An aquarium with colorful fish is a joy to watch. It relieves stress and it relaxes the mind especially when the fish tank is clean. A clean aquarium is an important factor that can increase the longevity of your pet fish. It makes them healthier and happier; a healthy and happy pet can live longer. Thus, cleaning a fish tank is among the first lessons that hobbyists must learn. Learning how to clean an aquarium constitutes your conscious effort to care for your pet.
In addition, cleaning also beautifies the aquarium. Inexperienced fish owners often commit blunders when cleaning the home of their pet fish. You need to be careful when transferring fishes from one tank to another because a sudden change in its environment can kill your pet fish. It is akin to shock. It has to be done gradually in order for the pet fish to be acclimatized.
Here are 7 steps to clean an aquarium.
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When cleaning the aquarium prepare the same amount of clean water in a container. Mix some de-chlorinator according to the package instructions to remove the chlorine in the water. You may buy a de-chlorinator at any pet stores.
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You can clean the aquarium either with an aquarium siphon or just by replacing the water with a cleaner one. If you want to clean the aquarium and replace the water, mix some amount of the old water with the new water in a container. Then slowly transfer the fish from the dirty tank to the small container. This will keep the fish in familiar water and will reduce the shock.
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Clean the old aquarium and put the clean water with a small amount of the old aquarium water. Then transfer the fish again to the clean water with some amount of the old water.
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If you want to remove and clean the moss on the tank walls, you can opt to use an aquarium sponge that you can buy in any pet stores or a clean cloth. Some people don’t clean the moss as it provides the fish food. If you want to remove the plankton living on the aquarium, use an old or expensive filter.
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Keep your filter. If you replace your filter, don’t change the water. On the other hand, if you change your water, don’t change your filter. Both the filter and water contain a beneficial bacterium that helps break down the ammonia that the fishes excrete. Another good example is if your filter contains a sponge in it and a charcoal pack, replace the charcoal and keep the sponge or vice versa.
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When cleaning an aquarium, you can use an aquarium vacuum or siphon to suck out a maximum of 50% of the water in the tank. Be careful to change only 10% up to 20% of the tank water per week. This will lessen the chances of fish shock. When cleaning, put the vacuum in the lowermost part of the tank, clean the gravel, and move it around. Aim for any visible debris.
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When cleaning the decorative items in the tank, use clean, room temperature water. Clean the aquariums with a towel, sponge or some clean cloth just make sure not to use any soap or cleaning detergents. Alternatively, just make sure that no soap or cleaning detergent gets near the fish tank.
These are the basic steps essential in keeping clean a aquarium. If you earnestly want to keep your pet fish healthy and active, learn these simple steps and watch your pet fish staying alive longer than their usual life span.
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