Aquarium maintenance or fish tank maintenance is something that absolutely has to be done on a regular basis to get the most out of this hobby. So you've finally got your fish tank up and running but you're noticing that it's starting to look a little dirty. Or, you notice that you need to top off some evaporated water. This is the time for some routine aquarium care or maintenance. Aquarium maintenance or fish tank maintenance can sometimes be a bother for hobbyists but it doesn't have to be that way. Develop a schedule for carrying out these aquarium maintenance tasks and it will make this hobby more enjoyable. Staying on top of those water changes should increase the health of your fish and make your tank look nicer. It's important to note that you don't need to completely break down the tank everytime you have to "clean your tank" or perform aquarium maintenance. Most of the time you will just need to perform a partial water change (20 percent or so) with a good gravel vacuuming and maybe scrape a little algae off the front viewing panel.

If you have a major algae problem then something is out of whack. You may be feeding too much, your tank may be overstocked, you're not performing frequent enough water changes, you're feeding the wrong types of foods, etc. Or, it could be a combination of the above. If you have a problem with cloudy water, please read the article on Cloudy Aquarium Water and be sure to keep up with your fish tank maintenance! Ok, lets talk about cleaning your fish tank: STEP 1: Develop an aquarium maintenance schedule You will want to clean your fish tank at least once every 2 weeks. Once a week would be even better to take care of your fish tank and it will be easier each time you clean. STEP 2: Turn off the electricity to the fish tank. This will be safer for you and it will keep the filter from clogging up with the debris you pull from the gravel. Read this article on Aquarium Electrical Safety for more information. STEP 3: Clean your fish tank Each time you clean your aquarium you will need to replace about 20% of the water.

Use your algae scrubber to scrape any algae off the front and maybe the sides of the tank. For acrylic aquariums, make sure that you won't scratch the acrylic with whatever you're using to clean the sides. Some use an old credit card for acrylic tanks. Check out the filter media (i.e. filter floss). If it needs cleaning you can rinse it in some of the discarded tank water. biorb fish tanks on ebayThis filter media will have loads of the beneficial bacteria needed for the aquarium nitrogen cycle and rinsing it in tap water with chlorine and/or chloramine can kill some of the bacteria, so use tank water.aquarium fish to buy STEP 4: Refill aquarium with de-chlorinated water.3ft fish tank in litres

Before adding water to the tank you should add the proper amount of chemicals that will remove the chlorine and chloramine from the incoming water. Try to add water that is the same temperature as you tank water. High temperature swings would be very stressful for your tropical fish. For Saltwater aquariums you will want to have some saltwater mixed up and ready to go at least the day before you plan on doing water changes. fish tanks for sale london ukFreshly mixed saltwater can be fairly toxic to fish and you need to allow a day or so to allow the salt mix to properly dissolve. buying used fish tankMany use new and clean 5-gallon buckets or rubber trash cans for this purpose. buy used aquariums ukMix up the salt, pop in a power head and maybe a heater and you have saltwater ready for when you need it.

Once a week, clean out the skimmer collection cup, scrape off any salt creep back into the tank if possible. If you don't have saltwater snails you'll need to use an algae scrubber to remove any algae that has built up on the front and sides of the glass. See the note above if you have an acrylic tank (scratches easily!). This is also a good time to test the tank water salinity with your hydrometer. Top off any evaporated tank water with dechlorinated fresh water. Author : Mike FishLore How To Set Up a Saltwater Aquarium How To Setup A Quarantine Tank Small Tropical Fish Tank Setup © - providing tropical fish tank and aquarium information for freshwater fish and saltwater fish keepers. Aquarium Fish SiteMap | Aquarium Fish Dictionary | Pure water can have specific uses in the aquarium, including: Note that pure sources of water must never be used alone in the aquarium. They are too pure, and contain none of the essential minerals that fish need, and also have no buffering capacity to stabilise the pH.

It can either be mixed with a certain percentage of tapwater (it is possible to produce various hardness levels in this manner), or the commercially available salt mixes can be used to replenish a balanced mix of electrolytes - note that these are not the same asThe following paragraphs outline some of the sources of 'pure' water. Distilled water is produced by causing water to boil and turn to steam, which is then cooled (condensed) back into liquid water and collected. This is normally carried out in laboratories and industry, and is not really suitable for the home aquarist to perform. Distilled water is often available bottled however. It may be practical to use it if the required amount is small. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a process which purifies water by forcing it through a fine membrane, which leaves impuritiesThis is probably the most practical option for the hobbyist, especially if larger amounts are required, i.e. for Deionised water (DI) is produced using special materials which attract ions from the water and bind them to their surfaces.

Note that this is not the same as ion-exchange, where one ion is swapped for another, as in domestic water softeners. can produce very pure water, but they are generally expensive to use. The cartridges require frequent replacement, and the amount of pure water produced per cartridge will decrease for tapwater which contains more minerals and contaminents. DI can be useful when included as the final stage on a reverse osmosis unit, where the combination can produce very high purity water. Rainwater is in theory pure, because it is water which has evaporated and then condensed, similar to distillation, but on a planetary scale! However, a lot of rainwater is likely to be contaminated from the pollution in our atmosphere. If you live in a largely unpolluted part of the world, and decide to use rainwater, there are a few things which should help to ensure it is as pure as possible: Apart from the concerns regarding purity, remember that rainwater may be a rather inconsistent source of water at times, so