However, do not forget to be very careful in all the excitement to start up the aquarium too soon. This is not a Herculean task yet it is vital for longevity. If you are a novice you could consider taking help from an expert or a long time aquarium hobbyist.
Location
Place your aquarium tank at a suitable location. The location should be such that it is close to plumbing as well as electric connection. If the location you choose does not suffice for the above two things you should get some plumbing and electric work done. Also keep in mind that the final weight of the aquarium, after it has been set is much higher than the weight of the aquarium tank. So, select a location that is strong and sturdy enough to bear the weight of an object that weighs over 160 lbs for 20-gallons volume. Also, take care that the location you choose should aesthetically compliment your aquarium size, shape and layout.
If you feel that the location you have chosen for the aquarium is not strong enough to bear its weight then get a wooden or metallic aquarium stand to house your freshwater aquarium. After placing your aquarium on the stand or where you want to place it, check the level. If the tank does not seem leveled and appears unstable then shim the stand or look for another suitable location. You can add a 3/4-inch Styrofoam sheet under the tank to distribute the weight evenly. If this is not done stress will be put weight on the seams and could cause an eventual leak.
Placing the aquarium in direct sunlight or near a bright sunny widow encourages growth of algae. Also, placing it near air conditioning and heat vents complicates the water temperature regulation task.
Cleaning
Clean and rinse the inside of the aquarium tank completely. However, you should never use soap or detergent to clean an empty aquarium. Instead, you can use warm salty water for the purpose. This is so because soap and detergent are non-biodegradable substances they don't easily wash off from the surface completely and always leave behind some traces even after thorough rinsing. These traces enter the food chain inside the freshwater aquarium and adversely affect the health of plants and other inhabitants. Moreover, these are basic in nature. So, they can lead to high pH instability inside your freshwater aquarium, posing a danger for health of the inhabitants.
After cleaning has been done place a foil or a background paper on the outside of the back of the aquarium. This is like setting up blank canvas for a painting. A good background paper makes a great backdrop to work on while setting up a creative freshwater aquarium. It adds colors and a feel of natural environment for the aquarium inhabitants.
Gravel
Once you have set up the tank in the desired position it's the turn of adding gravel. But before that, add the plates if your aquarium uses under gravel system and if cable heating is to be used then add the cables according to the manufacturer's instructions. Aquarium gravel is the best substrate for your tank, however other substrates can be used. The gravel used for building usually has stones that are undesirable in a freshwater aquarium so stick to the other types of gravel. You may consider sand for a substrate but gravel is still considered to be more suitable than it because the sand particles clog together and stop water from flowing through the filter.
Regardless of the substrate used, be sure to wash it thoroughly with freshwater before adding it to the aquarium. Wash it until the water running from it is clear. The rinsing removes all dirt and unwanted particles. You may even boil the gravel to get rid of the harmful bacteria, parasites or traces of algae. You can use gravel from an already established tank so that it already has cultured colonies of nitrifying bacteria. A good gravel base wood help anchoring the aquarium plants and give good support to the rock structures. If the gravel is to be "banked" or "terraced," add the appropriate structures to do so.
Ideally, the depth of the gravel should be 1 to 3 inches. Next, add the washed gravel to about a depth of 1 to 3 inches, depending on whether or not you are using an under gravel filter or not. The gravel should be so placed that it slopes higher in the back and lower in the front. This makes the view of your aquarium such that everything is towards the front of the aquarium.
Rocks
Before you start adding the rocks and wooden decorations fill the aquarium half way. This makes the task of rock placement easier. Also you will get to know that in which position the rock would be stabler in water so that it does not topple over and injure the aquarium inhabitants. Heavy rocks should be placed on the tank floor on a piece of Styrofoam.
Rocks and wood decorations make a good background for fish. Also, they add to the natural habitat appeal of the aquarium. Remember, not all rocks are good for freshwater aquarium. Those with lines and veins of metal in them are unsuitable because they affect the water chemistry and cause damage to the inhabitants' health. Before adding the rocks to the aquarium soak them for a week in a bucket of water to remove the harmful acids and leach out the other potentially dangerous impurities. Keep the gravel twice as deep in the back as in the front. This would provide firm base for embedding rocks and other decorations.
