Alright, you have all of your equipment ready to install. All of your aquarium decorations are clean and ready to add to your tank. It’s time to add water to this thing! There are just a couple of things that you’ll want to know first.
Clean Your Tank First
The most important thing to remember is that you never want to use any chemicals or soap to clean anything going into your fish tank. This can be harmful to your fish even if you think you have it all rinsed out. You’ll just want to completely rinse out your new tank with tap water to get any residue or dust out of the tank.
Do You Want A Background?
If so, it’s time to install it now. You’ll want to rinse it off with water as well. Just cut your background to size and get it situated so your other aquarium equipment can be installed next. You’ll want to tuck the background under the top aquarium trim edge and trim the sides and bottom rather than the trim the top. This gives a clean look to the top of the background.
Install Your Aquarium Equipment
It’s best install all of your equipment after you clean your tank and hang your background. If you decide to use an under gravel filter or heater cable, don’t forget to install these before your substrate. Installing your equipment is just easier to do without the water to worry about.
Make sure you use a drip loop with all of your equipment’s electrical cords. Basically this just means that you leave enough cord to hang below the electrical outlet or power strip. If you use an extension cord you can apply the same principle. The cords should loop back up to the power source allowing any water spillage to drip to the ground rather than to the power source. It is also a good idea to make the same drip loop with any air hoses. Many of these hoses run right along side of the electrical wires. Both of these drip loops just allow you to control where the water ends up. It’s better on your floor than in you outlet.
Add Your Aquarium Decorations
Next you can add your substrate and aquarium decorations to your tank. You’ll want to add everything except for you plants. Adding your water will have them all floating by the time you’re done. You can find info on adding your plants in the next article.
Don’t Just Dump It In
Place a plate or bowl in the middle of the tank to pour water into. This will keep your substrate and aquarium decorations from getting thrown all over your tank as you fill it up. Only fill your tank about three quarters of the way. You will need this room to move your aquarium decorations into their final places. Also, you’ll need the room in the water to add your plants.
Add Water Conditioner
It’s a good idea to add aquarium tap water conditioner to your water. It neutralizes the water to keep the chlorine and other chemicals from throwing off the chemical balance of your fish tank. It’s cheap and only takes a second.
I recently set up a new tank that I washed out with water and soap and now my tank is cloudy and I lost one fish. Would the soap cause the cloudy water in the tank? Or would it just be bacteria?
Hey Rockey,
It’s hard to tell. The soap residue could have killed the fish. I doubt it would cause the cloudiness unless there was a lot left. Sounds like the cloudiness is probably related to bacteria. If you decide to start from scratch, you’ll want to do some serious rinsing to your tank.
Another good reason to only fill your tank three fourths of the way is when your adding your fish you have to float the bags in the tank and you want to leave some room so you don’t over flow it.
Help needed. I have had my tank now for four months and I am too scared to clean it cos I am afraid of killing my fish. I have a suction device but only used it once my puzzle i need help with is: How do i clean my tank cos i have warm water fish and cant work out how to clean the tank while having the fish in a bucket without oxygen while also keeping the temp in the bucket and still needing the heater in the tank to get the correct temp for them. Is this a stupid question? do i need to buy a second heater for when the fish are in the bucket.Also do I buy oxygen pills or do I just put my oxygen pump in the bucket with them and later back into the tank. please help as i am afraid my fish will get ill by being in a dirty tank.
Cindy,
Great question. Your not alone with this. Many people think that changing all of your water is the best way to clean you tank and this couldn’t be further from the best thing to do. You’ll want to read the three posts below. The first one speaks to your question the best I think. A regular schedule of partial water changes will make for happy fish. Take a look.
http://www.fishtanktutor.com/aquarium-water-changes-are-they-really-necessary
http://www.fishtanktutor.com/the-3-most-common-aquarium-cleaning-mistakes
http://www.fishtanktutor.com/deep-cleaning-a-fish-tank-in-4-easy-steps
Hi,
I just started a new tank, the water is really really cloudy. In fact, during the day you can see the cloudiness flowing around in the tank. I set the tank up two days ago, and have already lost three fish. I have a few tropical fish and goldfish. Three goldfish died. Any idea whats going on? Will the cloudiness go away? Did it kill the fish?
