I shall begin with the first part in a series of blog posts, which will discuss on the topic on how to setup your own aquarium. I’m sure everyone especially novices are always interested to discuss on this and I often come across people asking me this question frequently. The topic is quite broad, so I will try to split them all apart and move on slowly to explain step-by-step in details. Do check back often or you can subscribe to my aquarium feed to get the latest updates.
Setting up an aquarium may not be a hard as what everybody thinks. It can be really easy if you are well prepared with knowledge and learn how to react to problems. Do bear in mind that patience and having the sense of tediousness are very important. There is no such thing as shortcut and people who think in such a way often fails. If you intend to successfully set up an aquarium, have it done to the best of your ability.
Finding the right location for your aquarium
Let's begin by first choosing the right location to place your tank. I feel, this is the first step to start and novices often make a mistake by heading to your local fish shop only to discover that the purchased aquarium does not fit into any location. Believe me, most people often overlook on this issue.
You might want to consider this when finding the perfect spot.
- Access to electricity supply - This is important to ensure that air pump, aquarium heater, filter system and lighting have reachable power supply. The shorter the distance, the better it is and ideally power point should be at higher location compared to the aquarium height for safety purposes.
- Source of lighting - Natural sunbeam although will ensure proper propagation of aquarium plants, it is not needed if you can simulate artificial lighting. Placing aquarium too close to windows is actually not a good idea, as the high intensity of the sunbeam could cause unhealthy algae growth. Instead, use artificial aquarium lighting whereby you can actually control light intensity and stimulate the day and night cycle.
- Make sure that the surrounding space is wide enough - This is important to ensure that no untoward incident such as accidental knocking could take place especially if you have to move between tight areas. Place it on a location whereby there are wide-open spaces around the aquarium left available. It is a good idea to have gaps between 12- 15 inches apart from the nearest object. This is also important to ensure that daily routines such as water change could be done easily without bumping into objects.
- Find a spot in the room whereby the aquarium can be the main attraction - after all what is the purpose of keeping aquarium in the first place if it's not for aesthetic and decoration reasons
- Avoid unhealthy spots such as being too close to heat-emitting source like heater or fireplace.
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