Contents
How to Choose a Tank
Required Accessories
How to Decorate Your Aquarium
How to Set Up Your Aquarium
Live Plants
How to Add Fish to the Aquarium
How to Keep Fish Healthy
Aquarium Maintenance
The Most Popular Freshwater Fish
Tropical Fish
Cold-Water Fish
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Aquarium Maintenance
To keep your tank beautiful and your fish healthy, spend some time maintaining your aquarium.
Water Maintenance
Checking and maintaining the water in your tank is perhaps the most important aquarium maintenance task.
Checking Water Conditions
You should check the temperature, pH, hardness (dH), and nitrite levels in your tank regularly with store-bought kits.
- Temperature: Check the tank thermometer to ensure that the water temperature stays within a safe range. If it’s too hot or too cold, try adjusting the heater or replacing it.
- pH: pH measures the acidity or alkalinity of the water on a scale of 1–14. Most freshwater fish require a 6.5–7.5 pH, making a pH of 7.0 the best compromise for a large mix of different species.
- Hardness: Water hardness, measured in dH, measures the dissolved minerals in your water. A freshwater aquarium should have a dH of 4–6.
- Nitrites: Nitrites, byproducts of fish waste, should be undetectable in the tank.
To maintain proper water chemistry levels, remove
sediment from the tank, keep filters clean, and perform
partial water changes. If you’re performing the necessary
maintenance and water chemistry is still a problem, your tank may contain too many fish, or you may be overfeeding them. You can buy water chemistry adjusters or stabilizers, but these products often provide just a temporary fix.
Partial Water Changes
Replace 30–40% of the water in your tank with new water on a weekly basis to help keep the water chemistry stable.
When adding new water to your tank:
- Treat it with store-bought water chemistry adjusters.
- Acclimate its temperature before adding it to the tank.
Cleaning the Aquarium Filter
Clean your aquarium filter every month. For internal and external filters, this involves replacing some of the filter medium (the spongy filtration material) and rinsing the rest with water from the tank (never with untreated tap water). The precise cleaning methods vary by filter, so refer to your filter’s instruction manual for specific guidelines.
Tank Maintenance
The tank itself, and the decorations inside, also need regular maintenance. In particular, be sure to:
- Clean aquarium glass: Use an algae cleaner (see Required Accessories) to clean the glass. Don’t apply detergents or soap to the algae cleaner.
- Remove sediment: Use a siphon strainer to remove uneaten food and waste from the substrate. This is particularly crucial if you use an undergravel filter.
- Clean decorations: Remove artificial plants and other decorations to scrub algae and mulm off of them.
- Replace light bulbs: Fluorescent bulbs grow dim long before they burn out. To keep plants healthy and encourage photosynthesis, change the light bulbs as soon as you notice any dimness.
Aquarium Maintenance Schedule
Frequency |
Maintenance Task |
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Daily |
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Weekly |
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Monthly |
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| Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
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