Vet Q & AHow to clean a fish tank effectively? Should I remove my fish?
Hello, and thank you for using PetCoach. The most common (and easiest) way to clean a fish tank is with a siphon-style cleaner. Fish tanks should be cleaned in stages, generally replacing 10-15% of the water at a time. There are times where a larger cleaning might be necessary, but removing the fish and changing too much of the water at once can be quite a shock and can be dangerous to the fish, so this should be saved for only extenuating circumstances.
Here's a helpful video on using a siphon cleaner:
http://video.petco.com/v/18852/how-to-clean-your-aquarium-with-the-aqueon-siphon-vacuum-/
And some more reading you may find interesting on general fish tank cleaning and maintenance:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/waterchange.php
Hope this helps!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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