My life as a cat

When you are planning to buy an aquarium, here are some tips:

Do not overfeed!
Buy the biggest aquarium you can afford. Also a large surface is more important than overall capacity. A large aquarium is more stable in terms of temperature and water chemistry.
Incandescent hoods are cheap, but a fluorescent bulb lasts much longer, gives off little heat and shows off fishes' true colors.
Do not use tungsten or halogen lamps for your aquarium. Use daylight and actinic blue rated fluorescent lamps or metal halide lamps with a colour temperature of at least 5500oK. Avoid the use of lamps with a high percentage of red/orange even when growing water plants. A preference for blue light is suggested.
Don't lift a full aquarium. It's too heavy; the glass will crack.
Remove chlorine from water, unless you have unchlorinated well water.
Never clean your aquarium or equipment with detergents. Bleach and any other commercial cleaning agents are deadly to fish
Dark gravel in your aquarium will make your fish appear darker and brighter.
Start with a few fish, no full loads.
Float your bag of new fish in the aquarium 15 minutes to avoid temperature shock. Then mix water in gradually.
If you have cloudy water the first week, wait 3 days and only feed what will be eaten completely in 1 minute.
Maintain 1 tsp. kosher or aquarium salt per 5 gallons water.
Observe fish carefully before buying, avoid any with split fins, damaged gills, etc.
Do check the requirements and compatibility of species BEFORE buying.
Always do a 20% partial water change before adding new fish.
A rule of thumb is 1 in. of fish for every gallon of water in your aquarium.
Use a quarantine tank for new fish wherever possible.
Only feed what is completely eaten in 3 minutes.
Shells and coral are only for salt water aquariums.
Have more than 1 female livebearer for each male.
Have 3 or more of each schooling fish.
Heaters in your aquarium should be mounted clear of the gravel and other objects to ensure adequate water circulation around them.
No heaters for goldfish. For tropicals, figure 5 watts per gallon of water.
Never have your heater plugged in unless it is properly immersed in water.
Frequent small partial water changes are always better than large changes.
Algae in your aquarium can be reduced by decreasing the light and feeding the fish less. Live aquarium plants can also compete for available nutrients; but do not add live plants when first starting an aquarium for about 6 weeks.
As temperature increases, carrying capacity of your aquarium decreases. That's why we see more problems in the summer in heavily loaded tanks.
Dilution is the solution to pollution. Do partial water changes. Make partial changes every week for the first month of your aquarium, and at least bimonthly afterwards. Remove 20% of the water using a gravel cleaner to remove detritus (waste) down in the gravel.
Avoid the use of too many chemical additives in your aquarium unless you fully understand the consequences of their use.
If you must use medication in your aquarium, assume you have lost some of your good bacteria, and don't add a new fish for a week or two.
When you use medication in your aquarium remove the carbon from the filter, but leave the filter running. Also increase aeration to keep the oxygen level high.
Landscaping an aquarium with safe rocks and plants enhances the beauty of the aquarium.
DO NOT OVERFEED!

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