Aquarium maintenance is one of the things that most people get frustrated with. I have always learned that it is easier to keep up with the aquarium maintenance than to let it go. When you do not perform maintenance at least once or twice a month the aquarium usually gets filthy dirty with algae taking over the tank.
Okay, so it does not really matter on what size of tank that you have because you will always have to do maintenance on it. Lets say you have a tropical or gold fish tank. I recommend doing maintenance on it a least once a month. Every other week maintenance will really make the fish thrive, though. Also, the amount of feeding and amount of fish you have in the tank determines on how much maintenance will have to be done.
I usually recommend having 1 inch per gallon of fish. Take into factor that fish grow so if you have a 10 gallon tank and you buy 2 fish that will grow to 5 inches each, then you should only have those two fish in that particular 10 gallon tank. You really only need to feed the fish once a day enough for them to eat within 2 or three minutes. Twice a day feeding will defiantly increase the amount of waste in the tank and make the maintenance more intense.
Gravel Vac Pic
So lets say you have a 10 gallon tank set up for a month with two goldfish in it. It is time to do some maintenance. First, the most important thing is to use a gravel vac to remove and clean the gravel at the bottom. This looks like a hose and uses a siphon to circulate the gravel. The heavy gravel just floats in the tube falling back down and the lightweight fish waste flows up and out the tube. I recommend a five gallon bucket for the dirty water to flow into.
Now, the most important part of doing the gravel vac water change is to only remove no more than one third or 33% of the water. So in this 10 gallon tank example we should not remove no more than 3.33 or 3.5 gallons. The reason for this is because you want to leave enough water in the tank that has the appropriate levels of bacteria. If you take out too much water you can reset the bacteria levels making the fish die due to shock.
Dump out the dirty water, rinse out the bucket and replace with fresh water. If you are using tap water make sure to use water conditioner. This removes the chlorine and chloramines out of the water. Remember that chlorine can definitely kill fish off.
The last step involves algae scrubbing and cleaning out the filter media. Do not use a sponge from your kitchen to do this. If you have a acrylic tank make sure to use an acrylic safe scrub pad. Clean off the algae so there is no more on the glass or acrylic inside of the tank. Next, unplug the filter and clean out all the media. All you have to do is rinse off in your sink. Make sure to not rinse of the biological media though. Put it back into the filter, prime the filter (refill with a cup of tank water), and plug in. Use a towel to wipe the tank off and you are done.
Seems complicated, but this process becomes much easier when you do it a few times. Have fun and good luck.
 |
 EHEIM Quick Vac Pro Automatic Gravel Cleaner and Sludge Extractor New Gravel $58.42 Time Remaining: 25d 3h 50m Buy It Now for only: $58.42 |
 Eheim AEH3531090 Quick Vac Pro Battery Operated Gravel Vacuum UPC 720686350212 $29.00 (13 Bids) Time Remaining: 3d 17h 9m |
 Aqueon 06227 Siphon Vacuum Aquarium Gravel Cleaner Extender $10.54 Time Remaining: 23d 9h 19m Buy It Now for only: $10.54 |
 Brand New LEE Ultimate Gravel Vac Kit 50 Foot 50ft kit $45.99 Time Remaining: 12d 9h 17m Buy It Now for only: $45.99 |
 EHEIM Quick Vac Pro Automatic Gravel Vacuum Cleaner $59.95 Time Remaining: 24d 5h 8m Buy It Now for only: $59.95 |
 Liquid Gravel Vac Aquarium Cleaner Fresh Water 16oz $14.95 Time Remaining: 25d 6h 37m Buy It Now for only: $14.95 |
 Eheim Aquarium Gravel Vac Vaccuum Cleaner Attachment $29.95 Time Remaining: 14d 32m Buy It Now for only: $29.95 |
 Marina Multi Vac Battery Powered Cleaner Freshwater O $23.49 Time Remaining: 2d 20h 38m Buy It Now for only: $23.49 |
 Python Pro Clean Small Gravel Washer Clean Vac Siphon $7.99 Time Remaining: 4d 18h 45m Buy It Now for only: $7.99 |
 Hydromaxx Water Changer Gravel Vac Faucet T Pump Adapter $6.95 Time Remaining: 17d 14h 32m Buy It Now for only: $6.95 |
 Lees The Ultimate Gravel Vac 25 Kit New Cleaners Pets Aquatic Fish Supplies $45.49 Time Remaining: 25d 7h 47m Buy It Now for only: $45.49 |
