Aquarium Table: IKEA 'LACK' Side Table

I made my first purchase today toward the soon-to-be-setup aquarium: a table from IKEA. The table stood first in line of a long list of things to come. I thought this would be a good time for me to start a blog and write about my experience in setting up a new aquarium... so here I am with my laptop on the newly purchased 'aquarium table' writing a blog about my latest hobby!!

I recently moved to a new house. In the process of beautifying my new place, I thought it would be cool to have a fish-tank in the house. The enthusiasm soon picked up momentum and over the next few days, I started spending all my free time in googling and reading about aquariums, fish-compatibility, tank-size etc.. I also did a lot of window shopping at Petsmart, Petco and Walmart's pet-department... In the process, got to learn a great deal about aquariums.. for example found out about the simple rule of thumb for aquariums - for every inch of fish, you need at least a gallon of water... Salt water aquariums are more difficult to maintain compared to tropical ones and hence not recommended for first timers... Goldfish are not too fussy.. easiest to maintain and can survive in a variety of conditions... fish compatability is a very important criteria when it comes to choosing several variety of fishes (a quote from one of the sites: "don't be surprised if one of your smaller fishes mysteriously dissappears when you introduce a larger non-carnivorous fish in the tank")... fish are likely to survive better in a flat long tank rather than a tall tank etc etc etc.. the list goes on...

Although I will be sharing most of my experiences in setting up my new aquarium, this blog serves more as an 'aquarium' diary rather than providing information to a newbie aquarist... However, I will try my best to provide useful websites and other resources as I continue to write more.

Now that the table is in place, I have to start looking for a good deal on the tank. I am more or less decided on what I want: the Eclipse Corner 5 Aquarium by Marineland. This 5 gallon tank is ALL-IN-ONE kind. Meaning that (hopefully) I dont have to worry about buying separate units for filtering, heating or lighting. Plus since its 5 gallons (compared to the more popular Eclipse 3 series), I can have a couple more fishes in the tank.. a good number for starters. My window shopping over the last few days has helped me get an estimate on the approximate price for this tank and also the stores that have it in stock.