Freshwater

Chapter 15: Putting It All Together
the top of the tank with a towel while painting. We like to use an ocean
blue paint for the back of our tanks, as it allows the fish to show their
true colors and helps reflect lighting. Midnight blue and black look great,
too.
6. Install an undergravel filter.
Now is the time to put in your undergravel filter, before the substrate is
laid down.
Lay the perforated plastic plates on the bottom of the tank. Put the plastic
uplift tubes in place over the large holes in the plate. Put an airstone
connected to air-line tubing down inside of the plastic uplift tubes. Most
undergravel caps have a hole that the air-line tubing passes through.
Place the caps on top of the uplift tubes. Connect the air-line hosing to
an air pump. Do not plug in the pump yet!
7. Wash and add your substrate.
Wash gravel with clear water. You can use a colander to rinse the gravel.
Set the colander over a bucket and rinse the gravel under water until the
overflow is clean. This will remove dirt, dust, and excess dye.
Put two inches of gravel over the undergravel filter plate. Slope the
gravel so that it is about one half an inch higher in the rear.
8. Add a powerfilter.
On this system we are going to add a powerfilter (see Chapter 6) to
make the total filtration system complete. Place the filter on the tank by
hanging it on the outside of the rear glass. The intake tube should hang
inside of the aquarium. Rinse the filter pads under clear water and place
them in the slots inside the filter. Do not plug the unit in yet!
9. Fill the tank up 2 ⁄3 of the way with water.
This allows you to arrange the gravel if it has moved during filling and
provide leeway to add decorations later without spilling water out of the
tank.
Pour the water into the aquarium by letting it splash on top of a small
plate that is resting underwater on top of the gravel. This will make sure
that the water does not move the gravel and decorations all around
while you are filling the tank. Make sure the water is the correct temperature
for your species.
10. Install the heater.
Install a submersible heater at an angle along the rear piece of glass. If
you are using a non-submersible heater, attach it onto the rim of the
tank.
Do not plug in the heater yet!
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