Let's Start From The Very Beginning
- Thread starter modivine
- Start date
The December FOTM Contest Poll is open!
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆
Well, the first thing you're gonna need is a fish tank. Bigger ones are easy to care for, but then they are also more expensive, so work out how much you think you can afford.
Next will be a filter - you need to buy one that will is suitable for the size tank - if you buy from a shop, hopefully the staff there will guide you.
Since you are in Nigeria, I would have thought you wouldn't need a heater, but if your home is cooler inside than outside, then you will.
Next you need to consider the substrate - what goes on the floor of the tank. I have sand, others have stones. When you decide, buy it, and wash it big time. Put it in the bottom of the tank.
Then you want to think about decorations - real plants, fake plants, real wood, fake wood, other plastic ornaments. Buy them and put them in.
Water is next, make sure you buy a decent water conditioner product from the store, follow the instructions, put the water in the tank slowly so it doesn't disturb the substrate.
Then you need to do the single most important thing in fishkeeping. We call it cycling the filter, and it means to grow bacteria in your filter to deal with the waste produced by the fish. There are two ways of doing so. To read more (and all this stuff is available in more detail elsewhere on the site), go to the Cycling Your Filter section.
That's a VERY basic overview of preparing your tank, then you need to consider what fish you are having. Probably best if you do the preliminary stuff first, then we can talk about the fish.
You'll probably have loads of questions, it's best to ask them in the threa, rather than starting loads of different threads all over the place.
Next will be a filter - you need to buy one that will is suitable for the size tank - if you buy from a shop, hopefully the staff there will guide you.
Since you are in Nigeria, I would have thought you wouldn't need a heater, but if your home is cooler inside than outside, then you will.
Next you need to consider the substrate - what goes on the floor of the tank. I have sand, others have stones. When you decide, buy it, and wash it big time. Put it in the bottom of the tank.
Then you want to think about decorations - real plants, fake plants, real wood, fake wood, other plastic ornaments. Buy them and put them in.
Water is next, make sure you buy a decent water conditioner product from the store, follow the instructions, put the water in the tank slowly so it doesn't disturb the substrate.
Then you need to do the single most important thing in fishkeeping. We call it cycling the filter, and it means to grow bacteria in your filter to deal with the waste produced by the fish. There are two ways of doing so. To read more (and all this stuff is available in more detail elsewhere on the site), go to the Cycling Your Filter section.
That's a VERY basic overview of preparing your tank, then you need to consider what fish you are having. Probably best if you do the preliminary stuff first, then we can talk about the fish.
You'll probably have loads of questions, it's best to ask them in the threa, rather than starting loads of different threads all over the place.
Water conditioner (Seachem Prime, API Tap Water Conditioner, etc etc etc) will neutralise the chlorine in your tap water which will affect the bacteria colonies necessary to process ammonia. Many people consider Prime to be the best because it works out cheaper in the long run. Follow the directions when setting up the tank or doing a water change.
A filter does two things, first it will capture most of the debris floating in the water and keep your water clear. Note that in a new aquarium you will almost always get a bacterial bloom (from bacteria in the air) which turns the water cloudy for a few days, this is totally normal and will go away by itself. But secondly, the filter will provide the perfect environment to grow your bacteria colonies, to simplify you'll get bacteria that take the ammonia from the fish waste and turn it into nitrites, and then you'll get another colony that takes the nitrites and turns them into nitrates. You get your nitrate levels down by doing regular water changes, but they're nowhere near as toxic to your fish.
Try for a filter that's at least 5x per hour the size of your aquarium, for example I have a 200l tank so I have a filter that turns over 1,000l per hour. They have the water rating on them, some of them have it in the name of the filter (e.g. Aquis 1200, 1000, 750 etc). Then we get into the questions about the type of filter, whether it's a canister or Hang on Back, or internal - this will depend on your preference. Keep asking questions and we'll do what we can to help.
A filter does two things, first it will capture most of the debris floating in the water and keep your water clear. Note that in a new aquarium you will almost always get a bacterial bloom (from bacteria in the air) which turns the water cloudy for a few days, this is totally normal and will go away by itself. But secondly, the filter will provide the perfect environment to grow your bacteria colonies, to simplify you'll get bacteria that take the ammonia from the fish waste and turn it into nitrites, and then you'll get another colony that takes the nitrites and turns them into nitrates. You get your nitrate levels down by doing regular water changes, but they're nowhere near as toxic to your fish.
Try for a filter that's at least 5x per hour the size of your aquarium, for example I have a 200l tank so I have a filter that turns over 1,000l per hour. They have the water rating on them, some of them have it in the name of the filter (e.g. Aquis 1200, 1000, 750 etc). Then we get into the questions about the type of filter, whether it's a canister or Hang on Back, or internal - this will depend on your preference. Keep asking questions and we'll do what we can to help.
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
372 -
203 -
202 -
191 -
185 -
177 -
159 -
155 -
142 -
108 -
95 -
93 -
84 -
81 -
79