1. TESTING. Before introducing any fish into your tank, buy yourself a good water test kit. Ideally it should contain tests for:Ammonia,Nitrates,Nitrites and Ph. Readings, except for the Ph should all read zero before introducing any fish.
2.TEMPERATURE. Make sure that the temp. in the tank is suitable for your chosen occupants. Freshwater(generally) 21-27C. Marines(generally)26C
Coldwater(generally) 13.5-20C.
3.FILTRTION. Depending on the size of the tank and the intended occupants, filtration can be mechanical,biological or both. They can be air driven or power driven. Filtration is the heart of any tank. It's the life source of the environment. You will need to know the species of fish you wish to keep and then do some homework about the types of waters and/or environment their natural habitat is and filter accordingly. There are an array of filters on the market and you will be sure there is one for your setup.
4. STOCKING LEVELS. Freshwater trops. recommended 12sq.cm of surface area to 1cm of fully grown fish. Marines For a fish only setup 2.5cm of fish for 9ltrs of water and for reef only 2.5cm of fish to 27ltrs of water. Ponds: 250cm of fish to 5000ltrs of water.
5. KNOWLEDGE. Learn as much as you can about the species you intend to keep.
6. INTRODUCING YOU FISH. Fish should be introduced into your new setup gradually. Overloading your tank will cause problems. Remember your filter wil need to build up friendly bacteria to break down the byproducts from your fish.
7.QUARANTINE. This is a question I'm most asked by newbies. Do I really need to quarantine my fish? The short answer is YES. Introducing new fish to a new system will invariably bring its own problems, so if you can why risk it? Using the same water as the main tank, introduce the fish in the Quarantine tank for a week or so and if there's no probs. then introduce them into the main tank.
8. FEEDING. Twice daily is more than enough. Only feed as much as will be taken within 3 minutes, otherwise it will decompose at the bottom of your tank, causing other problems, such as high Phosphates and Nitrates and unsightly algae.
9. WATER CHANGES. Regular water changes, around 25% per week is good for your tank and good for your fish.
10. CLEANING FILTERS. These should be cleaned regurarly according to the manufactures instructions. It is best however if you don't clean the sponges in raw tapwater, but use some of the water syphoned from the tank. This way the beneficial bacteria are not killed off and only the debris is cleaned away.

one piece of advice i would add to that list would be to watch your fish. most people do anyways but its the one thing will tell you alot about if they are settled together or if a fight breaks out or even if you think they are off colour it can tell you allot just to take a good look at the tank and watch the fish interact on a daily basis. i would say that most of the posts in this forum show you can diagnose a problem before it is serious just on sight alone... thou i could be wrong here :wince:

one last piece of advice i can give would be to always research the fish you buy. Research the diet, the water conditions and general keeping before bringing home a new fish, then realize tha you have no food or knowledge. healthy fish and healthy tank.

Yah also research before you buy. dont be like me and make a boo boo. I bought a ten gallon tank/starter kit. I put two balla sharks and 5 tiger barbs in it....WHEw...talk about over crowded. Little did I know at the time the bala sharks would out grow that tank In no time....they need 30 plus gallons Well after all Im still a beginner but, I am learning so much from this site

This post has been edited by Quisha: May 6 2006, 06:36 AM

Actually, bala sharks need a good 75 gallons per fish, and they are a shoaling fish and should be kept in a group of four or more.

Neal

Hello,
I've recently set up my first ever tropical aquarium. - I'm leaving it for the recommended 2 weeks, and just can't wait to get started. 2 weeks seems to be an awfully painful amount of time to wait, so I've been doing my research in order to make the count-down go faster! The one, pretty worrying, question (that was pointed out to me only last night, by my mother) that has puzzled me, is -
What do you do if there is a power cut?!
- wouldn't this be pretty devastating for my fish-tank? I was wondering if any of you experts (or, just anyone who might have any ideas,or experience of this happening) might be able to help me out, and ease my troubled mind, please?
I'd be ever so grateful for any help,
thanks!

Well usually power cuts are only for an hour or so.
Your fish will be able to last without a heater or filter for a couple hours, trust me it has happened before

Living in South Africa we often experiance power cute with frightening regularity....sometimes they can last for up to 18 hours and my fish have come through....

it's a great site

yep - its the place which rekindled the fish keeper in me...

what is the best and quietest protein skimmer for the Trigon 190?

and another....
love fish

pwer cuts generally dont last to long, but more than often tank temperatures shouldnt drop that quick, small tanks will experience bigger shifts though!

If its only a few hours or hopefully less than a day it will be OK.

Last October we had a devastating snow storm, because the leaves were still on the trees branches came down, and some whole trees because of the weight of the snow. Well power went out over half the state, and it was out for four days.

My advice to anyone will big tanks, expensive stock, or multiple tanks is to get a good generator. You never know when you may need one but one is definitely handy.

This post has been edited by Chrispixx: Feb 10 2008, 05:37 AM