This is part zero (the intro) of a multi-part series. See the full series parts here:

Stage one – initial setup
Stage two – adding plants (live) and plant matter (dead)
Stage three – adding oxygen and adding fish

So in the words of David Bowie “I’m an absolute beginner” – as far as having fish as pets in a tank etc. This blog is my first attempt to capture this while it’s all new and fresh.

Stage zero – the beginning:

How it started:

I got into this viewing (somehow) some “Father Fish” videos that came up on my YouTube feed. I liked his story, his attitude, and the natural and (more or less) self-sustaining concept for the tank – we don’t have pets of any kind because they need 24/7 care and if we are out often or go away etc. can be a problem (sure, you have places for cats and dogs to be looked after but its expensive and time consuming and I’d just rather not). So these videos sparked off an interest and it seemed simple enough (nothing worth doing ever really is!) so I thought I’d have a go.

The attitude:

A slight divergence here, but like everything is life, you attitude/intention/desire/goal for anything affects how you do it and what it is.

Like everything on the internet people get so fanatic about “their way (the right way!) to do something” and Father Fish had obviously had quite come of those people commenting on his videos.

The thing is one-size-does-NOT-fit-all – almost never for anything. There is almost always (not always, but very often) several ways to do something and none of them are wrong and one is not even necessarily better than the others … its all about context: what are you doing and why are you doing it?

So this guide is for people like me – an absolutely beginner who want to try this “natural” fish tank method. If you are an experienced fish owner and your tanks are totally different … well good for you! If your fish are happy and you are happy then I tip my hat to you and say “jolly good”. If you just want a goldfish (or whatever) and a simple arrangement then buying a tank and supplies from a pet-shop and doing it the classical way is absolutely fine. If this “natural” method will only give you a tank for a couple of years and then will need redoing from scratch as the nutrients and stuff finally run out of this limited eco-system … well then so be it, I am not trying to build a tank to last a century … 6 months will please me, 12 months I’ll be ecstatic (maybe I wont’ even want a tank after 12 months … doing a small and simple one like this gives me a chance to find out (that said I am already wanted to get a bigger tank! I think I am hooked. Lol)).

Budget:

Related to the above is also budget. I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on this – I run a tight ship and I don’t have cash to just splash out on a full professional super everything setup.

This “natural” method seemed a way to do things a bit on the cheaper side.

As it turns out, it does … but you’ll still need to spend some dollars – not a super lot but not an insignificant amount either. Nothing worth doing in this world is simple (see above) and also nothing is free – every choice you make has its cost in cash or time or how close the result is to what you dreamed etc. etc. But budget is a factor in deciding on this method.

Choice:

I went for this “natural” method also because I really love the aesthetics of it. When I went into a shop to actually buy my fish I was struck with the sterility and somewhat life-less-ness of their displays.

Aesthetics is of course a very personal choice and your mileage may vary! But I put not only real plants in there but a couple of real rocks and a bit of driftwood (for aesthetics much more than any other reason!) and when I put the leaf litter in (see Father Fish videos for details) which was just for nutrients and micro-biology aspects it turned out I instantly fell in love with the aesthetic affect of it … it just looks (to me) like a snippet of a scene from a David Attenborough video of some “Life of Fishes” series – lol.

I also note while I was buying my fish a mother came in with her young daughter and enter up buying a tank and a plastic “Sponge Bob Square Pants” pineapple house for the fish to swim through etc. Did I chastise her for it? Of course not! See “Attitude” above. Her needs and wants were totally different that mine – and frankly giving her daughter exposure to some living creatures in a way that would engage her attention and maybe help spark a life-long affinity for mother natures marvels is, to my mind, the most important goal of that setup. It is all about context. Her way was probably right for her needs, my way for mine – as long as the fish are OK the rest is really moot.

Equipment:

So what are you gonna need? (Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters?!?).

