Freshwater Fish Keeping
This page explaines and advises you how to keep most types of freshwater fish from coldwater to tropical. All the information you see here was gained during the time I worked at a pet shop dealing with many types of fish excluding marine.
Setting up a new aqurium.
Setting up a new aqurium is very easy and can be done following the simple instructions below.
*Buy a suitable sized aqurium;
Must be glass if going into tropical fish keeping otherwise coldwater fish can be kept in a plasic tank or bowl. The reason for glass is that most plasics will melt when fitted with a heater. The size of aqurium depends on how many and what speices of fish you wish to add, (I personally recomend a 60 litre or smaller aquarium for beginers) it is recomended 1" (2.5cm's) of fish, to 4 litres of water. (remember to take in account the size of fish once fully grown)
*Wash your aqurium;
Thouroughly wash your aquarium using a highly concentrated salt and water formular (Don't use the salt found in your kitchen cupboard as most have added ingredients and isn't recomended for aqurium use. Use a specialy formulated aqurium salt found in most pet shops) this will compleatly sterilise and kill off any bacteria harmful to your fish, otherwise use a weak formular of hot soapy water.
Rinse Thouroughly.
*Put your aquarium in a suitable place;
Place your aquarium in an adequate place prefrably away from a window and out of direct sunlight (this can interfere with the temperature and cause access alge build up basically meaning, more cleaning more frequently)
*Add Gravel;
Some types of gravel are not suitable for tropical fish and must be either plasic coated, natural gravel or sand (sand however, although it looks good in most aquriums can be very difficult to keep clean and is only usually recomended for expeirenced fish keepers), all types of gravel except coral gravel are suitable for coldwater fish. Before adding the gravel rinse it thoughroughly as most gravel still holds alot dirt and dust. You should only ever need just enough gravel to cover the bottom of your aqurium, more can obviously be added up to a couple of inches deep (I personally reccomend 1" deep as this is more than enough to hold live plants in place and gives you the option to make the odd mounds for a more realistic look)
*Fill your aqurium with water;
Filling your aqurium is probably one of the easiest parts of setting up and only requires you to fill with cold water and add the nessersary treatments such as 'Tap Safe' (water conditioner), this treatment removes harmful metels, clorine, softens the water, and helps to reduce stress.
*Add the filter/heater;
Place your filter into your aqurium, beneth the water line and turn it on. (If you wish to use an under-gravel filter you should arrange this first before adding the gravel. You will also need to make sure that the gravel isnt too fine and doesnt fall through the gaps, otherwise finer mesh can be found in most pets shops. Once you have the mesh you would place on top of your under-gravel filter then add the gravel.) The size and stregnth of your filter depends on the size of your aqurium. If your going into tropical fish keeping a heater is requiered, this again would be placed under the water line and turned on. Once you are satisfied that everything working properly you can then take the next step.
*Add plants +/or ornaments;
This step is the one where you can have a little fun arranging all the bits and pieces that will make your aqurium unique. Live plants are easy to maintain so long as you get the proper infomation about each one (I reccomend you research this as you would about all the individual fish you will probably want in the near future)
*Allow your aquarium to relax;
This is the last step before you can add your fish. Allow your your aquarium settle for at least one week to 10 days. Within this time you can start looking around for beginer fish. These are hardier speices of fish which can withstand high levels of amonia and toxins, these toxins are found in your aquarium as it matures.(Some hardy fish speices have been named and pictured below) Once your aquarium is fully mature the toxins will have subsided and will of developed a healthy amount of good bactiria within your filter sponge. (this good bactirea breaks down and gets rid of the fish waste captured by your filter) The maturing of your aquarium can take up to a minimum of 6 weeks, however some treatments can now allow you to add some of the fancier fish (eg Angels) straight away after the week of settlement. Please research other sites or visit your local pet shops for further information on these products) Feeding and Maintenance
Feeding your fish;
This can be an enjoyable experience for all the family, especially for young children as it gives them a sence of responsibility which as I'm sure you know is vital as your child learns new things.
Feeding your fish should only be done once or twice each day. The amount to feed them is the amount they can consume within three minuits. Never overfeed! Beleive it or not but it is beter to underfeed your fish then it is to overfeed as overfeeding can and will lead to illness or even death. This many people have learnt the hard way.
Maintaining your aquarium;
Weekly maintenance should consist of a water change as this is vital for a healthy aquarium, (remove 1/3 of the water and replace it with fresh. remember to always add 'Tap Safe' water conditioner) Also it is advised you check your filter sponge and if needed should be cleaned. Never wash your filter sponge under the tap as this kills off all the good bacteria that helps to break down fish waste. Your filter should only ever be washed using the water you have taken out of your aquarium. (this will insure the bacteria on your sponge isn't affected by an overdose of clorine)
Starter Fish For Tropical Aquriums
*Black Widow Tetra (otherwise known as 'Black Skirt Tetra')
*Black Phantom Tetra
*Serpae Tetra
*Red Eye Tetra
*Danios
more examples of starter fish for tropical aquariums coming soon..
For Coldwater Aquariums
*Common Goldfish
*Sarasa Commits
*Shubunkins
*Danios
more examples of coldwater starter fish coming soon..
My Aquariums
These are just a couple pictures of my past and present aquariums.
I have kept many coldwater fish in the past but the picture above left is one of the first tropical aquariums I ever setup in 06, the other on the right is before I decided to go Tropical. I have upgraded since then and I now own a 4ft, 260 litre aquarium containing both coldwater and tropical fish seen below.
This is one of the best aquriums I ever purchased, unfortunatly when I first setup I made the huge mistake of placing it near a window and the alge grew out of control. (It has been moved since then and no longer has any problems with access alge growth seen in the picture above) 
Still under construction!
More yet to come.
