5 Things You Need To Know About Cleaning An Aquarium

If you recently decided to get into fish ownership, you need to learn how to properly clean an aquarium. Cleaning your aquarium will help keep your fish safe and healthy. Cleaning your aquarium will also ensure that you are able to look into your aquarium and actually enjoy the fish swimming around inside of it.

1. Remove the Fish

Before you start cleaning your fish tank, you are going to need to remove your fish. You are going to want to have another container set up that you can put your fish in temporarily. Keep in mind that when you place your fish in a regular container with water, you are not pumping oxygen through the water or keeping the water moving. That means you need to clean your aquarium quickly in order to get your fish back to an ideal environment as quick as possible.

2. Clean Top to Bottom

When you clean your fish tank, you want to start at the top and work your way down. As you clean the top of your tank, debris is going to fall to the bottom of the tank. If you clean from the bottom upward, you are just going to get the bottom of the tank dirty again. The best way to clean your aquarium, just like the best way to clean your car, is by going top to bottom.

3. Get Rid of Algae

The first thing you need to get rid of when cleaning the tank is get rid of the algae on the tank. Algae builds up on the glass of your tank. There are lots of different tools you can purchase that will help you get the algae off of your tank. You can use an algae magnet, or you can use some acrylic cleaning pads. Work your way around the glass on the tank, getting rid of all the algae.

4. Clean the Gravel

You need to clean the gravel in the tank. The gravel in the tank can hold a lot of dirt inside of it. The best way to clean the gravel is with a gravel washer. A gravel washer will allow you to clean the inside of your tank without having to actually take all of the gravel out of the tank.

5. Take Out the Props

Finally, remember to take out the props and clean them as well. You may clean them with a little soap and water. Just make sure that you rinse the props clean -- you don't want to put soap into your fish tank.

Once you are done cleaning the tank and fill it back up with water, make sure to put your fish back in right away! For more information, contact a company like AQUARIUM HEADQUARTERS.