Setting up your fish tank

Finally did get myself the long-awaited aquarium. A 20 gallon starter kit that is available in any Petsmart or Petco store supplies most of the necessary initial goods. Though the itch to put in all those fishes is strong, my research tells me that patience, especially for maintaining a healthy and beautiful aquarium, is a virtue.Here's what I have found that needs to be done after you decide to maintain an aquarium:The list of things that need to be acquired:
The tank, of course! (duh). Personally I wanted to get a real huge tank. That is actually a good idea. It is a better idea to get more than you may want. Fishes need their space in the tank and you dont want them to fight for food and space in a crowded tank (reminds me of Bombay?!). And as you start loving and adding more and more fishes in your tank, you realize that there is not enough room for all of them. So...the bigger the better. A hood to keep the fish from jumping out, prying hands, outside dirt and house the lighting system. A water filter. Excellent water quality is prime to keep the fish healthy and active. Filters help do this by pulling in the water and filtering it off the goo and chemicals.Internal filters sit inside the tank and a pump circulates the water through the filtering media. Power filters hang outside the tank and basically do the same thing. The underwater filter sits beneath the gravel and pulls in the water from under the gravel. This is good for a saltwater large tank with bigger fishes. Mine's a power filter that was a simple assembly. Priming the pump was necessary to get the water running nice and smooth. An air pump. Keeps the water full of nice and rich oxygen. Different capacities of pumps are available depending on how small or large your tank is. Choose one that suits your tank and wallet.A wide variety of air-stones, air-wands or an air-powered ornament like the alligator whose mouth opens to let out the bubbles makes the air bubbles look gorgeous. The bubble noise is a soothing experience to you too. I am not sure how the fish like it though. Guess, they do get used to it in due course of time. Afterall I did get used to staying so close to the airport. An air-pump is not required if you were to use a wet/dry filter which has its own air-water squisher. Gravel and plants. Not only do these give your acquarium the lively look, they are an essential part of your tank's ecological system. Gravel house those bacteria that help maintain the essential nitrogen cycle. The plants help keep the oxygen going nice and strong and keep the carbon-dioxide under control. The rule of the thumb for adequate amount of stones/gravel is: Weight of stones/gravel(in lbs.) = 1.5 x Capacity of tank (in gallons)Have a good mixture of gravel and stone and ornaments in the tank for the fish to amuse themselves. They probably will have their own hang-out and party places in the different nooks and corners. Keep in mind that some fishes need an enveloped space to rest. Have atleast one ornament that gives the fish its nice little place. A heater. Freshwater fishes need a particular set temperature to survive. The overlapping of all the ranges of temperatures for different fishes has led me to set the temperature of my tank to 68 to 72 deg f. A cute little heater and a stick-on thermometer does the trick. Make sure that the heater and the thermometer are at the opposite ends of the tank just so that the thermometer displays the right overall tank temperature.Other accessories include airline pipes, a stick-on wallpaper, water testing strips, pH and water treatment chemicals. These make the tank look good and the water too!Having assembled all these components, rest your tank on a strong and sturdy base. Fill her up with cold tap water. And get all your pumps running. Wait! The fishes don't go in right away. Not for a while atleast. Let the pumps and gravel and chemicals do their work. For ATLEAST 3-4 days. Let the water settle down and get rid of its harsh chemicals and kick off the nitrogen cycle. Visually there will not be any changes. Take a sample of the water to a nearby Petco or Petsmart or any Aquaworld store and they will test your pH, Nitrate, Ammonia and Chlorine levels and let you know if your tank is hale and hearty for your fish. A couple of 'starter' fishes and/or chemicals will help speed up this process.