Ever looked at those big beautiful fish tanks set up in public places and think to yourself, “I’d LOVE to have me a tank but I don’t have the space or the money.” Well you can have an aquarium in a small space and spend only a few bucks. And as an added bonus add some decorative pizzazz to your living space. With the following information, you can set up a tank under ten gallons and have a beautiful setup but you can also apply these same rules to do an even larger tank if you decide to upgrade.
What to Consider First
Fish keeping can be expensive but it is extremely rewarding. So first thing is first. Think of the amount of money you want to spend. Freshwater fish are cheaper than saltwater fish. But as far as the housing for the fish goes, you can buy a ready to go small set up for $3.18 (no filter) for a single small fish or you can get an all in one eight gallon tank ready for a saltwater reef for $129.99. Tanks can also come in glass or acrylic. Acrylic tanks usually come in neat shapes since it’s easier to form it. You can keep fish in just about any container as long as the fish can move around and the footprint or surface area of the tank is large enough to allow for good gas exchange.
Once you figure out what tank you are going to buy, figure out where you are going to put it. A tank, once full of water and gravel, can be very heavy so unless your tank is a few gallons, you aren’t moving it with any ease. Even a three gallon tank, once set up, can require two people to move it. A tank under ten gallons can be placed on a sturdy piece of furniture but anything bigger should have a stand made just for an aquarium and some of these new Bio-Cube tanks come with stands for a little more money. Make sure where you put your new aquarium isn’t a place that will get hit by direct sunlight, a draft, or bumped by people passing by.
What’s Going into the Tank
Now that you know how much you are willing to spend, you can decide on what you want to have swimming in your aquarium. One important rule is always consider every creature to be its max size. For example: Say you have a ten gallon tank ready to go. You see a small one inch Oscar fish in a pet shop. You think to yourself, “Oh he will be fine in my tank for now.” WRONG. Oscars can grow to be one foot long so think of this one inch fish as a one foot giant. If you are not ready now to take care of the animal at its final size you should not buy it.
If you decided you wanted freshwater fish, there are plenty out there that are fairly small and some can even live in a desktop tank that is less than one gallon. For the smaller tanks we are discussing (ten gallons or less), it is best to choose fish that are three inches or smaller such as:
Barbs
Betta (you can keep ONE male and multiple females in the same tank without any problems)
Cory Catfish
Danios/Minnows
Guppies
Killifish
Loaches
Balloon Mollies
Platys
Rasboras
Tetras
Goldfish are never good for smaller tanks. Don’t be tempted to add them to a bowl. They make too much waste and won’t last very long. They are better to add to larger tanks fifty-five gallons and more.
You can also make a tank that doesn’t have any fish at all. You can keep a tank of just plants or add some small snails, red cherry shrimp, or red crystal shrimp. A tank of just inverts (invertebrates) can be just as amusing as a tank full of fish.
If you are the kind of person who wants saltwater animals, there is very little in the way of actual fish. Try to find fish that are two inches or smaller and don’t need a lot of swimming space such as clown gobies or any other small goby. Saltwater fish generally need more room to move than freshwater fish do. The best thing to do in a smaller tank for saltwater is do a specific type of coral reef. The easiest to do is a soft coral reef with corals such as:
Mushroom corals
Zooanthid polyps
Palythoa polyps
Green Star polyps
Glove polyps
Pulsing Xenias
You can mix these corals up and make a beautiful aquascape without worrying about feeding or the coral stinging each other. You can also look toward other inverts besides coral such as dwarf hermit crabs, fan/tube worms, snails, and shrimp. Always add at least one pound of live rock for every gallon of water in a saltwater aquarium and always keep flow going.
Do Research
Read up on something before you buy it. Make sure the animals and plants you put together won’t eat or damage each other. Know what they eat, what their temperament is, what kind of environment they live in and so on. “If you set it up right in the beginning, it should run smoothly afterward,” advises Alan, a saltwater fish and reef keeper.
Actually Setting up the Tank
Now that you have your tank and know what you want, it’s time to set it up and get it ready for the critters. The following equipment is needed for any type of tank set up:
The tank
Tank stand (or a place to put the tank)
Filter
Filter Media (charcoal, sponges, ect.)
Substrate (sand, gravel, ect.)
Heater (or a chiller if your fish need colder water)
Thermometer (stable and correct temperatures are important)
Water conditioner
A hood with the correct lights for your animals (corals need specific lighting)
Magnet or sponge to clean algae off of the sides
Test kit to measure Ph (should be 8.0-8.4 in saltwater and 7.0 for most freshwater), ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite
For saltwater you will need more specific items such as:
Hydrometer (specific gravity in a saltwater tank with coral should be 1.025-1.026)
Salt
Calcium (and other reef additives if you are keeping coral)
Power head or some other source of flow
Test kits to measure alkaline hardness, magnesium, calcium, and phosphates
Once you have your equipment and you are done aquascaping (landscaping but in your tank) add your water, a little fish food, and let the tank cycle.
Nitrogen Cycle and Acclimation
This step is very important especially in saltwater. The nitrogen cycle sets up some very good bacteria o start a biological filter in your tank. You will need a test kit to follow your cycle. There should be a pattern of spikes and drops in your tests. Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Once all of these equal zero (at least ammonia and nitrites should be zero. Nitrates can be 20 ppm or less) you can add your aquatic pets. Always acclimate them slowly. Float the bag in the tank so they can get used to the temperature, add some water from your tank to the new animals bag slowly, giving it time to sit again and adjust, add more water, and eventually you can release it into the tank. It is best to drip acclimate saltwater inverts by using some tubing and getting the water to slowly drip into the new pets container.
Up Keep
So now you have your tank set up and you want to keep it happy and healthy. You can feed your pets everyday but most fish can go at least a week without food (though I recommend not going longer than 2 days) but you can buy automatic feeders that you can set on a timer or a block of food that slowly dissolve as your fish pick at it. The corals I suggested are even better in that they use bacteria to create food by photosynthesis and so don’t really need feeding, but the occasional addition of invert food will improve their health.
Do weekly water changes to your tank. Just about 10% to 20% will do. You can do this as you siphon your gravel in a freshwater tank. Don’t siphon saltwater sand beds. There are many small things living in your sand that you want to keep. Never change out all the water. You will remove all the good bacteria you got through the nitrogen cycle and your fish won’t be happy and your saltwater critters may even die. Change out your filter media as needed. Depending on how many fish you have and now much you feed you may need to do this less often or more often.
If you follow these steps and do your research, you will have a happy aquarium of just about any size. So whether you only have space for a fish bowl or you have room for a huge 300 gallon tank, you can create something relaxing and interesting for your home or office.
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