The Beauty of a Sparkling Clean Tank
Healthy fish in sparking, clean water.
A fish tank is at its most stunning when filled with healthy fish, leisurely swimming around in pristine, sparkling water.
Your easy cleaning guide.
Here are some easy steps on how to maintain your tank and keep a consistently sparkling clean.
Give your hands and arms a good cleaning as we want to make sure we do not contaminate the tank with any perfume, lotions, or cleaning products in the tank.
Unplugging heaters and filters will ensure they do not run dry and then break.
Remove all the ornaments and artificial plants you need to wash, then soak them into hot water. Don’t add any cleaning products!
Using an algae scraper or scrubber, scrape and scrub all 4 sides of your aquarium, cleaning all the algae and build up from the tank. Pay particular attention to where the gravel line is and gently scrape just below it to remove any anything along the gravel line.
Allow the tank to sit and have all the side cleaning settle to the bottom. Go back to your ornaments and artificial plants and clean them. Once they are clean go ahead and set up your gravel vac!
Use your gravel vac to clean the bottom. Suck up all the debris which had settled to the bottom first and then begin to sift your gravel to suction out any waste which collected in the gravel.
Remove 10 – 25% of the water only. 10% for regular cleaning and 25% for a deep cleaning or when you haven’t cleaned in several weeks. Keep some water in a bucket for the next step!
Next bring your filter to the to sink with your bucket of fish water. Rinse your foam in fish water until is squeezes clean. Rinse and replace any filter media needed.
Replace your ornaments and artificial plants, fill up your tank with new water you have treated with water conditioners and have at the correct temperature, and set up your filter again. Get your filter going and your heater plugged in again and you are all set!
Give the outside of the glass a wipe so everything is crystal clear!
Tips on Filter Media
When do I change my filter media?
Filter media is the way your tank cleans itself. The right media can make all the difference to your filter, along with a great filter to insert the media into! Here are the 3 types of filter media.
Mechanical, such as foam. This media cleans debris you can see from your water. You can reuse your foam media for quite awhile. Replace it when it seems like you are no longer able to keep it clean or is does not seem to be cleaning out debris properly.
Chemical, consisting of carbon, zeo-carb, and ammonia remover. This media removes harmful substances from your water. This media needs to be replaced every 4 to 6 weeks, it is not reusable. Carbon is the most popular, however if you have an ammonia spike in your tank, add some ammonia remover or zeo-carb right away!
Bacterial such as biomax and even foam! This media provides a home for beneficial bacteria to live, grow, and thrive. Do not rinse, change every 3 to 6 months depending on how much you have.
Most important tip on filter media, only ever change one type at a time! Beneficial bacteria will live on all 3 types of filter media and so removing and replacing all 3 at the same time removes all your important bacteria.
When to use water conditioners for tank cleaning.
There are 3 main types of water conditioners to use every time you clean your tank.
Fluval Water Conditioner, remove chlorine and chloramine. This makes water safe for fish. Even if you have well water we recommend using this when adding water as Fluval water conditioner also has an amazing benefit for your fish. It contains the properties for fish to replenish their slime coat. A fishes slime coat is how they protect themselves so very important!
Fluval Biological Conditioner, this product contains bio-flocks of beneficial bacteria. This bacterium breaks down ammonia and ammonia by-products.
Fluval Biological Cleaner, this product will assist your filter by breaking down organic waste matter, such as old food and dead plant matter and reduce it to a biological state or a smaller state so your filter can easily clean it up. This product should be used on established aquariums only and always add Fluval Biological Conditioner at the same time as you may experience an ammonia spike due to the waste breakdown.
Add all three of these water conditioners when you add new water to the tank.
Thanks for reading about our easy tank cleaning tips, if you still have any questions about cleaning your tank, you can always stop by the store and speak to any of our staff who will be happy to help you out!