How to Build a Fish Tank
How to Build a Fish Tank
Fish, without a shadow of a doubt, make fine pet. Sure, they are not quite as companionable as a puppy but there are a few advantages. Fish are beautiful and serene creatures and keeping an aquarium in the living room can do wonders to aesthetic appearance of your house. Having an aquarium is as close as you can get to experience the magic of Atlantis. Just think about it, where else would you get a chance to craft and sustain a magical world of colorful fairytale creatures?
There are various things you will need to build a fish tank, for example: an aquarium or a tank, under-gravel filter and air pumps, lights, a hood that covers the top of the aquarium, decorations to make the tank look beautiful, gravel, plants (they can either be live or plastic), a heater, a thermometer to keep a tab of the water temperature, chemical additives that will remove the harmful chlorine from the water, food for the little fishes and of course, the fish.
Preparing the fish tank
First you have to decide where the tank should be placed. A tank can get pretty heavy if you consider everything like the weight of the water, gravel, the decorations and the hood. So a 30 galloon tank is actually almost as heavy as 250 pounds. So the larger you plan to build your tank, the heavier it will be. Experts feel that most homes can easily support aquariums weighing up to 75 gallons without any additional support. Whatever the case, the tank should always be placed along a wall, where there is greater floor support than in centre of the room.
Never place the fish tank too close to an open window. The sunlight will only encourage the growth of algae and will just spoil the temperature of the tank.
Attachments like the heaters and filters need electricity, so the tank should always be near an electrical outlet. This will negate the need of using extension chords. If they have to be used then make sure that its ground fault protected.
While fixing the water filters it is important that you do not get one of the old fashioned “box type”
filters but purchase one of the newer self-contained units. These filters use cartridges that can continently be replaced after they get dirty. Make sure that you avoid purchasing any of the ‘under-gravel’ filters, as well. They are effective but require a lot of maintenance and also mess up the quality of the water in the tank.
Be sure to invest in a high quality good, submergible well-sealed heater. According to experts, in places where temperatures can drop drastically, one needs to install seven watts per gallon or even greater to maintain a steady temperature.
Decorating a fish tank can be a whole lot of fun. Always start by placing the gravel. There are lots of choices but its best to stick to natural stone colours. Once the gravel has been placed, add some pieces of colourful rocks, driftwood or different attractive decorations. Be artistic and create a world of magic, the fishes will love their new home.