 Marina Hagen Battery Powered Vacuum Gravel Fish Cleaner $19.99 Time Remaining: 5d 19h 47m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 EHEIM Quick Vac Pro Automatic Gravel Cleaner and Sludge Extractor $52.03 Time Remaining: 28d 8h 29m Buy It Now for only: $52.03 |
 Lees Ultimate Gravel Vac Super Pump fits Python 11580 $9.99 Time Remaining: 23d 19h 42m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 SIPHON VACUUM AQUARIUM GRAVEL CLEANER AQUEON 06232 BULB PRIMER FISH TANK $14.99 Time Remaining: 27d 2h 20m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 EHEIM Quick Vac Pro Automatic Gravel Cleaner and Sludge Extractor USED $14.99 Time Remaining: 4d 7h 41m |
 Liquid Gravel Vac Aquarium Cleaner Salt Water 16oz $14.95 Time Remaining: 25d 6h 37m Buy It Now for only: $14.95 |
 Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer Faucet Adapter $4.95 Time Remaining: 24d 1h 23m Buy It Now for only: $4.95 |
 Lees Ultra Gravel Vac Self Start Medium 2x10 $13.95 Time Remaining: 19d 23h 21m Buy It Now for only: $13.95 |
 TOP FIN MEDIUM GRAVEL VACUUM $5.95 Time Remaining: 4d 6h 29m Buy It Now for only: $5.95 |
 Aqueon Siphon Vacuum Gravel Cleaner 10 Inch Large w $12.99 Time Remaining: 19d 22h 18m Buy It Now for only: $12.99 |
 Penn Plax SUPER Battery Vac Gravel Aquarium Cleaner $22.99 Time Remaining: 19d 4h Buy It Now for only: $22.99 |
 Hagen Marina Multi Vac Replacement Bags 2 Pack $2.99 Time Remaining: 22d 23h 56m Buy It Now for only: $2.99 |
 Brand New EHEIM Quick Vac Pro Automatic Gravel Vacuum Cleaner $64.99 Time Remaining: 20d 3h 48m Buy It Now for only: $64.99 |
 FISH TANK AQUARIUM BATTERY POWERED GRAVEL VACUUM NEW $26.98 Time Remaining: 24d 21h 17m Buy It Now for only: $26.98 |
 Pennplax Aquarium Battery Powered Gravel Cleaner $21.83 Time Remaining: 12d 22h 19m Buy It Now for only: $21.83 |
 BATTERY POWERED AQUARIUM GRAVEL VACUUM SYPHON $28.99 Time Remaining: 28d 22h 57m Buy It Now for only: $28.99 |
 Lees Regular Economy Gravel Vacuum New Cleaners Pets Aquatic Fish Supplies Pet $15.86 Time Remaining: 25d 7h 32m Buy It Now for only: $15.86 |
 Lees Pet Products Ultimate Gravel Vac Cleaning Claw $4.29 Time Remaining: 24d 22h 50m Buy It Now for only: $4.29 |
 Python NO SPILL CLEAN and FILL 25 Fish Aquarium Siphon Gravel vac $29.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 20h 52m |
 FISH TANK AQUARIUM BATTERY POWERED GRAVEL VACUUM NEW $19.99 Time Remaining: 19d 23h 24m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 Hydromaxx Water Changer Gravel Vac Female Connector Adapter $4.95 Time Remaining: 17d 14h 37m Buy It Now for only: $4.95 |
 25 Aqueon Aquarium Water Change Gravel Cleaner Vac $35.95 Time Remaining: 24d 1h 23m Buy It Now for only: $35.95 |
 Hydromaxx Water Changer Gravel Vac On Off Switch $5.50 Time Remaining: 17d 14h 19m Buy It Now for only: $5.50 |
 Lees Aquarium Gravel Vac Slim Jr 6 Aquarium Fish Tank Vacuum $7.98 Time Remaining: 16d 18h 20m Buy It Now for only: $7.98 |
[...] Read more on: monthly aquarium maintenance [...]
[...] Read more on: Maintenance [...]
[...] more on: Aquarium Maintenance Category: Community Fish You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 [...]
[...] American Fish that I had in my tank, but it was well worth in. I made sure to keep up with the water changes every other week and only feed it frozen food to prevent parasites. I also made sure that it felt [...]
[...] more on: Aquarium Maintenance Category: African Cichlids Care You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS [...]
[...] enough room on the live rock to open up. In addition, keeping up with all of your water testing, aquarium maintenance and lighting schedules are crucial. Furthermore, I recommend changing the collection cup of the [...]
[...] that most people get frustrated with. I have often learned that it is simpler to keep up with the aquarium maintenance than to let it go. When you do not carry out maintenance at least once or twice a month the [...]
[...] it is simpler to keep up with the aquarium maintenance than to let it go. [...]
[...] most people get frustrated with. I have usually learned that it is much easier to keep up with the aquarium maintenance than to let it go. When you do not execute maintenance at least once or twice a month the aquarium [...]
[...] enjoy aiding aquarium set ups, fish tanks and maintenance ideas. For more insane information about this please visit my [...]
[...] get frustrated with. I have constantly realized that it is less difficult to keep up with the aquarium maintenance than to let it go. When you do not perform maintenance at least once or twice a month the aquarium [...]