Pet Life Magazine, New Zealand Pet Life Magazine Issue 5 Summer 2017 | Page 8

KEEPING FISH - what you need to know
Owning fish can be a fun and rewarding experience, however,
understanding the amount of work that is involved is important.
The key to successfully maintaining healthy fish is knowing
what you are doing before you start. It may sound obvious, but
it’s astonishing how many people think fish keeping is just a
matter of filling an aquarium with water and adding fish.
The first basic questions you need to ask yourself are:
- What size tank can I afford and accommodate?
- What sort of fish do I want?
- Can I achieve the specific requirements of the fish I
want?
- What types of plants should I incorporate into the
aquarium?
The most common aquarium setups are cold water and
tropical, and the basic setup requirements are gravel, plants,
ornaments and getting the water chemistry just right.
When setting up your aquarium, you should rinse everything
thoroughly, checking for any rough edges while you do so. An
easy way to clean gravel is to place it into a clean bucket and
run water over it while you mix the gravel with your hand.
Once the water runs clear, drain the gravel and add this to the
aquarium. Place your plants, ornaments or rocks in and make
sure there is an area where the fish can hide if they get scared.
It’s up to you whether you prefer live or artificial plants. A
couple of things to consider is that live plants need suitable
lighting and can harbour parasites, but they also can keep the
growth of algae down. Artificial plants don’t require any care
and can be positioned anywhere in the tank – however they
usually don’t look natural.
Once the aquarium setup is completed, add the water. If
you use chlorinated water from the tap then you will need
to age it by setting it aside for the chlorine to dissipate. Or
you can purchase a water conditioner. If