These are some steps that will help you setup your freshwater aquarium.

First and foremost, are you ready for the responsibility of having your own freshwater aquarium?  You should know that having one, will consume time and effort.  It is just like having any ordinary pet like a dog or a cat.  You would need to feed the fish once a day and clean the aquarium by replacing the water once a week or every two weeks.

Now think of an aquarium size you prefer.  What tropical fish do you have in mind taking care of?  You should really consider this because some small fish grow up to 2 inches while the big ones can grow up to 13 inches.  You might also want to take into consideration the location of your fish tank.  How everything goes with the aesthetics.  For now, I recommend starting small with 30 gallons.  You can always increase the size later on as you get the feel of taking care of your fish.  This is just the start and preference changes are highly possible.

Where do you want to place your aquarium?  Make sure that your aquarium is only affected by its own light and temperature sources.  Avoid placing your aquarium near windows where sunlight will hit and other heater vents like radiators and others.  You would want to place your aquarium on a stand.  The stand should be very sturdy and can hold the full weight of the aquarium.  Most follow this rule of thumb:  ten pounds for every one gallon of water.  So say a thirty gallon tank should weigh 300 pounds at most.

It is time to buy your aquarium.  Depending on the size of your aquarium and the kind of fish, you will need to buy the necessary accessories like the water filters, the heaters, and decorations like gravel, stones, plants, lighting, etc.  Don’t put too much gravel or stones in your tank.  Rule of thumb is 1 pound of gravel for every gallon of water.

In setting up your aquarium and stand, you might want to clean it first.  Just use water.  Do not use soap or other detergents.  Left out detergents can be very harmful to your fish.  Make sure to wash the gravel thoroughly.  You can use a strainer and dip and shake it in a bucket of water to remove small bits of gravel.

Let us start adding water to your aquarium.   A neat trick in adding water is placing a plate in the middle and directing the falling water to it.  This will keep the gravel and plants from going everywhere.   It is advised to use room temperature for your water.  Do not fill up your fish tank completely.  Check if everything is in place first like the gravel and decorations before adding all the water.

Place your equipments in.  Install your heater, filters, and any other equipment you have.  Place your lighting and check your power cables.  Always be sure that they are free of any water.  Use a drip loop just to make sure.  Plug everything in a power strip and turn on your aquarium.

I know you’re excited in adding your fish already but you have to wait.  You need to have the aquarium conditioned first.  Have it make through its full cycle first.

Start adding your fish.  Add the fish one at a time.  If you just bought your fish and it is in a bag.  Place the bag on the water of the aquarium.  Let the temperature and Ph level out.  Some hobbyist would add aquarium water to the bag so that the fish would get use to the aquarium water faster.  Five to ten minutes should be right.  You can now let your fish get in your fish tank.

Finally, it is all done.  Sorry but not yet.  This is just the start, go back to the first paragraph and remind yourself that having an aquarium is adding a big responsibility in terms of time, effort, and money.  Have fun with your tropical fish tank.

James started with his fresh water aquarium 3 years ago. He is now working on getting his salt water aquarium setup. He gets his supplies from a local Aquatic Fish Store.