Having an aquarium means that you have the lives of fishes on your hands. And how can you deal with such responsibility? By attending to your duties as an owner, of course. And what are these duties? Well, one of them is certainly doing proper and regular aquarium care routines. You only have to abide by a daily, weekly and monthly cycle of assignments and you can be sure that your fishes will live happily.
DAILY CLEANING ROUTINE
Every single minute of every day, lots of impurities get collected inside your aquarium. That is why it is important to keep a daily cleaning routine. The first thing you have to do for this is to test the temperature of the water. Tanks that carry tropical fishes must be around 77 degrees. Too much increase in temperature induces and helps existence of algae, which takes away the needed oxygen of the fishes. Also, be attentive and always look for sick-looking fishes, as they have to be immediately isolated. Then check whether pumps, filters and other components are working well.
WEEKLY CLEANING ROUTINE
Aside from the daily stuff, there are also the weekly ones that you should do. One of these is the cleaning of the tank’s bottom. As we all know, gravity causes everything to settle at the bottom. And this rule also applies to dirt and filths. So, try to suck the waste bunk at the bottom of your tank by using a siphon tube before they start causing problems. Also, make sure that you regularly look into the chemical levels. Such as the chlorine, PH, ammonia and nitrates. All of these have very important roles, whether as helpful or harmful, for your fishes lives. Try to get rid of extra presences like that of the snail, too, if applicable.
MONTHLY CLEANING ROUTINE
And then there are also the steps you should take every month for a healthy and clean aquarium. Water changing would be the top of the list for this one. By the use of a siphon tube, extract a fourth of the tank’s water content. Replace with new water of the same measurement. Adjust your chemical levels, as imbalances might kill your fishes. Clean your filter as well. You can buy a new cartilage replacement or just brush the ones you are already using. For the second one, be careful not to overdo cleaning because some nitrifying bacteria live in filters. These bacteria are the ones helping in breaking down toxic substances like ammonia. Algae growth is also something you would want to put a stop to, so scrape all of them. If there is too much algae present, you can just buy an algae eater. But there are some ways you can lessen algae growth. Light is a heat source, so it naturally spikes up your tank’s temperature, which then encourages algae to thrive. If you limit you light usage or your tank’s exposure to other lights, like the sun, then it would be very helpful.
See, it’s not really that hard to watch your tank’s needs. If you are very passionate about making your fishes happy and keeping them healthy, then these wouldn’t be so much of a bother to do. Remember that proper aquarium care is your responsibility to your pets. Just stick to these simple steps and you will be assured of a beautiful and pleasant aquarium.