I have seen people whenever they see an aquarium at some restaurant, dental clinic, some office or somewhere at beer-bar, there is a 50 % percentage possibility they will think of having an aquarium at home isn’t?
If you saw an aquarium at bar as soon as leave the bar the idea of having a fish tank is lost, because when the thought originated in your mind you were drunk and when you left you were more drunk…so just forget it.
But I feel people who have seen it in at some other than bar might have seriously thought of setting up a fish tank. So what you do go to pet shop get a tank, buy all the accessories which the shopkeeper gives you, put some fishes in the tank, put a bulb in the tank, show to it your parents tell them it’s good for their blood pressure, will be under-control, switch off the lights and let only bulb in tank glow, wow what a view, you are happy, your parents are happy, the fishes inside tank are happy getting a new house (just exaggerating). This goes on for few days or maximum to a week, then one fine morning you wake up early to see what’s happening in your tank and then you get a big shock ’what shit ‘ some tiny fishes have gone missing, some fishes are floating on top of the tank, now your tank looks a lost battle field where all your soldiers are DEAD. You don’t know what went wrong, totally clueless, but you are still determined and the gaze of determination in still in your eyes, you go back to shop buy some new fishes, this time little bigger ones as the pet shopkeeper has convinced you take bit grown fish it won’t die soon, so you again get convinced pick up all fishes by size and comeback home, what happens very next more dead fishes this time you don’t feel sad about the fishes you regret for the money invested in buy these ornamental fishes, you realise that if you had bought some prawns or prom-fret from you machiwali bai at least you would have eaten and relished it. You curse yourself and then vow to yourself ‘no more fish tank’
I say give yourself another chance. I’ll tell few basic things that you need to follow, considering local scenario i.e. an beginner aquarist from INDIA, as all the firangi sites gives you tons of information but when you actually try find the things which they have recommended you never find it at our local pet shops so let’s not even talk about them.
So let’s begin taking into consideration our desi scenario
1) Finalize a place where you want to put an aquarium , see that place has at least some indirect sunlight
2) Most import do you have any stand or strong wooden table which take weight, oh no no…TV trolley won’t work here. You need a strong stand which can hold the weight of your tank
3) Length of the tank, how big tank you want, check the places available at your house, check table length which is available or get a stand to fit into the available space or else face the displeasure of your family for getting your house more congested
4) Check for plugpoint availability at the place where you want to set your tank
5) Ok now basic checks done. It’s time to hit the pet shop now
6) Look at all fishes..Hmm you like them all huh..enjoy them ….continue enjoying them
7) Are you done enjoying them..not yet…take your own sweet time, by the time I’ll write down further steps
8) Hello welcome back, now let’s get practical, think what you can manage …don’t listen to everything and anything what the shop owner says, he is there for business *sooner your fish dies, more the profit he makes*
9) Relax….read my point number 10
10) Never take a fish-bowl until you are planning to have very very small fishes. And remember no fish swims in a circular manner, no not even Gold-Fish, forget what they show in ads
11) Initially have a 1 ½ feet or 2 feet tank, remember you are just a beginner
12) Other accessories oxygen motor, pipe, filter, tank shade, blue liquid, de-chlorinator , fish food
13) Yea you can decorate your tank, but believe me cleaning will becoming a pain, so keep it to minimum
14) Now comes the fish selection part, select fishes that are easier to maintain. Recommended (Molly pair, Swordtail) or have a single pair of Gold fish. Oh! you feel your tank is still empty isn’t? You could add more fishes, when this thought comes think yourself in your flat, do you think that place is enough for 4 -5 people, no it’s not, you go out of your house socialize with friends so you don’t feel anything about it,but what about the fishes, they will live there , poop there and die there L
15) Enough of senti-talks , ‘I got my tank….now you go get it’ *telling you in Sachin’s voice*
16) Assuming you have placed tank at the right place and on the right stand
17) Start filling in the tap water to into tank, don’t fill the tank up-to the brim
18) Add de-chlorinator to the tank 3-4 drops then add few drops of blue liquid
19) Connect the motor to plug, connect the pipe , start the flow of oxygen in tank…so now all set
20) Hold on don’t open the fish plastic bag, let the fish in the plastic bag float in the tank, this helps the fish to adjust with the water temperature of the tank
21) After 5-10 min release the fish gently from bag into the tank
22) Enjoy this for some hours, don’t start feeding your fish, let your fish settle down first, observe it’s movement
23) It make take some hours or a day for the fish to settle
24) Once your fish is settled in the tank, you can start feeding your fish twice or thrice a day depends on your choice *normally a fish can survive 9 days without food*
25) Don’t ever try to overfeed your fish, if you do then your fish will poop a lot and contaminate the water, and might die due to overfeeding do you want that? Probably no but sill you have to clean your tank, nope filter sponge doesn’t work. You have to clean the dirt and recycle the tank with fresh water, it’s cumbersome, but trust me you won’t regret, when your fish starts growing up day by day you feel it’s worth
26) By water change I mean is just one mug every day, use a spare pipe(tube) to siphon the dirt from tank
27) And on weekends or every 15 days clean the inner walls of tank, use sponge or scotch-brite, ask your mom she will tell you from where to get it
28) Don’t decorate your tank too much, more the decoration more difficult to clean the tank
29) Use CFL bulbs to maintain light in your tank
30) Don’t feed always live food to your fish, buy pellets of quality
31) Bottom line is maintain hygiene in your tank and your fish will flourish
Try out these steps, it works.
