Building a fish tank
I used to have a 180 gallon fish tank at my parents house. It was a slightly blue colored piece of glass firmly mounted on some drawers. I used to sit in front of it for very long periods of time and thus started my fascination of fish. I had given every fish a name in the tank. Firstly we had Mr. Gold. A rather remarkable gold colored fish who used to move around the tank as if it owned. Then we had Mr. White. A white colored fish which moved with such ease and elegance that I was always amazed to see it. There was also the silver twins. Although they were silver in color, but I was a fan of the famous cartoons, treasure island, so I thought of them as the notorious pirates. The time and the hours I sat around the tank thinking of different stories of love, hate, action and drama really accelerated the development of my creative skills. I always enjoyed spending time there, till I left that place and got an apartment upstate.

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My love for fish was not yet over. Having grown up with a 180 gallon fish tank it was difficult for me to have a small one. So I bought myself the same one as I had at my parents house. Well not exactly bought it, but I had it made because I could not find one exactly like that.
However, in the past 10 or so years, I have set up and maintained a large number of aquariums. I have had firsthand experience in coming up with the perfect home for fish at the expense of a my friends and family calling me a crazy person, my chiropractor thinking I had some loved my fish a bit too much and freight companies coming to the point of suing me. I have seen the ups and the downs. The good and the bad. And the best part is, I have enjoyed every moment of it!

So what do you need to do when you are building up your own fish tank? Here are a number of steps that I would highly recommend.

1. Commitment
You need to have the determination to go ahead with this task. Its time and resource consuming

2. Location
You need to find a perfect position for your tank. Find a place free from direct sunlight at a level spot. Also keep in mind that you need to feed the fish so it should

3. Weight
Remember that its not just the weight of the glass but also the things in it that needs to held up by something. I have used wood, but you need to know exactly what you are doing otherwise you will end up losing a lot of money. However, it is recommended that for a large tank you just use a concrete block.

4. Water
You need to have a water supply close at hand. Although modern systems such as PYTHON make this not that big of a concern but it is much better to have a source all the same. Imagine just turning on a few taps and having your water filled or changed.

5. Filtration
You need to have a cleaning system

6. Glass or acrylic?
Decide in advance. Both of these things have their own advantages in disadvantages!
The thing is that you need to enjoy every moment you spend building up an aquarium as you are building someone a home.