Things You'll Need
- Aquatic plants
- Water or used filter media from established tank
- Bacteria culture
- Fish food
- Aquatic snails
Instructions
Introduce aquatic plants to the tank to form the basis of a natural aquatic ecosystem. They also help process the fish waste later.
Add a pint of aquarium water from an established tank of the same type. For example, water from another cold freshwater tank or a tropical marine tank, depending on what type of aquarium you are setting up. A friend might have such a tank or you could ask in an aquarium supply store. Alternatively, ask for used filter media from an appropriate tank.
Add a culture of nitrifying bacteria if you couldn̵7;t find somebody with the right aquarium.
Add a couple of fish flakes to the water, to provide organic material for the bacteria to feed on before the introduction of animals.
Introduce a few aquatic snails after several days. The bacteria will process their waste and multiply.
Introduce fish two or three at a time after at least a week, allowing a gap of at least one week between each batch. The bacteria need to multiply sufficiently to process the waste of the fish you already have before you introduce new ones.