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The following is an excerpt of my eBook, Danoreef’s Complete Guide to Fresh and Salt Water Aquariums.;

A home aquarium can be a beautiful addition to any home. They can be gorgeous pieces of living art, not to mention stress relieving, Staring into a beautifully decorated aquarium can be very relaxing. In this ebook you will find up to date information that will help you make the best decisions and choices when purchasing your aquarium and supplies.
An aquarium is made of glass or acrylic and is basically made for holding water. The fish can be fresh water or salt water fish; you can also have live plants or live corals. Aquariums are fast becoming one of the leading hobbies around, many people use aquariums for decorative purposes. Aquariums range in size, they can be simple gold fish bowls or they can be intensive set ups reaching something like eight or even nine feet wide. Many people even boast of a fish room. Fish collecting has been around for years and is especially popular in countries like Japan. The Japanese are renowned for keeping coldwater fish such as Koi in extremely decorative ponds outside their homes.

The word aquarium originates from the ancient Latin language, “aqua” meaning water and the suffix “rium” meaning place or building. Aquariums are beautiful and look good anywhere! They are perfect for those people who want to devote a lot of time and effort to a hobby. This is not the type of thing that you can just start and leave. This is an on going type of project that needs to be constantly assessed and adjusted. The animals inside the aquarium need to be fed, need to have the aquarium represent their natural habitat and need space, so you have to get an aquarium that is an appropriate size for the fish you are going to keep.

Aquariums are stunning pieces of equipment but they do need a lot of work and attention. That’s why this hobby is not for children. It is more of an older person’s hobby who is going to be willing and responsible enough for all the things that are required when setting up and maintaining an aquarium. They can be the most beautiful thing to look at if they are decorated nicely enough, Just make sure that you are prepared to take on the responsibility before investing in an aquarium as they can get quite expensive!
Home aquariums are becoming more and more popular, it is a hobby that many people are flocking too and fish stores are on the rise. Fish are generally easy to keep although they need quite a bit of attention. Puppies and kittens were the typical pet but now fish are becoming more and more frequent in house holds. In recent years fish stores have noticed a great increase in the rise of people wanting to purchase aquariums and fish.
When collecting fish for a home aquarium it is always great to seek some advice from your local pet store. They are the experts and what they say should be given great consideration. They let you know all the essentials in setting up a great home aquarium and they know the best fish that is suited to your needs. When it comes to purchasing all of your equipment the internet is going to be the most inexpensive. Although, your local fish store will usually have most everything you need and you wont have to wait for it to be shipped. Most fish experts will advise you to purchase a ready made aquarium that comes with the tank, stand, heater, filter and light.

Home aquariums can be as small and simple as you like or they can be huge and intensive set ups that requires hours each week of maintenance. A home aquarium can be a great experience for all the family and it is something that they can all join in. Which ever aquarium set up that you choose you should always make sure that you take great effort in keeping the fish alive. Keeping the water conditions on target does require some work, but I will guide you in making the right decisions, so your aquarium will be a success.

General maintenance should be done on a regular basis. Routine water changes should be performed every one to two weeks. A visual inspection should be done on all working equipment daily. When performing a water change have your buckets towels and vacuum siphon ready before turning off any equipment. Start by turning off the filter making sure nothing overflows; certain wet dry filters tend to overflow when the pump is turned off. when the heating element becomes exposed to the air, it can crack so be sure yo unplug your heater. I prefer a vacuum siphon with a six foot piece of hose to vacuum the water out of the tank and  into buckets, not into a drain a sink or a tub. This way it is easier to monitor exactly how much water is taken out. For example; a forty gallon tank would require an routine water change that calls for an eight gallon water change. To make it easier round up and remove ten gallons, filling two five gallon buckets. The day prior to the water change I would get ten gallons of  water ready, matching as close as possible your tanks water parameters PH, salt if (it is a saltwater tank) and temperature.

Using a vacuum siphon start siphoning out water and filling a five gallon bucket, if your substrate is beneficial i.e. live sand, to your aquarium then you do not want to siphon it, if the substrate is for decoration only then push the vacuum tube down into the gravel, vacuuming the substrate, you will see the substrate get sucked up into the vacuum tube. Then squeeze the vacuum hose to release some vacuum pressure and the heavier substrate will fall back to the bottom of the tank and the lighter fish waste and uneaten food will continue through the tube into your bucket. You can also remove the head of the vacuum just use the hose to get into all the smaller areas where detritus and algae settle into. Keep sucking out water until you have taken out the amount you are going to replace, a sufficient water change would be twenty percent once a month. You can do your water change all at once or you can split it into smaller more frequent water change and perform two ten percent water changes every two weeks. Once you have removed all the water you are going to replace, stop siphoning and replace with the fresh water you prepared earlier. When pouring the water back into the tank do not pour it straight into the tank as it will blast your plants or decorations all over the tank you can put your hand into the stream and the it will break the stream and the water will not disrupt the tank and its inhabitants. ie