The tropical fish keeping hobby has come a long way over the past decade thanks in part to advances in aquarium equipment and the plethora of readily available information. There are many outstanding fish and aquarium books available as well as an abundant amount of information on the internet, forums and discussion groups. Running your own tank is way easier than it was just 10 years ago.

In the past, folks would go to the pet store and buy the tank, equipment and fish all at once not knowing they were setting themselves up for failure. They would get the aquarium set up and running, put some fish in and everything would be fine for a couple of days but then the fish would start to die. Now we know better. We know about the crucial aquarium nitrogen cycle that must take place in all new tanks. We know how to properly acclimate tropical fish to our tank water and how to periodically use our aquarium test kits to test the tank water to make sure nothing is out of whack. We have better access to fish behavior and can determine which fishes shouldn't be kept together in the same tank. The information is out there, at our fingertips, at libraries, book stores and the search engines.

So, with all this available information we can quickly come up to speed with running a tank in our home. There are many different types of aquarium setups but the most common types are freshwater, saltwater fish only and saltwater reef tanks. Here is a very brief intro:

Freshwater Aquarium

The mainstay of the hobby and the most popular setup, a freshwater tank setup can be a great first tank and it will give you the necessary experience needed for branching out into other types of tanks. This setup is the least expensive in terms of equipment and livestock and is not usually as demanding as the other types. There are literally hundreds of different types of fish available so finding a species you'll like shouldn't pose a problem. You can keep live aquarium plants in your tank as well. Keeping plants may require an upgrade to your lighting system and you may have to add supplements to your tank water. Freshwater aquarium plants add another dimension of beauty to a freshwater tank.

Saltwater Aquarium

Saltwater tanks are perceived to be more difficult than freshwater tanks. In times past, that statement may have been true but I don't think that is necessarily the case today. With the increasing use of live rock as the primary biological filter in a saltwater tank setup, the chances of successfully running this type of aquarium have dramatically improved. A fish only saltwater tank equipped with live rock will be more expensive than a freshwater tank because you'll need to purchase live rock and a protein skimmer. Marine fish are also more expensive than their freshwater counterparts.

Saltwater Reef Tank

The ultimate tank setup in this hobby has to be the reef tank. It's like having a small piece of the coral reef in your living room. The emphasis is on the corals and invertebrates with a limited amount of fish. These tanks are however, more expensive to setup and maintain. Equipment such as metal halide lighting, protein skimmers, live rock, testing equipment, supplements, water purification units (reverse osmosis and deionization) and sumps drive the cost of this setup. Don't forget about the ongoing maintenance costs (electricity) as well. The livestock costs for live corals, fish and invertebrates are also very expensive. This type of tank can be very demanding when first set up because you'll need to monitor the water parameters periodically and take corrective action when necessary. Even though this is the most expensive type of setup, it can also be the most breathtaking. You should to do your homework (research) and figure out exactly what you want to accomplish before buying your first piece of reef equipment.

No matter what type of tank setup you choose, as long as you do your homework beforehand you'll enjoy this hobby. Research the equipment and livestock before purchasing them and you will prevent many headaches and keep some of that hard earned money in your wallet!

Mike Magnum

Mike is an editor at http://FishLore.com. Designed for beginners, http://www.FishLore.com provides tropical fish information, how-to guides, articles, fish profiles, FAQs, forums and more! http://FishLore.com - Tropical Fish & Aquarium Information.

How To Set Up A Quarantine Tank

Do I Need A Quarantine Tank?

Ah, yes, the often dismissed but very necessary part of the tropical fish hobby, the infamous quarantine tank.  Do you really need one to be successful in this hobby?

For freshwater fish you may be able to get by without having one.  Freshwater fish are generally more suited to captivity because they are usually tank raised and don't seem to break out in disease as readily as their saltwater counterparts.  However, if newly acquired fish do come down with something, you will surely wish that you had one ready to go.  One newly bought fish that is introduced to your main tank can easily wipe out the entire tank population.  Better safe than sorry, right?

For saltwater aquarium keepers, I would say that you definitely need a quarantine tank.   Marine specimens are mostly wild caught and not used to being kept in captivity.  Their journey to a dealers tank is usually much longer and much more stressful for them.  Stressed out fish will usually come down with some kind of disease if they don't simply die from the whole ordeal.  Saltwater fish keepers will usually have other things in the main display tank such as invertebrates and live rock, that they don't want to expose to the harsh medicines necessary to treat one or two fish.  Some medicines can wipe out all of the invertebrates in a tank, so be sure to research any medicine before using it in your tank.

Quarantine Tank Setup

You don't need to go all out here.  A simple 10 - 20 gallon aquarium will suffice for most people.  If you have larger fish then obviously you want to get a bigger quarantine tank.  All you really need is a bare bones setup with the following equipment:

Some type of filtration (a hang on the back of the tank power filter will work, just use filter floss without the carbon since carbon will remove medication from the water, being counter productive)
Heater
A power head and/or an air stone for increased surface agitation
Test Kits for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate
Fish Net - don't use the same net for your main tank

Fill the quarantine tank with water from the main tank and then turn everything on in the quarantine tank.

Freshwater and Saltwater Fish Quarantine
For newly acquired fish you will want to acclimate them to the water in the quarantine tank and monitor them very closely for a period of two to three weeks.  Monitor the water parameters with your test kits and check for signs of parasites or bacterial infections.

If the newly acquired fish does come down with something you will need to use the appropriate medication and you will need to keep them in quarantine for a further two weeks to make sure that you have indeed treated them effectively.  If after a few weeks no problems develop, you can then acclimate them to the main tank water and then introduce them.

 If a fish comes down with something while in your main tank, just net them and plop them into the quarantine tank.  There should be no need to acclimate them because you used water from your main tank.  If you didn't use water from the main tank you will need to acclimate them to the quarantine tank water.  Diagnose the problem/disease and treat appropriately.  After the disease clears up you will still want to keep the fish in quarantine for a week or so monitoring the water parameters with your test kits the whole time.

Conclusion

Freshwater hobbyists may get away with not using a quarantine tank, but saltwater hobbyists would be crazy not using one.  Save yourself some money, headaches and especially the fish by having a quarantine tank.  The fish in your main tank will thank you for it.

Mike Magnum

Mike is an editor at http://FishLore.com. Designed for beginners, http://www.FishLore.com provides tropical fish information, how-to guides, articles, fish profiles, FAQs, forums and more! http://FishLore.com - Tropical Fish & Aquarium Information.