Aquarium Glass

Aquariums are built from specially enforced glass to make sure that when the water is added to the tank and all the equipment and the fish are in, the tank doesn’t fall apart and end up all over the floor. The glass itself is terribly heavy and when you add water it is impossible to lift, unless you are the strongest man or woman in the world! Fish tanks don’t just need to be made from glass; they can be made from acrylic too.

Aquarium glass is basically extremely thick and strong glass that is built to withstand the pressure and the weight of at least ninety litres of water. Some tanks are as big as eight or nine feet long and three or four feet wide so you can just imagine the amount of water needed to fill that tank and then the pressure that is on the glass, but the glass never beaks. It is sealed at the sides to make sure that it can withstand the weight of the water. You would not want that tank to break and splash out all that water on your living room floor!

Fish tanks can also be made from acrylic. Acrylic is known to be at least twice as strong as glass and half the weight. The benefits of acrylic tanks are that it can be moulded when heated to suit whatever shape or style of tank that you want. Also when the sides are moulded together with heat they are said to be stronger than the sealant used to hold the glass together. Acrylic tanks don’t sound like a good option to me; I think I will be sticking with glass tanks. Acrylic tanks are new and not many people have used them yet. The glass is still the best alternative for me and my fish!

Aquarium glass is easy enough to pick up although it is quite expensive. As with everything else you can get your aquarium built to suit you, so you don’t have to purchase one from the shop, although unless you are someone who can build a tank it is going to cost you a pretty penny or two!

Aquarium Fish

You have the set up and now all you need is the fish to go in it, but what to choose? Do you want to start of small? Or do you want to dive right into the deep end, pardon the pun. The best thing to do it is to talk it over with your local fish shop. But they will advise you exactly the same as what I am going to advise you. If you see this as becoming a really good hobby then don’t bother will small fish as this is just a waste of time and money, but if this is just a fad or is for your kid’s or whatever, then small fish is the way to go.

Small aquarium fish can be anything from tetras to angel fish, they are usually brightly coloured and tend to eat fish flakes rather than fish “meat”. The smaller fish tend to be for decorative purposes as they are very shiny and create a lot of bright silvers under the right aquarium lights. They are simple fish with no personality and they are no fun at all! These kinds of fish are for simple decorative aquarium set ups and suit people who want a low maintenance tank.

Larger fish however, such as cichlids and African fish are a lot harder to keep. They are the harder fish in general though, so your fish mortality rate is pretty low, unlike smaller weaker fish. The problem or should I say fascination with cichlids is that they are cannibals. If there is a smaller fish in the tank then say good bye to it as it won't be there much longer! They eat fish meat and don’t try to feed them any less, they will not be happy. Different types of cichlids are available. They do not all look the same, there are Oscars (my personal favorite) which you can have tiger, red or albino. There are black belts, there are jaguar cichlids and the list does go on. The types of fish require a lot of filter and gravel cleaning as they have high amounts of waste. A breeding pair of cichlids is worth a lot of money! Cichlids in general are more expensive as they tend to be larger (we have a tank of 5-6 one and a half foot Oscars). Just remember that these fish like the tank. Set up the tank how you like but it may not stay that way for long. I could go on forever about cichlids but Ill leave it there for now.

So depending on what the reasons for your aquarium is depends on the type of fish for the aquarium that you should get. Smaller more decorative tanks need smaller more decorative aquarium fish. But the bigger the tank the bigger the fish! Put in some big boys and let them do the talking!

Aquarium Filter

There are two different kinds of filters; there are external filtration systems and internal filters. Internal filters are used in salt water and fresh water aquariums. Many salt water aquariums have an internal tube for the water to flow down into a sump tank, which is just below the main tank and all the water passes through a certain type of foam where all the waste and bad bacteria gather and this filters the water. The water is then pumped back up to the top of the main tank and this flow continues on constantly.
Although a noisy method, it is the second most effective but rather pricey. The other way of doing internal filtering is to have what looks like a large black rectangle stuck to the inside of your tank, this sucks up water and waste through its bottom, the water then passes up through the filter. This method is the third most effective method and is very cheap.

The external filter is the way to go, this filter is a hard working piece of machinery that keeps your aquarium in tip top condition and gets rid of all the water. It is like the other two methods of internal filtering above but it is al done outside of the tank. The only thing connecting the tank to the filter is a long black tube. This is the most effective and expensive way to filter your tank but it is very worth it.

All these types of filters are available at your local fish shop, but not really your local pet shop. For the internal filter that requires a sump tank this is usually custom made to suit your tank so it is expensive but not really worth the money. You are probably better choosing an external filter, although it will cost you more it is more effective and it creates less noise.