Tips To Select And Set Up A Healthy Tropical Aquarium
A saltwater aquarium is a great addition to your home, and it provides an attractive focal point featuring an ever-changing view of live tropical fish. But where do you start with getting the right tank and fish for your new aquarium? Here are some recommendations to help you choose and set up a healthy aquarium for your tropical fish.
Choose the Right Tank
The tank for your fish is an especially important detail because it will provide housing for your tropical fish and will either improve or decrease their lifestyle and health. For freshwater fish, you can get away with purchasing a smaller-sized tank with a lower water capacity, but you will want to go bigger with a saltwater aquarium. The nature of the tropical aquarium environment will require more size and interior space for your saltwater habitat for several reasons.
Many types of saltwater fish and aquatic life can be more territorial and will need their own space in a larger tank. Another reason is that the water inside a saltwater aquarium can become dirty more quickly with unhealthy water conditions. So if you were to have a smaller saltwater tank, the water can become overwhelmed with poor quality due to fish waste and excess food and harm your fish if it is a smaller tank. A larger tank will give you more time to clean out the tank and correct the water problem before it affects the health of your fish.
You can also choose a tank that has more surface area and is longer rather than deeper in depth. A longer tank will give the tank's exterior more surface area where carbon dioxide can release from the surface of the water and more oxygen can get absorbed into the tank's water for a healthier aquatic environment.
Choose Your Fish
When it comes time to choose the fish you put into your large tropical aquarium, there is a good variety of fish you can start off with. If you are a beginner in the world of tropical fish aquariums, it is a good idea to choose fish that are pretty hardy and aren't delicate in health so they are more resilient to problems you might encounter in your tank, for example, with the water quality.
Molly fish and guppies are pretty good fish that have good temperaments and are also low maintenance. If you are looking to fill your tank with several types of fish, look for one or two fish that will live on the bottom, such as plecostomus or a catfish. Next, look for fish that will swim along the top surface of the water, such as dwarf gouramis.
For more information about tropical aquarium fish, contact a local pet store.
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