How to clean a freshwater aquarium quickly and efficiently

Many people like to have an aquarium in their home. More than half of those with an aquarium hate the cleaning process. That’s why, after so much enthusiasm, in the beginning, it is normal to see an aquarium that has turned green (if the light is too much) or brown (if the lighting is dim) with the fish, causing a small storm all times to swim near the gravel. This is not necessarily the case. I firmly believe that the water in the aquarium should be so crystalline that, in the absence of another source of water could easily fill a glass and drink. Honestly! If you do not want to touch the tongue, then the fish should not be live.

The process involves only describing an undergrowth filter, which is my favorite. In case you have another type, you can find a way to adapt the method to any other filtration system.

Table of Contents

Here we give some tips to clean aquarium in your home

Attention to electronic gadgets

Before you start managing the water, turn off the pump and all other electrically operated gadgets in your aquarium. People who use heats winters for tropical fish and completely remove these wetland gadgets.

To change 20% of water, leaving 20% in the tank

Do not get in the habit of changing more than 20% water. The fish you will hate for adjusting their climate too drastically. To estimate 20% water, measure the distance from the highest water level to the gravel surface and divide by five. Put a check mark with a marker or adhesive on the fifth lowest, above the gravel. All the water from the shingle surface to the notch 20% of all the water in the tank and it is the water that you want to discard.

aquarium This is an estimate because the gravel is immersed in the water, but we assume here that it is a negligible amount. All the water above this mark is 80% and you do not want to change it. How did you remove the lowest of 20% and leave the top of 80%? Remove it. Siphon little ‘higher in water in a bucket, then remove the fish and release them in backet. Siphon stays in the bucket with the fish and leaves 20% of the unwanted water in the tank. You must do it as quickly and smoothly as you can without stirring the earth too. You want the fish in the crystal of 80% clear water in the bucket for now.

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Getting started at

Put the plants, stones, and ornaments in reverse order. Anchor the plants properly and arrange the rocks and ornaments to bring out the beauty in them. Put the fish and follow with the rest of the water, the 80%. Do not forget that you have not even put fresh water. Have you cleaned only gravel and dirt thrown 20%?

Chlorine is not good for fish gills

Now the freshness 20%. It must be very fresh and not too different in terms of temperature. Should not have chlorine is. Most cities add chlorine to kill germs in public water systems. There are three ways to eliminate chlorine:

Let the water just sit in an open bucket for three or four days. Chlorine is turned into gas and escapes.
Boil the water and cool. Chlorine escapes when heated.
Buy a “dechlorination” agent from the pet store – put recommended drops per gallon and chlorine leaks.

I prefer the first option if I used all three different circumstances methods. If the water has been sitting in the same house as the fish tank, will also be more or less the same temperature as the water in the tank. Fish do not like too big a sudden temperature change. And “Well, if the temperature change is gradual.

If you use the last option, you must let the water sit before use so that the water temperatures recently and the chlorine in the fish tank can equalize. It can take some time. One way to make fish acclimatize to water that is at a different temperature is to put the fish in a poly bag with its water center, close the bag, and then float to the surface of the new water. The temperatures in the paper bag and those on the paper bag soon equalize and the fish can be released.

Now that you have a clean tank in thirty minutes, we look forward to the next cleaning operation after 14 days. Follow this pace and you will get better and more efficient over time.

Clean the gravel with water to lose 20%

Remove all the plants, ornaments and stones and put them in another container. Now you are ready to clean the gravel. Shake the gravel shaking and moved from the left, then to the right. Your goal is to get all the fish waste food, filtered dirt and remains suspended in the water. When the water has everything to take, push the gravel to the left or to the right and accumulate high.

aquarium For all this time you are doing so that the subgravel filter is not moved up or damaged. Sub-gravel filters should not have gravel beneath them, if this happens you will have to empty the tank and reset. This is not to be done, so be careful as it will take a long time. Once you have all the water, pour the rinse water and repeat the process. Remove the rinsing water and push the gravel back to its natural level.

If you have plastic plants, clean them with a soft brush. Sometime the stones have a lot of seaweed, clean them with a longer brush. If you do not look dirty, clean them anyway.

Then clean the inside of the tub with a cloth. There will always be a form of seaweed mud, although not very visible. Clean the outside of the tank as well. Now you are ready to put the residents. But before you put them back, clean the glass cover inside and replace half of the water by pouring it on the sloped glass. This allows you to control gravel agitation. You can also put a bowl on the gravel and pour the water in it to absorb the shock.