Like any other pet, keeping a fish in a home aquarium also has certain requirements. The fish keepers must be well aware of the essential equipment for Home Aquarium Sometimes, for the beginners, it gets a bit tough to decide what they need the most for their aquarium? and what is not that essential?
List of most Essential Aquarium Equipment
Here comes a complete and handy list of stuff you need for setting up a home aquarium. Following aquarium equipment are essential for providing a healthy atmosphere to your fish.
- Aquarium filter
- Aquarium water conditioner
- Water heater
- Lightening
- Testing kits
- Siphons
- Fishnet
Above mentioned equipment is sufficient for full filling the basic needs of your fish. Let’s not waste any time and get started with the details of the above-mentioned stuff.
AQUARIUM FILTERS
Aquarium filter is captious equipment of an aquarium. An efficient filtration system is as important to fish as fresh air to human beings.
As it is clear that the fish can’t survive without having fresh and clean water. without a well acting filter, the fish can’t even stand a week and will eventually die.
The main function of the aquarium filter is to clean the water from dirt, debris and waste products. While selecting the filter for your tank make sure that it has a 4 fold capacity than your tank. For example, a 10-gallon tank requires a filter having a capacity of 40 gallons per hour(GPH).
Moreover, make sure you pick up a good filter not the water pump. the main difference between a water filter and water pump is that the filter cleans the water through the filter media, whereas, the pump only push the water. Most recommended filter by fish experts are Cannister filters.
Aquarium Water Conditioner
The most vital aspect of fish keeping is maintaining the water quality in the aquarium. Because bad quality water could be damaging to the fish and can cause an instant ailment or even death.
For those fish keepers who use tap water for their aquarium, a suitable water conditioner is a necessity. Depending upon the type of water the conditioning system varies. Tap water contains chlorine, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia. Moreover, it could be acidic or basic. So the tap water is not suitable for the well being of the fish.
To avoid that, we use water conditioning systems. A few drops of an efficient water conditioner can neutralize the water and can make the water harmless for the fish. Therefore, be very cautious while selecting the water conditioner for your aquarium because the survival of your fish depends on it.
Aquarium Water Heater
List of Essential equipment for home aquarium cannot be completed with an aquarium heater. Most of the tropical fish except Goldfish are acclimatized to a temperature higher than our ordinary room temperature. To reach a temperature of 72-77 degree Fahrenheit, a water heater is essential.
Working of a water heater is simple, you set up a certain temperature you require and the sensors will automatically turn the heater off once the required temperature is reached.
While looking for a water heater, certain points should be kept in mind.
First of all, it should have an appropriate size. 3-5 watt per gallon is a suitable size for a large tank. In the case of a larger tank, two heaters are
Better for efficient heating.
Furthermore, in areas where the temperature is lower, we may need a heater with a higher capacity.
There are many types of heaters available in the market, including submersible heater, filter heaters and substrate heaters. Even mini heaters are available for betta fish living in smaller tanks.
Aquarium Lighting
Aquarium lights are not only for decoration purposes, of course, but they also serve more than that. Fish don’t need any lights. But if you have live plants in your tank the lights are a necessity. live plants in the tank need a maximum of 5-6 hours per day of light. more light could cause rapid growth of algae. so the fish keepers must be careful regarding the amount of light they provide.
There is a wide variety of lights available nowadays, fluorescent, incandescent, mercury vapours, halogens and light-emitting diodes. the most popular lights these days are LED lights. They are cheap, readily available and efficient. Moreover, they don’t heat the water.
Test Kits
To know whether water quality is suitable for the fish or not? you need certain testing kits. The tap water is often used for the home aquarium . It as a lot of impurities including chlorine, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite.
pH meters are used for testing the acidity or alkalinity of water. Multifunctional test kits can test the hardness of water as well as the pH and nitrate levels. Furthermore, In-tank testing monitors are also available. These kits are quite simple because they just stuck to the walls of the tank. Then the only thing left is to monitors changes in water quality.
There is a very simple procedure of using a test kit. Take the sample of water to test, add it in the kit and shake. Then match it with the testing strips.
How often the kit could be used? It is a very important thing to know. Firstly, the kit should be used for cycling the tank. Afterwards, you can test the water every week for almost 2 months.
Fishnet
Of course, nobody wants to get there hands for getting filthy materials out of the tank. That’s why fishnet is an easy solution Because they can be used to remove dead fish from the aquarium.
Small fishnets with tiny holes are best for all purposes. Handy and efficient, these fishnets are the need of the day. Essential aquarium equipment like these is easily available in the market these days.
Siphons
Siphon is an easy solution for water changing problem, especially in gravel-based tanks. Siphons are little vacuums for sucking out debris and food particles stuck in the gravel.
They create high sucking pressure and remove the heavy particles with water. Perfect for partial water changes, This tiny device has revolutionized the whole water changing technique. Moreover, this aquarium equipment is easily available at any pet store.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Once you got all of the above essential equipment for home aquarium, you are good to go. At the end all this, I would say that for a fragile and delicate creature like fish, all the above-mentioned aquarium equipment are primary.
