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Keeping your aquarium clean should be a relatively simple job once you establish a routine. Not only does it clean your water and the tank itself, but it also keeps your fish happy and healthy. Generally, youll need to clean your tank and the water once a month. Once you get into your aquarium maintenance routine, youll find it only takes a short amount of time to get it done.

Before starting on your cleaning, always unplug any electrical attachments or accessories on your tank, such as the filter, lights, or heaters you may have. Dont use any soap or detergent to clean your tank. These chemicals are harmful to fish and could easily make them very ill or even result in death. If those chemicals can make tank fish ill, then think about what flushing them down your sink each day does to the natural environment of fish in the wild.

The next step is to either vacuum or scrape your tank. Many aquarium shops say you should vacuum first, but this can often mean lowering the water levels before you begin scraping. When you scrape, you increase the density of algae in the water, so with reduced water levels this can raise the concentration to dangerously high levels, which can make your fish sick.

Vacuuming Your Tank " Aquariums call tank vacuums Pythons and theyre nothing more than a rubber hose with a tube attached at the end. The idea is to drain a little water from your tank at the same time as sucking up any dirt, debris, food waste or other bits that can pollute your aquarium. As you vacuum, run the tube around decorations and filters and down into the gravel or stones to get the bits that hide there.

Dont vacuum for too long as you risk reducing the water levels too far. You shouldnt remove any more than about one-fifth of the total water volume, so this means vacuum quickly.

Scraping Your Tank " To remove algae or grime from the sides of your tank and from any decorations or your filter, you need to use a sponge with a handle attached. The scrapers sponge should be the non-abrasive type or you risk scratching or damaging acrylic. The sponge is already designed for the removal of algae and grime, so once youve cleaned the tank, remember to clean the decorations and filter as well.

Scraping Your Tank " Scraping your tank is an easy, quick chore that simply requires a sponge attached to a handle. Run your sponge around decorations, filters and along the sides of your tank to remove algae or grime. Always check the type of sponge you use, as special aquarium sponges are non-abrasive, so they wont scratch acrylic or glass.