Freshwater Aquarium Temperature
Freshwater Aquarium Temperature Regulation through Heaters
Freshwater fish are native to warm and tropical waters, and this affinity to warm climate allows freshwater fishes to thrive in waters that has an average temperature of 74°F to 80°F. Unfortunately though, most enthusiasts of freshwater fish live in the colder regions of the world, which is why proper regulation of your freshwater aquarium temperature that can simulate the living conditions of these fishes is necessary, so that they can do all of the natural tasks that they need to do just like when they are living in their natural habitat. To do this, you would need the help of an aquarium heater.
Hang-on Heater
This type of heater usually comes inexpensively to some specialty shops out there, so they’re perfect for hobbyists who are in need of a heater on a budget. Hang-on heaters are hung over the back side of the aquarium, and are submerged, hence the name.
These heaters have a mechanical temperature adjuster, which you can easily set to achieve the desired aquarium temperature. To keep the temperature at a constant value, you would need to keep the water control above the water line. In case you don’t know where the water line is, don’t worry, as most hang-on heaters will indicate the water line depending on its position in the aquarium.
One bad thing about the hang-on heater is that they can somehow be eyesore to the aquarium, in a sense that it can quite gaudy when placed beside the underwater decorations. However if you’re still on the training part, or is on a budget and would not mind a few cracks on the aesthetic part of the aquarium, then this would be perfect for you.
Submersible Heater
As the name suggests, the submersible heater can be fully submerged into your aquarium due to the fact that the tube is completely sealed. They have a slim design which makes them easy to conceal in your aquarium compared with immersible heaters. Submersibles are a little more expensive than immersibles and range from $15 to $50 in price. The temperature gauge is usually mechanical and is easy to set at a desired temperature. These heaters are reliable and do an excellent job of maintaining a consistent temperature. If you are a hobbyist who prefers a very natural look in your tank, this is a popular, fairly inexpensive and effective heating option.
Filter Heater
These heaters are placed into your external filter and heat water as it flows through the filter. The benefit of this is that water is heated more evenly throughout your tank whereas this is not always possible with immersible and submersible heaters. Another advantage of the heater being located inside the filter is that your entire heating system is external making it a very attractive option for hobbyists trying to achieve a completely natural look in their aquarium. The temperature dial is usually mechanical and is very easy to set making it simple to maintain a consistent temperature. Filter heaters are generally more expensive than their counterparts and range anywhere from $30 – $60. If you have the budget, these heaters are a great option in terms of overall aquarium aesthetics and temperature control.
Once you have decided on the type of heater you want for your aquarium, the next step is to determine the correct size for your tank. The size of an aquarium heater is determined by total wattage. The higher the wattage of a heater, the bigger it is. Obviously a bigger tank required a bigger heater. The other factor to consider when determining heater size is the temperature of the room the aquarium is in. The greater the variance in average room temperature versus your desired tank temperature, the greater the heater size needs to be. Assuming that most households are typically 68 degrees Fahrenheit and most freshwater tanks are kept around 75 – 77 degrees, use the chart below to determine what size heater is right for your aquarium.
5 – 8 gallon tank – 25 watt heater
10 – 20 gallon tank – 50 watt heater
22 – 30 gallon tank – 75 watt heater
32 – 40 gallon tank – 100 watt heater
45 – 60 gallon tank – 150 watt heater
62 – 70 gallon tank – 150 watt heater
70+ gallon tank – 250 watt heater (additional heater units may be needed)
If your average room temperature is lower than 68 degrees Fahrenheit, consider moving up in heater size. If it is higher than 68, consider moving down in heater size.
Once your heater is installed, be sure to have a thermometer located on or in the tank so you can monitor the temperature and adjust the heater accordingly.
There are many different companies that manufacture aquarium heaters and most of the products are more than suitable for the home aquarium.
Freshwater Aquarium Tank
Purchasing the Suitable Freshwater Aquarium Tank
The hobby of owning an aquarium and being able to raise fish in your own home gives that serene and calming ambience in your home, especially when you are gazing at the fish that swim about after a busy day’s work. Starting this great hobby isn’t that difficult, but before you even start buying freshwater fish, you must first consider purchasing a suitable freshwater aquarium tank, which you’ll use as the new home of these fish.
Determining the Desired Fish Tank Size and Shape 
Oftentimes, a tank’s surface area is the most observed factor, in detriment of its actual volume. This is because of the emphasis on the number of fish that will dwell on your fish tank, as there are some fish that would cluster around a certain level of the tank, which makes the volume a critical factor that should determine the actual space available for your fish.
