General tropical fish tank cleaning should be performed in conjunction with water changes, which means no less often than weekly.

1.Gather your supplies. You will need to prepare water to replace the dirty water you’ll be removing. You can do these with chlorine neutralizer, by allowing it to sit overnight or by using bottled water. You’ll also need to have an empty container on hand for the dirty water removed and a simple siphon-type gravel vacuum (non-battery operated).

Heaters are necessary to maintain tropical fish. Before your purchase your heater however, you should make sure that the filters and heater would fit into your aquarium without taking up unnecessary space. If you purchased a small tank, you will need to purchase filters and a heater than will accommodate the tank; otherwise, you may need to purchase a larger tank.

Aquarium heaters are often the first type of equipment that show signs of trouble in the aquarium, and even aquarists using expensive heaters will most likely experience heater failure sooner or later. To safe guard against this, many aquarists purchase two heaters instead of just one.

Food is an obvious necessity for keeping fish healthy in captivity as well as in the wild.

Nowadays it is possible to raise and even breed fish 100 percent with prepared foods purchased online, at the pet store or at the local grocery store.

The combination of nutrition and taste of today’s prepared fish foods appeal to fish almost as much as live or frozen foods. There are many choices of prepared foods available for your tropical fish.

Dry Prepared Fish Foods

The best approach is not to buy the smallest and least expensive tropical fish tank because you want to save money.

A saltwater aquarium, and any aquarium for that matter, is a big investment in money and time, so don’t go halfway. Make sure you’ll have what you really need.

A tank that is too small can become a problem and take much more time to maintain than a tank that is the right size for your needs.

A few decades ago, plate glass tanks and goldfish bowls were the standard. Many of the tanks sold then were framed in metal and came in standard 10, 20, and 55-gallon rectangular sizes.

Freshwater aquarium systems are extremely common and you may even own one yourself.

While both freshwater and saltwater aquarium systems are similar and use much of the same fish tank equipment, the most significant difference is the chemical composition of the water.

Saltwater aquariums are often referred to as marine aquariums, reef tanks or seawater aquariums.

The most basic differences between fresh water and salt water aquariums include:

There are many easy to follow tropical fish and aquarium care videos tutorial available on the internet.

Browsing through some of the videos is as easy as using the arrows on the video player below to skip forward to the next fish care video or back to the previous one.

Enjoy!

Here are a few videos offering helpful advice on caring for tropical and saltwater aquarium fish.

Aquarium light fixtures range from a single plain fluorescent tube to combination metal halide and very high output VHO fluorescents with very high price tags. For your first tank you can get by with the simpler equipment. Here is an overview of the available lighting options for your aquarium.

Fish-Only Aquariums
An aquarium that is not going to house any live plants can be illuminated with a standard aquarium light fixture, usually housing a normal output fluorescent tube that enhances the natural beauty of the fish.

One of the most important aquarium accessories are aquarium stands . They are types of aquarium accessories . Aquarium stands are available in both wood and steel. There are dedicated aquarium stands available that will provide a solid base, although a small fish tank might sit on another item of furniture.

Wood stands with natural finishes are the most expensive choice for bow front aquarium cabinets. Stands may also be made of acrylic with various painted finishes in black, white, or ivory.

Obviously you need to choose the aquarium before anything else. You will find fish tanks that are made of glass and fish tanks that are made of acrylic. You’ll find standard rectangular query and was in sizes from 2 1/2 gallons to 220 gallons and more, plus an assortment of hexagonal, pentagonal, and other shapes in various sizes.

So which aquarium should you choose?

Just as there are different types, there are different types of aquariums. the purpose for which a tank is being setup can affect the system as much as will the types of fish being included. some of the following setups are unlikely to be first tanks, but all of them could be.

Any division of aquarium types is going to be arbitrary to the extent that many people want to have tanks that serve several functions. the following list of fish tank types is meant to present the various options and functions as independently as possible the list can be mixed and matched.