QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE STARTING A FRESHWATER FISH TANK Questions to Ask Before You Begin To avoid this, ask yourself the following questions before you buy: 1.       Where will I put the tank? 2.       Can I afford the cost of a fish tank and the necessary supplies? 3.       Do I have time to perform the necessary maintenance? 4.       What kind of tank do I want to keep? 5.       What types of fish do I want to put in my aquarium? 1. Where will I put the tank? 2. Can I afford the cost of a fish tank and the necessary supplies? Below is a list of the costs you will need to cover: A tank stand or cabinet Substrate (i.e. gravel, sand, etc.) Lighting system (including fixtures and bulbs) Fish food and supplements In thinking about these costs you also need to consider the fact that the larger the tank is, the more expensive it will be. A larger aquarium requires a larger, more powerful filter as well as more substrate and decorations to fill it.

You should not, however, base your decision regarding tank size on cost alone – maintaining a small tank is actually much more difficult than maintaining a larger tank. Take the time to read some FAQs about starting a freshwater aquarium for more information on this subject.marine fish tank running cost 3. Do I have time to perform the necessary maintenance?fish tank prices uk To own fish, you will need to dedicate time to keeping the tank clean. marine fish tank crittersAlthough this does not involve an exorbitant amount of time, it is very important. fish tank low ph level

If the water quality in your tank declines, your fish will become stressed and they will also become more susceptible to disease. Poor water quality in a freshwater tank can also encourage the growth of algae and pathogenic bacteria. On average, you should expect to spend about 10 to 15 minutes a day caring for your tank in addition to an extra 20 minutes per week for a partial water change. orb fish tank usedOnce a month you will also need to set aside extra time to replace your filter media and to perform a larger 25% water change. biorb 60 litre fish tank usedYour daily maintenance tasks will include feeding your fish, observing your fish for signs of disease, and checking to make sure that all of your tank equipment is functioning properly. 4. What kind of tank do I want to keep? 5. What types of fish do I want to put in my aquarium?

To help you determine the type and number of fish you can keep in your tank, consider the Another thing to consider is that you might want to start your tank off with smaller fish and gradually introduce your larger fish. While your tank is cycling it will not be able to accommodate a large biological load. For this reason, many aquarium hobbyists recommend starting off with a few slim-bodied fish. As your biological filtration system becomes established you can add larger species of fish to your tank. For more information about cycling your tank, visit the article on the nitrogen cycle. Most Recent Forum Discussions How fast do American Flagfish breed? - By kate_kuhli, 04/20/17 09:45:07 pm (2 replies)I wanted some fast breeding native fish for my pond and these seem like a great match but I'm not sure just how quickly or ...- By _fins_, 04/20/17 06:38:28 pm (2 replies)I got some neon tetras earlier this week but they died after only having them a couple of days. What would have caused this?

United Airlines - By xxluckxx, 04/16/17 06:23:00 pm (2 replies)What is going on with them?! They're getting a ton of bad press lately! WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ALL-IN-ONE AQUARIUMS SIMPLE TIPS FOR BUILDING A SALTWATER TANK WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK AQUARIUM NEWS: FIVE NEW SPECIES OF DWARFGOBIES DISCOVEREDChicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler starred on Animal Planet's Tanked—a reality TV show about custom fish tanks that has surprisingly stayed on the air since 2011—to showcase his brand new boom-box themed aquarium. And the final product is, well, not so great looking. (Editor's note: this is totally subjective). While the hosts, Wayde King and Brett Raymer, seem really excited to showcase their new tank—which includes 50 fish to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Bulls and a Jordan's Tuskfish (maybe Butler doesn't like MJ?)—the end result is decidedly garish, inefficient. Even Butler keeps commenting on how big it is—like, a lot bigger than he expected.

