In this blog, I’m going to talk about cleaning a fish tank. Because, well, it’s just something you have to do if you are an aquarist and want to keep your fish healthy and your tank looking nice.
Cleaning a Fish Tank, the Right Way
Fish tanks are fun to have, no doubt. But, like most enjoyable things, they definitely come with a bit of responsibility, especially if you want your aquatic life to live healthy lives and your fish tank to not become an eyesore filled with water that is tinted green and tank ornaments coated in nasty slime.
Freshwater fish, and especially crayfish, can put out lots of waste into the water of an aquarium. It’s simply eating, and pooping that causes this. Also, overfeeding fish can lead to tanks becoming pretty dirty, so you have to watch that one, too. In short, because of waste that accumulates in an aquarium, regular fish tank cleanings and water changes are very necessary.
Before we take a look at the steps to cleaning a fish tank, let’s look at a few variables to consider.
Cleaning: Things to Consider
Many aquarists, especially those starting out with a fish tank, will often wonder how often they should clean their aquarium. The answer to this question is dependent on many things.
When determining a cleaning schedule or the frequency of which you will clean your tank, you’ll need to consider the following:
- The size of your fish tank
- Types of aquatic life
- Amount of water being changed
With these things in mind, you can often get a better understanding of how often you need to clean your tank, but, there will sometimes be a learning curve.
For example, with my 20-gallon tank, I used to change 15% of my water every two weeks. However, I quickly learned that with a blue crayfish and two other fish, I needed to either change more water every two weeks or change the water more often.
Today, I change roughly 20% of the water every week. It just works better with my set up. I have to do this because the tank gets pretty dirty quickly. Again, this is directly related to the size of my tank, and the type of aquatic life I’m keeping in the tank—dirty crayfish!
Now, let’s take a look at the steps in cleaning an aquarium.
1. Scrub the Tank
The first step I take in cleaning my fish tank is to scrub the inner glass of my tank with a scrubbing pad or brillo pad. I stick my arm in the tank if necessary and really scrub it well. Most of the time, I drain some of the water first.
Scrubbing will loosen up all of the gunk and algae that have accumulated on the fish tank glass. This can oftentimes make the water cloudy depending on just how dirty your fish tank’s glass is. This is nothing to worry about.
Note: Don’t wash your tank ornaments or scrub them. There are good bacteria on those that work with your aquarium’s natural biofilter to help and neutralize toxins.
2. Vacuum the Fish Tank
Next, I’ll vacuum my fish tank out and remove roughly 20% of the water, remember, this number may vary for you based on the variables discussed above. I make sure that I clean the dirtiest spots of my tank—places where the gravel might have a green and brown tinge or places where my crayfish likes to burrow.
3. Refill the Tank
After I’ve removed roughly 2o% of the water, I’ll go back and add fresh water to the tank. As many know, you’ll need to add a small bit of water conditioner to tap water before adding it to your aquarium. The water conditioner will neutralize the chlorine in tap water and make it safe for your fish and other aquatic life. Never add tap water to a fish tank without adding a water conditioner first.
4. Check the Water Filter
The final thing you’ll want to do is to check on your tank’s water filter. As a general rule, I change my water filters every two weeks and on the weeks where I don’t change the filter, I rinse the existing filter with cold water. Nasty filters are not good for your tank and lose their effectiveness when it comes to filtering out waste. So always be sure to keep a good water filter in your tank.
New Aquarist?
If you are a new aquarist, I’d suggest starting with a 20-gallon fish tank kit. These kits come with everything you need to get started—a tank, a water pump, filters, a scrubbing brush, fish food, and a water conditioner. These kits are very easy to set up, affordable, and easy to work with.
If you buy a fish tank kit, the only thing you’ll need to worry about picking out is the gravel for your fish tank, tank ornaments, and of course your aquatic life. Please remember to cycle your tank before adding any fish to it. This is extremely important.
Recap: Cleaning a Fish Tank
In this blog, I discussed how to go about cleaning a fish tank. I talked about several variables that can impact when you need to clean your aquarium. Variables like the types of aquatic life you are keeping and the size of your tank can make a lot of difference in when to clean your tank. Tanks with aquatic life that put out more waste can require more frequent cleaning.
Also, I covered scrubbing the tank, vacuuming, replacing tank water with conditioned water, and went over changing fish tank filters.
