I found that setting up a new aquarium could be a bit of a challenge so I though I would put this post up with a few tips on what to do and what not to do. Follow the what not to do that way you will save your self the headaches that I had.
When you are setting up a brand new aquarium setup, it might be wise to set everything up, fill it with the water, let all of the equipment run and get the temperature of the water just right before you go introducing any fish to the scene. This will help you to make sure that the aquarium is not leaking. Yes, even brand new aquariums can leak. This is something that you are going to want to be careful to watch for. You will also want to make sure that the filter is filtering properly and that everything else is working right. If you skip this vital step, you could be costing yourself a lot of time and frustration in the end.
Before you can do all of that though, you are going to want to make sure that you are properly rinsing out all of the new equipment. This includes not just the fish tank itself, but the filter media, the decorations, the gravel and anything else you will be putting in there. There is going to be a small amount of debris from the manufacturer that you are going to want to rinse off with cool tap water. Do not use soap.
Once you have everything set up and running for at least a day, it is going to be time to introduce the fish. If you already have the fish from another aquarium setup, you are going to have to start by siphoning the water from the old tank into buckets. Once you fill one bucket of tank water, you will want to net the fish out of the tank and place them in that bucket of water for the time being. You will want to make sure that the temperature of the water in the new tank is at the same temperature of what was in the old tank. When all is set up, you can net the fish into the new aquarium.
It is recommended that you feed the fish sparingly and that you are not introducing any new fish to the aquarium for at least four weeks. This will not only give the new fish a chance to get used to the new aquarium, but it will allow bacteria to populate. For the first several weeks, you are going to want to make sure that you are keeping an eye on the fish and the new tank, just to make sure that everything is going as smoothly as it should be.