JamieTurner Mar 22, 2008 Pets

Furnishing your aquarium is an important process in creating a more beautiful tank. You will need to put in components that will not only make it look more beautiful and attractive, but will be clean and safe for the type of inhabitants you intend to keep.

 

Things you’ll need

• colorful gravel
• plastic or live natural plants
• electrical lighting
• cleaned rocks, shells or bogwood

 

Procedure Steps

1. Gravel is essential to your aquarium, especially if you are using natural plants. It helps to hold plant roots, and provides the foundation for the biological and under-gravel filtration. Gravel comes in different sizes, but the advised size is about ¼-inch because it provides the best flow for the filter.
2. Plants create a unique beauty for your aquarium. There are two types of plants - plastic plants and live natural plants. It's very easy to use plastic plants because they need little or no maintenance. You just wash them with clean water and add them into your tank. On the other hand, live plants help in the biological process of your aquarium, and help to keep it clean and healthy.
3. The most important thing to bear in mind with aquarium plants is to leave ample space so the fish can swim undisturbed and be seen, while forming an attractive background for your tank. The tall, grassy type is best planted at intervals in rows, while the feathery ones look better when they are bunched into small clumps, which makes them to appear like branching bushes.
4. When planting rooted plants, hold the tips of the bunch of roots between the thumb and second finger and rest them on the sand. Now with the first finger push the upper part of the roots (where they join the stem) about 1 inch into the sand. Without moving this finger scrape with the thumb and second finger some sand over any uncovered portion of the root.
5. When putting in rootless plants in bunches, method #4 is repeated, but this time the lower ends of the stems are placed together and treated exactly as if they were roots.
6. It is important that the water surface should be right up to the lower edge of the top angle iron of the tank so that looking from the front, the water surface can not be seen and the viewer gets the impression that there is no water in the aquarium.
7. Aquarium lighting depends greatly on whether you intend to successfully grow plants or not. The lighting can be natural or artificial or a combination of both. The electrical lighting should be housed in wood constructed stylishly with the furniture and placed above the tank.
8. The best position for artificial lighting is near a north facing window. The total amount of light required is a matter of trial and error. If there is no natural day light, the lights should be left on for approximately 8 hours every day.
9. Adding rock or bogwood is an essential addition to any tank as it provides an isolated home for territorial fish while adding beauty to your aquarium. When adding bogwood, make sure that it’s well cleaned and not infected. To be sure that it’s infection free, take it through a process of poly-vanishing prior to adding it to your tank.
10. Any colored heavy-foil, especially red or green, will add depth in texture to your tank when placed on the back wall. Before putting in a piece, lightly crumple it in your hands, then gently unfold it with the crinkles left unflattened. Now slide it down into the tank along the back wall and wedge it under the gravel to hold it. You can also pin some large pieces of decoration against the foil to hold it back.

Tips

• The most popular types of gravel are quartzite or granite.
• The two main methods of aquarium lighting are incandescent and fluorescent.  
• The most beautiful light for showing off an aquarium comes from behind.

Warnings

• Too much light will turn the water green; too little will stunt plant growth. Lack of light will cause colorful fish to fade and blanch - reds to pink, green to white.
• Before adding any found materials like rocks, shells or bogwood, it's very important to be sure they are safe. You should clean them thoroughly to remove contaminants.  

 

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