AQUARIA

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AQUARIA

• How to Set Up Fresh and
• Salt Water Aquariums

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An Aquarium
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Factors to Consider

• Biotic (Living)
• Type of Fish, newt, turtle etc.
• Beneficial Bacteria
• Live Plants
• Harmful microorganisms and multicellular
  organisms

• Abiotic (Nonliving)
• Substrate (gravel, crushed coral)
• Plastic Plants
• Decorative rocks, caves, or toys
• Equipment (filters, lights, heaters, etc.)
• Wastes (EX.Ammonia)

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Step 1 Select Organism

• Select the Organism(s) Determine its needs
• It could be fresh or saltwater
• Fish
• Turtle
• Newt
• Frog
• Number of organisms 1inch fish/gallon

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• Pacu and Oscars

• Guppies

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Step 2 - Equipment

• Determine what equipment is needed
• Size and shape of tank
• Heater or Heat Lamp
• Lighting
• Filtration System
• Stand
• Substrate (gravel, crushed coral, sand, dolomite)
• Plants, Rocks, Shells etc.

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Aquarium Size and Shapes
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Step 3 Cleaning the Tank

• WASH THE TANK WITH FRESHWATER AND SALT
• Note NEVER USE DETERGENT, SOAP OR CHLORINE
  BLEACH THEY ARE DEADLY

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Cleaning Supplies

• Non Iodized Salt or
• Kosher Salt

• Paper Towel and Cold Water

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Step 4 Tank Placement

• Select a location away from windows, radiators,
  and air conditioners.
• It should be placed in a manner that all
  equipment should be available for maintenance,
  cleaning and care of fish

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Aquarium Placement
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Step 5 Tank Placement

• Place tank on a steady surface that can support
  the weight. Fresh water ways approximately 8
  lbs a gallon, saltwater ways more. FOR EXAMPLE A
  10 GALLON WEIGHS OVER 80 LBS.
• The stand or support surface should be water
  resistant

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Step 6 Check for Leaks

• Place cardboard underneath tank to cushion it and
  make it easy to slide
• Half fill tank with water, wait 24 hours and
  observe for leaks

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Check for Leaks
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Step 7 Check for Leaks

• Fill to within 1 inch of top, wait 24 hours and
  observe for leaks

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Step 8 - Salt

• In a marine tank add marine salt to the water
  until a density between
• 1.017g/ml to 1.020g/ml is reached
• Use a hydrometer to measure density
• In a fresh water tank add one tablespoon of non
  iodized salt to prevent fungal infections

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Step 9- Substrate

• Add substrate to a depth of 1 inch
• Freshwater tanks
• gravel
• sand
• Marine
• crushed coral
• dolomite
• marine sand or living sand

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Aquarium Gravel

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Crushed Coral

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Step 10 - Filtration

• Install a filtration system.
• To maintain optimal fish health, 3 types of
  filtration are necessary.
• Physical
• Biological
• Chemical

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Eclipse Filter system
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Step 10 Physical Filtration

• Pads, sponges, floss, sand or other media that
  remove solid particles from the water.
• Removes
• Excess food
• Wastes
• Pieces of fin, scale
• Plant matter

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Filter Pad

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Step 10 Biological Filtration

• A biowheel, prefilter media, biosponge, gravel,
  or sand for beneficial bacteria to grow on.
  These bacteria break down deadly nitrogenous
  wastes from living organisms and decaying food.
• Bacteria break down
• Ammonia (deadly) to Nitrite to Nitrate

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Biowheel

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Step 10Filtration In a Reef Tank

• Living rock provides excellent biological
  filtration and should always be used in a reef
  tank.

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Step 10 Chemical Filtration

• Activated Carbon removes harmful gases dissolved
  in water.

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Step 11 - Heating

• Most fish can only survive within an environment
  with narrow range of temperature change, usually
  between 72 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
• To maintain optimal temperature, install a
  submersible heater

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Aquarium Heater

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Step 11 - Heating

• You need 5 watts per gallon
• 10 gallon 50 watts
• 12 gallon 75 watts
• 20 gallon 100 watts
• 25 gallon 150 watts
• 30 gallon 150 watts
• 55 gallon 300 watts

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Step 11

• To install heater safely
• Place unplugged in heater at bottom of tank
  horizontally for 15 minutes
• Then set temperature and plug in heater
• Wait 24 hours then measure temperature and adjust
  heater

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Step 12 - Decorations

• Organisms need to be in an environment as similar
  to their natural environment as possible. To
  accomplish this we put rocks, live plants, caves,
  shells plastic plants, plastic pipes etc.

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Aquarium Decorations

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Step 12 - Decorations

• Adding live plants provides food, 0xygen, a place
  to hide and lay eggs
• Plastic plants provide a place to hide and lay
  eggs
• Rocks, caves, coral, and tubes provide a place to
  hide
• Note shells, coral and calcareous rocks can only
  be used in High pH aquariums, mostly marine

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Step 13 Cover and lighting

• A cover is needed to
• Prevent fish from jumping out of the tank
• Slow evaporation
• Keep dust out of the tank

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Step 13 - Lighting

• Only reef tanks and tanks with live plants need
  daily lighting
• Reef tanks need actinic (bluish light) for live
  coral and anemones and full spectrum white light
  for plants and algae
• Tanks with live plants need 12 hours a day of
  full spectrum white light.

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Aquarium Lights

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Step 14 - Selecting Fish

• Fish should
• Be active
• Have regular breathing pattern
• Have clear eyes
• Have no torn fins or sores
• No fuzzy stuff on body or fins

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Healthy Fish

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Step 15 Catching Fish

• Fish should preferably be caught slowly using a
  container
• A net removes the protective slime coat and
  irritates skin
• Try not to stress fish, it suppresses immune
  system

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Catching Aquarium Fish

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Step 16 Acclimating fish

• To minimize stress and protect fish
• Float bag in new tank for 15 minutes adding small
  amounts of water to the bag to make the
  temperatures similar
• After fifteen minutes turn open bag sideways and
  let fish swim out of bag
• Observe behavior
• May have to rearrange tank so all fish establish
  new territories

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Acclimating A Fish

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Step 18 - Care of FishFeeding

• Determine best diet for organism
• Feed small amount only as much food as fish can
  eat in 3 minutes then remove excess

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Step 18 Care of Fish Observe and record
behavior

• Need to establish baseline for comparison
• Observe fish for 20 minutes or more for several
  days
• Determine its favorite spot in the tank
• Draw a diagram of its body and fins noting
  markings and coloration
• Observe its behavior toward tank mates and their
  behavior towards it and record

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Step 18 Care of FishObserve and Record Behavior

• Observe its gill movements count and record for
  1 minute
• Observe its eating pattern and how it eats record
  in log

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Step 19 Care of FishWater Chemistry

• Test and Record
• pH
• Ammonia level
• Nitrite level
• Maintain ideal levels for optimal health

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Cycling a Tank
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Nitrogen Cycle in An Aquarium

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Step 20 Care of FishMaintenance

• In order to prevent disease, regular maintenance
  is critical
• The single most important maintenance procedure
  is a water change
• Clean gravel at least once a month
• Change 20 a month to remove harmful wastes and
  replace trace elements
• Clean filter pad every month, replace every 3
  months