Thursday, February 26, 2015

Aquarium Maintenance Tips And Fish Care Guidelines Cincinnati OH

By Earlene McGee


According to a layman, aquarium fish is just short term pets that require minimal care. However, when raised right, most finned pets can live for years; the goldfish can even last for 20 eras. By measuring fish lives in months, you certainly pay more attention to water chemistry, proper feeding, and routine maintenance. This guide takes you through some of the most crucial aspects in aquarium maintenance Cincinnati OH.

To begin with, it is worth noting that the stability of the tank plays the biggest role as far as the maintenance exercise is concerned. Provided that everything is running properly and the fish are healthy, there is no need for any major change. For instance, if the PH (hardness) seems to be slightly out of range, you are only required to carefully, but immediately increase or decrease the major aquarium water parameters.

The essential part of the maintenance is the water change. The water change should be undertaken about 2-3 weeks. A good practice is to replace the water extracted while vacuuming the gravel to eliminate the uneaten foods among other residues that settles on the substrate.

The best practice when cleaning the aquarium is simply to remove part of the water (10-15%) and replace it with fresh and dechlorinated tap water. While you are doing this, ensure to use your siphon to suck up some of the gunk that assembles in the gravel and decorations.

The other crucial practice is to test the aquarium water. This can be done by regularly checking on the tank chemistry and changing the water accordingly. The vital parameters worth your concern include; the pH, nitrites, nitrates and carbonate hardness- salinity of the tanks.

In addition, make sure to clear out the debris and to empty your protein skimmer on a daily basis. Substrate vacuums and algae magnets come handy to an aquarist; ensure to be well equipped with them. The ultimate goal of the maintenance is to sustain the stability of the tank.

Lastly, constantly check on the health of the fish. Fish are susceptible to numerous infections and illnesses; parasitic and bacterial are the most common in home aquariums. The appearance and behavior change of the individual pets indicates that something is wrong. As an aquarist, observe your swimmers daily in order to familiarize yourself with what is normal and be able to detect anomalies early enough.

Simply put, the maintenance exercise should be done daily, weekly and monthly. The daily checks should focus on ensuring that the equipment is running properly and on observing the fish for any behavioral changes during feeding. Also, count your fish weekly for any deaths and conduct monthly cleaning and inspection for replacement of filters, floss, cartridges, and algone.




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