How to Buy an Aquarium

An aquarium is a nice decorative piece, which brings life and vitality in your house. It is a glass enclosure, which contains small colorful fish. Moreover, the fish tank also contains an aerator, which supplies air so that the fish can breathe. To make the aquarium look appealing and attractive, it is decorated with green plants, stones and toys. With such a lovely apparatus, the décor of the house is bound to get spruced up. So, in case you are wondering, how to buy or purchase a fish tank, read the tips given below.

Buying An Aquarium

Determine your space requirements and restrictions, keeping in mind your home or apartment. This will help you decide the size of the aquarium. For your convenience, set up a spot in your living space for the aquarium, before going for shopping.
First-time aquarium shoppers should go for an aquarium that's about 15 - 20 gallons in size. These are small sized aquariums, which will give you a good idea, whether you're ready to buy a bigger one or not.
Along with the aquarium, make sure you buy a water filtration system, which is an absolutely must component. In effect, enquire about various water filtration systems and pick the one that is the easiest to clean.
Determine the shape of your aquarium. Though the standard shape is long rectangular, aquariums are also available in shapes such as bowls, octagons, cylinders and cubes.
Another thing that should be looked into is the construction of the aquarium i.e. the material of its walls. Although Plexiglas is a nice option, plate glass is probably the best route to go. It's extremely heavy, but can be replaced easily. Moreover, it's much more resistant to scratches as compared to Plexiglas.
In case you are not too sure about keeping an aquarium, you can always experiment with second-hand stores, garage and estate sales.
Since aquariums can be a little expensive, it makes sense to look for sales. Many pet stores organize an annual sale of aquariums. This is basically done to eliminate the old stock.
You can also look for pet stores on the internet, which may have reasonably priced aquariums. Check out for discount sales, and even if there is no sale, you can compare the prices of different online pet stores and accordingly, decide which aquarium you want to buy.

Maintenance Tips

An aquarium has to be maintained and cared for, if the fishes are to survive for long. Below given are two very important tips on the same.

When you add water to the aquarium, make sure that it is free of chlorine and other dissolved solutions and gas. It is recommended to leave the water, to be added to the aquarium, for one week of conditioning, before the fish and plants are placed in it. Also remember that aquarium water should be changed every month.
Maintaining the right temperature for fish is very important. There are two types of fish, the tropical fish, which require 25 degree C of temperature, and the cold water fish, which prefers a lower temperature. The aquarium temperature should be maintained at constant. Abrupt changes in temperature can cause the fish to die.

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