In a broad sense, having a larger tank doesn’t mean that you’ll have a harder time maintaining it (although carrying it is an entirely different problem). In fact, changes in maintenance procedures are relatively little and pose no significant increase in complexity or work amount; for example, when conducting partial water changes in a tank.
Having a larger tank also translates into having more stability when it comes to the composition and substance chemistry of the water in the tank. Maintaining a medium sized tank for a beginner might be a little difficult, because slight changes in the water chemistry might prove fatal for the fish, unlike in a larger tank, where the effects are “diluted” within the larger amount of water present.
Lastly, the beginner might opt to have more fish as an exciting start to his o her brand new hobby, and if you want to accommodate more fish, you’ve got to have a larger tank.
Determining the Fish Tank Material to Use
Fish tanks are commonly crafted using one of the following two materials: glass and acrylic. Both can be either attractive or repulsive to an aquarium hobbyist, depending on the preferred options for the fish tank that the hobbyist wants.
Glass tanks are the classical tanks used for aquariums. It’s a relatively durable material, doesn’t scratch easily, and is stable enough. It is quite heavy, though, and needs careful handling when transporting if from place to place, because it can be shattered to pieces if you’re not careful.
Acrylic tanks 
are the modern type of fish tanks. They are made with synthetic materials that replicate the transparent properties of glass, while upgrading some of glass’ weaknesses like brittleness. These tanks are generally lighter than glass tanks by about half of the amount of the exact same size, although the price itself is around two to three times more expensive.
But all in all, you’re most likely to experience a mix of these different kinds of fish tanks throughout your career as an aquarium hobbyist. Given the opportunity, try out the different kinds of freshwater aquarium tanks for yourself, and see what you truly want for your home. Prudence is the key; don’t ever get tired of testing various things when they are readily presented for you to take hold!
Freshwater Aquarium Filter
Aquatic Sweepers: Freshwater Aquarium Filters
Aquariums need to be kept well and clean, but doing a manual cleaning job can be a little bit tedious, especially for an average person of the busy modern age. For these kinds of jobs, you can always ask the assistance of the ever trusty freshwater aquarium filters.
Types of Aquarium Filters by Filtering Process
When someone thinks of the word “filter”, the first thing that pops into mind is some sort of apparatus in which the finer particles pass through smoothly, while the larger particles stay. For freshwater aquarium filters, the concept is more or less the same, although in general there are three different ways of filtering unwanted particles in your aquarium.
Biological filtration involves cleaning of the water using natural processes. One of the most commonly known methods involved in this filtering process is the use of beneficial bacteria. These bacteria have the direct capability to transform otherwise toxic substances into a more tolerable, less toxic compound. Ammonia and nitrites are some of the substances that these beneficial bacteria can work on, transforming them into a less toxic compound like nitrate.
Chemical filtration makes use of synthetic materials that react with certain waste materials to be easily collected manually. This method of filtration is often best used in conjunction with other filtration methods, as the dissolved toxic waste cannot actually be separated from the water without mechanical intervention. Activated carbon is one of the most popularly used materials for chemical filtration.
Mechanical filtration makes use of materials that are similar to the traditional means of filtration, by manually letting the particles into the filter, trapping the waste particles. This method of filtration does not filter anything but actual solid particles. The filters used to collect waste material must be replaced periodically, because it can only hold a certain amount of waste material.
Types of Aquarium Filters by Physical Function
There are quite a number of freshwater aquarium filters for hobbyists out there, and some of these filters involve at least one or two kinds of filtration for your aquariums. Here are a few filters commonly used in aquariums:
Canister filters are about the most powerful filters available. The filter’s main action is to force the water through the filter media, rather than just letting water flow through it, and that is precisely what makes it so effective. Additionally, canister filters can be used as bacteria settling devices, by placing the dry wheels at the outflow of the filter. The only downside about these kinds of filters is the maintenance required to clean or replace the filters and the effort required to get them working again after cleaning.
Power filters are unarguably the most commonly used filters, as they have several advantages in terms of cost, availability and efficiency. They are relatively easy to install at the back of the tank, and are quite easy to maintain. Mechanical and chemical filtrations are achieved by the cleaning action of the floss and insert cartridges, and if you add a biowheel to it, it can even do biological filtration.
Fluidized bed filters use a new concept that greatly emphasizes the cleaning work of biological filtration. These filters are literally tubes with sand in them as the main filter media. Bacteria colonies are then allowed to settle in the sand “beds”, and the water is then filtered by pumping them upwards. Additional tubes can be installed for pre-filtering purposes, as well as for chemical filtration.
