So you have seen a nice aquarium set up and want to give it a go.So where do you start.
We will assume for the purpose of this post that you have bought a complete tropical set up which includes heaters,pumps filters, lights and everything else you may want for it (including ornaments).
An aquarium should be set up if possible away from a window or heat source such as a radiator but close to electrical sockets, Remember any gravel bought should be washed (just with water)before being put in tank
OK the tank is in position so now we will fill the tank with water ensure heaters and filter systems are covered before switching on power. It will take between 10 and 14 days before fish can be introduced .
For the 1st few days tank temp should be checked to ensure it is within an exceptabile range 72-80 f if this is ok at day 5 you can start putting in live plants and ornaments if you wish, after 10 days a water check should be done to ensure the ph and hardness is ok if you do not have a water test kit your local aquarist shop will do this for you if you take along a sample usually for a small fee.IF your water is ok you are almost ready for the fish, we will base this on a standard community tank so a ph of around 6.2-7.5 is usually ok we will assume the tank is between 24-30 inches long,24-30 high and 18 wide ok now you have to decide on sutible tank mates ( a good reference book can be handy here) you dont want for example to walk in and see a nice pink catfish at about an inch long and say i want one of them before reading what it is becase that little fish is a Claris catfish(walking catfish)which can grow to 18inches in a matter of months and eat every thing you have in the tank it will still be nice and pink but the only fish you have.
it is called a walking catfish as it has the ability to walk out of water to the next water course available it is a native of african and they walk when ponds start to dry out during summer month, imagine the suprise you would get putting the food down for the dog and this crawls out from under a chair so never buy a fish on impulse some more dos and donts to follow and we still havent bought our 1st fish for the tank yet. A lot of newcomers to the aquarist hobby give up within the 1st year as they cannot keep fish alive for any length of time, Ad trader and local papers are always full off aquariuns for this reason and most of it is all down to bad advice from regular pet shops

great advice kenny..... a few handy things to have are a bottle of fish tonic, a weekly tonic to keep your fish healthy... a bottle of water de-chlorinator, it gets rid of the chlorine in your water when you do a partial or full water change... a net and a magnetic glass cleaner..

Shelly i have never used a fish tonic or de=chlorinator in 30years no need to add chemicals the aquarium is a balanced enviroment and if maintained correctly no chemicals are ever required.
As for the de-chlorinator if you fill abucket of water for changes and leave over night the chlorine dissapates itself again no need for chemicals I know all areas in the uk have different water condition which may involve chemicals but in scotland the water is usually ok

oh right, i wasnt aware if that kenny, so if i fill my bucket ready for the next day, it will be fine enough to use in the tank?

you can boil water and leave over night to cool this removes the chlorine or if the chlorine level in your area are low just leave overnight you could agitate the water once or twice with small air pump

oh right..i normally just add the de chlorinator to the water lol....but this is handy to know should i not have any