Once you've stocked your aquarium with plants and fish, a pinch of food is all it takes to keep your pets happy and healthy, right? Wrong! An aquarium requires daily maintenance to ensure your fish's home remains inhabitable. Here's what to do.
Keep the Water Clean
Clean water is critical to your fish's long-term health. Remember to change 25 percent of the tank water every one to two weeks. This routine assists in maintaining proper pH levels, decreasing the number of disease-causing organisms trapped in the gravel bed, and removing waste by-products, such as ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
You can buy kits that test the pH levels, water hardness, and dissolved oxygen in your aquarium: These are relatively inexpensive and detect potential problems - so you can correct them before your fish suffer.
Monitor Water Temperature
Drastic water temperature changes can kill your fish or make them sick. Be sure your heater functions properly by checking the temperature daily. Toasty 75 to 80 degree temperatures suit most aquarium fish.
Don't Forget the Food
Feed your fish a nutritionally complete diet once or twice a day, but don't offer more than they can consume in five minutes. Excess food just adds to your filter's workload.
Care for Your Plants
If your aquarium includes live plants, remember to use fertilizer, remove dead leaves, and change the full-spectrum lights every 6 to 12 months. Plants not only provide security for shy fish, they also contribute to a healthy aquatic environment - they use ammonia and nitrate waste from fish to grow and, in turn, give off dissolved oxygen fish need to breathe.
Give Your Tank a Monthly Scrub
As tanks age, algae and debris accumulate on the sides of the tank, in tubing and filters, and on accessories. Keep your pet's home tidy with monthly cleanings. Chemical cleaners can kill fish and filter bacteria, so use lukewarm water - hot water can destroy biological activity.
Automated and manual siphoning devices clean the gravel bed and help with weekly partial water changes. Magnetic cleaning blades or scrub brushes with long handles help you stay dry while removing stubborn algae from the tank's sides.
Occasionally dismantle filters and lift tubes to remove clogged debris. Stiff brushes come in every length and diameter and make it easy to invade every nook and cranny.
Keeping up with these simple tasks is a small price to pay for the joy and company of your little swimmers.