During Lockdown I had 20 different Aquariums

InterPet 120 | FLUVAL ROMA 90 / 125 | JUWEL 180 RIO / Vision | BOYU | Aqua One

If you’re about to set up your first aquarium, here’s my blog and simple guide.

Most beginners generally start with a 32 to 48 Litre Fish Tank. Usually made by interpet, Juwel, Fluval or Tetra.

A heater with built in thermostat is an essential piece of kit in order to keep tropical fish. Also add a thermometer to confirm temperature is what it should be. Some advanced heaters have a LED display.

A filter is considered essential hardware for all aquariums, as they are life support systems for fish. No aquarium should be set up without one, and they need to operate 24 hours per day, from day one.

Before adding fish the tank must be cycled. Cycling is a process that allows development on good bacteria and can take up to 6 weeks. But there are ways to speed this up. Adding filter start and setting the temperature to 28. A normal tank is usually 25 to 26 degrees C. You will know when it is almost complete, is when it hits the ‘Bacteria Bloom’ stage, which can visually be seen as a slightly cloudy water. You will now need to start monitoring the condition of the water with a ‘water test kit’

Popular Community Fish to start with

Neon tetra

Bright and beautiful, this tiny blue glowing “neon” effect and red fish swims around the upper levels of the tank and is happiest in groups of six or more. Feeding FishsThe Neon Tetra fish in the tank.

Guppy

Also known as million fish and rainbow fish, is one of the world’s most popular freshwater aquarium fish species and you can see why.The Guppy fish in the tank.

Platy / Platie

With many different variety of colors and markings available, a small group of four or five platies makes a good first choice to your tank.The Platy fish in the tank.

Honey Gourami – Trichogaster chuna

Ideally suited to a well planted aquarium.The Red Honey Gourami fish in the tank.

Betta fish are native to Asia, where they live in the shallow water of marshes, ponds, or slow-moving streams.

Black Widow / Skirt Tetra – (Characidae) … Quite nippy.

Adding an algae cleaning pleco

Algae is always appearing on the glass, and covers tank ornaments. Deciding to get one of these should mean you never have to clean the inside of the glass again.

The next morning I could not believe how much of the brown algae had gone, the fish even goes up leaves and the glass to is spotless.

I liked the idea of shrimps, but also fancied an otto or similar.

I especially liked the black shrimps with white feet, but they were ever so small. So I settled for a Bristle nose catfish (Ancistrus) native to freshwater habitats in South America and Panama, and has a sucker mouth.

Getting Fish

Luckily there are fish supplies by the big pet stores , Pets at Home and World of Water.

Pets at Home has developed a handy points system to help you choose the right combination of fish for your aquarium – just check the “fish point value” of the tank you want to buy, then tally up your “fish points” as you select your fish.