For fish breeding, it is important to create the right conditions for their maintenance, so information about what is needed for a home aquarium is useful and relevant. There are a number of important points that you should pay attention to, that the water in the vessel remains fresh for a long time, and the fish do not ache.
Air Compressor for Aquarium
Pisces is bred in confined space, which leads to a lack of oxygen, and this already negatively affects the state of fish and plants. As a result, in time water can turn into a swamp and all inhabitants will perish. If you are wondering why you need a compressor in an aquarium, then this device provides natural saturation of water with oxygen. In pet stores, there is a wide selection of such devices that differ in different parameters. Finding out what is needed for a home aquarium, it is worthwhile examining a list of important compressor characteristics:
- Performance. By this parameter, you can understand how much air the compressor can drive in a certain period of time. It depends on the type of fish and their number. The minimum productivity is 0.5-0.8 l / h for each liter of the volume of the home aquarium.
- Noise level. There are external and internal compressors , so the second option is considered more quiet. Note that the indication "completely silent compressor" can be an advertising move, so you need to check everything yourself.
- Power. This parameter not only affects the power consumption, but also the performance. In most cases, the presented compressors have a value of 2-11 W. Note that the deeper the device sinks, the greater its power.
Reciprocating Compressor for Aquarium
According to the method of air supply, two variants of devices are distinguished, and the piston one is the most popular one. It pumps air through the movement of the piston. Finding out which filter is better for an aquarium, it is worth considering the main advantages of a piston version: long service life, almost noiseless operation, high productivity and the ability to use it for large aquariums. As for the shortcomings, they are also available, since piston devices consume a lot of electrical energy and are more expensive than other types.
Membrane compressor for aquarium
The second type of device is different in the way it works, since it has a membrane chamber and pressure differences are noted in it. Its advantages are contrasted with the shortcomings of a piston compressor, because it is allocated by low consumption of electric energy and is more affordable. To understand how to choose a compressor for an aquarium, you need to take into account the disadvantages of the membrane version, because it has low power and it has a higher noise level.
Filter for water in the aquarium
A device designed to filter water in a home aquarium removes slime, chemical elements, fodder residues and other unnecessary particles. There are different types, for example, the pump-filters for the aquarium are popular, but they consist of a pump, necessary for rocking the water, and directly the tanks for filtration. The presented devices carry out biochemical and mechanical cleaning of water.
Understanding what is needed for a home aquarium, it is worth mentioning the need to pay attention to the filler filter. A popular material for a water purifier is a sponge that delays mechanical debris. After a while, useful bacteria settle on it, which helps to purify water from nitrates and methane. Better cleaning provides activated charcoal, but after oversaturation with harmful substances, it begins to poison the water and can lead to the death of all fish. Together with mechanical cleaning, it is recommended to use bio-fillers from multi-porous ceramics.
Outdoor filter for aquarium
This view looks like a box in which there are compartments responsible for different types of filtering. The advantages of such devices include a good level of cleaning, which is combined, a long service life and the absence of the need for frequent cleaning of structural elements. As for the minuses, they are also available: high price, large size and risk of leakage, which will lead to the flooding of the premises. A hanging filter for an aquarium can be:
- Suspended (waterfall). This type has two ways of supplying water, so it can enter the vessel, be cleaned and immediately go back, and another option - the liquid pumps the pump, and then exits through a drain located above the water level, which looks like a waterfall.
- Canister. Such devices for a home aquarium look like barrels with hoses. They are more capacious for filter media. The canister devices can perform all cleaning options.
Bottom filter for aquarium
The device of this type includes a system of tubes that are located at the bottom and closed with a special grate, and they are attached to a pump that pumps air and a filter. To determine which filter to choose for the aquarium, you should consider the main advantages of this option: continuous circulation, external appeal, creating an optimal microclimate, reducing the risk of infection and delaying water pollution. You can make a bottom filter yourself . There are disadvantages to this technique:
- the inability to clean from dirt and large debris in the ground;
- The device is quickly clogged and for cleaning it is necessary to completely disassemble the structure;
- Inability to use in domestic aquariums with a lot of algae.
Airlift filter for aquarium
This option is considered the most low-power device for filtering. It should be noted that the compressor of the aerator for the aquarium has significant advantages: affordable price, practicality and reliability of the design. The air-lift cleaner works by moving the air compressor. It performs several functions at once, so oxygen enriches the water, circulates the liquid inside the vessel and removes mechanical impurities. Note that the airlift filter can also be manufactured by hand.
