Now that you have your Window Aquatica, it’s time to think about getting fish!
Ideally, before you put any fish in, have your Window Aquatica running for 5 days with plant starts. You can add 1 pellet of crushed fish food every other day to the aquarium with no fish in it. This will help build the ecology which will break down fish waste, uneaten fish food, and upcycle it to feed the plants. Then you’ll have a stable ecosystem before there’s any fish.
If for some reason you need to put fish in on the same day you set up with new plant starts, feed your fish 1 pellet every other day for the first 10 days. This minimal amount of food will keep the water from toxifying while your plants get established.
Please, under no circumstance, have fish in the aquarium without living plants. Without plants the water will become toxic in 2 days and the fish will die shortly after.
We have vetted four fish species that work well, and we hope that you’ll choose one of these to ensure success. Most fish species will not be able to tolerate the variable temperatures of being in a windowsill, so if you venture out of these four selections please do lots of research. Below are the fish listed from absolute easiest to easy. If you know nothing about aquariums or fish, I recommend choosing our #1. We included a link to an online fish store, but all of these should be available to order at your local aquarium store.
- Mosquito Fish you can put 3-5 of these in Window Aquatica (room temp maintained 55F-85F)**
- Gold Longfin Danio you can put 4-6 of these in Window Aquatica (room temp maintained 65F-80F)**
- Head and Tail Light Tetra you can put 4-6 of these in Window Aquatica (room temp maintained 65F-80F)**
- Platy you can put 3-4 of these in Window Aquatica (room temp maintained 65F-80F)**
Once you put your fish in, for the first week cover the ends of the aquarium that aren’t covered with the Bamboo Growing Bed (about 1-2″ gap). I usually put a piece of tape over both ends. The fish may want to jump out of the aquarium in the first few days as they are not familiar with their new environment. After 1 week, they won’t try to jump and you can remove whatever you put on the ends.
**If your room temperature is going below the recommended temperature you can get an inexpensive heater to compensate. I recommend this one on Amazon . Set the heater between 61F-64F. You want your water to be cool at night ~65F, because the sun will heat if up during the day. If you set the heater to 75F, then the sun may overheat it to 90F during the day.
**Window Aquatica water can heat up about 10F more than room temperature when it is in direct sunlight. If you room temperature is getting above 80F during heat waves, you can move Window Aquatica to a spot with indirect sunlight for that time. The water can safely go to 85F for days, and 90F for a couple hours.