The expectation when first purchasing a tank is to have that same cool looking display tank in your home, straight away. It can be done, however for the average person, you need to allow time. This will ensure everything develops correctly to start, which means as the aquarium progresses little issues should arise.

Let’s assume you have got your tank set-up, water inside, and you are interested in freshwater fish. Whether goldfish or warm water fish, it’s pretty much the same to start. Marine, saltwater fish, can be looked at in a similar way, with some minor adaption. Focus here with be on where most people generally begin, being freshwater.

Fish, fish and more fish, “I want to fill the tank”

There are many ways to start a tank, add some fish, add bacteria starters, add decaying material, wait a week, wait a month, test this treat that… everyone has an opinion and it does get confusing. But let’s face it also looks pretty sad having a water filled aquarium, and no fish swimming about. Who really has patience to wait, anyway….

The key is to get bacteria developing in the aquarium. Bacteria feed on waste, and micro organisms. This is the science behind your soon to be beautiful aquarium. So not to get technically on this, we need a source of waste. In effect any waste would work, but we do need to consider the visual aspect, as well as the fact the tank is sitting in your home.

For a fish tank the best source of waste is of course fish, dead yes, buy live is better.

But wait, I can’t add fish straight away??

“The guy at the fish shop said…” Unfortunately every shop will say something slightly different. There is a process to follow here, and if followed right the chance of fish dying is low.

The process begins….

Make sure you know what type of fish you want to keep, goldfish or freshwater tropical fish. I would start with one fish per 20-25L of water. The size of fish should not be smaller than 3cm and not bigger the 5cm. For tropicals do not add catfish of any sort, also avoid the common neon tetra. Best to start with mollies, swordtails maybe a gouramis.

Make sure the temperature is right for tropicals(24-26) and if you have a pH test kit make sure the water is around 6.8 – 7.8. I can almost guarantee it is, if you live in any large Australian city.

Day 1

Float the fish, add some water from the tank into the bag, allow around 15minutes. Then net the fish into the water and tip the bag water down the drain. Cool, we are done, fish is in time to feed it…. NO. The goal for this first fish is to produce waste, which allows bacteria to grow in the filter. So first day do nothing, no food, and especially no more fish. You can add a product which boosts bacteria, these generally feed the bacteria culture as it develops and most stores will carry some type of item.

Day 2

The next day everything will likely look ok, wow my water must be great…” lets add more fish” The water may look ok, but it’s building up with ammonia, that’s bad yes, but needed for the aquarium. But again no more fish, actually be at least a week or two before adding more.

Feeding;yes you will need to feed the fish, but the trick here is to limit the food, and only feed every 2 or 3 days, once only. This will limit the waste produced, but ensure the fish has some food to sustain itself. A fish stomach isn’t much bigger then it’s eye, so a bucket of food is not needed, feed little bits slowly.

Day 7

For aquariums 50L or more you can add one more fish per 50L. This means, 50L started with 2fish (1 per 25L), 1 week later add 1 more = 3 fish after 1 week.

Maintain the same feeding routine, and if your tank is a little cloudy, do a 10% water change.

Day 14

For tanks under 50L add one more fish, and tanks above 50L if all looks good(ie no cloudy water and fish swimming upright) then another fish can be added. Continue to maintain the same feeding routine and partial water change if the water is cloudy. Add no more fish for 2weeks.

Day 28

Time to increase the amount of fish added, 1 fish per 10L. Smaller fish can be added, as well as catfish. Reason these are best to avoid is ammonia tends to affect these fish first. This will be the test, so maintain the same feeding routine for one more week. If all is good at the end of the week, you can increase feeding to daily, and add a few more fish.

Having some fish in the tank helps combat patience, to start, however it does remain difficult for some.

In this blog you’ll find places to visit in your area which are useful stores to expand your aquatic experience and much, much more