Ask An Expert
The first step to understanding aquariums
21st April, 2008
ONE
By Jennifer 'The Pet Company'
We have created this easy to use guide explaining how to set up an aquarium, you will find listed sections which guide you though step by step everything you wanted to know about aquariums, some sections you may find you can skip and you can stop at any time depending how in depth you want to go. Use your numbered headings to focus on the areas you want to learn about.
Step one covers:
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How to calculate the litres of my aquarium
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How many fish can I keep in my aquarium
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What is Cycling about, can I put all this fish in at once?
STEP ONE/NO 1. How many litres are in my aquarium?
Some people don't think about how many litres of water their aquarium holds, however you will need to know when medicating or conditioning your water and also to decide what stock levels you can keep. Use the calculation guide below to determine how many litres you have. You will need a calculator and a tape measure, go to your aquarium and measure your:
Width in cm x Height in cm x Length in cm, divide that number by 1000 = Litres
Remember to allow for your gravel and don't measure all the way to the top as your water never goes right to the top of the tank
Eg. A 4 foot tank is 120cm x 45cm x 45cm which = 243000 divided by 1000 would = 243Litres
When allowing for gravel or water loss it is 120 x 36 x 45 = 194400 divided by 1000 =194Litres
So you can see all aquariums are made different and hold different levels of gravel & stock so you should always work out your litres for your self.
STEP ONE/NO 2. How many fish can I stock in my aquarium?I have designed a guide to help you estimate the amount of fish to stock, the main reason people go wrong is they do not allow for fish to grow so always use the calculation on the full size of the fish and always stock slowly if you are stocking your aquarium for the first time make sure you read STEP ONE/No 3 on this page. When determining the adult size of the fish remember fish will stunt a little in a small aquarium but an Oscar for example is going to outgrow a 2 foot tank. For the guide below you will have to imagine a 3cm square box or have a ruler handy to help you, this is only an estimate put some consideration into how much you want to clean the tank and what type of filter you are putting on the tank.
The guide below is only an estimate and it is based on an aquarium that is gravel cleaned ¼ every month (don't worry if you do not understand gravel cleaning we will cover that in the maintenance sheets.) Just remember the bigger the fish the more waste they produce, for example an oscar would fit into 7 boxes fully grown which on the freshwater chart allows 210 Litres of water however 7 boxes of smaller fish would not produce as much waste and you should allow some variables in water volume.
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STEP ONE/NO 3. Can I put them all in at once?
NO, you must mature or cycle your tank gradually, it is a little bit more complicated than that, but the simple answer is no! You may have heard of new tank syndrome or overloading syndrome caused from putting too many fish in at one time, especially when you start up. The reason why is your aquarium needs to start it's own bacteria growing - not bad bacteria but good bacteria, we want you to look after this bacteria and make it grow. Your bacteria is going to help cycle your tank, your filter is going to help you clean your tank and it will also house some of your bacteria, but without bacteria your filter will not work alone to maintain your tank. Anytime you hear the word Biological associated with aquarium this refers to Bacteria, Biological Filtration refers to the fitler being able to house bacteria, this is what bio balls, ceramic noodles or ceramic rings are for there little apartment units for bacteria to live in.
When fish pee and poo and the breakdown of dropping and food will create Ammonia, this will trigger the first stage of the cycling process, a bacteria will develope to eat the ammonia (a bit like a septic system) and the bacteria will convert your ammonia into Nitrite, this will start a few days after you add your fish. Ammonia & Nitrite are toxic to fish, so the more bacteria that is in the tank the quicker the Ammonia and Nitrite will convert through creating a safe enviroment for your aquatic inhabitants.
Don't be intimidated by this cycle it happens in the aquarium whether you want it to or not, but it does help to have some understanding of what is going on. We want the cycle to happen and we want the bacteria to multiply, so we need to look after the good bacteria and help it to develeope. That is why we are told to use Chlorine Neutralizers and Water treatment it tap water, chlorine kills bacteria, our good bacteria. That is also why we are told not to strip out our fish tanks when we clean them as we strip out the bacteria then we put all the fish back in and there is no bacteria in the tank to control the ammonia and nitrite levels.
Now back to the beginning for a moment, If you had a brand new tank or you are starting a tank that hasn't been used for a while and you add a lot of fish, in a few days time you will have a lot of ammonia because there is no bacteria to cycle it through it takes time to build up bacteria but ammonia will happen in hours. Ammonia is toxic so you will poison the fish, ammonia can take a white milky look in your aquarium and fish will gasp for air and slowly die the ammonia will take from 1 and 10 days to reach it's highest level and then fall to a low level as the bacteria starts to develope. So the idea is a small amount of fish will create a small amount of ammonia and a small amount of ammonia is not as toxic as a large amount of ammonia, so the fish will not feel the effects and on it goes.
The Bacteria will convert Ammonia to Nitrite this again is toxic and usually takes another 14-20 days to rise and fall, these two toxic cycles will hardly be noticed if you tred gentley and do not add all of your fish at one time. The ammonia and nitrite will soon cycle through and your fish will then be safe from toxins in the water. You then add a few more fish and the cycle will happen again GENTLY until your tank is fully stocked and your bacteria is fully established. Your system will then continue to cycle and the bacteria will convert all of your fish waste and rotten food to Nitrate which is removed from the tank when you do your monthly maintenance stage of your cycling , (see diagram). You can test daily for ammonia and nitrite if you would like to know where you tank is in the cycling period it helps to keep a diary.
Now let’s assume your Ammonia and Nitrate have both risen and dropped to a level of ‘0”. Congratulations, give yourself a pat on the back, you have successfully cycled your tank, wasn’t that difficult was it? You simply let your bacteria culture correctly and it is now safe to add more fish gradually. Everytime you add fish again the tank will go through another ammonia and nitrite cycle but everytime you do the bacteria will also build up until adventually you will have enough bacteria in your aquarium to continue the cycle of turning fish waste into a non toxic sludge that is removed by gravel cleaning. That is why it is very important never to strip clean your aquarium only ever change 1/4 to 1/2 of your water at a time and always use a gravel cleaner to remove the slude.
You have just matured you tank and now Nitrate is going to indicate how you tank is running for the rest of its duration. You have to maintain and look after your tank and your Nitrate test kit will help you to know when the tank is dirty and starting to get toxic. Nitrate is not as toxic as Nitrite and Ammonia as long as you keep up with regular water changes you will not have a problem with Nitrate.