Discussions with Zharphyn

Aquarium designs are becoming increasingly creative. No longer are you destined to have a basic rectangle to house your fish. Some designers are using existing obsolete objects such as phone booths and toilets to create unique aquariums, and others are creating designs reminiscent of hamster cages. You are now able to purchase an aquarium to suit your decor, rather than trying to make your aquarium blend in.

Octopus Studios has created what they call the Silverfish Aquarium. Inspired by hamster cages, the Silverfish is six globes connected with tunnels, and has a water capacity of 230 litres. The Silverfish comes complete with a heater, undergravel filters, an external filter, and an airpump. Despite its unusual appearance, Octopus Studios claims “due to the extremely high quality filters used, along with an innovative filter combination, maintenance effort can be slightly lower than with a standard rectangular design.” If this is true, it would certainly be an interesting aquarium to own.

For those of us that do not have the space for any more aquariums, you can find several models that are integrated into your furniture. The Moody Washbasin and the Aquariass would make for an interesting bathroom experience. With the Aquariass, a separate “tank” contains the fish so that when you flush, the aquarium is not affected. The washbasin is insulated to protect the aquarium from overheating when using hotwater. Having the aquarium integrated into the coffee table, or dining room table can make for an impressive conversation piece. With many designs available, finding the one that suits the room can become a challenge of too many choices rather than from too few.

The ZeroEdge Aquarium looks to infinity pools for inspiration. With water spilling over all four sides to give the illusion that there are no sides to the aquarium. Water gets channelled back into an overflow tank and pumped back into the aquarium from the bottom. These aquariums have
amazing beauty and are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. Keep in mind however, that these are a lidless aquarium, and some species of fish are known to jump.

The initial setup of a new aquarium is relatively easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind.  First you need to find a suitable location for the new aquarium.  Remember that a full aquarium is heavy.  Water weighs almost ten pounds per gallon.  If you have a ten gallon aquarium, you will be filling it with almost 100 pounds of water.  Water is not the only thing that you will place into your aquarium.  You will want a suitable depth of substrate at the bottom of the tank.  The substrate  increases the weight.   A standard 33 US gallon aquarium (33″L x 18″W x 12″H) holds approximately 31 US gallons of water which weighs 260lbs.  If you use small rock substrate at a depth of two inches, you add an additional 46lbs.  The moral is, make certain that the location you are placing the aquarium can support the weight, and recognize that in order to relocate the aquarium is a major undertaking.

Once you have located the correct location for your new aquarium, now you have to fill it.  In the freshwater aquarium, I am a big fan of the under-gravel filter with powerheads.  The basic principle behind the under-gravel filter is quite simple.  Water is drawn down through the substrate, which causes the substrate to become a dual purpose filter.  First, the substrate acts as a basic filter for the larger suspended particles.  As the water passes through the substrate, the larger particles become caught in the substrate.  This allows the growth of the nitrifying bacteria which act as the biological filter for the aquarium.  I like to use powerheads to move the water through the system,  but you can also use an air pump.  For an air pump, you simply insert the airline to the bottom of the filter stack, and the air bubbles move the water through the system.  With the powerhead, you mount the motor on the top of the filter stack and the pump sucks the water up the stack and recirculates the water back into the tank.  The powerhead drives significantly more water through the system which makes the filter more efficient, however, the airpump reoxyginates the water.  You can pump air into the tank simply by using an airpump into a variety of decorative toys or airstones.

Having sufficient biological filtration is a primary key to success in keeping any aquarium. There are a number of filtration methods to choose from, but not making the right filter selection for the bio-load planned for your tank can lead to a wide variety of problems. Whether it be biological, mechanical, or chemical, it’s better to have more, rather than too little filtration. In addition to the undergravel filter, I also use a “hang-on-tank” filter. Hang-on-tank filters can provide all three main types of filtration: mechanical, chemical, and biological. The undergravel filter provides mechanical and biological filtration, and used in conjunction with a hang-on-tank filter providing mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration will provide sufficient filtration for a tropical aquarium setup. Saltwater setups require more filtration and equipment, and I will get into that in a future post.

Once you lay the undergravel filtration plate, you want to cover it with a minimum of two inches of substrate. The finer the substrate material that you choose, the greater the level of mechanical filtration. If you have positioned your undergravel filtration plate correctly, you will be able to layer some substrate between the plate and the glass of the aquarium to hide the plate. With the substrate in place, it is time to add water. Fill the aquarium approximately three quarters full, this allows room to add your decorations. Make certain that you add water to the hang-on-tank filter to help prime the filter. Regular tap water is just fine to use, but it is very beneficial to add water conditioner. This will help to remove chlorine, chloramine, nitrates, and nitrites, while at the same time aiding the growth of the beneficial bacteria. Once you have added all the decorations that you intend to use, add more water to raise the water level over the power heads. Do not fill the tank completely, because when you bring your fish home, they will come in bags of water. When the power heads are covered, turn on the filters. You should let the tank run for a minimum of 48 hours before adding any fish. It would be better if the tank was left running without fish for a week before adding the fish. This allows the bacteria growth to occur, and for the water to stabilize. If the water is not ready when you add fish, you will get to watch your fish die. When you do add fish, you want to add fish slowly so as to not shock the system. The bacteria growth will balance to the quantity of fish in the tank. If you add too many fish at a time, the bacteria will not be able to keep up and your tank ph level will increase, and the levels of nitrate and nitrite will go to toxic levels.

I will discuss maintenance routines, and choosing fish at another time.

-Zharphyn