Beyond their aesthetic appeal, small aquariums significantly impact household dynamics. They introduce children to the wonders of aquatic life and foster a sense of responsibility as they learn about caring for these living creatures. Watching the tranquil movements of fish and the gentle sway of aquatic plants has a calming effect, reducing stress and encouraging a moment of pause in our busy schedules. In addition, the continuous maintenance and upkeep of an aquarium can serve as a therapeutic practice, providing a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Aquariums are an excellent way to bring a piece of nature into your home or office. Tropical fish, with their bright colors and lively personalities, make for great additions to small aquariums. However, not all fish are well-suited for small aquariums

These micro fish are great options for those looking to add some life and color to their nano aquarium. Be sure to research the specific care requirements for each species, as well as the compatibility with any other fish in the tank, to ensure a healthy and thriving aquarium environment.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your fish in tip-Top condition and absolutely stunning. Let's talk about water changes. It's super simple. Water comes out, and then new water comes back in again.
In most cases, it will give your fish that absolute bump you need to keep them in a prime condition.
There's an element of people that say you don't ever need to do water changes and get everything in an entire ecosystem and balance. While there is an element of truth to that when you begin to do water changes regularly,  they will  absolutely thrive. The colours come through, natural behaviours are displayed.

When setting up a new aquarium, we always aim to create a healthy and thriving environment for our fish. The cycling process is an integral part of creating that ecosystem. Cycling your aquarium involves creating the biological filter of beneficial bacteria that allow your aquarium to sustain life by breaking down waste materials, such as ammonia and nitrate. This article will discuss the steps involved in correctly cycling a freshwater aquarium.

Accurate Measurement of Space Requirements: The footprint of an aquarium is a more accurate measurement of the space required to keep your fish and other aquatic life happy and healthy. The footprint takes into account the entire surface area of the aquarium, which is important for calculating the amount of light and oxygen the fish need. This is because light and oxygen enter the aquarium through the surface of the water, not the volume of the water.

Very quickly it was apparent to me that I needed to keep these animals in an appropriate sized aquarium due to their nature and overall size they got and luckily enough for me I scored my first "big" aquarium not long after I started looking.

From there I thought to myself it wasn't fair to have these Kribs in with a natural predator regardless if he was interested in them or not. Soon to TradeMe I went and I bought my self a second hand Aqua one 620t which had super sweet blue lights. So in the tank (uncycled, rookie mistake) went my Kribs.  And this was the making of my first aquarium.

Probably the most important part of keeping an aquarium is learning about the cycle. They joy with cycling is you can make it as complicated or basic as you wish, and for the sake of this we will make it as basic as possible for you.

The simplest way of explaining the cycle is that is makes your aquarium safe for your fish. It does that via good bacteria within your filter breaking down nasty stuff and turning it into something that is less nasty for your wet pets. This process goes from ammonia (very nasty) to nitrite (also very nasty) on to nitrate (only nasty at high levels). The idea is to not put fish into an aquarium with ammonia or nitrite but to wait until this process has gone through to nitrate. Depending on the method you use to cycle your aquarium this could take anywhere from 3 days up to 6 weeks.

Bottled bacteria is a good way of speeding up a cycle for a new aquarium (please see cycling section) using these products can shorten a cycle down from upwards of 6 weeks to as little as 3-7 days. If using a bottled bacteria to cycle a fresh aquarium, please note although your aquarium is cycled and ready for wet pets, it is still a very immature system, so slowly adding fish is still the best option.

 

Plant selection is also very important, all too often pet shops sell non-aquatic plants as aquatic plants, this is a recipe for disaster as they will not last long submersed underwater in your aquarium. We at the fish room do not carry not aquatic plants, to give you the best possible chance of having your plants survive.

Once you have decided where your new aquarium is going to sit, you need to decide if you are going to go with tropical fish or cold water. As a general rule, tropical is easier to look after than cold water and gives far greater options for wet pet selection.