Properly and successfully maintaining an aquarium can be a daunting prospect, especially for new fishkeepers. What’s most important is that maintenance is carried out regularly and on a routine, scheduled basis. The result? A beautiful-looking aquarium and healthy fish.
Crucially, routine maintenance prevents tanks from falling into disrepair. When a tank falls into a state of neglect, its inhabitants suffer, and a once-beautiful aquarium can quickly become an eyesore. Once in such a state, getting everything back in order is a much bigger job than simply tackling routine maintenance once or twice a fortnight.
How do you maintain a fish tank?
Keeping on top of things on a weekly or fortnightly basis is often the key to success when it comes to aquarium maintenance. In terms of what’s necessary to maintain a fish tank, regular tasks should include:
Partial water changes
Vacuuming the substrate
Cleaning the inside glass
Emptying filters
It’s also essential to carry out routine water tests, including checking important parameters like pH and nitrate levels. Ideally, allow at least an hour or two each week for maintenance and testing. That’s in addition to daily feeding and general health checks. Broadly speaking, though, feeding and health checks should only take a moment or two at a time each day.
How often should you water change a fish tank?
One-size-fits-all answers to most questions are rare. How often you should water change a fish tank is no exception. Both water change volume and frequency depend on numerous factors. These factors include stocking density and the fish you’re keeping.
How much maintenance a fish tank needs depends on several important factors. Tank size, stocking density, filtration, planting, and even lighting all play a part in determining how much maintenance is needed. So, how much care does a typical fish tank require?
Maintaining a fish tank also calls for various pieces of additional equipment. Think buckets, siphon hoses, cleaning cloths, and algae scrapers. Water conditioners and any necessary buffering products are also vital when performing water changes. It’s also a good idea to have all of the most important test kits on hand at all times.
Then, every month or two, put aside some extra time for a deeper clean. During this deeper clean, look to tackle things like lids, covers, pipework, decor, and artificial plants.
Planted aquariums and saltwater tanks also tend to require extra maintenance. In planted aquariums, that includes regular pruning and the addition of any necessary fertiliser and other products. Similarly, saltwater aquariums and reef tanks, in particular, often call for at least a degree of special attention daily.
Call in reinforcements
Another option is to enlist the help of an aquarium maintenance company. With a maintenance agreement in place, aquarium owners can enjoy their tanks without the hassle of maintaining them. All that’s needed is to feed the tank and give it a quick once-over daily.
Professional maintenance is most commonly scheduled on a weekly or fortnightly basis. At Your Aquarium, our fish tank maintenance service includes everything individuals, families, businesses, schools, and more need to keep their set-ups in tip-top condition.
You can find out precisely what this includes on our aquarium maintenance page. For example, we bring everything that we need with us. Accordingly, there’s no need to keep buckets, hoses, and other gear lying around or taking up precious storage space. We also supply all necessary conditioners, buffers, test kits, and more at no extra cost.
Keen to find out more? Contact us today for a no-obligation quote or to ask any questions you may have about your aquarium maintenance needs.
