How To Clean A Fish Tank – Simple Techniques

Having pets at home is very rewarding. They offer us something that humans can’t, and that is undying loyalty. For those that are not into furry animals like cats and dogs, a good alternative is having an aquarium. You can actually release your artistic side by decorating and customizing it with different things and all sorts of fishes. However, don’t assume that it will be less maintenance, compared to having a dog. Aquariums need cleaning at least every month to ensure that your fishes stay healthy and not develop any sickness due to growing algae and the like. For newbies, cleaning an aquarium might be a tall task. Even though you have a built-in filtration system, it will not be enough to keep your tank clean.

To guide you with your first cleaning, I have developed a simple guide below on how to clean a fish tank.

One big mistake that most normal people do is they replace all the water, and removing everything from the aquarium, including the fish and the decorations. This just produces a lot of work and unnecessary clutter that you should not have. Plus, it stresses out the fish as well, which could lead to injury and death for some of them. So below are the proper steps and techniques you should do.

Siphoning

Siphoning is the process by which you will use a big hose to slowly take out dirty water from your aquarium, and then at the same time add back clean water using the same process. However, before you do this, make sure to inspect the health of your fishes first. Inspect if they have cuts in them, or if some of them are swimming in a funny way. You must isolate these first and treat them in a separate bowl to avoid stressing them out. You must also unplug everything and wait for around ten minutes to ensure everything is cooled down to avoid any accidents.

For the siphoning process, make sure to buy a good brand and not just some cheap versions. I assure you that you will not regret it as this will just make your life easier. You might even want to get some that go directly to your sink, skipping the need for a bucket. When removing water, personally I prefer to remove at most half of it, allowing some room for the fish to still swim around. Not only are you removing dirty water, but the siphon acts as a vacuum as well, removing dirt from your sand especially.

Once the water is half full, make sure to clean the inside of your aquarium with a clean sponge and water. Avoid using soap at all costs as it might contaminate the water, leading to a lot of complications for your fish.

Bleaching

Not everything can be cleaned by siphoning and for these, you might require to do some bleaching. After sometime, your decorations like plants and stones will get full of algae and you have to take them away as it will prove to be a danger to the health of your fish if you don’t. I wouldn’t recommend this doing each time you clean the water though, maybe once every 3-4 months is fine.

Once you have removed everything you want cleaned, prepare a 10% bleach solution and soak your items there. You could wash them with soap and water first but make sure you place it in your bleach solution to remove all traces of the soap. Leaving some would be harmful to your fish as well.

After the this, replace the water that you removed by first filling a bucket of water and doing the siphoning process in reverse. You should also make sure to at least get the temperature the same to avoid shocking the fish, causing them to be stressed out. If you are putting chemicals in your water, make sure to do it first in the bucket as well before siphoning it in.

Okay there you have it, the process above might not be the best way to clean a fish tank but for beginners, I think it could prove to be very effective. Try it out for yourself and see a big difference in your aquarium and in the health of your fish.