Selecting Your Aquarium

SELECTING YOUR AQUARIUM

Before setting up your aquarium, there are several factors that you must take into consideration, such as the type of aquarium, dimension of the tank, the weight and location of the aquarium.

Types

The most common type of material used to fabricate aquarium tanks, are Glass, plastic and Acrylic. Parents usually go for plastic tanks for their children mainly for safety reason. However, Glass and Acrylic tank is preferable due to higher resistant to scratches, discoloration and able to withstand higher water pressure as compared to plastic tank.

When choosing the aquarium, there are tank that comes with cover/hood while some comes as open top. An open top tank provide the flexibility of using different type of lighting equipment, filters and even auto-feeding device. A cover is useful to prevent evaporation which result in a lower water level that may affect the function of filters as well as resulting a rise in high level of minerals remain in the water. A tank cover will also prevent the fishes from jumping out of the water, thus it has become a common practice for hobbyist to have a glass cover specially cut for their open top tank.

Dimensions

Getting the right size aquarium is very important, thus when choosing your tank, select the tank that best fit the space you have allocated, and of course within your budget. This will allow a more stable aquatic environment and also a greater selection of fish, as aquarium surface area is important for the oxygenation, thus the number of fishes in the tank is determined by the size of the tank. The height of the tank also helps to provide a better condition for certain species of fish and plants, thus that is something we have to consider too when choosing the tank.

Weight

Generally, 1 liter of water weights approximately 1kg excluding the weight of the tank itself, thus it is recommended to place your tank on a proper aquarium stand/cabinet instead of your average household cabinet. Proper support for the aquarium is essential at all the corners of the tank to prevent stress on the glass. Uneven surfaces and unstable stand/cabinet can cause stress on your aquarium causing breakage, thus it is strongly recommended to use the designated and recommended stand for your aquarium.

Location

It is important to take note of the location where you are setting up the aquarium. The ground / flooring of your selected location must be flat and not uneven and also avoid setting your aquarium near the windows or heating device.

Overexposure of sunlight causes rapid algae growth in your tank, which means more maintenance and cleaning to be done and rapid fluctuation in water temperature is very harmful and stressful for the fishes.