Aquarium keeping is the most simple thing pet lovers can do. You will have to care for the fish in a particular way after you install your fish tank. You will have to do some of these things everyday to care for the fish, while other steps will be sufficient even if you do them on a weekly or a fortnightly basis. The good news is the daily maintenance work for your marine friends will be very simple to do. Just spend a few minutes watching them and you can detect any signs of unhappiness if any. Fish, suffer from stress as well and you would want to make sure the living environment does not cause any form of unnecessary stress that can threaten their health and well being. Do check the filter and lights regularly and make sure they function optimally.
Do not miss out on feeding the fish on an everyday basis. Two to five minutes is the maximum time limit for your fish to be able to consume whatever food you give them. Foods that are left after consumption will become trash in the fish tank, which will increase the nitrite levels and cause your fish to fall ill. Perform a pH test every week to see if the water pH level is still good. Do not procrastinate on any adjustments that need to be made. The people at the pet store where you buy your fish from will be only too happy to tell you what levels you must ideally maintain. Every variety of fish can thrive in particular conditions.
Cleaning the filter is crucial. The waste materials that are produced in the tank due to excretion of the fish are collected in the filters. Without cleaning the filter repeatedly, they will not be able to remove the wastes because they will get clogged very soon. In addition to eliminating waste, a filter sometimes acts as an aeration device cycling oxygen through the tank. With bunged filters, you will not be able to have as good transmission of gases in your tank as you have with clean ones. This tampers with the oxygen supply in the aquarium. Without rectifying this problem as soon as possible, your fish are surely moving towards an untimely death. You have to assess the need of the aquarium and accordingly change the filter once every couple of weeks. An indication to clean your filter is when the water starts looking or smelling bad. There are two things you can do with your filter depending on its design – you will either have to clean it with water or you will have to change to a new one.
You must be very cautious when you are changing water in the aquarium. You have to be particular to detach lights and other equipments when you are cleaning your fish tank. You must replace roughly a third of the water in the tank with fresh water every week or two. The water that you are adding into the aquarium must be two degrees within the temperature of the aquarium. If you are confused what kind of water would do best for your fish, your local pet store owner can guide you. Short term treatment for the tap water could be for about half an hour, but you may sometimes need to treat the water for the whole night too.
Clean the sides of the tank with a scrubber to remove any built up algae. Be very particular you are not disturbing the fish when you are cleaning the tank. Move rocks and decorations to loosen any debris. When replacing the water, try to get this debris out using a small bucket or a vacuum siphon. An important part of cleaning is to remove the withered leaves from the aquarium plants. Clean the outside of the tank with a squeegee and clean tap water. Do not forget to clean the cover of the tank, from the inside and the outside. Your cleaning is done.
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