Home aquarium keeping can be a very satisfying pastime. There is nothing better than to see a beautiful thriving aquarium full of healthy, lively, colourful fish accompanied by thriving live plants. Aquariums are well known to have a calming effect on people, it is not surprising that they are a common sight in doctors and dentists waiting rooms.

On the other hand, if you don’t start out right then you could have the nightmare scenario of dead and dying fish, straggly plants, cloudy water and anything but a joy to behold. Make sure you do what’s described below and this will not happen to you.

So Called ‘Beginners Tanks’ Are Not For You

Small tanks, generally 12 to 18 inches across, are often sold as so called ‘beginners tanks’ presumably because they are easy to carry out of the shop! However you need to understand that a home fish tank that is well looked after is a delicately balanced ecological system and it can easily destabilise. The smaller the aquarium the more difficult it is to maintain balance because they are more unstable than larger aquariums and when they go out of balance the deterioration is very swift. I won’t go into the details here, sufficient to say that your first tank should be somewhere around 36″ x 12″ x 18″.

Do Not Buy Tank And Fish On the Same Day

This is probably the biggest mistake that you can make. Before any fish enter your aquarium it needs to have been established for at least a few days, preferable a week to achieve some kind of equilibrium. You should set up your tank with everything in it except for the fish. Leave it like that for a week. During that week you should monitor the temperature and the clarity and condition of the water using test strips. Provided everything has stabilised then introduce a couple of cheap fish and keep an eye on them for a few days. Only after they look fine should you go out and buy any more fish.

Select You Fish With Care

It is a mistake to assume that all varieties of fish will live in harmony together in your community tank. You should not leave this to chance. Sad to say that generally speaking if a fish is small enough to enter the mouth of another fish then that is what will happen i.e. it will be eaten! Some species of fish have males that will fight to the death. Males of certain species hound the females endlessly so it is a good idea to have 2 or 3 females to each male. Some fish prefer to stay near the gravel while others prefer to swim near the surface. Although not normally a major issue, you should remember that fish require different conditions in terms of temperature and pH etc. You should buy lively fish that can dart around the tank, avoid any that look sickly or have split fins. Getting advice form a really experienced aquarium supplier is probably the best approach.

Do not overstock your tank

There are various ‘rules of thumb’ for calculating the fish capacity of your tank. Here are some of them:

• 3 cm of adult fish length per 4 litres of water (i.e., a 6 cm-long fish would need about 8 litres of water).
• 1 cm of adult fish length per 30 square centimetres of surface area.
• 1 inch of adult fish length per gallon of water.
• 1 inch of adult fish length per 12 square inches of surface area.

Don’t take any of these rules too seriously. The young fish that you buy now are going to be much bigger in just a few months and will need more room. It is very important to take this into account. Decide on your tank’s maximum fish capacity by slowly adding fish over a period of several months and keeping a watch on water quality.

Monitor the Water and Change it Regularly

As I said before, your aquarium is delicately balanced so it is important to check the water condition regularly. You may not have heard of aquarium ‘cycling’. This is the name given to the process whereby fish waste turns to ammonia, bacteria turn the ammonia into nitrite and other bacteria turn the nitrite into nitrate. In the lakes and streams of the natural world ‘cycling’ works without any need for intervention from outside. In your aquarium however you need to help it along by changing at least 25% of the tank water every week. It is also important that you monitor nitrite and nitrate levels because high levels, particularly of nitrites will kill your fish.

So that’s it. If you follow this advice you will start off on the right foot and own an aquarium that will be a stunning addition to your home and that you can be proud of.

John Thomson is an aquarium expert. For more great freshwater aquarium information, visit http://www.freshwateraquariumsecretsonline.com.

Selecting freshwater aquarium plants for your aquarium should not be undertaken lightly.      Plants reduce levels of nitrate in the aquarium, make the aquarium look wonderful, help reduce algae growth, give shy and timid fish a hiding place and during breeding provide spawning areas, so altogether they have a great beneficial effect to both the fish and their environment.

Nitrates in the water can cause problems to your fish in high enough levels, the good news is that aquarium plants use up these nitrates. Live plants do more than that though, they always look nicer than their plastic counterparts.

