Welcome to Tropical Aquarium UK!  Great savings on tropical aquariums and aquarium accessories!  Tropical fish tanks delivered straight to your door!

Tropical Aquarium UK are an authorised eBay affiliate and we are delighted to bring together for you an extensive range of tropical aquariums available on eBay along with some unbeatable savings!

If you're searching for the perfect tropical aquarium or fish tank accessories, you've come to the right place! We are delighted to offer a fantastic range of aquariums, filters, air pumps, lighting, substrate - in short, all you could wish for to meet your aquarium needs! With brands such as Rena, Eheim, Fluval, BiOrb and Juwel, we are proud to offer an extensive catalogue of tropical aquariums, and some unbeatable discounts!

Please click the links to the left and browse our categories, or alternatively, use our search facility above. Just key in what you're looking for, hit the search button, and we'll do our best to find it for you. Our stock-list of aquariums is continually updated so be sure to bookmark us!

Tropical aquarium keeping has become one of the most popular UK hobbies since the arrival of the paradise fish in the late 1800s! In those days, tropical aquariums were the preserve of the elite and accessories were somewhat basic, with the temperature of aquariums regulated by a naked flame! Fortunately, we have come on in leaps and bounds with brands such as Eheim, Fluval and Biorb manufacturing a plethora of accessories for tropical fish tanks - from air pumps to ph testing kits, filters to protein skimmers - and what's more, you can find them all here, along with a superb range of aquariums, all at unbeatable prices!

Setting Up The Tank

Setting up your first tropical fish tank is quite simple. We have a range of beginner's aquarium sets which come complete with heater, filter, air pump, light and substrate - all you need to set up your first aquarium and get going - with easy to follow instructions.

The first thing you will need to consider is the aquarium's location in your home. Tropical fish tanks need to be somewhere where the temperature is fairly constant, ideally not in a drafty spot and definitely not next to a radiator. Light will also be an issue. Excessive direct natural light could cause algae problems in the aquarium and should be avoided. Some species of fish are noise-sensitive. Many tropical tanks are kept in living rooms but do be aware, some fish are not as keen on home cinema systems as us which may mean you see little of them!

Once you have decided where the aquarium is to go and set up the apparatus according to the instructions (please do ensure you have the aquarium in position before filling it with water as it may be impossible to move afterwards!) you will need to 'cycle' the aquarium. Many beginners skip this step and proceed to fill their aquarium with fish. This can be a very unpleasant and expensive mistake - easily avoided but hard to remedy.

Cycling the Tank

We recommend fishless cycling. The procedure may seem daunting but is really very straightforward. It just requires a basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle, and a ph, nitrite and nitrate test kit.

Animal waste, plants and decaying food, create nitrogen which turns into ammonia. Ammonia is highly toxic to fish. Good bacteria turns ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates. Nitrites and nitrates are also harmful to fish, but nitrates are absorbed by live aquarium plants, completing the cycle.

Good bacteria are present in high numbers in the filter media of a healthy tropical tank. When you first set up the aquarium the amounts of good bacteria in there are negligible. If you add fish at this point they will produce ammonia and, as there is not enough good bacteria to process it, the ammonia will build up in the aquarium and the fish may die.

You can help the good bacteria in your aquarium get off to a flying start by adding a handful of gravel from an established tank. Take care to ensure that the fish in the aquarium the gravel comes from are healthy, otherwise you could also be introducing disease. Filter media from a healthy cycled aquarium will be the quickest way to build up good bacteria in your new tropical fish tank, but if you cannot get hold of either the gravel or media, it is perfectly ok to start from scratch. Good bacteria are everywhere and once you have an ammonia source in your aquarium, the good bacteria will establish a colony in your filter. It will just take a little bit longer.

To begin, fill up your aquarium (be sure to add a dechlorinator as chlorine is harmful to fish) and turn on the equipment, including the filter, any air stones and setting the temperature to 80 degrees.

Now, you need to start off the ammonia cycle. You can do this by dropping a few flakes of fish food into the aquarium every twelve hours.

During the aquarium cycling process, ammonia levels will rise, eventually quite sharply. Once they have spiked, they will trail off. Nitrites will then begin to rise. Again these will spike, and trail off. Nitrates then begin to rise. Once nitrates are being produced, the aquarium has cycled and you have developed a bed of good bacteria in your aquarium.

We have a great range of tropical aquariums and accessories at unbelievable prices! Scroll down to view our showcase of items available on eBay today and check out the amazing deals on offer. Please use the links to the left of the screen to view our categories. Remember, we are constantly updating our catalogue of aquariums so be sure to bookmark us. If your perfect tropical aquarium isn't here today, we're sure to have it tomorrow!