So you’ve gone out and bought all the necessary equipment to setup your tank? Good, it looks like you’ve read the first two steps I’ve outlined. If you have, and you’re ready for the challenge, then let’s get started on your tank.

THE TANK ITSELF

The first thing to do before putting your tank in its chosen area is cleaning it. Do not use soap, as stated before. Soap is bad for your fish, remember that. Spray down the tank with hot water, so any bacteria is killed, and any stains or packing material are gone. Once this is done, and the tank is clean, set it up in the chosen area.

GRAVEL

Next, make sure your gravel is clean. To do so, find a strainer or something like it that have very small holes to prevent gravel falling through, and first wash that off with cold water. The purpose of this is to make sure there’s no soap left on the strainer. Once that’s done, put some gravel in, and run hot water through it, and try to move the gravel around a bit, by a gentle sifting motion with the strainer. You don’t really have to move the gravel around, as the water will get through, especially if you’re moving the strainer, and letting the gravel slide around. Once the gravel’s clean, go ahead, and bring it to the tank, and put it inside. Once the gravel’s in the tank, make sure it’s even. Now, you can either put your decorations in, or pour water in. If you want a suggestion about decorations, I’d wait until the tank’s about 1/4 of the way full, so that if you’re using plant decorations, they’re not drooping around on the ground.

Note: If you have an underwater bubble stone, make sure to put that in before you put the gravel in, and setup the tubing outside the tank. Setup any other things going under the gravel at this time as well.

FILLING UP WITH WATER

For best results, try placing on the gravel, and pour the water in on top of that. This way, there won’t be a giant crater in your gravel that you’ll have to fix later. Once the tank is about 1/4 of the way full, you can take the plate out, since there’s enough resistance to the water that it won’t ruin your gravel arrangement. Fill the tank up until at least there’s no line showing that there is water in the tank. Now, you can setup your thermometer, heater, filter, etc.

WAITING

OK, so your tank’s all setup, the light’s on, and you want fish. Well, make sure you put in enough chemicals (mentioned in my cleaning guide) for the amount of water you just put in. Now, wait at LEAST 24 hours before buying any fish. Preferably, you should wait around a week or so. I’ve put fish into a tank after 24 hours, and not had problems, but I was also monitoring the water parameters. If you’re just starting though, wait anywhere from 3 days to a week. Start out with a hardy fish from the species you choose, which will be outlined on my site as well.