are better
off without them. I have tried a few brands of air pumps, and
have had the most luck with the "Profile" brand. To
choose a size, consider how many air stones and decorations you
will be driving, not how many gallons your tank contains. I recommend
avoiding fancy air rods that may clog. I stay with the blue air
stones (made of a kind of glass, I think). You will also need
an air control kit (the valves that determine which stone the
air is flowing toward). Of course, don't forget your air line
tubing. Be sure to buy enough. You will also need a check valve.
A check valve is inserted into the air line between the pump and
the tank. It prevents water from dripping down into the pump itself.
The Filter
The filter is your most
important purchase. The health of your whole tank depends on it,
so choose carefully. If you have a large tank, you will probably
be best off with a canister filter. I have been told that a good,
quiet one is the Eheim Classic or Eheim Professional.
For smaller tanks, use filters that hang on the back of the tank.
I rely on the AquaClear hang-on-the-back filters. They are very
quiet, affordable, and easy to maintain. Proper, regular maintenance
of the filter is essential to a healthy tank, so the easier it
is to clean, the better. Do not choose filters that rely
on replaceable floss cartridges with carbon inside. They are not
effective. Choose ones that employ layers of media, like foam
blocks and activated carbon inserts and/or ammonia reducing chips.
Which ever type of filter you use, when cleaning your filter,
only clean one layer at a time. Never replace all layers at once.
New, unused media is clean, but not yet colonized by the bacteria
the filter needs to detoxify the water. You need to keep those
bacteria colonies alive, so always rinse your filter media in
used tank water or dechlorinated water. Chlorinated tap water
will kill the bacteria you need. Filter media with an established
colony of bacteria are often referred to as your "biological
filter." You can read more about this on my Water
Chemistry page.
For sifting particles out of the water, your media will be floss
or a foam block. Activated carbon layers are inserted when you
need to remove chemical impurities that might cause odors or cloudiness.
They are also used to help remove medicines from the water. As
does the foam block, the carbon also provides housing for your
biofilter colony, so keep it in even after it gets old, until
you need to replace it.
FILTERS AND STUFF