4 Essential Aquarium Maintenance Tips for Healthy Fish & Clear Waters
How many times have you spent hours cleaning your aquarium only to have it return to something like Dr. P. Sherman’s algae-filled tank from Finding Nemo?
Here’s our 4-step checklist to help your fish enjoy crystal clear waters at all times.
When it comes to maintaining an aquarium, you need to stay vigilant and have a plan. The ecosystem within an aquarium can be very delicate, and what you do on a regular basis will affect the health of your fish and the performance of the aquarium itself.
1. Change the 25% of the Water Every 2 Weeks
You’ll want to change the water on a regular basis, but how often should you change it, and how much?
A rule of thumb is changing 20-25% of your aquarium water once every two weeks or so. You don’t want to change all of it out, since that can seriously disrupt the pH and KH levels in the water. You could also risk killing your beneficial bacteria.
Changing the water out regularly helps maintain levels and keep impurities low, while also preventing excess waste from building up in the tank.
2. Clean the Aquarium Glass Weekly
Undesirable algae can build up on the walls of the aquarium and contaminate the water with impurities. It can also make it hard to see into the aquarium. You’re aiming to get rid of the bio-film and the diatom algae that is collecting on the glass, which means you need to clean the glass once a week.
One way to clean the inside is to get a glass-cleaning magnet that you can slide it along the outside and clean the inside at the same time (and use a cleaner approved for aquariums on the outside).
3. Rinse the Aquarium Filter Regularly
The aquarium filter plays an important role in the well-being of the aquarium inhabitants and their ecosystem.
We advise taking your filter out and rinsing it clean (with the water you removed during the water change) at least once a month. Doing so will help your filter keep the water clean and free of built-up impurities. Letting your filter go without regular maintenance will inevitably result in it getting clogged, thus polluting your water.
4. Clean Aquarium Lights Every 2 Weeks
An aquarium needs light, especially for the living plants in the tank. LED lights over the aquarium are the usual source of light, and the protective lens needs to be cleaned once every two weeks to avoid build-up that can reduce the amount of light that makes it into the tank.
