Put your things to do before filling an aquarium under this comment. That way we can all help the fishkeeping family!

You and MD have been a huge inspiration in the hobby for myself. Going to be doing a large overhaul on my 120 planted here in a couple months. Thanks for what you do!

One more thing to add... Make sure your floor will take the weight. A friend of mine who lived on the Malvern Hills set up a beautiful six foot aquarium... His house was on three floors, basically going down the side of the mountain, so only the ground floor had a solid concrete base. He set the tank up on the floor above. A little while later, he could see that 'solid' timber beams of the ceiling below where the tank was sitting were visibly sagging! Needless to say, he had to strip the entire tank down- then move it to the ground floor, which provided suitably firm foundations for such a monstrous aquarium (6×2×2 feet).

I keep adding fish before the water. Gets me every time. 😂😂😂

Your dogs are as cooperative as my cats.

This is exactly what I was looking for... a checklist before I set up my next tank... by the way, no one tells you, when you get into this hobby, you'll need/want more than one tank!

I'm in a one-bedroom basement apartment.  My tanks are against the back wall (farthest from the window), across from my living room area.  As someone with CPTSD my TV never gets turned on, and if it does it is never on very loud.  I also do not have the lights on too late at night, as I am not a night person and I'm in bed by 10 pm each night.

I made sure that my tanks are on stable, level surfaces.

Everything I do, I think about their wellbeing.  They will never feel stress outside of the unavoidable stresses.  Just like any animal, fish deserve a safe home, cleanliness, enrichment and food.

I do not have planted aquarium plants -as they aren't available to buy where I live - but I do have philodendron plants poked out of the top with the roots hanging in the water, and some duckweed that I got with the fish at the fish store (in my minnow tank).  Everything is going swimmingly (pun intended).  There are artificial plants and decor inside the tank to add enrichment and places for the fish to swim and hide/play in.

In my betta tank, I couldn't get any plants to grow - even duckweed lol  I guess he doesn't produce enough waste to feed it, and his light is pretty low since he is a shy fish - so the duckweed didn't take.  So, for his tank I am regularly removing any leftover food and poop out of his water and am doing water changes as needed (he is in a 5 gallon tank with betta-friendly fake plants and hides).

Can't thank you enough for this informational video!

Hi Matt - I found your channel through MD. I love your chemistry on that channel and I like that you have this channel to really let your knowledge of fish keeping shine! Look forward to watching many more videos!

This is a great video that anyone starting their first tank (and probably second with hindsight) should watch and take note of. I can personally vouch for setting up plugs, cables etc having had to very very carefully ease a 200L cabinet aquarium away from the wall while my wife fed a skimmer cable down the back. No fish in the tank but still sketchy as heck!

Boiling driftwood CAN get rid of tannins, it just depends on how much tannins the wood has inside and how long you boil for. I don't mind tannins so I usually boil it long enough so that the tank won't become blackwater and to disinfect the wood from any parasites/pathogens hidden inside.

If you do it right does not turn your water  brown or murky, if you caping the muddy dirt with the rinsed  wet sand and gently put the water in the tank and trying not to disturbing the sand.

My aquarium is next to a window in my living room. As the window faces north, I only get light first thing in the morning. This means it doesn't cause algae problems.   The benefit of being near the window means I can do all my maintenance through the window from the garden, including syphoning out water, refilling, and plant trimming without making any mess indoors.

I’ve recently lost my mojo when ick came through and wiped my 40 gallon to the point of no return even with my interventions. My nanos are thriving with so many babies but the large tank I feel defeated. But with you and MD it makes me feel like resetting it up and going again ❤

I appreciate the checklist. I’m enjoying binge watching your videos.

That's true Matt, I wish that I watched your video before i setup my tank. But not it's impossible to redo it.

Hi Matt, here’s a tip which I actually got from you. Name all your plugs so you know which plug is which. By the way, not leaving enough space behind the aquarium is something I have at the moment lol. I’m doing a complete re scape in my Roma 90 in the next few months and this will be my very first job before I do anything once the tank is empty.

Imagine taking a good doggy nap with your best mate, and this guy comes in with a camera, scoops you away and starts yapping 🤣They were like "wtf is going on?!" 😂
Anyway, great video Matt, great to share the small things we all have learned on the journey in fish keeping so others dont have to experience the same 💪

Building a stand for my new 10 gallon betta tank. I didn’t realize I needed to set it on something between the stand & the tank 🤷‍♀️ Thanks

Every tank I've ever put together(15+), I always forget to put the background on 😂