Keeping your aquarium clean should be a relatively simple job once you establish a routine. Not only does it clean your water and the tank itself, but it also keeps your fish happy and healthy. Generally, youll need to clean your tank and the water once a month. Once you get into your aquarium maintenance routine, youll find it only takes a short amount of time to get it done.

Before starting on your cleaning, always unplug any electrical attachments or accessories on your tank, such as the filter, lights, or heaters you may have. Dont use any soap or detergent to clean your tank. These chemicals are harmful to fish and could easily make them very ill or even result in death. If those chemicals can make tank fish ill, then think about what flushing them down your sink each day does to the natural environment of fish in the wild.

Your next step in the maintenance routine is to choose whether you want to scrape or vacuum. Both tasks need to be done and most aquarium stores try to tell you that you should vacuum first. However if you do this, youll drop the water level in your tank, which means that scraping with such low water levels will increase the algae density in the small amount of remaining water. This has the potential to cause health problems in your fish.

Vacuuming Your Tank ” Aquariums call tank vacuums Pythons and theyre nothing more than a rubber hose with a tube attached at the end. The idea is to drain a little water from your tank at the same time as sucking up any dirt, debris, food waste or other bits that can pollute your aquarium. As you vacuum, run the tube around decorations and filters and down into the gravel or stones to get the bits that hide there.

Dont vacuum for too long as you risk reducing the water levels too far. You shouldnt remove any more than about one-fifth of the total water volume, so this means vacuum quickly.

Scraping Your Tank ” Scraping the sides of your aquarium to remove algae or debris is an easy job and should be done using a sponge attached to a handle. These can be bought from the aquarium store and are designed especially for this purpose. The sponge is designed to easily remove any algae from decorations or glass or your filter. Always check that the type of sponge you use wont be too abrasive or it can scratch or eve damage acrylic surfaces.

Once your scraping and vacuuming are complete, begin refilling your aquarium. You should always use de-chlorinated water and if you can, try to get the water temperature as close to your tanks temperature as possible. This can sometimes mean leaving your new tank water at room temperature for a while before pouring it in slowly. When your water level is correct, re-attach your electrical accessories, and test your water with your aquarium test kit. Always check the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels for your fishs optimum health. If your aquarium is a salt-water tank, then test the salinity levels carefully.