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So, you plan to set up a new aquarium? Good for you! You're already taking the first correct step; educating yourself. By reading up on the subject beforehand, you will be much more likely to have an enjoyable experience rather than a negative one.

Setting up a freshwater aquarium is really not that difficult as long as you know to avoid a few potential pitfalls. You should also know that there is frequently conflicting advice going around out there. When you get conflicting advice, you should simply weigh the advice based on the experience of the person giving it to you. When I started out in the aquarium hobby almost 30 years ago, I gleaned most of my knowledge from the owner of a local pet shop. Several years later I joined an aquarium society and found out just how much "bad advice" I had picked up. The advice given to me from the pet store owner was based on what had worked for him, but his experience with keeping fish was limited to keeping them alive long enough to sell them. Not all pet store owners are like this, many I've met are very knowledgeable indeed. The best advice on this subject comes from those who not only love to keep fish and have been doing it for years, but who also network with others and share their experiences.

In my life I have set-up and maintained literally hundreds of aquariums. Like anybody else I made amateur mistakes early on. I learned the hard way sometimes, and whenever possible I learned from others to avoid making certain mistakes myself. Hopefully you can benefit from my experiences and avoid some common mistakes when setting up your aquarium.

Before going out and buying the tank, equipment, and fish, I recommend doing a little strategic planning. Figure out ahead of time what size you want your tank to be, how many and what sort of fish, what their needs will be and so forth. Aquariums can be a lot of work or a little work, depending on how challenging you wish to make it. For the beginner, I recommend keeping things simple. Do yourself a favor and get fish that prefer the water conditions in your area, instead of trying to adjust the water chemistry to match the fish you select. This could be likened to buying plants that thrive in moist shady conditions when you live in a desert, then trying to amend the soil and add shade. Sure it can be done, but wouldn't it be simpler to just buy plants that like dry and sunny conditions to begin with?

A good place to start is by taking a sample of your tap water to a reputable aquarium

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