Thursday, September 24, 2015

What You Should Know About Aquarium Maintenance

By Della Monroe


Fish tank maintenance has to be done every once in a while. When one gets a fish tank, it is bound to start getting untidy after some time. One may also need to top off water that has evaporated over time. These are things that will need routine maintenance and a schedule will need to be developed for the best outcomes. When it comes to aquarium maintenance the tank does not have to be broken down every time you maintain it.

Tank cleaning should be done a minimum of once after a fortnight. Ideally, the cleanup should even be done weekly so that not much effort is used for the subsequent cleanups. With every cleanup, you should replace 20 percent of water in the tank. Algae are scrubbed off using an algae scrubber. This is done at the sides and front of the aquarium. You should be careful not to scrub acrylic off in the case of acrylic aquariums.

Before water is added into the tank, you will need to add the right amount of chemicals that remove chlorine from the water. You will also need to add water of the same temperature so that fish are not affected. In case of high temperature swings, fish will be stressed. Water that is added to the tank needs to be of the right chemical composition so that there is not effect to fish. There should not be addition of chemicals that will negatively affect fish.

In the case of tanks with saltwater, the water needs to be prepared a day or so in advance. The reason for this is that freshly prepared saltwater is very toxic and affects fish. Time is required to allow all the salt to dissolve. To make this possible, the majority of people use new and clean rubber trash cans and buckets. The salt concentration should not be in excess.

When it comes to proper maintenance, filters are very important. You will need to have them replaced once after every three or four weeks. The frequency of change depends on the tank. Regular change will ensure that maintenance practices do not have to be done very often. You should also look out for rust that may develop around connections of the tank, for instance around filters and water inlet.

The growth of algae will need to be checked closely. They will thrive when there are lots of wastes in the tank. When they are too much, it will lead to what is known as eutrophication. This is whereby the algae consume a lot of oxygen within the tank, affecting growth of fish. The fish are likely to die when there is no adequate oxygen.

In order to control algae in the best way, there is a type of fish that consumes them that will need to be introduced into the tank. They are known as the sucker fish. Whereas they are not the best looking kinds of fish, they are cost effective and efficient when it comes to the control of algae. If this is not an option, the tank will need to be kept away from the sun so that algae growth is controlled.

The use of water conditioners is very important when changing water. They serve to remove chlorine. Besides that, other impurities like excess ammonia will also be removed.




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