What the Beginning and Advancing Aquarist Absolutely Needs to Know and Do When Starting An Aquarium

Stocking the Aquarium

One of the biggest mistakes new aquarists make is in overstocking the aquarium.  Start out sparingly to make sure all is going well.  The aquarium has to go through a maturation cycle, including what is called the "Nitrogen Cycle" that will take a month or more.  Before that cycle is completed, the aquarium is not fully functioning.  Keep the number of inhabitants low during this time.  Carefully observe what is happening and correct what is needed to be changed.  One of the best ways to start successfully is to introduce professionally chosen and raised bacteria that bring in far better species and cultures for the "Nitrogen Cycle" than will be provided naturally by the fishes brought into the aquarium.  Those recommended are in Kordon's freshwater and saltwater ZymBac Nitrogen Cycle Bacteria, (Zymbac for Freshwater or Zymbac for Saltwater) which will quickly take over the proper functions of the "Nitrogen Cycle", and will also speed it up by days or weeks.  The time to introduce ZymBac is when fishes or other aquatic life are put in the aquarium.  Due to the short life span of these bacteria, it is best to put all of the bottle of ZymBac immediately in the aquarium or pond, whether
under or overdosing.   It is best to get all the bacteria that you have into active
use, rather than remaining dormant in the bottle. 

An often-asked question is how many fishes there should be per gallon of water or aquarium size.  There is not a realistic answer, because the answer depends upon too many factors.  The smaller the aquarium, or the newer the aquarium -- the fewer fish there should be per gallon.  Aquariums per gallon will hold more slim-bodied versus heavy-bodied fishes.  Also to be considered is whether there are invertebrates present (such as in a coral reef aquarium), for which fewer fish should proportionately be present.  Water temperature is a factor, since the higher the temperature, the fewer fish and other organisms there should be.  There are books, particularly for marine fish keeping, that say only to have 2 inches (5 cm) in length of fishes for every 10 gallons (37.8 L) of water.  That is very conservative.  The aquarist needs to start slowly with adding inhabitants and gradually determine what is safe for that particular aquarium's conditions

Continue to "What a Beginner Needs to Know When Obtaining Fishes and Other Aquatic Animals"