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Planting and Cleaning Aquatics
No aquarium is complete without aquatic plants. It is important to choose the right ones and maintain them accordingly. Generally, you want to add a good amount of greenery to keep the tank oxygenated and to add color and places for the fish to circulate. Some experts suggest a plant for every square inch of aquarium floor but this is not necessary. Arranging just a few plants artistically is sufficient. The best range to aim for is one plant for every two or three square inches of aquarium floor. This will keep the aquarium nicely balanced, keeping fish healthy and leaving the water cleaner longer.
Before you plant aquatics in any aquarium or pool, trim off all the dead leaves and branches and examine the plants for insects or eggs. If you want to play it safe, immerse all the plants in disinfectant before putting them in the water. Use household ammonia and water in a 1 to 50 mixture and let the plants soak for a few hours. This will remove any germs and pests from the plants and make sure fish are not harmed.
Selecting and Maintaining Fish
Of course, the main part of the aquarium's aesthetic appeal is the fish you add. Select fish based on their healthy appearance and beauty. Age is not important as many breeds will live between 10 and 20 years in an indoor aquarium and longer outdoors. However, some of the fancier breeds live only 5 to 10 years, so age is more of a factor for these types of fish.
Fish generally adapt to their surroundings. In an aquarium fish will not grow large, if at all, whereas outdoors they will. The bigger the tank, the bigger they will grow.
You should disinfect fish the same way that you disinfect plants. Give them a two hour swim in some potassium permanganate, using one V^-grain tablet to a gallon of water. This will kill any bacteria and help the fish recover from the shock of moving to a new home.