Currently, the trend of aquarium hobbyists is growing strongly, and they often display their aquariums in their homes. To have an aquarium that is always clean, healthy, beautiful, and a healthy environment for fish to thrive, the most important thing is to know how to clean the aquarium properly. Please refer to the complete guidelines for cleaning your aquarium below.
Essential tools for cleaning the aquarium
To clean your aquarium, you should use the following tools:
- Magnetic aquarium cleaner
- Aquarium brush
- Square net
- Water change hose
- Algae scraper
- Brush
- Plastic bucket only for aquarium use
- Glass cleaner or lime remover for aquariums
- Paper towels
- Chlorine remover
- Siphon
- Aquarium vacuum cleaner
How to clean the aquarium when there are fish in it?
Here are the steps to clean your aquarium in the following order:
- Clean the inside glass
- All decorations, plants, and gravel in the aquarium
- Change water and refill the aquarium
- Clean the outside glass and other items
- Water filter
1. Start cleaning the inside glass of the aquarium
You should use magnetic glass cleaning tools made from seaweed to remove all stains or a scraper to clean the inside of the aquarium, moving gently in circular motions.
If you have cleaned the inside glass but still see residue, you can use a scraper to completely remove it. However, for aquariums made of Acrylic, you should use a plastic scraper blade to avoid damaging the glass.
2. Clean the decorations, plants, and gravel in the aquarium
Take all decorations out of the aquarium and clean them to remove all dirt.
Clean the decorations made of aquatic plants and plastic:
- Clean the decorations according to their material
- Use a soft brush or algae cloth to clean the decorations. After cleaning, you should boil water to sanitize them and let them dry completely before placing them back in the aquarium.
Clean the decorative gravel in the aquarium:
- Use the aquarium vacuum cleaner and then use the hose to suck through the gravel to remove all fish waste, leftover food, and all dirt accumulated in and under the gravel at the bottom of the aquarium.
- You need to perform all the steps correctly and thoroughly to achieve a sparkling clean aquarium without needing many tools.
If your decorations need more thorough cleaning, you can mix a 10% cleaning solution and soak the decorations in it for about 15 minutes. After soaking, remember to rinse thoroughly to remove all dirt and let them dry in the air to completely eliminate the bleach.
Additionally, you can also use a 5% cleaning solution to clean live plants for a few minutes, but do not bleach the stems. Ensure that any plants are thoroughly rinsed after bleaching.
3. Change water and refill the aquarium
You must siphon about 10 – 15% of the water in the aquarium and then replace it with the same amount of new water that you have siphoned out. And you should dechlorinate the new water you add to the aquarium. Especially note, you should use a bucket designated solely for changing aquarium water and place the bucket higher than the aquarium surface, allowing about 2 minutes for your aquarium to fill back up. Many fish will come to the surface to breathe oxygen, so there should be a distance between the water in the aquarium and the mouth of the aquarium.
4. Proceed to clean the outside glass and other items
Once you have finished cleaning the inside of the aquarium, it’s time to clean the outside of the aquarium. You can use glass cleaner to spray on the outer surface of the glass, then take a soft cloth and wipe in circular motions until the glass is clean.
Use vinegar or other cleaning agents to clean the lighting and other items like lights.
5. Clean the filter when necessary
If you really need to clean the aquarium filter, wait about two weeks from the day you finished cleaning the aquarium, as the aquarium water filter contains some beneficial bacteria.
To ensure that the water in the aquarium is always clean, wash the water filter devices with tap water at normal temperature before installing them into the common filtration system.
Cleaning the aquarium is quite complex, and it must ensure both cleanliness and safety for the fish. I hope the above article provides you with useful information on how to clean your aquarium.
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