If you want a beautiful and natural decoration for your home or office, then beautifully furnished aquariums are perfect for this. The small underwater worlds can beautify any room and you can transform their design into your new hobby. Small ornamental fish are also particularly popular as pets and require less care than dogs or cats, for example. If you want to set up an aquarium yourself, then you have come to the right place. In the article you will find step by step instructions, as well as many helpful tips and nice ideas for your own aquarium. Be inspired and give your home or office a touch of naturalness.
General information about setting up an aquarium for beginners
A well-equipped aquarium should not only look beautiful, but also be functional. The water should provide a favorable habitat for plants and fish so that the underwater inhabitants feel comfortable in their new home. Designing an aquarium can be a big challenge, especially for beginners, so it's important to do some research in advance.
Aquariums come in different shapes and sizes and the choice depends on the location where the aquarium will be placed. There will be both small onesNano aquariumsfrom 10 liters, as well as very large ones with a 120 liter basin, and larger. If you want to set up an aquarium and create a favorable habitat for fish, then rectangular glass containers are best. The underwater inhabitants can orient themselves better in this than in a round aquarium. The right technical accessories also play an important role in a beautiful and well-maintained underwater world. That's why aquarium beginner sets are usually equipped with the basic technology, such as a filter and heating element.
Before you set up the aquarium, you should decide on the appropriate style. To make the aquarium look really beautiful, you can create the so-called aquascape. These are beautiful underwater landscapes that impress with a specific arrangement of plants, roots, stones and sand. For example, you can design the aquascape as a triangle or in a V shape. A centered design looks just as good and is very easy to replicate. However, if you want an even distribution, a wilderness or valley design is definitely the right choice.
It is also important to remember that different animals and plants have different requirements for the facility. For example, some fish like warm water, while others do better in cold water. Ph values and the overall hardness of the water are also crucial for the selection of animal species. It is therefore not possible to collect all the fish and animals you want in a single aquarium. It's best to limit yourself to just a few species of fish and animals that have similar habitat requirements.
Step 1: Select aquarium and determine location
After you have obtained good information about the aquarium as a whole, you can start setting up your own aquarium. First of all, you should select the pool and determine a suitable location for it. The choice of aquarium is completely up to you. Just make sure that there should be enough space for the size you choose.
For the ideal location, several requirements should be met. On the one hand, the chosen piece of furniture, such as a base cabinet, must be able to withstand the weight of the aquarium, because a filled aquarium can sometimes weigh up to 150 kilograms. Each liter of water corresponds to 1 kilogram and you should also consider the decorations and gravel for the floor.
On the other hand, the perfect location should under no circumstances be exposed to direct sunlight and should be as quiet as possible. Places next to speakers or near the door should also be avoided. If you want to set up an aquarium at home, areas that you can observe from the dining area or sofa are best. The surface should be completely flat, so it is best to place a foam mat on it. This compensates for the unevenness and makes the pool more stable. The chosen location should also not prevent regular care for the flora and fauna.
Step 2: Get the right aquarium technology
Setting up begins with purchasing the necessary aquarium technology. In addition to the tank, there are also important accessories without which your aquarium could not function. Complete sets are even offered that include everything you need and are perfect for beginners in aquarium keeping. For those who want to put together the technology individually, the following list of the required aquarium technology will be helpful.
- Glass basin of any size, preferably with a lid
- Lighting with appropriate timer
- External or internal filter
- Heating rod (optional)
- CO2 system (optional)
You can get the flooring, decorations and plants in advance, but not the fish. For the animals, you should wait one to two weeks after opening the aquarium, as the conditions will be unfavorable for them before then. The first shopping list includes the following things:
- Soil fertilizer
- Sand or gravel for the floor
- decorative stones and pieces of wood in different sizes
- decorative roots
- Aquatic plants of your choice
Before you start setting up, all you have to do is clean the pool you purchased and place it in the selected place. Do not use soap or cleaning products, just water and a clean sponge.