You can artistically construct caves & recesses makes for more interesting viewing, while providing shelter for more timid species of fish. However, be careful that you do not cover the entire bottom from end to end. Such a situation will limit the water flow through the gravel bed. Do not over do your creative work on the rocks and wood decorations.
Plants
Plants are wonderful way to decorate any aquarium. In fact they are not just decorative additions, they contribute to the water quality and nitrogen cycle in a positive way and help maintaining healthy freshwater aquarium ecology. However, if obtaining live aquatic plant is not feasible for you or you find their maintenance difficult, you can consider adding plastic plants. The advantage of plastic plants is that they are often almost indistinguishable from real plants, do not die, do not overgrow the tank, will not be eaten up by fish or snails, and last forever. However, real plants are certainly preferable.
You should not forget to add base fertilizer for the plants. Follow the instructions on the package for proper allotment. The plastic plants should be planted along with the tall varieties of plants along the rear of the tank and low-growing plants should be placed in the front. Put the plants firmly in, anchoring the bottoms in the gravel. Plants work well when you want to hide the tubes, heater, etc. Remember, live plants need optimum water conditions, lighting & nutrients. So, make sure you give them that.
Heater
Water temperature is one of the critical factors to ensure good health of the aquarium inhabitants. Place the heater at such a place where maximum water circulation takes place. This will ensure that water gets uniformly heated. Most tropical fish do best at 76 to 79 degrees. Cold-water fish prefer a range between 50 and 70 degrees.
Buy a thermostat heater for the aquarium so that once the temperature is set, is does not fluctuate beyond a limit. Glass immersion heaters are the most popular type of aquarium heater and they are of two type. First is the submersible immersion heater and other in non-submersible immersion heater. However the submersible heater is more reliable. Then there are immensely popular under gravel (cable) heaters. This heating system creates circulation through the gravel, is safe and will not burn fish. This makes it more expensive.
The right size of heater is 2-3 watts per gallon. Set the temperature before adding fish. Let the heater adapt to the aquarium water for half an hour before you plug it. Position the thermometer where it can be easily read. While installing the heater follow the manufacturers instructions and monitor it for 24 hours before adding the fish to the tank. Adjust the heater so that desired temperature is obtained.
Some fish species may rest or hide on the heater. These fish often receive burns. To prevent this problem, protect the fish by surrounding the heater with a mesh, cage-like structure. Some authors have suggested wrapping the heater with plastic airline tubing. If you don't want to use the mesh you can also place the heater within the filter unit. It also ensures that only the clean incoming water gets heated. Thus, saving on the energy consumption.
Make sure that you pair up your heater system with a reliable thermometer. There are several types of thermometer available. The most popularly used is the glass type. It can either float or sink though it does not give very accurate temperature. Next is stick-on liquid crystal type. It is convenient and easy to read but is easily influenced by the temperatures outside the tank, in its reading. Electronic digital thermometers are the most accurate but most expensive ones. They give a reading every few seconds, accurate to ± 0.1¡F.
Air Pump
Aeration provides for the dissolved oxygen, which is a vital water quality parameter. The air pump does this job for a freshwater aquarium. However, when air tubing is connected to an air stone or decoration, water may back siphon into the tubing if the pump is placed at a level lower than the water level of the aquarium. To check this you must place the air pump at a higher level or install an anti-siphon valve in the airlines.
Filters
Filters are the ultimate equipment required as a mandatory aquarium installation. It is required to maintain the water quality of the freshwater aquarium. Most of the aquarists use under gravel filter set up because of its stability and ease of maintenance.
