Type and Size of Aquarium

Whether you want to set up a Freshwater or a Saltwater aquarium, to start you would need to ask yourself what type of fish you want.

1. To determine the fish you want you can go to our fish fact library database and take a look at Saltwater species or freshwater species just by selecting the “Water Type” and pushing the “Apply Changes” button.
   
   
2. When you see some of the species available for the type of water you chose, you could narrow it down to the type of setup.
   Explore all the possible combinations of fish, by selecting the 2 types of freshwater aquarium setup and the 3 types of saltwater aquarium setups under “Aquarium Setup” Select Menu and then pressing the “Apply Changes” button.
   If you get no results, it could be because you are selecting a water type that would not allow that setup to take place, such as ; Saltwater water type and Freshwater Cold Water Aquarium setup type.
   All the possible types of Aquarium setups are:
   
   

For Freshwater Fish:

1. Tropical Aquarium (Planted Aquarium):
   • Freshwater fish, freshwater plants, freshwater rocks, Bogwood, Driftwood and all types of safe artificial decoration.
   • No artificial decorations not suited for freshwater aquariums, No metals that could rust.
   • Pebbles or smooth gravel.
   • Water temperature of 72 to 82 Degrees Fahrenheit.
     
     
2. Cold Water Aquarium:
   
   • Artificial Plants Only (Live Plants would be eaten by the fish).
   • All types of safe artificial decoration.
   • No artificial decorations not suited for freshwater aquariums, No metals. Metals could rust. Inadequate decorations can release toxic substances that could kill your fish.
   • Pebbles or smooth gravel.
   • Water temperature of 50 to 86 Degrees Fahrenheit.

For Saltwater Fish:

1. Fish Only Aquarium:
   
   • Saltwater Fish, some motile invertebrates.
   • No live Rock, No corals or Sessile invertebrates (Anemones).
   • Water Temperature of 75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
     
     
2. Fish Only with Live Rock Aquarium (FOWLR):
   
   • Saltwater Fish, some motile invertebrates.
   • No live Rock, No corals or Sessile invertebrates (Anemones).
   • Water Temperature of 75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
     
     
3. Reef Tank (or Mini-Reef Tank) Aquarium:
   
   • Contains Saltwater Fish, Sessile invertebrates (Anemones), motile invertebrates and Corals.
   • Water Temperature of 75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

   
   
   

3. Then using the “Compatible to” Select Menu box and select the fish, animal or coral that you would definitely like to have in your aquarium and then push the “Apply Changes” button. (Note that if you don’t see the species you selected among the species in the list, it is because some species are not compatible with their own species when captive in an aquarium.).
   
   
4. From those compatible species choose the ones that you think you would like to have in your aquarium and in a piece of paper write down the “MAXIMUM SIZE OF SPECIES” in inches of each and every species you want and add them up.
   
   
5. Right after that go back to the species list and check what is the “PREFERRED MINIMUM TANK SIZE” for each of all the species you want to have in your tank compare them and write down the largest Preferred Minimum Tank Size.
   
   
6. Now compare the number that you added of all the fish sizes with the largest preferred minimum tank size.
   Take the largest number to be the minimum tank size (in gallons) you will need to buy to have all the species you chose.

Equipment for Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium

The equipment needed varies whether it is a saltwater or a freshwater aquarium.
We will start by breaking down all the equipment needed for a freshwater aquarium.

For a Freshwater Aquarium the equipment and supplies needed are as follows:

1. Aquarium tank
2. Aquarium lighting
3. Aquarium Filter
4. Filter media
5. Aquarium Heater
6. Aquarium Thermometer
7. Aquarium substrate
8. Chlorine and Chloramines Remover
9. Hose with Sink Adapter
10. A 5 gallon bucket

For a Saltwater Aquarium the equipment and supplies needed are as follows:

