Freshwater Aquarium

If you are reading this article then the chances are that you are either thinking about taking up the freshwater aquarium hobby or you are already a freshwater aquarium hobbyist with a few minutes to spare and like most of us you are using the spare time to improve on your knowledge of the subject.

Freshwater Aquarium Keeping is a complicated hobby but don't be put off by that. If you do the research and plenty of it, learn all about the fish, the plants and understand the 'science' of water-keeping then you are a long way towards keeping fish successfully.

You will often hear it said that as freshwater aquarium enthusiasts we are eighty percent water keepers and twenty percent fish keepers. If you own a dog, a cat, rabbit or guinea pig, they all come with their own environment, the same one that we walk around in, so looking after then is a simple case of feeding them exercising them and keeping them clean and healthy.

So what is the 'science' that I spoke about? The science of aquarium water which coincidentally is the same science as pond water. Your fish will be living in a closed environment, meaning that whatever is put into the environment stays in it unless you do something about it. So you need to understand the nitrogen cycle. You probably covered this in school but let's recap because it's probably a few years since you did this and revision is always useful..

Your fish will produce waste. Their feces and urine will stay in the water and rot producing ammonia which is toxic to the fish. Fortunately Mother Nature recognized this and developed beneficial bacteria that in a two step process first convert the ammonia to nitrites and then to nitrates which your aquarium plants can use as fertilizer. Sounds simple and in an area like a moving stream it works perfectly (assuming that man doesn't get involved too much)

In your aquarium there are a lot of factors that come into play. How many fish and the size of the fish. How many plants and what type of plants, the filter system and how mature the aquarium is.

If you set up an aquarium and introduce fish to it straight away you will run into problems. You are far better off setting up the aquarium with substrate, plants, fish, heater and filter and ten leaving it for a while, anything up to two weeks. This gives a chance for the friendly bacteria to start to form. Then start to introduce the fish one or two at a time, each time letting the aquarium adjust. Each fish that you add contributes to the ammonia level as they produce waste. As the ammonia level goes up the friendly bacteria increase in line with it but this takes time. By allowing the bacteria levels to adjust before adding more fish, you avoid a sudden increase in ammonia which can cause problems and even kill your fish.

So be patient, set up the tank and wait. Put some fish in and wait, add some more and wait again. Make sure that you don't overfeed as that adds rotting food which causes additional ammonia and make sure that you don't overstock on fish. As a rule of thumb work on the basis of one inch of fish per gallon of water but bear in mind that your fish will grow and it is their adult, full grown size that you need to base your calculations on.

Enjoy your aquarium