When my little beta fish died two years ago, my dad and I saw its empty 10-gallon tank as an opportunity to start our own aquarium. Little did we know that there's a lot of elements to consider that made building a fish tank trickier than we expected. Because of our ignorance, we made mistakes that cost the lives of some of our fish (R.I.P.). Two years later, we learned a lot about fish and were surprised to witness a welcoming community of fish lovers. Now we have a 40-gallon tank filled with all kinds of exotic fish we can find. So if you wanna build your own fish tank and avoid killing fish (and wasting your money), here is some basic knowledge everyone should know.

1. Fish are sensitive!

You may already know this or think that it's no big deal—at least that's what I thought when I first heard it—but let me tell you that it is the most important concept to keep in mind. If you choose to ignore it, the fish will die. No joke.

Fish are highly sensitive creatures; meaning that they are affected by anything in their environment. Anything being the quality of the water, the decorations you decide to use, the diversity of fish, the amount of fish and the location of the fish tank.

Like us students, fish get stressed out under pressure and if they get too stressed out they die. They can get stressed out by other fish that might seem threatening to them or if you transfer the fish too quickly into your new tank. They can even get stressed out if there's too much constant noise around the tank or if kids are constantly tapping on the glass.

For those reasons, it is important to remember that fish are sensitive when making decisions based on your aquarium.

2. Know your water before you buy fish.

The water is the most important aspect of a tank because fish live in water (obviously). So it's your duty to make sure that the water is as safe as possible. Also, you need to choose what kind of tank you want: a saltwater or freshwater tank. A saltwater tank is for fish or plants that live in the ocean. A freshwater tank is for fish that live in rivers or lakes. However, if you are a beginner and have no idea what you're doing, start with a freshwater tank for now. Freshwater tanks don't require a lot of maintenance as saltwater and are less expensive.

For the sake of this article, I would be talking about how to prepare a freshwater tank, but if you want to know more about saltwater tanks click here.

3. You have to properly prepare the water.

Despite what kind of tank you decide on, it's necessary to provide proper water to your fish. When first going into this, my dad and I didn't know we had to prepare the water as much as we should. Because of that mistake, the first fish we had died of lead poisoning.

If you think just using filtered water will do the trick, you're going to end up with dead fish too. To prevent that, you must buy some cleaning solution to add to the water. There are a lot of solutions to choose from so make sure you read the label carefully and pick the one you need to clean your water. The brand I recommend is Tetra. Its never failed us and completely safe for fish.

Keeping your water clean is also important so you will need to pay for a filter according to the tank's size. Since mine is a 40-gallon tank, we need a bigger filter to accommodate the large amount of water. Additionally, you will need to properly change/add water whenever the water level drops 25%. Any water added must be properly cleaned before being added to the tank.

Another aspect to keep in mind is the temperature of the water. Because fish are so sensitive, the temperature of the water needs to be between 75 to 80 degrees. Anything more or less will kill the fish. Therefore, you'll need to buy a heater and a thermometer to keep track of the temperature. The heater we have enables us to set a specific temperature we want and if it goes over the desired temperature, it will automatically turn itself off until its needed again.

4. Know your fish before you commit.

Just like fish water, there are two kinds of fish: aggressive and non-aggressive. This is a little more straightforward. Do you want aggressive fish that will eat smaller fish or do you want non-aggressive fish that will only eat fish flakes? Whatever you decide, be sure to stick with one because mixing these types together won't end well for the fish or your wallet. Fish can be expensive and if you choose to get non-aggressive fish then accidentally buy an aggressive fish, some of your non-aggressives will wind up being killed.

Be sure to ask the store owner or employee if the fish you want are aggressive or non-aggressive. You can also tell the fish apart if they go for your hand pressed against the glass or not.

Another tip I would like to note is that you should only buy the amount of fish your tank can hold. One fish for every inch. So if your tank is 15 inches, you would have 15 fish maximum.

5. Choose the appropriate decorations/lights.

Decorations are the icing on the cake to a nice looking aquarium and can be the most fun part in building a tank. However, you must know your limits to decorating your tank. Thankfully, there aren't many.

First thing you need to know is that if you want to put big rocks, plants or sculptors in your aquarium, they have to be fish-friendly. Any decorations bought in fish stores are fine but if you want to put your own, make sure it's not pointy or coated with any harmful chemicals.

Second thing is that you need to add gravel to the bottom of the tank so your decorations can stay in place. The gravel needs to be at least one inch thick and after a while, you will need to clean the gravel to prevent excessive algae growth. Supplies for cleaning can be found at the pet store.

Real plants are a nice touch to your aquarium but if you want to add a LED light on top of your tank, you may want to reconsider to fake plants. However, it is possible to have real plants and a nice LED light. You would just need to make sure the LED light you're buying is not strong enough to damage the plants.

Other than that, you can decorate your tank as creatively as you want! You can have rocks and plants, throw in a bubble machine to make bubbles in the water, recreate Bikini Bottom or tape in wallpaper on the backside of the tank. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks so much for reading! Comment below if you have any questions about aquarium building or maybe tell me your own experience. I would love to hear about it!