Freshwater Aquarium PH
Fish Tank Chemistry 101: Freshwater Aquarium pH
Fishes don’t actually live in waters that are too static, inert or free of anything but just pure water itself; they live in environments that having changing levels of acidity and alkalinity, often known as the pH levels of water. Now, don’t get confused: although it is termed as acidic, it’s not your stereotypical green oozing liquid that melts anything that it touches. Acidic in chemistry terms is just the rate of how high is the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution after being dissolved in water, which is basically the exact opposite of alkalinity which is determined by the number of hydroxide atoms (OH-).
pH levels in a Fish Tank
Water pH is the general measurement unit for testing the acidity or alkalinity of water. For acidity, anything that is less than 7.0pH is considered as acidic, while anything greater than 7.0pH would be considered alkaline. It is important to know the exact measurements of your fish tank water’s pH and to research about your fish’ pH level tolerance. Neglect of these important variables can potentially cause your fish’s early death.
Measuring pH levels
There are a number of available pH level test kits out there in the market, although it’s still up to the hobbyist on how to use the testing kit properly. Some hobbyists have the tendency to use the pH test kits on tap water right away, without considering the fact that the pH levels of that tap water can change considerably upon use as water in your fish tank. So, you have to test first the water by putting some rocks and gravel into it, and leaving it for about 24-48 hours (leaving the water for a week before testing works best, although it is indeed a bit time consuming). Then, test the pH levels afterwards, and see if there is any significant change in the water.
Consistency is the Key
For fish, it is vital that you keep the pH levels at a constant rate. They are most likely to get stressed by changing pH levels (for example, a water pH level that constantly shifts from 6.6 to 7.0) even if it’s suitable for the fish’s pH tolerance levels. This doesn’t mean that you should get it at and exact constant rate, though… that would be very difficult. Just keep it at a very low pH swing rate, something at around 0.2 unit change in pH levels should already be tolerable enough for your fish.
Changing the Water pH levels
Usually, the dissolved minerals in the rocks and gravel that you use in your substrate would already provide the right pH that you need for your aquarium, but there are other several methods to manually manipulate your freshwater aquarium pH levels. Water has a property that is called the buffering capacity, which is the ability to resist any change in pH levels. You should take note of this very well, because even if you put additives in the water to change its pH levels, you might end up as if you did not put the additive at all, because of the high buffering capacity of the water that you are using.
The most common method to increase the water pH levels is to add crushed coral to your substrate. The coral’s composition reacts to the water, and subsequently raises the water’s pH level and maintains it at a certain rate. Remember that pH levels constantly drop over time, so changing the water periodically is necessary to maintain the pH levels at a constant rate. Alternatively, there are available buffers in the market that can raise the pH levels of your fish tank, but beware of using them in large amounts unintentionally.
If you want to lower your freshwater aquarium pH levels however, then there are also several steps and measures to do so. One is to increase the carbon dioxide levels of the water. Don’t add too much, just enough for the pH levels to tip off and go over the lower pH zone. Synthetic Chemicals that lower pH levels are also available, but like always, you should be wary of the amount that you are administering in your fish tank.
Freshwater Aquarium Setup
What you Need
Setting up your aquarium is a very nice and exciting task, especially if you’re just beginning to explore the micro-world of fish in a controlled aquatic habitat. It would be very good and advantageous to know several key ideas and some basic rules for your freshwater aquarium setup.
Your Substrate
The extreme bottom of a fish tank is what we call the substrate. There are three types of substrates categorized by size: namely, small substrates, medium substrates and large substrates.
Small Size Substrate
Fish naturally prefer small substrates over other substrates, because it is easier find a good nest within these kinds of substrates. The most common material used for these substrates are tiny rocks mixed with sand.
Medium Size Substrate
The medium substrate can be beneficial in a lot of different ways, but there is actually no general advantage or disadvantage. Several materials used for medium substrates include rocks of average size and pebbles.
Large substrates
Large substrates are commonly used in tandem with other substrates (because they can’t be used technically by themselves), and are often added to present an artistic look of the aquarium’s substrate. River rocks and other similar materials are commonly used for large substrates.
Substrate and Your Fish
Substrates sometimes have a direct effect on the water in your tank, and of course, if it affects the water then it indirectly affects the fish as well. For example, crushed corals can technically raise the pH levels of the water (and when there is a rise in pH levels, we now refer to any substance as acidic). Aside from indirect or direct contamination of the water, other substrate materials may also have some other effects on the water, so you must do your research using any material for an aquarium substrate.
