How to Set Up a Fish Tank/Aquarium

I want to set up an aquarium but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. I have an old 30 gallon tank and a stand but I need to purchase others components like a filter and some hose etc. Can anybody who is familiar with this give me some pointers before I start?

I used to have tanks.
One was a about the same size as yours.

I had the best luck with undergravel type filters.
and I learned the hard way, to start with cheap fish.

I was able to get pretty good advice from my local aquarium supply store, because one of the employees was quite the fish fanatic.
It might be a good idea to find an employee such as that.

And as tempting as it looks, and as colorful as the fish are..Don't attempt a salt water setup until your are a seasoned freshwater veteran.

Get yourself a couple of books, on tanks, and on the different types of fish.
Some fish play well with others..Some view the others as dinner...LOL!

Be carefule about the decorations..That they don't leech chemicals into the water. Like Rocks..some are stable, some actually dissolve in the water, changing it's PH, and chemical makeup.


and oh yeah...start with cheap fish!

Id have to agree with spacedoubt

First port of call is your local aquarium supplies shop. Its better to travel a little further to go to a dedicated shop rather than a general pet store. There'll be plenty of books to get you started and the staff will be able to advise you on getting the best set up. And DO go the tropical rather than marine route. Marine tanks will empty your pockets very quickly!

Once your set up, as suggested, get cheap fish! And make sure they're capable of standing the high nitrate/nitrite levels you'll get while the tank goes through its maturing cycle. Personally, I'd recommend neon or glowlight tetras. Very cheap, go well together in large-ish groups, and can stand the nitrate/nitrite levels quite well. But ask at your local shop for their recommendations. If your using biological filters, make sure you get a product like TETRA SAFESTART to kick start the maturation process. It'll help immensely and you wont have to do as many water changes while the tank settles down.

For decorations, get those from the aquarium shop too (at least at 1st) as they'll be safe for use. Don't be put off using live plants either. They're incredibly easy to look after, and look much better than fake as well. Another thing to consider, is that while this is a nice decoration to your home, its the fishes whole world! So, make it as nice a place for them to live as you can. All fish feel more comfortable with plenty of cover and hiding places. So make sure you have as many as possible, as a lot of fish are territorial, and like to have their own little place to hang around. This will help stop a lot of conflicts occuring.

The only other thing to stress is that its not a quick or easy thing to get going. It'll take anything up to 12 months for the tank to fully mature. And certainly for the first 3 - 6 months theres an awful lot of work to do with water changes, filter cleaning etc. Dont let that put you off though, the benefits are well worth the work.

Good Luck!

Thanks guys! Your advice is much appreciated. The only problem is that I can't seem to locate a store that specializes in aquariums. I guess it is time to head out to a book store instead. I would love to try saltwater sometime but I know that is too advanced for me at this point so I'm just going to stick with freshwater and see how it goes.