Siphon for cleaning the aquarium soil
The design of the soil cleaning device is a long hose with a tube at the end. Siphon acts like a vacuum cleaner, that is, it draws in water, soil and dirt. At the end of the device is a mesh, so the soil particles are not tightened inside. Another item regarding what to buy for a home aquarium involves choosing the right siphon:
- Mechanical. Most models have a pear with the help of which water swings. At the end of the device is a funnel or a transparent cylinder. When using a mechanical siphon, you need to drain the water.
- Electric. The soil cleaner for the aquarium works on batteries and drainage of the liquid in this version is not required. There is no such siphon and hose that makes it easier to use. The disadvantages of this option include the inability to clean the aquarium deeper than 0.5 m.
Soil for planting plants in the aquarium
When decorating domestic aquariums, many use different plants for which you need to pick a good soil.
- In the selected mixture, there should be no components that are subject to the rotting process, for example, humus, young peat, loam and sand, smaller than 2 mm.
- The nutrient substrate for the aquarium must have the ability to accumulate and transfer the creeping substances to the roots.
- The structure of the aquarium soil must necessarily be porous, so that water freely penetrates into the soil and the roots get oxygen. The optimal particle size is 3-8 mm.
- The primer should not contain large amounts of calcareous rock, so a weakly acid reaction is considered ideal, that is, the pH value should be less than 7.
- The instructions for what is needed for a home aquarium indicate that the nutrient should not damage the roots, clump and cake.
Home plants for the aquarium
To the end, the aquarium looked attractive, without the use of vegetation can not do. The market offers a wide range of both live and artificial algae, thanks to which you can create original compositions suitable for selected fish and other marine inhabitants. The original look for luminous plants for the aquarium, which will make the tank in the dark time particularly attractive.
Decoration of aquarium plants
There is a wide range of algae that are suitable for creating a beautiful and original composition. Studying the topic of what you need to buy for a home aquarium, you should specify the most popular types:
- The peristyleist. Algae have thin stems, covering with pinnate leaves. Dispose of is recommended in fine sand.
- Anubias. Living plants for the aquarium have strong roots and hard leaves, so they are ideal for tanks where live herbivorous fish. Anubias are enduring to the conditions and affordable. Given the presence of a powerful root system, you can attach algae to rocks and driftwood.
- Krinum is Thai. Sturdy culture for a home aquarium, which at the same time has strong and delicate leaves. They can be cut and even tied in a knot. Plant the krill in the soil.
Plants for aquarium without soil
Some aquarists do not use soil, for example, to rid themselves of the need to clean it or if there are fish that like to tear it up. In this case, it is recommended to choose the best plants for the aquarium, which are floating.
- Riccia. This species of algae has a flat shape and a bright green color. For small fish, this will be a good shelter, and for large fish - an additional source of nutrition.
- Pistia. In the people this culture because of the external similarity is called water cabbage. Pistia grows well, but in winter additional lighting is needed for it.
- Elodea is Canadian. The culture is poisonous, so you need to be careful when transplanting it in a home aquarium. For water bodies it is not dangerous.
- Egeria. An excellent kind of algae that can be grown, both in the ground and without it.
Useful plants in the aquarium
There are certain types of vegetation that will not only perform a decorative function, but also will be beneficial.
- Hornwort. Planting plants in the aquarium is recommended, since the leaves of this species of algae intensively purify the air. At the same time, a turbidity is formed on their surface, which must be washed off periodically.
- Wallisneria. This type of algae contributes to the saturation of the liquid with oxygen, and it also takes an active part in the cycle of organic and inorganic substances, both in water and in the ground.
Making aquariums with artificial plants
The choice in favor of falsified plantations is done in most cases if there are large and herbivorous fish in the home aquarium when there is no time to care for living vegetation or when the vessel performs only a decorative function. The disadvantages include the need to use an additional method for the destruction of nitrates, which are struggling with living algae. To decide which plants in the aquarium are best used, it is worth considering the advantages of artificial plantings:
- Availability of a wide range, and many plants are of high quality and, outwardly they look like real ones.
- Artificial products are affordable, and they will last a long time.
- Unlike living plantations, artificial species do not need additional care, that is, proper lighting, nutrition and so on.
- Fish are not interested in artificial products, and they will not destroy them, so you can create a beautiful composition.