1. Aquarium Tank
2. Smaller quarantine tank
3. Aquarium Lighting
4. Aquarium Filter / Wet Dry Filter.
5. 2 Water Pumps or more
6. Protein Skimmer
7. Aquarium Heater
8. Aquarium Thermometer
9. Saltwater Refractometer or Hydrometer
10. Power Strip special for aquariums
11. Filter Media
12. Saltwater water conditioner (chlorine and chloramines remover)
13. Saltwater Mix
14. Saltwater test kit
15. Aquarium substrate (Fish Only)/ Live Sand (FOWLR and Reef only)
16. Live Rock (FOWLR and Reef only)

Aquarium tank:
To choose an aquarium tank you need to have into consideration:

1. First you need to know what fish you want. Follow the instructions. As explained in the type and size of aquarium area .
2. If you already know what fish you want and the type of setup, you might want to decide between a glass aquarium or an acrylic aquarium. The advantages or disadvantages of a glass aquarium or an acrylic aquarium are listed on the Glass or Acrylic Aquarium area.

Aquarium Lighting:

The Aquarium Lighting needed for a Freshwater or Saltwater aquarium depends on if the aquarium will have live plants or not. To determine the type of lighting visit our Aquarium Lighting by Aquarium Type area. If you want to know about the types of lights available you can visit our Aquarium Lighting by Type of Bulb area.

Quarantine Tank:

A Quarantine tank is useful for Freshwater and Saltwater aquariums, but it is more important for saltwater aquariums because saltwater fish are just more difficult to keep captive.For more information on how to setup a Quarantine tank visit our Quarantine Tank Setup Area..

Aquarium Filter:

The filter devices more suitable for freshwater tanks are Power filters and Canister filters. For more information regarding Filters and filter media, you can go to our Aquarium filters section here.

Wet Dry Filter:

This type of fiter is more used on Saltwater setups. For more information regarding Wet Dry Filters and filter media, you can go to our Wet Dry Filters section here.

Filtration Media:

The best filtration media for freshwater aquariums is the media that you can fit in power filters, hang on and / or canister filters. In the Aquarium Filtration Media area you could find more information regarding the three types of filtration (Mechanical, biological and chemical) here Those three filtration types need to be present in a freshwater aquarium for a successful setup. Find filtration media at discounted prices here .

Protein Skimmers:

Protein skimmers are an escential part of your Saltwater aquarium setup. For more information regarding Protein Skimmers, you can go to our Protein Skimmers section here.

Aquarium Heater:

Aquarium heaters are very important for fish because abrupt changes on the aquarium temperature put fish in stress and that causes fish death or weakens fish to the point that they sick with parasites or pests.
The temperature control needs to be set up in the tank from the moment it is set, and before you add the fish.
Please visit our Aquarium heaters section here for more helpful information.

Aquarium Thermometer:

Choosing the right thermometer for your aquarium it’s not difficult; you have glass thermometers, Digital Thermometers, Wireless thermometers, crystal thermometers, etc
The main idea is to have some reliable way to monitor the temperature of your tank, because it needs to be stable.
Here you can find thermometers that you can choose from.

Aquarium Substrate:

The substrate needed for a freshwater aquarium can be natural or synthetic. It also depends on if you will use live plants in your freshwater setup. The substrate for a FOWLR and reef aquariums is Live Sand. To buy substrate you can go to our substrates area here, and to figure out how much substrate you need you can use our substrate tool.

Chlorine and Chloramines Remover:

There are many ways to remove chlorine and chloramines from your tap water. Chlorine and chloramines remover additives are one way. Learn more about chlorine and chloramines. You can purchase water conditioners that remove both Chlorine and Chloramines at the same time .

Hose with Sink Adapter :

This piece of equipment is very helpful and will minimize the hassle in the initial setup of your tank, and your tank’s maintenance. For aquariums there is the No Spill Clean And Fill hose, Python, I can’t stress enough the importance this product will have in your life as an aquarist, Buy this product or you will be miserable every time you do your tank’s maintenance. Furthermore, If you are into doing things the very hard way, I would suggest for you to experience doing the initial setup and water changes once using a bucket at least once, then get the No Spill Clean And Fill hose the next time, you will save time, aggravation, and mess. You can browse all the choices and get the No Spill Clean And Fill hose, Python here.