About Tropical Fish
A slice of tropical sunshine
A tropical aquarium in the home or office can bring a slice of tropical sunshine into everyone’s life!
The ever-changing panorama of fascinating and colourful fish darting through the glades formed by the garden of aquatic plants is a source of never-ending pleasure. The soothing therapeutic qualities are well known, and is the reason for an aquarium often being found in houses up & down the country.
Constructing your tropical aquarium
There is a large range of differently shaped aquariums available today that hardly sits comfortably within this description of a “box”. Anything from bow fronts to large globular shapes, and much more. But the traditional rectangular-fronted aquarium remains the firm favourite.
There are various gravels to form the base covering of the aquarium, ranging from natural gravels to brightly coloured stones. The heating is usually provided by an all glass heater or a heater made of polycarbonate, which can be tucked unobtrusively and neatly into a back corner of the aquarium. A thermometer monitors the performance of this heating element.
There are many options when it comes to choosing a filtering system and your local fish store will advise you about what will suit your needs best. Filters can either be placed inside the aquarium or below it or some are hung on the back of the aquarium.
The right lighting
High-intensity output fluorescent tubes are the traditional means of illuminating the aquarium, without using too much electricity nor generating too much heat, yet putting out a remarkable strength of light. There are many makes of tube with different spectrums of light to choose from to achieve the effect that most pleases you.
LEDs provide a more cost effective option and start at great prices. There are now LEDs on the market, which can be retro-fitted into your existing T5/T8 ballast.
Decorating a tropical aquarium
How you decorate your aquarium is very much a personal choice for you to make. Natural growing plants undoubtedly play some part in the natural conditioning of the aquarium water, and can boast more uses than just that of being decorative. However, if the care of the aquarium garden is more than you wish to be involved with, you might opt for using artificial plants. These have moved on far from the old “plastic plants”, which were once the only option. Many of today’s artificial aquatic plants are most convincing. Choosing livestock for your tropical aquarium
When choosing the selection of fish for your aquarium, first consider what you want from it. If you are primarily looking for something simply as an ornamental addition to the home you will be advised to stay with a certain selection of fish known by reputation to be easy to keep and feed.
If your thoughts are that you want the aquarium to be more of a hobby venture and can accept there will be some demands on your time accordingly, you might then opt for something more adventurous. Advice from knowledgeable shop staff, or referring to helpful books, can be a big help in forming your strategy in this important respect.
Each set up is different and at The Goldfish Bowl, we will happily talk through the different options with you.