Shopping list:

For fuller details see the later sections but as an initial heads up you will need:

Tank:

a safe stable place to place your fish tank where it can remain and be viewed well and accessed easily and has safe access to power outlets nearby (or at least within extension cord reach)
a tank
dirt
sand
stream or creak sourced dead leaves
optional some aesthetic feature objects like rocks (1 or 2), piece of driftwood etc.
a least temporarily: a bowl to mix your dirt in and a cup to measure you dirt with and a spoon or something to mix the water into the dirt – but you probably have these lying around at home already
a small wish net/scoop for transferring your fish from shop nag/container to your tank or moving them out of your tank
a pair of long stainless steel – or something else that won’t rust – tweezers to aid in planting plants into the dirt/sand at the bottom of the tank (super recommended!)

Electronics:

a small air pump with tubing and “air-stones” (which are little “stones” that the air is pumped through to produce streams of bubbles)
- optional, but probably really mandatory – you probably want a spare/backup air pump in case your existing one fails (from my experience you may have like 2 days worth of oxygen in your fish tank at any given time – if you pump fails and oxygen stops you may not have enough time to get a replacement pump before your fish start dying (you can try manual oxygenation … I did … I found it time consuming and of some value but ultimately a failure – for the low cost of a pump – even if you buy a facing main pump and just get a cheap backup to last you while you source a new pump would seem to be much better than no spare pump at all))
optional but you probably want a small lamp or other light source – possible to aid in plant photosynthesis but mostly just to add light so yo can see inside your tank and see your fish better
optional but needed if you want tropical fish and that is a tank heater – you can get ones with built in thermometer that’ll detect the water temperature and turn on and off as needed to warm it up
- optional, but probably really mandatory (if you are going tropical fish/got a tank heater) – you probably want a spare/backup tank heater in case your existing one fails (as I have gone for cold water fish I have no experience with this, but the logic is same as for the tank oxygenation pump above – have a spare, even if a cheaper lesser quality one, to at least give you something sufficient to hold you (and you r fish!) over until you can source a new replacement unit.
you’ll probably also want an extension cord and/or a double adapter etc. for your light/pump and possibly also heater, etc.

Fish:

fish suitable for your water temperature and tank size and water oxygenation etc. or suitable size and quantity (for a small tank which you first one will probably be, a limited number (no more than 10 I would say) small fish ( 1-2cm fish mostly with maybe a couple of 3 to 3.5cm ones)
some fish food (just one smallest container of goldfish flakes should suffice, your fish are small and you intent the natural tank function to also have food/ be self sustaining so not much is needed)

That’s quite a shopping list – considering we are going simple, natural, and self-sustaining! You also don’t get it all before you start (especially not the fish) but get it and do it in stages (a) set up the tank, (b) add the plants, and then (c) add the fish.

Non-shopping list:

Here are a few items not to get:

Plastic items – do not get a plastic tank, do not get plastic/fake rocks or other tank ornaments
Fake plants – do not get plastic or other material fake plants – you want real live ones
Filter – you do not need a tank filter – you are going for natural filtration. However as you do not have a filter you are gonna (as above) need an air pump (a filter normally acts secondarily as a water oxygenator by stirring up and moving the water – it is water motion on the surface of the water (and not air bubbles in the water despite that’s is what you would likely first think) that oxygenates the water and keeps your fish alive (unless you have awesome plants producing the full oxygenation needed for your tank … that seems unlikely at least initially.
Chemicals, cleaners, algae scrapers.

Cost:

Here is a summary of about what it cost me to start up:

ITEM	AUD$
– tank	$30
– dirt	$20 (much spare for later tanks)
– sand	$20
– plants	$15
– fish scoop	$8
– tweezers	$12 (part of a set)
– air pump	$30 ($15 each – super cheap on eBay!)
– lamp	nil – I already had
– heater	nil – I am going cold water fish
– extension cord etc.	nil – I already had
– fish food	$6
– fish	$80 (initially $50, but I lost 3/4 of my first fish and had to replace them)
TOTAL	about AUS$225