Beginner’s Guide to Fish Keeping and Building your first Aquarium (Part 2)

So you’ve chosen your tank got all the placement and tank cycling worked out. Before you actually cycle your tank and add water we need to talk about aquascaping and equipment placement

This is topic that isn’t discussed as much that I’ve found but is very important for your tank’s ecosystem design.

Lets talk about what you’re putting in your tank and why.

Tank Substrates

Gravel, Colored Gravel or    Oolitic Sand from the Bahamas ? Your substrate choice will have some impacts on your tank maintenance and ecosystem and there are a lot of choices out there.

The first Question you should ask yourself is:

1. Are you going to have live Plants in your Aquarium ?

If the answer is Yes then your options just got a lot more complicated. We will of course give you a general overview of the different types and point you to some other well written articles for more detail.

Basic Questions for a Freshwater Tank with no Plants.

The options are:

• Fine Gravel
• Course Gravel
• Colored Gravel – same as above but painted
• Sand – Various types and sizes

White Gravel with Shells added

In addition to the above, Many other Options for Freshwater with Plants

• Potting Soil (non-fertilized) mixed with Sand (Experienced Users only) – Extra steps needed for this
• Peat Moss soil (non-fertilized) – Advanced user only
• Laterite (non-reactive Kitty Liter)
• Clay – Pink from Tennessee, etc.
• Vermiculite
• Perlite
• Fluorite
• Caribsea’s Eco-Complete Planted (Dark Aquarium Ready Substrate – Expensive but great stuff I’m told for plants)

CaribSea’s Eco-Complete

Here are some links I found that describe them better, (No sense re-creating the wheel here)

http://www.aquariumslife.com/aquascaping/planted-aquarium-substrate/substrate-materials-planted-aquarium/

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/99

Choosing Which one to use ?

Choosing your substrate will depend on a number of questions you should ask yourself before buying plants and substrate:

1. What type of fish you will be keeping in your aquarium
2. Do all fish you  choose  in the aquarium like the same temperatures, PH (Acidic, Basic or neutral water conditions) and other Water Chemistry values (high calcium, iron, potassium  or magnesium content) ? What is their natural habitat like ?
3. Are some fish your choosing  delicate and don’t like sharp stones but like to dig themselves in the bottom ?
4. Do any of your fish react to greener or darker colored water ? Can the fish you choose tolerate a more nutrient based water or not ?
5. Do some fish feed off the bottom ?
6. Would your fish look better in a darker colored substrate or lighter colored one ?
7. Do your plants require any special chemistry for a soil or can they grow in regular medium-sized gravel ?
8. Do you have some plants with deep rooting systems ? Are they sensitive to movement   (ie need more compact soil to root in) ?

Another consideration is how much substrate do you need to purchase to put in the bottom or your tank ?

this question is answered by asking yourself, how much space does your plants need to root themselves and whether they have a deeper root system. This can usually be answered by your local aquarium fish/plant store or by researching the specifics online.

There are a lot options and it can be overwhelming. The good news is that there are a lot more choices now then in the past. Depending on what fish and plants you choose if going to have some impact on your decisions here.

The Basics Still work well

Now there seems like a lot of questions to ask and it sounds difficult, however you’d be happy to know that most starter aquariums usually start with a basic white or dark gravel base and here’s why:

Most Freshwater community fish that local  fish stores sell as “Beginner  Fish”  all relatively enjoy the same types of chemistry and environments that the fish store sells. Going with beginner or slightly intermediate will give you a lot less problems than trying to go for an advanced fish first thing.

Trust me, you will be a lot happier seeing your fish thrive then when they die because you didn’t research or do the right thing or because you’re not comfortable yet with your tank’s situation.

That’s why I first and foremost recommend Community style tank with beginner to intermediate kept fish for your first tank.

Regular colored or natural Gravel as a substrate works well for a few reasons:

1. Cleanup is relatively easier with a gravel suction tube – no worries about clogging up your suction or filter with this option
2. If you keep snails or other crustaceans, they can still bury themselves in the gravel still relatively easily and aerate the substrate
3. Most gravel does have a calcium content to it so will raise your PH but keep things a little more stable than when dealing with more acidic water
4. The Fish are in a more natural habitat with natural colors. Lighting doesn’t  cause stress  to the fish when bouncing off all shiny colored gravel for example.
5. Aeration is easier in gravel than in sand, therefore not building up as much algae or dead spots as fast.
6. Gravel very rarely has to be replaced only turned every so often.
7. Course and porous gravel is  a good home for  good nitrifying bacteria.
8. Some plants adapt well to gravel as long as there is enough of it. (buy only plants that are meant for gravel)