Mandee Wav
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How to Set up an Aquarium/Fish Tank
Making your Aquarium Fish Safe! What you'll Need: Fish tank, Heater, and a Filter (Maybe). Fish will die if simply added to a glass of water. Especially water from the faucet. Water for fish should be conditioned with a water conditioner. These can be found at any pet store, and are easy to use as well as inexpensive. Follow the recommended dose on the back of the bottle, and add it to any water you add to your aquarium. These conditioners make the water safe for fish by removing chlorine and other chemicals from the water. They help lower the fishes stress and protect their bodies from these chemicals. In order to function though, a body of water, which is your aquarium in this case, needs to become an ecosystem. In the fish world, this is called "establishing." To create the ecosystem, within the gravel and filter, good bacteria needs to grow. Therefore the poop and other lively things are broken down by said bacteria. This keeps the aquarium water quality in good shape. If bacteria is not present, there will be ammonia spikes in the aquarium, which can easily kill fish. How do you get this precious bacteria? Well, the easy and impatient way is to just go buy a bottle of it. It goes by names such as "Safe Start" and can be found in any pet store. Just read the back and add the recommended dose to the tank, then you can add your fish. The old school way is to use "Hardy" fish to "Cycle"- "establish" or make the tank fish ready. Hardy fish are fish that can somewhat handle unstable water and ammonia spikes long enough for the tank to cycle. Basic hardy fish can be Molly's, Guppies, or Platys. This process can take 4-8 weeks. You can test your water parameters all you want, but it really isn't too necessary. There is no reason to obsess, as sometimes its best to just leave it alone. Just wait awhile and add your fish. Depending on your tank, a monthly water change may be needed.
By Mandee Wav3 years ago in Petlife