More important, the whole thing looks like a part of a set from a third grade play. They just slapped a bunch of whatever—plastic, metal?—on top of a perfectly good fish tank, further obscuring the actually important thing inside of it: the fish. Why even bother having a fish tank? Just get a really shitty-looking giant boom box. It would have saved the life of some fish who have to live inside of a bad visual pun.Butler later said, "my fish gonna be bumpin' in here." Ah, the rounded out, scripted language of reality television. highlights, basketball, basketball highlights, nba, jimmy butler, chicago, bulls, forward, fish tank, something fishyDesigning fish tanks is a sink or swim business. No one knows that better than Martin Schapira, the 29-year-old co-founder of Okeanos Aquascaping, a high-end aquarium and pond design firm based in New York City. Schapira, who established Okeanos in 2002 with close friend Nathan Kamelhar, is behind some of the most elaborate and eye-catching aquatic projects in New York City and across the globe.

Most recently, he and Kamelhar dreamed up a backyard pool-and-aquarium complex that earned a spot on the Robb Report’s list of outrageous holiday gifts. Wait, let me correct that – starting at $11 million. The complex features a 30-foot-by-60-foot freshwater swimming pool that shares two of its walls with a massive glass saltwater aquarium so that swimmers can virtually swim alongside angelfish, eels and black-tip reef sharks. The aquarium can also be viewed from outside the pool, as it stretches from the floor of the pool to 15 feet above its surface. To date, no one has commissioned the complex – and understandably so. After all, if you had an extra $11 million lying around – or even an extra $1,000 – would you spend it on a fish tank? That’s the battle Schapira faces every day. “If you can sell aquariums, you can sell everything else,” he says. “It’s a very, very difficult business.” For one, aquatic displays don’t have the sort of following that designer watches or shoes have.

Schapira says most of his clients don’t know anything about aquariums when they first come to him except that they think they look cool from a design standpoint. Aquatic displays also require upkeep. Schapira says that unlike buying a fancy car that needs its oil changed every once in awhile, owning a high-end fish tank means having someone come in to maintain it as often as once a week but no less than every three weeks. In short, it’s a commitment. “The same way that someone would have a maid, it becomes, ‘Oh, the aquarium guy’s here,’” he says. And yet business is steady. The company is typically involved with 22 to 30 projects a year at an average rate of $50,000 to $75,000 a piece. Some of the company’s current jobs include a 500-gallon freshwater plant aquarium in the lobby of a Manhattan office building, a live coral reef aquarium at a private residence in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey and a backyard Japanese koi pond at a 16,000-square-foot townhouse in New York.

For Schapira, who grew up in Queens, NY, designing fish tanks is a passion that was ignited when his father bought him a tank in elementary school. Something about the colors and calm of the scene inside struck him. “Queens is not the nicest place in the world, and yet [I found] I could create this little space that’s just gorgeous,” he says. His eye for design developed as he worked as a buyer for the string of apparel stores his parents owned. When business petered out, he and Kamelhar – whom he’d known since high school – decided to start Okeanos, determined to make fish tanks high-end design statements. “Everyone was doing the chandeliers and the cool floors, but no one was doing this,” Schapira says. Unlike some of the other aquatic-design firms in the market, the duo focused on making sure the materials were natural (Schapira is strongly opposed to acrylic tanks and fake coral) and also paid close attention to the quality of their photography.

Things were good for awhile, but in 2008, the financial crisis hit and Schapira saw business volume fall by 30%. Like many other small business owners, he had to retool. It wasn’t the first time Schapira had had to fight to survive. In 2004, he’d been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, one of the deadliest forms of cancer. He was 23 at the time and had just gotten married six months before. He underwent treatment and was in remission for a year, but the cancer came back and he received a bone marrow transplant in 2006. It was an incredibly difficult time, but Schapira credits his passion for his work as one of the factors that helped him get through it. “It took my mind off of everything,” he says. So when their business hit rough waters in 2008, Schapira and Kamelhar snapped into action to steady it. They decided to do everything themselves, mastering search engine optimization (Schapira says most of the company’s clients find them on the Internet) and reaching out to all sorts of new vendors.