Aquarium Maintenance

Aquarium Maintenance

You want to make sure that you keep up a regular maintenance routine so that you prevent the aquarium from getting cloudy and dirty, as this can increase disease amongst your fish. And may cause death to the fishes.

Once a month, you want to test the ammonia and pH levels of your water. You can either test it at home with at home test strips, or take a cup of water to your local pet store and ask them to test it for you.

You'll want to replace the filter cartridge and the activated carbon that's inside the filter.

Scrub the walls free of algae, and rinse off your aquarium decor and fake plants.

And perform a partial water change. You'll want to remove about 20% of the water from the aquarium and refill it with tap water. Treat the aquarium with a water conditioner, and leave the fish alone, as this is a very stressful process. It's actually best that you remove the fish from the tank if possible, but this is not necessary.

Before you start to remove the water, you'll want to unplug the filter and the heat source. If you're using a heater (tube shaped), you'll want to leave it unplugged for at least 20 minutes so that it can cool off, otherwise, if you do not wait till it's cooled or if you leave it plugged in, you can potentially crack the aquarium because the water is not there to buffer the heat.

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