[AquaticLife] Decisions, decisions
Whether to go freshwater or salt is a personal decision, and you can find arguments for and against both sides. Find and read material on both sides, and decide where to go from there. Personally, I’m a FW guy, and I do not feel that I have the time nor energy to do a proper marine tank, but that is me. You may be different.
As a novice, you’ll want to go with the largest tank you have money and space for, no matter which way you go. The water volume will give you more room for error, and, believe me, you will error. A few simple water tests will tell you which fish you should be looking at to keep. It is far easier to match the fish to the water than it is to change the water to suit the fish.
People will recommend you go to this or that site for information, but do yourself a favor and get a good book to start. Look for the Baensch Aquarium Atlas, Volume 1. There is a good section on setting up an aquarium, one on plants and then there are the fish. Hundreds of fish, each with a photo and description covering items like water parameters, feeding, breeding, aggressiveness, etc.
Since you will be starting fresh, consider seriously doing a fishless cycle with your tank. This is where you will setup the tank, then add enough plain ammonia to measure at 5 ppm. This is plain ammonia, no detergents, scents, etc. Check ammonia every day and add ammonia each day until it is again at 5 ppm. When all the ammonia is gone after 24 hours, check the nitrites until they reach zero, again adding ammonia to bring the tank to 5 ppm. When the nitrites reach zero, you are ready to start populating the tank. (This has been the simplified, condensed version–you can find more info online about this method.) You can add plants while you are doing this, the ammonia and nitrite levels will not harm the plants, and it will give them a chance to get established and start processing the nitrates, which is the end result of the nitrogen cycle in an aquarium.
It is better to have your tank appear under-stocked than over-stocked. You are bound to run across rules that simply are not viable, like the one inch of fish per gallon rule. There is actually a formula out there that does work, but it is too complicated for most folks, so those who have experience can gauge when enough is enough. Size does matter, but not in the way most people would think.
As you progress, feel free to ask questions about information you run across or about fish or about anything you’d like (well, for this list it should be fish related ).
\Steve//
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
