Need some insight on starting up an aquarium? Look no further! We carry all the supplies you need to ensure that your fish are set up to thrive in their new home, not to mention we have the experience to help guide you through establishing safe water parameters. Prepare for a lot of information, but know that this is all essential to understanding the process - if you aren't curious to understanding it all, just skip to the bottom for a simplified guide.

First things first, lets consider how intricate the natural ecosystems that fish dwell in and set our expectations. Setting up a fish tank is not as easy as filling an aquarium with water and adding fish. In the wild, fish are accustom to a specific range of temperatures, PH levels and a whole natural environment that is flourishing with beneficial bacteria. While most freshwater aquarium fish are captive bred and not attained from the wild, they still require safe levels in order to survive and thrive in a home aquarium. Part of a fish's immune system is in the form of a "slime coat" on their skin, in order to keep that protective outer layer, their water parameters must be monitored and adjusted as needed to keep stress levels down. When their slime coat gets diminished, this can lead to a vulnerable fish, they become more succesptible to fungal infections, bacterial infections, parasites and death. 

With that information in mind, its easy to understand that we can't just use regular tap water for our fish tanks. Tap water contains chlorine and chloramine which not only kills beneficial bacteria but they also can burn the fish's gills. Knowing this, you have a few different options. You can either buy reverse osmosis water (which we sell for only $0.49/gallon!), purchase spring water from a local grocery store or you can buy dechlorinating drops and use those to your tap water to make it safe. Most dechlorinators work instantly but this isn't the only thing we have to do to make the water sustainable for living things!

Additionally, fish tanks must go through a process known as cycling before fish can be safely introduced. The cycling process can be tedious if you go about it the traditional way including weeks of testing your water, not adding any fish in and waiting for the levels to be stable. "Cycling" your fish tank refers to the nitrogen cycle - this cycle starts with a spike in ammonia, the ammonia typically comes from fish waste, uneaten food or plant waste. Ammonia in the water is toxic to fish, especially in high amounts, but once the ammonia levels spike, beneficial bacteria breaks it down and converts it to nitrites which is still not safe for fish. More bacteria eventually converts the nitrites to nitrates. Slightly elevated levels of nitrates are safe for fish and are usually an indicator that the fish tank is cycled. Many people will add fish food to a tank full of dechlorinated water and allow this process to take place naturally however, this can take weeks or even months. As an alternative to this process, people typically add live nitrifying bacteria to their dechlorinated tap water to kickstart this process and aid in the conversion: ammonia to nitrites, nitrites to nitrates. Some bottles of live bacteria are very concentrated and allow for addition of fish as soon as the same day, but many more budget-friendly options still recommend waiting and adding the bacteria for several days consistently for a gradual build up. One thing to consider is that any carbon in a filter can take out the beneficial bacteria, so if using a bottled (live) bacteria then you definitely want to either take out the carbon or the cartidge itself if needed. Without going through the cycling process, you'll notice stressed fish, inreased risk for illness and something called "new tank syndrome" which causes extremely cloudy water from a lack of bacteria. 

To sum up (simplified guide below),

  • tap water is only safe if you add a dechlorinator! otherwise, buy reverse osmosis (RO) water from your local fish store.
  • your tank has to cycle before you add fish - you can add live nitrifying bacteria to speed up this process.
  • make sure your PH level is safe for the specific kind of fish you want to keep, there are things you can do to lower and raise PH levels if it's not where it needs to be.
  • check the temperature, most home aquariums will need a heater.
  • when you do add fish, make sure you acclimate them to the temperature of your tank to reduce stress.

Above all else, test your water parameters! There are many different kits for testing at home, otherwise we can test your water at our store for free! Just bring in a sample. 

Any other questions, call our store or visit us in person and we can recommend prooducts for you and instruct you even further!