Aquarium Supplies
If you want to have a healthy thriving aquarium, you'll need some good aquarium supplies.
So what's an Aquarist need?
The most obvious is, of course, an
aquarium or fish tank.
They come in all shapes, sizes and materials. You can get glass or acrylic, wood tone or sleek black, the classical rectangle, or for a corner try a hexagon. If you've got money to burn, you can get a thin aquarium that hangs on
the wall like a picture, or one that bubbles out or even an aquarium coffee table!
No matter which one you pick, you'll want to take several things
into consideration to make sure you get the best setup for both you and your fish.
Once you have your aquarium, you'll need to stock up on other aquarium supplies like a good
filter.
You could try an undergravel filter, that works by sucking the water through the gravel bed and spitting it back out through a power head. The water is filtered by the bacteria that lives in the gravel.
External power filters hang outside the tank, water is drawn up into it which than passes through a carbon filter and then through a wheel or sponge. This type of filtration provides both mechanical and biological filtration.
Canister filters, usually used on large aquariums sit outside the tank. These filters are advantageous as they can be changed to meet your filtration needs. I have a cute little
eclipse aquarium
that has it's own filter and light built into the hood.
Every aquarist needs a
hood and lighting
as part of their aquarium supplies. The hood should fit snugly on the glass or acrylic aquarium and will help prevent evaporation of the water. There are different lighting methods you can have on your aquarium supplies bag - fluorescent and incandescent.
Incandescent produce more heat and are typically used on smaller tanks, but have their drawbacks. Flourescent have more natural light and are recommended for tanks with live plants.
If you are keeping tropical fish, you will need a
heater
on your aquarium supplies list. There are two type of heaters, submersible and non-submersible. The submersible heaters are submersed in the water and stick to the inside of the tank via suction cups.
They usually have a knob at the top that you use to control the amount of heat. You will want to buy a heater that works with the size of your aquarium and typically the rule is to buy 5 watts per gallon.
They come in different lengths so you will want to get one that fits the height of your tank. And if you have a heater on your aquarium supplies list, you may want to also get a
aquarium thermometer
so you can make sure the heater is keeping the water at the desired 75 -79 degrees F.
Last but not least, you'll need some
aquarium supplies
for cleaning and maintaining water quality and tap water conditioner. A good
gravel vacuum
is essential to remove loose debris and waste from the aquarium bottom as well as siphon out water for partial water changes. A
scrubber or magnetic cleaner
is an essential part of the aquarium supplies list and needed
to scrub algae on the sides of the aquarium (if you have an acrylic tank make sure you get a scrubber recommended for acrylic). A
fish net
will come in handy should you need to scoop something out of the tank. And
test kits
are essential aquarium supplies necessary for testing the water quality.
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Of Interest
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