Top 5 Things You’ll Need If You’re Having A Fish In Your Home

Are you excited to have a fish in your home? Trying to list down all the things that you need for your new friend? We’ve listed down the things you’ll need if you’re going to have a fish in your home:

1. Stable and Clean Supply of Water

If you’re going to maintain aquarium then it’s necessary to have a stable supply of water. Although it water needs to be treated with a dechlorinator even if it’s from a known clean tap source, it is still necessary to have a stable source of water. Not only you will need it to fill your aquarium, you’ll also need it to clean it including the decors inside your aquarium.

2. Aeration Pump

Aeration pumps are necessary as it forces air into the water through mechanical means creating water motion with the rising air bubbles. These air pumps also aid in providing oxygen to the water which help your fish and other animals use to “breathe”.

3. A Set Up Aquarium

By having a set-up aquarium – these includes a stable gravel bed for your aquarium. The usual ratio of gravel and water is 1.5-2 pounds to 1 gallon of water. The water inside the aquarium should be of room temperature to avoid condensation. To top off the aesthetics of your aquarium, you will need plants or rocks which serve as ornaments. You can place them at the rear area of your tank to ensure that the fish has sufficient area to swim around. More importantly, make sure that you have an aquarium hood or cover and that a net is accessible  within the reach in case you want to transfer your fish temporarily during cleaning or you want to pick-up a foreign object from the aquarium.

4. Area With Good Lighting

If you’re going to put your aquarium inside a room or your living room, then it’s important to ensure that it is situated in a place with good lighting. Although lighting should be controlled to less than ten hours per day to limit algae growth, it is also helpful as it brings out natural colors of your fish.  Good lighting does affect the health of your fish but also the health of the water as the lighting affects the temperature of the water. Most fish are comfortable in temperatures between 75° and 80° F. If an appropriate place with good lighting is difficult to find, you can just find a lighting fixture from the mall.

5. Three-Stage Filtration System.

Filtration is one of the key components in having a healthy aquarium. There are usually three stages in filtration, namely:

a. Mechanical filtration – used to filter out solid materials such as debris, fish food and waste. The most commonly used filters for these are filter cartridges and polyfiber pad.

b. Chemical Filtration – uses chemical components such as activated carbon to dissolve pollutants that can cause dirt, discoloration and foul odor in your aquarium.

c. Biological Filtration – just like fishes, most bacteria are oxygen-loving. This type of filtration actually uses nitrogen cycle. Waste products of fish and plants are broken down resulting to ammonia and nitrite and the bacteria presence changes them to nitrate, which is then removed once your water is replaced.