What do you need to set up a fish tank?

Answer 1

Salt water is a big responsibility. I suggest fresh water tanks because of the extra time I have available. But if you are sure you want to do this, get online and start pricing the tanks, lighting, filters and other things you will need. Good luck and if you have any questions after you get set up send me a message and I will respond as soon as I can.

Also a little tip is that when you are buying your fish (when the time comes) make sure that you buy fish that will not fight, wont grow too big for your tank. And buy fish that feed on the bottom, the middle and the top, so then your tank will be full and it wont just be all at the bottom, top or middle.

Answer 2

Some equipment you will need to start, 10 gallon tank, 50 watt heater, filter (outside power filter is the best sized for your tank), hood with light (flouresent is best), (optional would be some type of glass or heavy plexiglass for the top that your light can sit on), a thermometer, gravel, plants and other decorations, some type of water conditioner to detoxify tap water and fish food. Find a good place to setup you tank, keeping it away from windows where sunlight will hit the tank. Assemble your filter, wash your gravel and place in tank, arrange plants and other decorations, attach thermometer, setup heater. Using a clean plastic container, get your tap water mixing in your water conditioning chemical and fill your tank. Plug in your pump, let the water sit for approximately 15 minutes or more before plugging in your heater, you can turn the light on. Most people will tell you to wait a few days before adding fish, but once you've added the water conditioner and the water temp is around 75 degrees you can add a few fish. A test kit is a good idea to test for high levels of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, PH, Chlorine, alkalinty, etc. There are test strips you can buy at the pet store that check all of these. Your tank will go through a break in period where the nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels will spike. You will need to make partial water changes a little more frequently the first few weeks and then at least once a month after. Most pet stores have good book and even free phamplets on tank setup, the internet is also a great source. One final note, instead of floating your newly purchased fish in your tank, a better method is to get a clean plastic container (no soap residue), that will hold twice the amount of water in your bag with fish. Carefully empty the bag of water with fish into the plastic container and then over the course of the next hour add small amounts of water from your tank until you have doubled the amount of water in the container, now you are ready to place the fish in your tank.

Answer 3

The first thing you need is to be responsible and prepared to learn and study. Keeping fish is a responsibility. The fish you have will depend on you totally for everything they need to stay alive. A hint. Small tropical fish like Guppies and Plattys are much less demanding and easier to keep successfully in aquaria than Goldfish. Get as large a fish tank (aquarium) as you can afford/house. The basic rule is 1 inch of fish needs 1 gallon of water. A 10 gallon tank (minimum size for 1 goldfish) will only contain around 6 to 8 gallons of water because the top inch is never filled and the bottom inch to two inches should be covered with some kind of substrate (gravel etc) for the roots of growing water plants. You will need a stand or somewhere strong/solid to put the aquarium on. A cover glass (stops some evaporation and also stops fish from jumping out), lights of some sort (both fish and water plants need light) and either a power filter with filter media or an air pump and air driven filter with media. (Filter media will need to be 'cycled'). If you decide to have tropicals you will also need a heater thermostat to suit the size of tank you have and a thermometer.

Answer 4

what you want to do is get a tank. then you will need rocks for the bottom and a filter. after that you need 2 heaters in case one fails. once you have every thing you want to get grasses and decoration like shells and drift wood. you then want to fill it half way to the top and put everything in after it has been rinsed with hot water. then fill it to the top. then you are going to want to wait a bit just until the water is at a temp. of 75 degrees. now you can pick out the fish. make sure that you stay to one or two petstores because you could bring in new water and make the other fish sick. make sure your first fish are cheep. i know this sounds mean but if you spend money on 80 90 dollar fish and they don't live or something is in the water you just wasted a good amount of money.