The easiest way to have a pet without sacrificing too much of your time is to have an aquarium. Just ensure you follow these guidelines to provide a healthy and conducive environment for your marine friends. There is some maintenance work to be done daily, while others requires some of your time weekly. You will not have to do a lot of things on an everyday basis for the care of your aquarium. Look daily at your fish tank for any signs of stress of physical ill-health in your fish. Stress can cause fish to become sick and die. Check out the filter and lights regularly and be sure they function at tip-top conditions. The necessity to feed them daily cannot be undermined. Only feed what can be consumed in the first two to five minutes. All food left over after the fish have consumed what they have to will account for waste debris in the tank and will pollute it by adding to the nitrite levels which will cause the fish to become sick. Once every week, you will have to look at the pH and the temperature of the water. Always make it a point to make any necessary changes immediately where necessary. It is best to check with the pet store and enquire about the exact pH that is most suitable for your fish. You will need this information as it varies among different species of fish.
You have to spend time to clean the filter too. The aquarium filters will collect all the wastes that the fish produce by way of excretion. Unless you clean out these filters, they will simply go on accumulating the waste and will not be able to perform their job well. The filter will also allow oxygen to circulate within the tank and not just allow for removal of wastes. With bunged filters, you will not be able to have as good transmission of gases in your tank as you have with clean ones. This limits the amount of oxygen in the tank. This is highly detrimental to the life of your fish if not solved soon. You have to replace the filter of the aquarium every 14-21 days as required. If the water becomes opaque and emanates an undesirable odor, it’s time to change the filter. There are two things you can do with your filter depending on its design – you will either have to clean it with water or you will have to change to a new one.
The proper way to change water in a tank is to do it gradually. You have to be particular to detach lights and other equipments when you are cleaning your fish tank. Every week or two weeks, change about a third of the water in the tank. You also have to see that the temperature of the water is inside 2 degrees plus or minus from the water temperature in the aquarium.Tap water, if added, will need to be treated and arranged at a temperature near two degrees of the fish tank. Your local store owner will capably guide you on what kind of water would be suitable for the fish. For some kinds of tap water, a half hour treatment is enough, but for some kinds you may need to go in for an overnight treatment procedure.
When cleaning the tank, clean from the sides to scrub out any buildup of alga. Be careful not to disturb or scare the fish. Shuffle the rocks and other movable items in your tank to release the debris trapped in them. You can gather this debris when you are eliminating the water by using a bucket, or a siphon made for removing stuff from the water. Prune any dead leaves from aquatic plants. Soak a squeegee in water and use it to clean the outer walls of your aquarium. Do not forget to clean the cover of the tank, from the inside and the outside. Your cleaning is done.
