A company specializing in tile and grout cleaning is scheduled to come next week to work on the kitchen floor. A few pieces of furniture will be moved, and the uneven color of the floor will have to be fixed.
It’s a promise you made to your two daughters. After the two lovely dogs, you got them. They now want fish for pets. So you’re preparing a space near the kitchen area to put an aquarium. You haven’t decided yet how big or what kind of fish you need to get. You don’t have a clue about how the set up should be like.
Here are a few things that you need to consider when setting up an aquarium in your home:
Overview: Home Aquariums in America
The kids didn’t quite buy the aquarium channel on your high-definition 65-inch TV. They said it wasn’t real. They want something that they can feed and take care of as pets. Data from 2013 indicates that 15.6 million people are cohabitating with fish as pets.
American Pet Products Association (APPA), in its 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey, showed that some 85 million households have pets.
Feng shui experts believe that aquariums help usher in luck and prosperity if situated correctly in your home. But science too has made an astounding claim: aquariums or fish tanks help to lower blood pleasure and to reduce stress.
Planning and Preparing Your Tank
Whether you believe in feng shui or science, the best benefit still for you is that it will make your daughters happy. But you need to do it right, and you need to let them know what their responsibilities are. Here are a few more things you need to consider.
- Planning. This is the most critical step in setting up your aquarium or fish tank. Part of the preparation is determining the size of your container, which might be dictated by your living space. Once you know the size, you need to prepare the container by first adding water and substrate, installing the equipment (filter and pump), adding decorations, and then cycling the tank.
- Deciding on the species. The size of your tank is also a factor in identifying the species of fish you will put in your aquarium. Big containers can be used for breeding. Start with a small quantity of fish and do not overcrowd your tank. After about four weeks, add a few more. Make sure that the species that you add are compatible with each other.
- What the science says. Studies have been made indicating that one of the benefits of an aquarium is that it has a calming effect and therefore helps to reduce stress. Similarly, the calming effect also helps to reduce blood pressure.
- They’re pets. Like your dogs and your cats, fish also need your attention. One of the essential aspects of showing love for your fish pets is to keep the water in the tank clean. Fish excretion and old food pollute the water, and these could kill your fish. Make sure that you follow a schedule of replacing and filtering the water. You also need to take care of the gravel or sand and other decorations in your tank.
Your local pet store can also help with other information like what kind of fish are compatible or which ones live longer. You need to decide on lighting. Your daughters need to learn the responsibility of taking care of the aquarium, not just the fish. Happiness also comes at a price. It’s called being responsible. Discuss with your daughters these essential pointers.