Freshwater aquarium and its inhabitants

A home aquarium is a beautiful interior detail and a great hobby for lovers of contemplating underwater life. However, in the conditions of a city apartment, it is difficult to artificially create a marine environment - for this, it is necessary to measure out the exact proportions of salt each time and dissolve it in water. Do not despair - a freshwater aquarium is no less, and maybe even more interesting, like its inhabitants. About its arrangement and selection of suitable "tenants" and will be discussed in our article.

Are you an amateur aquarist and finally decided to buy your first aquarium? Where to begin? What equipment should you buy? What kind of fish can you put in fresh water?

The most suitable capacity is considered to be from 100 to 250 liters. In such a container, a fairly stable biological environment can be established, which will be easy to care for.

In the modern aquarium market, you can find tanks for every taste and color, in different shapes and sizes. Therefore, you can easily find an aquarium that suits your interior. Focus on your taste preferences and financial capabilities. It is advisable that when you go to the store you already know exactly where the equipment will be located, and how much space it will take there.

Some aquarium manufacturing companies release them for sale already fully equipped with everything you need. And sometimes you just have to buy a container equipped with only a lid. Here's what to stock up on in this case:

• a filtration system designed to clean water from pet waste products;
• a water heater that maintains a constant temperature of + 25-26 degrees, which is comfortable for most freshwater inhabitants;
• a compressor that saturates the aqueous medium with oxygen.

When buying a filter, be guided by the following advice: its performance should be at least three tank volumes. For example, if you have purchased a 120 l aquarium, then your choice is a 400 l filter.

Many aquariums are equipped with a bottom filtration system called a false bottom filtration system. Its device is as follows: a set of special tubes is placed below, at the bottom of the aquarium, a grate is placed on top, and then all this is sprinkled with a soil mixture. I would like to note that if the design of your freshwater "world" includes a false bottom option, choose small pebbles or pebbles as a substrate, but not sand. Otherwise, the grate may become clogged and the device will be damaged.

Freshwater home aquariums can also be equipped with so-called ducts., which are a kind of system of continuous water supply to the tank and its simultaneous outflow into the sewer. This way, there is always only clean fresh water in your tank. But the ducts will not work if the quality of your tap water is poor or changes depending on the season or other parameters.

The optimal location of the aquarium is away from heating devices, drafts, away from falling sunlight. You need to put the container on a flat and smooth, stable and strong surface that can withstand its weight along with water and all the inhabitants.

It is best to carry out the procedure once every 7 days. You should:

• clean the walls of the tank;
• wash filters;
• change the water (not all, about 25% of the total volume).

It is allowed to pour tap water into a freshwater aquarium without resorting to specialized pre-cleaning systems. The fact is that modern water treatment facilities remove almost all harmful components from it, including chlorine... But during the rainy and snowmelt seasons, the water becomes dirtier, so it is recommended to prepare it using special chemicals that can be found in aquarium stores or ordered on the Internet.

It is advisable to populate your first aquarium with unpretentious plants: anubias, hornwort, Javanese moss, echinodorus. Before planting anything, find out more about the inhabitants that you plan to purchase. They can chew on the leaves of plants and damage their root system.

So we finally got to the main inhabitants of the aquarium - the fish. Let's take a look at some of the most beautiful freshwater species.

Stunningly bright fish, striking with their unusual appearance. Discus has a laterally flattened body, and its length is almost equal to its height. These fish have a lot of colors: there are yellow, electric blue, orange discus, with spots or stripes. Such a pet will delight you not only with its beauty, but also with its quick wits. - discus get used to the owner, recognize him, take food from his hands.

We couldn't help but mention the queen of the freshwater aquarium. Perhaps this is one of the most beloved and common fish. Appearance: elliptical body, pointed triangular muzzle, elongated dorsal fin starting from the middle of the body. The caudal fin is bifurcated, the anal fin is shortened. The color of a goldfish, contrary to its name, can be not only golden-red or yellow, but also white, black-blue, pinkish. Variegated individuals are also found.

Swimming scalar fish with its shape resembles a triangle. Such an illusion is created due to a high body flattened from the sides and elongated fins - dorsal and anal. The fins on the chest hang down like a mustache or thread. The caudal is shortened, along the edges there are long processes - "rays". The colors of the scalar are very different: transverse black stripes on a bright background, chaotic spots; monochromatic representatives amaze the imagination with shades of turquoise, electric blue, pink, golden. There are coal-black scalars.

Probably, everyone at least once in his life saw in the aquarium small silvery fish with stunning veiled tails, painted in all the colors of the rainbow. These are male guppy fish. The females of this inhabitant of the freshwater aquarium are more modest. A distinctive feature of a guppy is the ability to give birth to offspring live. Breeding them in captivity is an easy and fun process.

Another handsome man worthy of your attention. Appearance: oval body, flattened on the sides, filiform pelvic fins. Most notable is the color that gave the name to the fish: against a silvery-lilac background, bright specks, like pearls, are scattered chaotically. The back of the gourami is yellowish brown, the neck and belly are orange. A black line runs along the middle of the body.

Their main distinguishing feature is, of course, a bright blue stripe, reminiscent of a sign that glows in the dark. The belly of the neon is bright red. These small fish lead a gregarious lifestyle. It is very interesting to watch how the "company" of these bright babies is hustling back and forth around the aquarium.

Stunning bright and rather large (up to 10 cm) fish. Appearance: elongated body, convex forehead, well-defined large lips, expressive eyes. Bright yellow color, on all fins, except for the caudal, there is a black edging. Labidochromis ellou is an endemic inhabitant of Lake Malawi, Africa.

It has earned this name not in vain - this representative of the cichlov family flaunts a very bright color and rather impressive parameters (10-15 cm). The body of the chromis is oval, dense; steep forehead, large lips and eyes. On the red-orange background of the carcass, turquoise specks are chaotically scattered, passing over to the fins. There is a round dark spot on each side in the middle.

We got acquainted with the typical representatives of freshwater aquariums. It's time to learn about the rather rare individuals that can be found in these conditions.

This fish attracts amateurs and professionals from the aquarium hobby not by its bright color, but by its unusual appearance: a narrow gray body with small fins turns into a pointed head ending with ... a trunk! Yes, this is how the Nile elephant adapted to the near-bottom lifestyle: with the help of this proboscis, he digs in the ground and digs up small crustaceans and other underwater small fry, which serves him as food.

In the wild, it lives in the Amazon basin. A unique feature of this creature is that it is double-breathing, that is, it can go without water for some time. When the reservoirs dry up during the dry period, these amazing snake-like creatures make themselves a "nest" in the silt and lie in hibernation, breathing atmospheric oxygen.

Another inhabitant of the Amazonian depths. In nature, it can "grow" up to half a meter in length, in an aquarium, of course, it is smaller. The knife looks rather strange: it does not have fins on the back and belly, but the anal one, having turned into a "skirt", stretches along the entire body of the fish.There are white spots on the tail and muzzle. The Black Knife is renowned for its ability to generate electricity as well as float backwards.

Another "African". The appearance of this freshwater specimen is specific: the lateral fins are spread like wings. By the way, Pantodon uses them in this capacity, jumping out of the water for prey. The fish's eyes are large, with a red border, directed upward. There is a huge mouth. There are filamentous processes on the pelvic fin. The color of the pantodon resembles the surface of a sandy bottom - variegated brown.

Let's say a little about those who still can live in a freshwater aquarium:

• axolotls;
• Amano shrimp;
• dwarf orange cancer;
• bubbly fiza;
• sandy melania.

You can find out how to clean the aquarium yourself by watching the video below.