How To Make An Aquarium Filled With Hype Sea Water Fish

Sea water fish aquarium. (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - Visiting an ornamental fish market on Jalan Sumenep, Menteng, Central Jakarta, made us know that many sea water fish are hunted by residents. The reason is, instead of freshwater fish which are priced above Rp. 20 thousand, sea water fish are usually sold from Rp. 10,000 to Rp. 20 thousand.

Usually, buyers will look for a variety of sea water fish such as nemo fish, butterfly fish, zebrafish, and blue devil fish. This type of fish is common in the stalls of saltwater fish sellers.

So what do you have to prepare when you are going to maintain sea water ornamental fish? To the VOI team, Hasan, who is one of the traders at the ornamental fish market at Jalan Sumenep, Menteng, told us what to prepare.

"First, you have to have an aquarium first. There can be various sizes, for example the small one is 60 centimeters (cm)," he said when met at his stall, Sunday, January 12.

After having an aquarium, you must prepare sea water to be filled into the aquarium. For 12 liters of sea water or a large bag, Hasan usually sells it for IDR 10,000.

If you have both, don't forget to also provide an aquarium pump, water filter, skimmer or a tool that will remove sea water impurities, and various other tools including a chiller that is useful for regulating sea water temperature. This is because sea water fish and coral reefs must be in a fairly cold temperature, for example, around 26 degrees Celsius.

Not only that, said Hasan, don't forget to also provide lights. Because, this lamp is important for coral reefs and fish in the aquarium.

If you have everything ready, Hasan said, you can start by filling in the bottom gravel in the aquarium.

"Fill in the bottom gravel first, the bottom reef, then enter the water. Then, the water must be recycled, filtered for a week, don't put the fish and coral reefs first. It will all die," he explained.

The trader in the ornamental fish market on Jalan Sumenep, Menteng is named Hasan. (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

After the recycling process is complete, coral or live coral reefs can be put into the aquarium. "A week later, just fill the sea fish," said Hasan.

For the maintenance process, Hasan said, once every six months the sea water aquarium must be drained.

However, Hasan said, prospective buyers of sea water aquariums do not want to be complicated with the processes that must be done beforehand. Therefore, the stall is already selling ready-to-use saltwater aquariums. For a 60 cm aquarium with a variety of fish, it costs around IDR 4 million or more.

"It depends on the size [of the aquarium], yes, if the small one is 60 cm, the same aquarium costs Rp. 4 million," he concluded.