Water Quality Monitoring
Once you have installed all the aquarium set up equipment and placed all the accessories, you can begin adding water to the tank. The water should be Luke warm (20-22¡C). Add water using a hose running onto a rock or into a container without disturbing the gravel. Continue adding water till it is about 2 inch from the top. You may add ordinary tap water but let it settle down for some days before you add fish or else the fish would die because of the chlorine present in it. You can also make use of the dechlorinator to get rid of this chlorine. After the water has been filled, plug on the heater and the filter. Let the environment set in over night.
Now that the ground has been made for your freshwater aquarium do not be in too much of a hurry to add fish. Monitor the water quality and observe the installed equipment for at lest 2 to 3 days. As for the water quality make sure that you use good dechlorinator because the tap water you added to your freshwater aquarium has high level of chlorine in it, which is added to kill pathogens harmful to the humans. Adding sodium thiosulfate to tap water immediately inactivates chlorine. However, you must follow the dosing instructions. You must also add a dash of aquarium salt or kosher salt to the freshwater aquarium. The amount could be 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. However, during maintenance remember water evaporates not salt so salt levels should be checked.
pH of water may differ fro one place to the other. So it always requires some pH adjustment before fish can be added to it. Freshwater fish can generally tolerate a pH of 6.5 to 7.8 so you must set a ph range according to the requirements of the type of fish you want to keep in your aquarium. Also keep an account of water hardness and monitor ammonia and nitrite levels until they are zero.
Lighting
Lighting is also as important for healthy aquarium ecology as is any water quality parameter so be sure that you install a good lighting system in your aquarium. The type of lighting is immaterial especially if no plants are grown. Light the tan only for 10 to 12 hours to minimize algal growth. Also avoid using colored incandescent lights since they can cause ill effects. Lighting is important for plants since they require it for photosynthesis and growth. There are several types of lighting systems available in the market.
a) Fluorescent tubes - These are the most popular type of aquarium lighting system. They consume little power, produce little heat, and provide an even distribution of light. You can get them in varied types. The light output also can be increased by using a reflector or foil on the ceiling of the hood. However, their intensity decreases with time so they have to be replaced every six months.
b) Mercury vapor lamps - This lighting system is not too commonly used but they work wonderfully for tanks that are deeper than 20" (50 cm). These lights require special fixtures.
You can also install a timer to auto-control the timing of light so that it stays on only for about 12 to 14 hours a day and after. You can also use a dimmer switch, which can be used to vary the levels of light through the day.
Fish
When you add fish to your freshwater aquarium first thing you'll want to know is how many of them you can have. Well, the stocking capacity of a freshwater system is determined using two formulas for the amounts of fish you can safely keep.
a) Simple method: This is straight and simple rule of keeping one inch of fish per gallon of water. Surface area (for oxygenation) is not taken into account, neither is filtration system (waste removal) nor general size of fish. In this way it can be a drawback since, a fish that is 6 inches long needs a lot more oxygen than 6 fish that are 1 inch long.
b) Surface method: The surface area of the aquarium is taken and divided by 12 to get the number of inches of fish the aquarium can house. It takes into account the shape of the aquarium but not the size of fish and the efficiency of filtration system. It favors are shorter and wider aquariums over the taller and skinnier ones.
Another point to be noted here is that cold water aquariums can hold 2 and half times less fish than a normal tropical freshwater aquarium. So the surface area needs to be divided by a factor of 30 rather than a factor of 12.
Now that you have your fish do not add them immediately. You must acclimate them first. Make sure that the temperature of the water in the bag containing the fish should be very close to that in aquarium tank. Add new fish to the tank at night, when the lights are off or when the resident fish are being fed. So, that they are preoccupied with something and are less likely to harass the new entrant. The fish must be added only when the chemical levels in the aquarium are appropriate and the temperature is within tolerances.
Cover
After the aquarium has been set and ready for a display of your prized possession remember to place a cover over it. No matter what type, size or shape of tank you choose, you must include the cover. The cover will reduce evaporation and lessen the chances of fish jumping out. You can find your Nemo a safe and lively abode by just a little effort that surely pays not in money but with joy and aesthetic appeal.
