You should clean your aquarium on a regular basis, the smaller the tank the more frequent the cleaning. Pet Shops usually sell clear plastic siphon tubes that have a hose attached to it. These can make the job of cleaning easy! The siphon works like a vacuum cleaner in the gravel, it removes the dirt with some water, which you should discard. Try not to replace more than one quarter of the water in the aquarium during cleaning time.
There will be times when the fish get sick, however try to remember that you do not want to spend more money on products than the fish are worth. Doing some simple things can easily conquer most diseases. Following these steps should help:
- Remove any dead or extremely sick fish from the aquarium. Raise the setting on the heater to achieve a temperature of 80-84 F in the tank.
- Add copper salts, following the instructions closely. One good brand Aquari-Sol instructs users to add a certain number of drops per 10 gallons of water daily.
- After five days, clean the tank and put in new disposable filters. The chances are the problem will no longer exist.
Do not chase problems! When the situation in the aquarium is severe, it is sometimes easier to start over. Start by washing everything with water containing a touch of chlorine bleach followed by a rinse of fresh water. Water containing chlorine bleach will also remove any algae (scum) from the ornaments. On the amount of chlorine bleach to add, experiment. You can start with 1 cup per 5 gallons of water and see how it works. Clean out the inside of the tank and just soak everything else that fits in the new pail filled with the water/chlorine bleach mixture. Remember to rinse the item with fresh water before putting it back in the tank.
Good luck and remember this is a learning process! Please, do not be discouraged with a few failures. Once you establish your aquarium it will be easy to maintain and enjoyable to look at. Some say that having an aquarium is like taking a vacation; it is very relaxing to watch. The kids will love it! Children will just sit and stare at the beautiful world their seeing. Take it a step further and start breeding some of your favorite species. Enjoy yourself, go online, and see the many interesting concepts others have used on their aquariums.
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