Some are more difficult to look after than others. The Java Fern, Hygrophila polysperma and Vallisneria spiralis are amongst the stronger aquarium plants.

You will need to check out a couple of things before embarking on your live plant adventure.

Water Parameters

Aquarium plants have the same needs as tropical fish when considering water parameters.   Each aquarium plant has different requrements as far as water conditions are concerned. The plants you want need particular water conditions so it is important to find these out. You need to know things like ph, hardness levels and lighting levels for each plant.

Good Substrate

You will need to have a good substrate in order for your plants to survive. There are clay planters you can get to place your plants in or you can even place some plants directly into the gravel. If you place your plants directly into the gravel you will need to use an iron supplement for your aquarium water since these plants won’t be getting the nutrients they need from the iron fortified clay.

Good Lighting

Poor lighting is the one main reason why plants do not do well in an aquarium.   Generally speaking the 20 -30 watts of lighting which comes as standard with many fish tanks is totally inadequate.   Different aquarium plants require different levels of aquarium lighting, usually measured in watts per gallon.   If you want your plants to thrive you must pay attention to this measurement in order for photosynthesis to take place.   Photosynthesis also requires CO2. The fish respiration process which goes on in the aquarium can produce enough CO2. However, if you have a heavily planted tank, you may want to get a CO2 injector for your aquarium because you won’t be getting enough CO2 from your fish.

Fish Compatibility
Some fish varieties make looking after live plants a really difficult job.   For instance, Silver Dollars really enjoy nibbling on live plants, likewise, Oscars and Goldfish will enjoy uprooting any aquarium plants you place in the tank.   If you already have fish, do some research on your particular species before embarking on your live plant journey.

Before buying any plants you must find out their exact needs and whether you are able to provide those needs, otherwise you will be wasting money.

Finally, you should feed your plants with special freshwater plant food.   I usually feed mine about once a week.

Some Recommended Plants

All of these look fantastic in the aquarium and only a few require very high levels of lighting.

1. Java Ferns.   pH 5.5-7.5, temp. 20-28 Celsius, Water hardness 2-15 degrees, tolerates low light levels.   These grow best when tied to floating driftwood rather than planting their roots.
2. Amazon Sword.   pH 6.5-7.5, temp. 22-28 Celsius, Water hardness 2-15 degrees, Lighting 50 watts per 25 Galls water.   These should be supplemented with iron fertilizer and planted in loose substrate.
3. Argentine Sword.   pH 6.5-7.5,   temp. 16-25 Celsius, Water hardness 1-5 degrees, Lighting 50 watts per 25 Galls water.   These need to be planted in loose substrate and will require iron fertilizer.
4. Hygrophila Polysperma.   pH 6.5-8.0, temp. 20-30 Celsius, Water hardness 2-15 degrees, Lighting 50 watts per 25 Galls water.   Small reddish or green leaves atanding at 24 inches, they should be placed in the center back of the tank so they have room to grow.
5. Umbrella Plant.   ph 5.0-7.0, temp. 22-25 Celsius, Water hardness 4-12 degrees, Lighting Intense.   They can be anywhere between 8-12 inches tall. They have tall, thin stems with small leaves at the top of each stem that branch out into a star shape. They will die if completely submerged in the aquarium water because they are not really aquatic plants. What you do is submerge the roots and grow the plant on the surface.
6. Vallisneria Spiralis.   pH 6.5-7.5, temp. 15-30 Celsius, Water hardness 5-15 degrees, Lighting 50 watts per 50 Galls water.   This looks like grass and grows to 24 inches.   Vallisneria spiralis have wide ranging water parameter needs and are therefore a good choice for beginners. These plants look best along the sides or in the back of your aquarium
7. Anubias Barteri.   pH 6.5-7.5, temp. 22-28 Celsius, Water hardness 8 degrees, Lighting Moderate.   Anubias Barteri has broad green leaves that grow as much as 16 inches long.   They grow best with CO2 fertilization.
8. Other low light options include:  Cryptocoryne, Dwarf Hairgrass, Water Sprite, Anacharis, and Cabomba.

For more information on Freshwater Aquarium Plants go to my website www.freshwateraquariumsecretsonline.com