How to Start a Freshwater Aquarium the Right Way

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Micheal, we're going to talk about how to start a freshwater aquarium the right way. First thing we want to look at is placement in our home, where we're going to put that aquarium. We do not want to put it in direct sunlight. It's going to cause too much algae to grow into our tank. The other thing we want to look at is what size aquarium that we have. This here is a 16 gallon aquarium. So one of the first things that I need to look at is my gravel. General rule of thumb is you want to get one pound of gravel per gallon so I'm going to purchase 16 pounds of gravel for this particular tank. The other thing that you want to do is make sure that you've got good filtration. I like to purchase a filter that is a little bit larger than what is recommended for the tank. For example, this is 16, I'm going to purchase a filter that is for a 30 gallon. It fits on my tank, my hood can accommodate it and that way I can put a few extra fish then you would normally put into a 16 gallon aquarium. The other thing you want to do is make sure that you have the proper chemicals. Check with your local shop to find out what chemicals are needed for your particular area. A lot of the municipalities treat their water differently. Here we use ammonia detox and what this does is it removes the ammonia, the chlorines and the chloramine out of the water to make it safe for the fish. Another thing you want to do if you are going to do it the right way is to add a product like Eco Start into your aquarium. Eco Start has beneficial bacteria that's needed into a fish tank that would normally establish over a period of time, but this is going to add that in there from the very get go. Aquarium salt is another thing that I recommend. It's a natural tonic for your fish. Follow your directions on it, it's going to help reduce stress in your fish, it will raise the electrolytes in your tank and it will also help to cut down on disease. The other thing you need is a hood and a light. A lot of people try and start out an aquarium without a hood. Hood is very important, it's going to cut down on evaporation and you're going to be able to do the proper lighting on your tank which is about 10 to 12 hours a day that you need for lighting. Now with your gravel when you get home, you're going to take your gravel and you're going to rinse it. I use a kitchen colander and then once my gravel is rinsed really well, I place it into my tank. I place all of my ornaments in there exactly how I'd like to put them in there and then I start filling my water up. Follow the directions that are on your chemicals. It'll tell you exactly what you need and how much you should put into that tank. Fill it up with water, get your filter going and now it's time for fish. So my name is Micheal and today we talked about how to start a freshwater aquarium the right way."