Setting up your First
Tank
Setting up your first tank can be a daunting exercise especially if you
have no experienced fishkeeper to lend you a helping hand. Advice from
your local petshop can be good but unfortunately I have seen some
completely unsuitable fish being sold as beginner fish. A good petshop
will tell you to set up the tank first, mature your filter and come back
then to get your first fish. They will also be able to suggest some good
books or point you in the direction of a fishkeeping club to get you set
up right from day one. On this note, do not hesitate to contact us via
the website or even better join us for a chat at our next meeting.
A tropical community set-up can be regarded as the easiest set-up for
first timers. The set up of such a system will be discussed in this
article.
But let’s start with the first step which is choosing your tank and
where to put it in your home. Always buy the biggest tank you can afford
and have the space for. A big tank will have more stable water
parameters than a small one. Stability of healthy water parameters is
the most important part of fishkeeping. If your water is not suitable
for fish, you will obviously not be able to keep them healthy for long.
This is probably the reason why most people get disillusioned with
keeping fish. Too many fish
introduced in too little time in too small a tank.