Step 3: The Hardscape
Once you have finished preparing, you can set up the aquarium. In addition to the necessary materials, a little creativity is required here. You need to start with an empty, dry tank and add the substrate to the aquarium. This is designed in two layers. The soil fertilizer is especially needed for plants with roots because it provides them with nutrients. It forms the first layer. The second layer is aquarium gravel or sand. This layer is considered the foundation for the hardscape. For a beautiful design, the gravel should not be distributed regularly, but should be higher or lower in certain places.
Next comes the turn of the popular decoration that determines the entire style of the aquarium. It is still known as hardscape in the aquarium hobby. Roots, stones, decorative branches and other decorative objects can be positioned in specific places. You should work carefully so that you don't accidentally scratch the glass with a hard object. First place larger stones on the mounds in the aquarium tank and distribute the smaller decorations around them. Once the decorations are in their final position, press them into the ground to make them more stable. You can use one of the above styles as design inspiration or create a design yourself.
Step 4: Design softscape
The next step in our guide is designing the softscape. The flora usually belongs to the softscapeAquatic plants for the aquarium. When you add plants to the aquarium, you ensure both a beautiful appearance and good water quality. Fast-growing aquarium plants such as Waterweed, Cabomba and Vallisneria can be very useful because they reduce the use of water additives. The presence of many aquatic plants can replace the CO2 systems. However, such a system is essential for consistently beautiful plant growth.
When planting the plants, first remove any transport material such as small pots etc. and wash the plants with lukewarm water. Then the aquatic plants can be stuck into the bottom of the aquarium using special plant tweezers. Make sure to always keep the plants moist. If necessary, you can mist them regularly using a spray bottle with water.
The planting described takes place in a dry pool. However, since many aquatic plants would lie on the bottom of the aquarium without water, the result of such a planting is more difficult to assess. That's why you can plant the aquarium even after filling it with water. However, the water does not have to reach to the edge so that it does not overflow when handling.
Step 5: Install the technology
The right technology creates a favorable habitat for the underwater inhabitants. The filter fulfills the most important function, namely purifying the water. You cannot create a beautiful and well-maintained aquarium without a filter. An internal filter is perfect for smaller aquariums. It should be positioned so that the surface of the water moves slightly. An external filter, on the other hand, is located outside the aquarium and is connected to it by two hoses. This variant is intended for larger aquariums. When installing the filter, always follow the instructions that come with it. You only switch on the filter after the aquarium has been filled with water.
If animals and fish are planned, then you may need heating in the pool. This depends on the selection of animal and fish species and their habitat needs. You can get the perfect temperature for tropical fish with a heating element that is installed directly in the tank according to the instructions.
There should also be good lighting, as aquatic plants also need light to grow well and lushly. It is plugged into the timer so that the amount of light is the same every day. To start with, 6-8 hours per day is enough, which you can increase to 10-12 over time.
Step 6: Pour in water
Once you have finished setting up, you can fill the beautiful landscape with water. The aquarium should be in its final position because when it is full it is difficult or impossible to move. Fill in lukewarm water slowly, ideally not pouring the water directly onto the substrate, but first onto a plate on the bottom of the aquarium. Fill the aquarium to no less than 2 centimeters below the edge of the tank. You can line the layout with kitchen paper so that the water doesn't change it.
Step 7: Drive in without animals
When setting up your first aquarium, you may not realize that it takes some time after setting up before adding the fish. So it takes one to two weeks to break in properly. During this time, the water becomes clear and useful bacteria settle in the filter. The bacteria break down the toxic nitrite and create a favorable environment for the fish and animals.
Step 8: Add fish and other animal species
The water is already clear and the plants are well established, then the fish can come. You can find beautiful ornamental fish in any specialist zoo store and there you can get advice on the right combination of fish and other animal species. Also ask about suitable food and how often the ornamental fish should be fed. We hope you have fun setting up the aquarium!