Substrate to Avoid
As a side note, never use materials such as:
- Limestone
- Geodes
- Shells
- Dolomite
- Granite
- Slate
- Quartz
- Lava rock
- Sandstone
- Onyx
Application of any of these materials as a substrate is an absolute taboo, and if you don’t want your fish to die DO NOT apply them as substrates.
Test, Test and Test
If you are unsure of whether a certain material for a substrate would be harmful to your fish or not, you may conduct several self-tests at your own home. Place a few drops of vinegar to a rock or stone sample that you intend to use as a substrate. If it foams or fizzes after a short while, then it’s not safe to use. Another alternative is to soak the rock samples in a bucket of water, measuring the pH levels of the water before leaving it for about a week. If you see no significant change in the water pH levels after a week, then it’s most likely safe to use in your aquarium.
The other problems that you have to consider when reducing the risk posed by different materials to be used in your aquarium are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels of the water when these materials are used.
Ammonia is generally beneficial only during the startup cycle, so you have to watch out for the ammonia levels of a mature tank often. Nitrites are toxic byproducts of organic waste breakdown in the water, and the levels of this in the water should be less than 1.0 by unit measurement. Nitrates are mildly poisonous, not really that harmful, but can really hurt you fish if it goes over 300ppm.
Testing kits are available at local specialty shops for you to test the various levels of toxicity of the water in your aquarium. Remember, though, it is important to detect these toxic substances early, so you have to practice these detection countermeasures frequently, as part of your regular freshwater aquarium setup procedure.
Power Strip
We suggest you purchase a waterproof power strip for youe aquaeium setup to protect against surges, as we are working with water as well as electricity.
Freshwater Aquarium Plants
Live Plants for your Freshwater Aquarium
Plants are as natural an addition to an aquarium as the fish themselves, presenting that unerring balance that a regular underwater ecosystem should have. Freshwater aquarium plants have their different characteristics and applications, and it is important for you to know these when adding these plants in your aquarium.
Bulbs are commonly quite large in size compared to other plants. In fact, most types of bulbs are far too big for a regular-sized aquarium! Common examples of these plants are the water lily and the aponogeton. These plants are actually much better suited for the wild outdoors than the domestic fish tank, especially when they thrive on specific environments such as koi fish ponds.
Floating plants are a good choice for your aquarium, as they can be a good place for young fry (baby fish) to survive during their most vulnerable age. A good example of a floating plant that you can use is the Fairy Moss an driccia.
Rhizomes are characterized by their thick, horizontal stems, with the leaves sprouting on the top. This type of plant is frequently used as “runners” over substrates, growing new leaves and roots as it spreads along the way.
Common examples of rhizomes are the anubias and the African Fern. They’re quite easy to plant, because all you need to do is to tie them to the driftwood in your aquarium.
Rosettes are plants that look like crowns with roots growing underneath. These plants cover the water by propagating themselves through, multiplying as they “run” over. Rosettes can also bloom beautiful flowers, and common examples of this plant are the Amazon Sword and the Sagittaria.
Stems, though may sound like the part of a plant also named “stem”, are actually also one of the many kinds of freshwater aquarium plants. It is commonly characterized by a single stem firmly rooted in the substrate, with the leaves located at the stem’s nodes, which explains the name of the plant’s origin. Leaves of this plant come in single, paired and even multiple varieties.
Java Moss or the Java Fern may be classified as one of the most common aquatic plants. This particular plant is very nice for those who are just starting as aquarium hobbyists, mainly because it is a sturdy plant that can survive at varied pH levels of water.
Water Wisteria is a plant that is much like the Java Fern due to that fact that it can grow quickly, just like how a Java Fern does. Aside from its growth capabilities, it also keeps the algae levels in your aquarium low. Just a warning, though: this plant can also potentially use up the nutrients that are present in the water.
For the experienced hobbyist though, you may want to consider some relatively challenging plants for you to take care of. Cryptocoryne beckettii is an amphibious plant, which means it can grow well on either above land or under water. It is a marvelous plant, because it can give off an array of brilliant colors if you can raise the plant well.
As stated earlier, plants are a common addition to an aquarium. It helps give your tank that appealing, natural look, and does not only benefit you with the “nature’s wonder” look, but also benefits the fish as well. Raising these freshwater aquarium plants can be a very enjoying experience for the aquarium enthusiast.