Thanks
Hello Erin,
It sounds like your aquarium is not yet cycled very well. This is one of the classic causes of a bacteria bloom. Too many fish, too fast, without being fully cycled will lead to the bloom. Take a look here for a little more detail on cycling.
http://www.fishtanktutor.com/aquarium-cycling-without-killing-your-fish
i set up my new 29 gal bioucube about 5 days ago. it’s a saltwater set up and all i have done so far is put the crushed coral substrate in and the salt water. I thorougly washed the crushed coral , added the water gently and yet the tank still has a lot of white cloudiness. Nothing else is in the tank. I have added the solution to clear it a few times to no avail and have also done two 20% water changes to help but it still has a lot of white cloudiness. What can I do? Very frustrated as this had never happened to me in the past. Should I keep up with the water changes or get rid of the substrate and start all over again? Also, what are other good substrates for salt water tanks? Thanks everyone!
I have 4 tetras, one adult silver molly and 2 baby mollies in a 10 gallon tank (We just got these fish less than 2 weeks ago, so the molly must have been pregnant when we got her). Anyway, I am having a really tough time keeping the ammonia down, even after using ammo lock. I just vacuumed the gravel and changed about a third of the water and the ammonia level hardly changed at all. My plan of attack is to do a 25% water change daily and feed only once per day (except the babies) until I get close to zero ammonia. Do you think that is the best way? How long do you think it will take doing it this way? The ammonia level is currently about 1ppm. I would appreciate any feedback or advice. Thanks.
Hi Mike,
If the cloudiness still has not settled, I doubt it’s related to the substrate. Starting from scratch is probably a good idea if you have no fish and aren’t cycled yet. Also, Take a look here for some notes on other substrates. http://www.fishtanktutor.com/is-aquarium-gravel-your-best-choice-of-substrate
Hi Ava,
You have the right idea. If you keep pulling out the waste by vacuuming you’ll quickly get your ammonia under control. It will probably take the 25% once a day for a week or so. After that keep testing daily and you should be able to gradually back off the intense changes, once every other day, etc.
Thank you for your response, Eric. This is a long process, but I’m sure it will work over time. I am trying desperately to keep the fish alive during this and the tetras and the baby mollies seem to be doing fine. The adult molly, however, is not. She has been acting very strange and seems now to have gone blind. Her eyes look fine, but she can’t seem to find the food. I don’t know if I should keep her alive any longer or put her out of her misery. She is painted, which I didn’t even realize when I bought her (and I won’t be buying any more fish from that place). Could that be a cause of the unsual behavior?
Ava,
Your welcome. It’s hard telling whether the dye has anything to do with your Molly’s trouble. I haven’t heard that they are much more susceptible to disease other than the Lymphocystis virus. There is supposed to be a slight increase in cases of this. It is more thought of as a just plain cruel. You’re wise to steer clear of that place. I hate watching them suffer too. Maybe it will come back around.
I am so scared to add any more fish in my big 20 gallon fish tank i only have 7 and whenever i try to add new fish they always die what do i do? i now have 4 guppies a black neon tetra and 2 minnos. I know i can add more it’s just whenever i add fish they die. i tryied to a dd a tiger barb and some other barbs and they always die what do i do. I also tried to add a very small blue/red neon tetra but it got sucked up by the filter. Please help me! anyone help me and tell me what to do.
make that 6 fish a guppie died.
Hey there Nancy,
You’ll want to think of waste not fish quantity to solve your problem. This article should help.
http://www.fishtanktutor.com/aquarium-cycling-without-killing-your-fish
Before adding any more fish you’ll want to test your water and make sure your levels are at safe levels.
This isn’t just important for the new fish but also the old. They are probably suffering as well.
Just check out the article but it sounds like the key right now for you is frequent water changes to get your water safe again.
Thanks Eric i went to the pet store tonight and i bought stuff that purely grows bacteria for the cycling thanks!