Amos Kwok / Getty Images
A large part of keep back your Pisces healthy is ensuring that their habitat remains hefty . even maintenance is cardinal to keepingthe aquariumenvironment dependable . One roadblock for new aquarium proprietor is not know what maintenance they should perform , and when . Experts may disagree on the specific point of aquarium maintenance , but everyone concord that following a regular routine of any kind is better than no maintenance at all . This is one advocate aquarium care plan .
Why Do Maintenance?
Often fish tank owners do n’t give much thought to maintenance . After all , they have a filter , and somebottom - feeding fishto pluck up stuff and nonsense that accrue there . So what else is needed ? Some will cite the fact that nobody is cleaning the river , lakes , and oceans , and the fishdo fine . So why strip the marine museum ? That ’s actually a unspoilt question . Mother Nature is not idle , she does a passably good problem of cleaning things up in the slap-up open . Lakes , river , and ocean are large bodies of urine that have stream and waves circulating the water . Rain falling bestow refreshed water , and live works produce oxygen while engage carbon dioxide . The vaporous bulk of water also serves to dilute any harmful toxin .
Unlike consistency of water in nature , an aquarium take a relatively small amount of water . Add to that the fact that it is a closed system , and it becomes quite unlike from a home ground in nature . Nothing goes into or out of the tank unless you have a hand in making it happen . Filters sure enough aid , but if not maintain , filter become choked and will no longer work properly . Meanwhile , fish continue to produce waste material , uneaten food decays , and potentially harmful byproduct slowly build up . The only elbow room an fish tank will stay on clean is if you take the time to do maintenance on a regular basis . Otherwise , the habitat will become unhealthful for the fish over clock time .
Frequency of Maintenance
It is neither practical nor sizeable to clean every open in the aquarium on a daily or even hebdomadal basis . For that matter , it ’s never wise to clean house everything in the aquarium at the same prison term . To minimize the impact cleansing has on beneficial bacteria , cleanup of colony - rich areas , such as the filter and the substratum , should be staggered . If the bacterial settlement are disturbed too much , it can disrupt the N cycle enough to induce a spike in ammonia andnitrite . For that grounds , it ’s also wise to to test the water a few day after a significant cleaning to ensure nothing is haywire .
Daily
Do a quick visual hindrance of the fish tank to ensure the filter is endure at full metier , the lights are functioning properly , and any other equipment you have is prevail normally . Check the watertemperature to ensure it ’s in the proper range . depend the fish and see if they appear salubrious . A good clock time to do this is when you feed them , as they will be out and comfortable to honor . Once they have finish eating , study the tank car to see if there is uneaten food remaining on the bottom . If you notice that there is often uneaten food left after five to10 minutes , bring down back on the bulk of food you give your Pisces at each feeding . Should you notice that uneaten food for thought start building up on the bottom of the tank car , use a siphon or nonplus vacuum to take out it . If the water level has drop , top it off with treated oraged wateras needed .
This is a secure time to start an aquarium journal or log if you have n’t done so already . While there is no need to record everything , it is helpful to note anything out of the ordinary on your daily checks . That agency you may catch vogue that may be occurring . For example , the temperature dropping by a degree is n’t a immense passel , but if it shed a level four day in a row , that ’s a peak - off that something may be wrong withyour bullet . All of this can be done in literally a issue of minutes , so it ’s not a immense time investiture .
Elva Etienne / Moment / Getty Images
Credit:Amos Kwok / Getty Images
Weekly/Bi-Weekly
Some experts are advocator of weekly partial pee changes , while others prefer to do them every few weeks . As long as you are regularly performing partial water changes every distich of weeks , the exact frequency is not vital . Use body of water that is treated to withdraw chlorine , and if possible , aged . transposition weewee should be close to the temperature of the fish tank . However , prior to performing the body of water change , perform the other weekly and every other week tasks first , such as cleaning alga off the inside of the aquarium glass . Leave the partial water variety as the last labor .
The other chore that should be performed every hebdomad or two is the oecumenical cleansing of the tank . By execute light cleaning every couple of weeks , your aquariumwill never get overly dingy . Wipe down the outside tankful airfoil with a non - ammonia aquarium - dependable cleaner , or simply apply a damp textile . softly shake plants , whether they arelive or artificial , to dislodge junk . Scrape the privileged glass to take away any algae , then take a break for ten or fifteen minutes and get everything finalize a bit . When you come back , mildly siphon the substratum to murder debris . finally , do a fond water alteration . Make notes in your logarithm or journal of the maintenance you performed , and anything unusual get going on in the tankful .
Monthly
water system testing should be do monthly to ensure nothing unobserved is brewing . Test the following parameters : pH , ammonium hydroxide , nitrite , and nitrate . If you have algae problems , you may also test for high phosphate level to see if that may be the drive . Perform water tryout first before water changes and any other upkeep . If there are abnormal water trial resultant role , check them again after the water change to ensure the parameter are back to normal horizontal surface . If you have live plants , inspect them , remove any numb leaves , and clip redundant growth .
Next , perform the hebdomadary / biweekly cleanup tasks keep abreast by the partial water change . Save a bucketful of the body of water get rid of from the tank to expend for performing filter maintenance . If you use exhaustible medium , such asactivated carbonorzeolite , supersede it . Using the weewee salve from the H2O variety , rinse the mechanical filtermedia . If the filtermedia is very dirty or clogged , supercede it . However , nullify replace all the filter media at the same time . alternatively , retain part of the media to avoid losing too prominent a portion of the beneficial bacteriacolonies . The next calendar month you may supervene upon the remaining filter media . Mechanical filter media ( such as foam ) loosely only has to be replaced once or twice a year .
vgajic / E+ / Getty Images
Credit:Elva Etienne / Moment / Getty Images
Periodic
In addition to the schedule sustentation task , there are a few thing that should be done as involve . These admit supersede the unaccented bulbs once per yr , no matter of whether they have burned out . Inspect the air pump tubing , and the filter tubing if you have a canister filter . Clean the tin filter intake using a filter brush . If you have bouncy plants , fertilize them .
Cleaning Equipment
Aquarium maintenance does not require a mountain of equipment . However , it does serve to have a few specialized tools on hand . The most important piece of equipment to have is a dedicated aquarium pail , and verify you do not use it for anything else . Having two bucket is helpful , but not absolutely necessary . In improver to the bucketful , a siphon , water conditioner , alga scrubber , filter brush , aquarium - safe drinking glass cleaner , soft fabric , and some towels labialize out your cleaning material . All of these items can be salt away inside the aquarium bucket to make cleaning day quick and loose . Additionally , you ’ll need wise filter medium and if you have live works , fertiliser , and minor scissors to trim the plant life .
allow for a Home for Fish . Merck Veterinary Manual .
Aquarium Water Quality : Nitrogen Cycle . Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services .
Credit:vgajic / E+ / Getty Images
