According to a layman, once you stock your aquarium with fish and the necessary plants, it all takes a pinch of food to keep the fish happy and healthy. However, this is not the case. It is worth knowing that the rather costly and time consuming problems could be prevented spending a flimsy thirty minutes on maintenance every other week. An aquarium calls for a daily maintenance to keep the pets at home. In case you want to keep them as your pet, here are some concepts on aquarium maintenance Cincinnati OH.
To begin with, keep the water clean. Be informed that clean water is crucial to the long-term health of your fish. This can only be achieved by regularly changing the water, specifically 1-2 weeks. It goes a long way in changing about 25 percent of the water in the tank. The routine changing of water helps in maintaining proper levels of pH, reducing the amount of disease-causing organisms accumulated in the gravel bed and in removing such waste products as nitrites, ammonia and nitrates.
A key practice in the maintenance is to make water changes. Water should be changed in about every two-three weeks. The best method of undertaking the change is to replace the water removed while vacuuming the gravel. This eliminates the food that is uneaten, among other residues which settle on the substrate. Be sure to replace about ten to twenty percent of the water.
Before opting for particular water, it is worth examining its composition. The content is very vital as it forms the home and feed of the fish. Ensuring that it is life supporting comes as a plus as far as the health of your fish is concerned. Using water from the tap poses a great risk due to the chlorine and chloromine. The water, in addition, is reported to have metals such as iron and phosphate that are a threat.
It is also necessary for you to good care of the aquarium plants. As such, enhancing an ample supply of light goes a long way. The plants, especially, need light in the process of photosynthesis. It is recommended that you make use of fluorescent light as its primary source of the blue and red spectrum. In fact, the red spectrum facilitates photosynthesis. According to the plant, two watts per Gallon should be enough. However, deeper tanks and plants requiring intense lighting might need 3 watts per gallon.
In addition, be sure to monitor the water temperature to provide food for your fish. Adverse changes in water temperature can make your fish sick or even kill them. It is thus vital to ensure proper functioning of your heater by performing daily checks on the temperature. Most aquarium fish do well toasty 75-80 degrees of temperature. Feeding also comes handy in the maintenance. However, it is a good practice to only give them enough for consumption, as excess feed adds up to the load of your filter. The diet must be nutritionally balanced and provide once or twice a day.
Cleaning should be done carefully and by using the right tools. Though the exercise does not incur many tools, having a few specialized tools at hand helps a lot. A dedicated aquarium bucket is one such important piece of equipment. Nevertheless, the very bucket should not be used for any other task. The other vital equipment includes; a siphon, algae scrubber, water conditioner, filter brush, soft cloth and some towels.
All in all, the premise behind the maintenance is to enhance stability of the aquarium. Any variation of the vital parameters can pose a challenge to their health.
To begin with, keep the water clean. Be informed that clean water is crucial to the long-term health of your fish. This can only be achieved by regularly changing the water, specifically 1-2 weeks. It goes a long way in changing about 25 percent of the water in the tank. The routine changing of water helps in maintaining proper levels of pH, reducing the amount of disease-causing organisms accumulated in the gravel bed and in removing such waste products as nitrites, ammonia and nitrates.
A key practice in the maintenance is to make water changes. Water should be changed in about every two-three weeks. The best method of undertaking the change is to replace the water removed while vacuuming the gravel. This eliminates the food that is uneaten, among other residues which settle on the substrate. Be sure to replace about ten to twenty percent of the water.
Before opting for particular water, it is worth examining its composition. The content is very vital as it forms the home and feed of the fish. Ensuring that it is life supporting comes as a plus as far as the health of your fish is concerned. Using water from the tap poses a great risk due to the chlorine and chloromine. The water, in addition, is reported to have metals such as iron and phosphate that are a threat.
It is also necessary for you to good care of the aquarium plants. As such, enhancing an ample supply of light goes a long way. The plants, especially, need light in the process of photosynthesis. It is recommended that you make use of fluorescent light as its primary source of the blue and red spectrum. In fact, the red spectrum facilitates photosynthesis. According to the plant, two watts per Gallon should be enough. However, deeper tanks and plants requiring intense lighting might need 3 watts per gallon.
In addition, be sure to monitor the water temperature to provide food for your fish. Adverse changes in water temperature can make your fish sick or even kill them. It is thus vital to ensure proper functioning of your heater by performing daily checks on the temperature. Most aquarium fish do well toasty 75-80 degrees of temperature. Feeding also comes handy in the maintenance. However, it is a good practice to only give them enough for consumption, as excess feed adds up to the load of your filter. The diet must be nutritionally balanced and provide once or twice a day.
Cleaning should be done carefully and by using the right tools. Though the exercise does not incur many tools, having a few specialized tools at hand helps a lot. A dedicated aquarium bucket is one such important piece of equipment. Nevertheless, the very bucket should not be used for any other task. The other vital equipment includes; a siphon, algae scrubber, water conditioner, filter brush, soft cloth and some towels.
All in all, the premise behind the maintenance is to enhance stability of the aquarium. Any variation of the vital parameters can pose a challenge to their health.
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